Posted on 12/21/2003 7:13:03 AM PST by Holly_P
Last week's article about SUVs (Dec. 9), Hummers and the tax law for 6,000-pound vehicles raises some serious concerns. As the owner of a day care center, what does Vicki Greenwood and other Hummer owners teach their children about what they drive and why? How do they justify buying such an impractical and inefficient vehicle while soldiers are being killed in an oil war? How do they justify the unnecessary pollution and energy consumption from driving a vehicle they don't need? Hummers were designed for combat, not commuting. There are many other vehicles that would carry more children, get better mileage and cost less than a military jeep.
As a kid I was taught to recognize and respect the intended spirit of rules and not contort the letter of the law for my own purposes. The spirit of the heavy vehicle tax break is to allow a small business to make a capital investment in a piece of equipment that will grow the business and make it more competitive. Not so child care providers, architects and others can drive a Hummer to the grocery store. Maybe Hummer owners should pay an extra tax to help pay for our $87 billion war, instead of scheming ways to consume more resources and pay less taxes.
Civilian Hummers and H2s are the icon of greedy Americans who have no comprehension of how lucky they are to be American. Yes, it's a free country, but I am ashamed that more and more Americans view their freedoms as justifications for their own selfish wants and teach these values to their children.
Stewart Mitchell
705 S. Tracy Ave.
Bozeman
In a place where citizens are compelled to subsidize, in the form of punative insurance rates, freeloading 3rd worlders who make our roads virtual war-zones, I am compelled to buy something my wife and children have a moderate chance of survival in should she come in contact with one of these "road warriors".
But you're entitled to make an @ss out of yourself with these brainless articles. Free country and all.
Please feel free to send your loved ones off on their next journey in perhaps a "Yugo" or perhaps an egg shell with wheels should one not be available.
Oh, and "oil war"? There are none so blind as those who refuse to see. Could it be possible that part of man kind descended from the Ostrich as opposed to the primates? Wonders never cease.
***
Anyway, good post Holly_P. Always good to know what the lunatic fringe is saying and allegedly "thinking" these days. : )
But when Al Gore said there was "no controlling legal authority" I bet ol' Stewie lapped that kool-aid right up.
My wife was hit by three (3) trucks on a interstate in Wyoming--not far from Montana--one from behind and two from the sides as her Suburban spun from the first hit! Had she been in any other vehicle, she would have been killed. As it was, she emerged without a scratch. Since then, I have insisted that she continue to drive such safe vehicles. I recommend them for everyone--especially people who have children.
That, of course, is the first thing that people who drive Hummers, Suburbans, and other well constructed vehicles teach their children and why.
Another thing you could teach them is that the kind of vehicle one drives has nothing to do with the War Agaist Terror that evil terrorists have declared on the United States and that, since the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the U.S. by these evil people, Americans have been forced to wage, even though Americans are peace loving and want nothing but peace.
You can also tell them that, though oil is an important consideration inasmuch as it helps keep the United States strong, prosperous, and free, the war being waged in Iraq is defensive and is a necessary part of the War Against Terror--necessary to keep these children safe, necessary to provide a safe, just, free, and prosperous country in which they can live and grow up.
Another thing you can teach them is that sports utility vehicles are fun--that many things are fun and that some of them are expensive. The desire for expensive toys, luxuries, and necessities can be a powerful incentive in leading people to work hard and to be ambitious. Anyone can prosper in the United States. Anyone can get a good education. Anyone can work hard and fulfill his ambitions. If someone wants a Hummer, for example, he or she can have one. Hard work and education are the path. These children can become excited and motivated by using a Hummer as an example of how anyone can fulfill his or her ambitions. Get those children motivated. Tell each of them to follow his bliss. If it's a Hummer--tell them to start making plans right now and not to stop until they fulfill their ambitions.
If the ambition is to teach children, they must, of course, be careful what they teach.
If you cannot teach these things--if you cannot comprehend them--then you should not be teaching children in the first place.
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