Hummer Owners Claim Moral High Ground

Most people who buy Hummers do so out of vanity or to make up for certain physical deficiencies. But, Hummer owners themselves actually believe that they’ve got the moral high ground because they’re – get this – defending America’s frontier lifestyle against anti-American critics.

A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research came to this conclusion after the authors researched attitudes toward owning and driving Hummers. They found that Hummer drivers see themselves as patriotic defenders of the American spirit, framing themselves as “moral protagonists” even as they unapologetically contribute to harming the very country they claim to love so much.

From Eurekalert:

“As we studied American Hummer owners and their ideological beliefs, we found that they consider Hummer driving a highly moral consumption choice,” write the authors. “For Hummer owners it is possible to claim the moral high ground.”

The authors explain that Hummer owners employ the ideology of American foundational myths, such as the “rugged individual,” and the “boundless frontier” to construct themselves as moral protagonists. They often believe they represent a bastion again anti-American discourses evoked by their critics.

“Our analysis of the underlying American identity discourses revealed that being under siege by (moral) critics is an historically established feature of being an American,” write the authors. “The moralistic critique of their consumption choices readily inspired Hummer owners to adopt the role of the moral protagonist who defends American national ideals.”

Amazing, isn’t it? Of course, Hummer owners aren’t the only ones that take this stance – conservatives in general employ similar excuses for their desperate attempts to preserve what they see as “the American lifestyle”. To them, being American is apparently synonymous with being selfish assholes who don’t give a shit about the next generation, only about their own desires.

Fuck you and your H2!

Link [Eurekalert]
Photo credit: FUH2

Massachusetts Considers a ‘Hummer Tax’

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced this week that he’s looking into creating a ‘Hummer tax’ – higher registration fees for gas-guzzling vehicles and discounts for those that do less harm to the environment. The proposal is part of the governor’s transportation plan, which will be unveiled in full today.

From Boston.com:

Environmentalists applauded the registration proposal, saying it would encourage people to buy smaller and more fuel-efficient cars, which are increasingly seen as key to curbing global warming. Similar proposals have been proposed in Massachusetts since at least 2001, but without the prominent backing of a sitting governor.

“The social costs of larger vehicles include not only the additional pollution, but also higher crash risks to other vehicles,” said Representative William Brownsberger, a Belmont Democrat who is cosponsoring two bills in the Legislature that would penalize expensive and heavy cars with higher taxes or fees.

“Big gas guzzlers will pay more for their registration,” he added. “Plug-in hybrids would pay less and you’d have a range, that kind of thing.”

It’s about time, isn’t it? If you’re such an asshole that you think you’re totally entitled to drive a Hummer around your suburban neighborhood without being held responsible for the extra pollution you’re producing and the amount of fossil fuels you’re consuming, you deserve the extra fees. And, a Hummer tax might just prevent people from buying cars like these in the first place.

Link [Boston.com]

Photo credit: Flickr user blmurch

Some Won’t Give up Hummers No Matter How High Gas Price Go

Some folks love their Hummers so much, they just don’t give a damn about high gas prices. Nothing will stop them from driving these monsters. Of course, a lot of the people that say that have plenty of money to burn, so what’s it to them? Sure, Hummers haven’t exactly been welcomed onto the streets by other drivers, and Hummer owners may find themselves the targets of flying eggs. But apparently, all of these factors don’t mean that Hummer lovers are going to give up their precious status symbols.

From USA Today

Maybe mega-SUVs are going the way of dinosaurs. Hummer sales have dropped 40% this year. But these beasts and the men and women who love them certainly don’t behave like endangered species.

“I told my wife when we bought this, ‘Honey, we’re investing in steel and rubber,’ says William Welch, a Philadelphia surgeon who, cigar clenched between his teeth, offers a guided tour of his lovingly tended jet-black H1.

“If it was $10 a gallon,” he says, “we’d still be out there.”

Some elephants… are just jerks. (+2 Simpsons Fan Points if you get that reference). Luckily, there aren’t too many of them left, since Hummer sales have slowed down so much that GM’s looking to sell. That means we’re less likely to see 45-year-old housewives barreling down suburban streets in these things on their way to a nail salon, for which we’re thankful.

Link [USA Today]
Photo credit: Flickr user George E. Norkus

Get Out Your Bicycles! Gas is Heading to $7 a Gallon

Jeff Rubin, a leading economist at CIBC World Markets, has a message for us all: start thinking about alternate transportation. In 4 years, gas prices will likely hit $7-$10 per gallon, making it too expensive for many people.

Treehugger has it:

“Stripping out natural gas liquids, oil production has not grown for over two years, which certainly goes a long way to explaining why oil prices have doubled over that period,” Rubin said. “It is increasingly clear that the outlook for oil supply signals a period of unprecedented scarcity.”

Rubin predicts hybrids will go “from marketing and PR fluff to the core of car production.” People will move closer to where they work. “I think there will be fewer people on the road in North America in five years than there is right now.”

Seems to me as if now is the time for cities all over America to start planning better public transit systems, since not all of us have the luxury of living close enough to walk or ride a bike to our places of work, grocery stores and other essential destinations – and the poor probably won’t be able to make that move. Let’s hope that the powers that be take this seriously.

The good news is, prices like this will definitely get more people to trade in their ridiculous look-at-me gas guzzlers in for something a little more reasonable. I’d venture to guess that we’ll be seeing less Hummers on the road, and I for one am happy about that, because my egg-throwing arm is getting tired.

Link [Treehugger]

Photo credit: Flickr user Brianfit