Freedom means freedom to be stupid. We never need freedom to do the smart thing. We don't need freedom to eat, sleep or dance. Because Freedom means freedom to be stupid. I love my freedom of stupid.
I got my Florida driver's license few days after I came here, and I could safely drive little Nisan Altima 1996 model, which cost me just $1800. The Car is enggineered for 6'2" max, so I have only three extra inch to squeeze in. My little Altima doesn't go faster than 55 miles per hour ;). I can pull into my compact designated parking space and in my garage at any sloppy angle.
Then I bought Hummer, a four-wheel "heavy metal thunder". It is "Born in the U.S.A.". You have that feeling of being strong and safe, high on your pleather throne, above the fray, above the danger, not having to listen to anyone or anything. You have the power to run over anyone else on the road.
I also bought new line t-shirt... "Kill one of ours, I'll kill 100 of yours" :)
Now it looks like the Hummer will be no more. President Obama has taken over GM and he wants fuel economy of 35 miles per gallon. The Hummer gets like 8-12 miles per gallon. The new standards would barely allow a Hummer to run. American auto manufacturers are thinking in terms of electric vehicles so the disgusting smoke will come out of coal smokestacks many-many miles away, and not right out of the tailpipe where you can see it, smell it and enjoy it.
I'm not just sad, I'm also angry on this news. We're all making bad choices all the time, and most of mine are way stupider than yours.
There's a feeling of stupidity one gets when one sits behind the wheel of a really big stupid vehicle. It's stupid to waste that much gas. It's stupid to parade your insecurities on public roads. Hummers are stupid looking. Ya, you don't need an Attack-vehicle for the Starbucks drive through. Hummers are stupid and wasteful and if the company go away to china because no one wants it from GM, that'll be sad. It's always a little sad to lose some stupid. I love people doing stupid things that I'd never do.
It reminds me that although all over the world we humans have so much in common, so much love, and need, and desire, and compassion and loneliness, some of us still want to do things that the rest of us think are bug-nutty. Some of us want to eat sheep's heart, liver and lungs, some of us want to play poker, some of us want a Broadway music and some of us want to drive a Hummer. Yes having a Hummer is stupid, because freedom is required to drive it.
- Nirnay
I am not the Author of this article, I read it somewhere. You can claim your authorship at: nirnaybansal at gmail.com
