
Electric or Not, Big SUVs Are Inherently Selfish - coloneltcb
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/m7q7eb/electric-or-not-big-suvs-are-inherently-selfish
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aphextim
If you live in an area which regularly needs 4 wheel drive (snowstorms) and
you have kids that need to go to school or go to various actives, having a
suburban makes sense. Think of a mini-van that can handle the elements.

In this article I totally agree, that a Hummer, or type of vehicle that simply
fulfills one's ego is a little silly and inherently selfish.

However trying to say that all big SUV's are inherently selfish without
looking at the reasons someone who has a family may purchase one is quite
disingenuous.

~~~
pwinnski
I grew up with station wagons.

Nothing about snow or children mandate vehicle height.

~~~
aphextim
Live down a country road where the county/city doesn't plow and your kid is
still expected to make it to the "main road" to get on the bus.

I do agree that the situation where you need this type of vehicle is quite
niche and for the majority of people it's about status and not functionality.

~~~
tsherr
Once again, still don't need it. I grew up eight miles from the nearest paved
road. I drove a Suzuki forsa in the winter.

If the roads are too dangerous for a car, stay home.

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mschaef
I'm not sure why it's a surprise that people buy cars because of the image
they project. That's been true from the beginning, and for more than about
transportation.

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magic5227
Bradsher described that portrait, comprised of marketing reports from the
major automakers, as follows:

"Who has been buying SUVs since automakers turned them into family vehicles?
They tend to be people who are insecure and vain. They are frequently nervous
about their marriages and uncomfortable about parenthood. They often lack
confidence in their driving skills. Above all, they are apt to be self-
centered and self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors or
communities."

------
riter
"The electrification of the Hummer is not a signal of climate progress. It is
a declaration that it’s still OK to be an asshole."

As said by whom? Metropolitan coastal journalists?

Spends half the article critiquing SUV culture and people.

Try having a large family where you consistently get meters of snow every
winter and your municipality never got the benefits of modern urban planning.

It bothers me that it appears despite making progress in a decades old climate
narrative, nothing is ever enough so long as it doesn't fit one's own
narrative of one's own world.

The news is actually positive! Critiquing is fine but don't attack a culture
you don't fully understand or have empathy for.

I've lived in nothing but metropolitan dense cities and am pro-environment but
also have empathy because I have friends and family who don't live like me and
sacrifice without the niceties I'm able to afford with my lifestyle.

Kudos on the progress to Hummer TBH.

~~~
DubiousPusher
The article is pretty clearly critical of people who buy an SUV with zero
intent of exploiting either the S or the U.

My bet is that if you are indeed off-roading or hauling your 4+ children
around this author is going to give you a pass.

But there are a lot of people solo driving SUVs to work.

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ianai
I wish something could be done about vehicle size and peoples driving
characteristics. Parking spaces haven’t gotten any bigger in my experience and
vehicles are like millimeters of tolerance. People drive so crazy violently,
too. You need to have something comparable in size to “get respect.”

~~~
WorldMaker
Road taxes should be made commensurate to vehicle size/weight (as they were
originally intended to be, as size/weight of vehicle cohort is a major
determinate in road maintenance costs). Most SUVs and pickup truck are
specifically engineered to be exactly as large as they can be before some
states' truck tax laws start to charge taxes by size/weight. With gas taxes
shrinking due to EV sales, it's probably past time for states to reconsider
these loopholes in their truck tax laws for "personal trucks" (as opposed to
commercial vehicles), and start charging SUVs and oversized pickup trucks for
the road maintenance penalty they deserve.

~~~
bryanlarsen
Even worse, they take advantage of the benefits and skip most of the
drawbacks. For example, vehicles over 6000 pounds are prohibited on California
streets. [https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/08/california-s-
sec...](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/08/california-s-secret-suv-
ban.html)

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danemorgan
When I lived in Tucson, I had a bicycle and a bus pass for three years.

Now I live in Rural Southeast Missouri on a dirt road. I have a Suburban. I'd
love to have a Prius or something instead, but it wouldn't last and I couldn't
move the things I need to move in a reasonable trip count.

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rayiner
Is Vice going to write an article on how international vacations (which
release in one shot as much CO2 as an SUV releases all year) are "inherently
selfish?"

~~~
pwinnski
Like this one[0]?

[0] [https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/a3xyjj/cheap-flights-
envi...](https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/a3xyjj/cheap-flights-environment-
damage-climate-crisis-ryanair)

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malandrew
vice is one of those news sources that is pretty much guaranteed to bring down
the quality of discuss on HN.

~~~
boardwaalk
I wonder if we should lay blame at the feet of triggerer or the triggered,
though. People seem to get really uncomfortable when you get close to outing
their selfishness. NIMBYism/gentrification is another popular one that does
it, for example.

