I really wish I could take credit for writing this article, but I'm not that good a writer. However I'd say it's safe to say that the feelings and sentiments the author metiones ring true to every car person throughout the world, myself included. I fear the day that the combustion engine becomes obsolete. But honestly the more I blab on about this article the more it probably ruins it, the read is just that good. Enjoy.
Unhorsing the American Cowboy: By Matt DeLorenzo
There are few images as iconic as the American cowboy on a horse, the vast expanse of the west stretching out before him. That appeal is every bit as strong now as it was in the 19th century. The difference is that the American cowboy long ago traded horse power for horsepower. The car is our modern steed, the open road beckons and on that rural strip of asphalt, we can find some peace of mind and capture a whiff of that cowboy spirit.
While sophisticates (usually from big cities or across the ocean) often mock the cowboy, using the word as an adjective to deride everything from our leaders to our foreign policy, it seems that whenever I've encountered tourists in the West, they love to pull on that figurative 10-gallon hat, slide behind the wheel and search for that stretch of deserted road to let it rip. The cowboy spirit is about freedom, about going places and about answering to no one. The automobile not only embodies that spirit, it gives it life.
There is no denying that the automobile has a social cost - clean air, use of resources, accidents. In all fairness, these costs must be weighed against the benefits - mobility, freedom, and independence. Manufacturers have done much to minimize the car's impact on the environment, energy and safety. Yet, despite these gains, there are those who can't abide these freedoms. There are forces afoot that would rather see the American cowboy unhorsed.
These arguments against auto-mobility are cloaked in language about cleaning up the environment or improving fuel economy. But I believe it's a convenient cover for a larger agenda that would dispense with the widespread use of the automobile - or at least create an environment where their use is severely curtailed or strictly controlled. In a way, automobiles are the next tobacco - the government won't outright ban them, but will permit their use only as long as they generate increasing streams of revenue, through registration fees, sales taxes, and traffic fines. So, in some quarters, the view of the automobile and the freedom it confers on the masses have shifted from that of a social good to a necessary evil.
The signs are all around us. Red light and speed-monitoring cameras, the argument goes, increase traffic safety - never mind that most municipalities are primarily sold on them for their revenue, and by the way, whatever constitutional rights you may have are merely incidental. Or the fact that the bureaucrats, noticing that increasing fuel economy may come at the expense of fuel tax revenues, are now looking at GPS monitoring or cars as a way to levy road use taxes to compensate for the shortfall. While the technology is the proverbial genie out of the bottle, those who value the freedom and individuality of the cowboy spirit must worry how it is applies and to what end. To quote Benjamin Franklin: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
There are few images as iconic as the American cowboy on a horse, the vast expanse of the west stretching out before him. That appeal is every bit as strong now as it was in the 19th century. The difference is that the American cowboy long ago traded horse power for horsepower. The car is our modern steed, the open road beckons and on that rural strip of asphalt, we can find some peace of mind and capture a whiff of that cowboy spirit.
While sophisticates (usually from big cities or across the ocean) often mock the cowboy, using the word as an adjective to deride everything from our leaders to our foreign policy, it seems that whenever I've encountered tourists in the West, they love to pull on that figurative 10-gallon hat, slide behind the wheel and search for that stretch of deserted road to let it rip. The cowboy spirit is about freedom, about going places and about answering to no one. The automobile not only embodies that spirit, it gives it life.
There is no denying that the automobile has a social cost - clean air, use of resources, accidents. In all fairness, these costs must be weighed against the benefits - mobility, freedom, and independence. Manufacturers have done much to minimize the car's impact on the environment, energy and safety. Yet, despite these gains, there are those who can't abide these freedoms. There are forces afoot that would rather see the American cowboy unhorsed.
These arguments against auto-mobility are cloaked in language about cleaning up the environment or improving fuel economy. But I believe it's a convenient cover for a larger agenda that would dispense with the widespread use of the automobile - or at least create an environment where their use is severely curtailed or strictly controlled. In a way, automobiles are the next tobacco - the government won't outright ban them, but will permit their use only as long as they generate increasing streams of revenue, through registration fees, sales taxes, and traffic fines. So, in some quarters, the view of the automobile and the freedom it confers on the masses have shifted from that of a social good to a necessary evil.
The signs are all around us. Red light and speed-monitoring cameras, the argument goes, increase traffic safety - never mind that most municipalities are primarily sold on them for their revenue, and by the way, whatever constitutional rights you may have are merely incidental. Or the fact that the bureaucrats, noticing that increasing fuel economy may come at the expense of fuel tax revenues, are now looking at GPS monitoring or cars as a way to levy road use taxes to compensate for the shortfall. While the technology is the proverbial genie out of the bottle, those who value the freedom and individuality of the cowboy spirit must worry how it is applies and to what end. To quote Benjamin Franklin: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Ride on, cowboy.
2 comments:
Do a lot of challenger owners read your blog?
Gee, this last picture looks like what I saw last week - without the cactus tree!
Post a Comment