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who wants a banger in the mouth?
A more interesting question is why do so many people feel their car is a reflection of themselves, similar to how clothing is often viewed?
talk about my awesome bracelet
A few comments, in bulk and with no discussion of correlation between them as this isn't a dissertation: 1)\tAmerican cities weren’t initially built in the middle-ages or earlier which means the restriction about being able to go to nearby market on foot to sell/buy your wares wasn’t in place (you had people using horse carriages or even trains). The end result is that you have, on average, much larger cities sitting within huge distance on each other. This isn’t a world built for public transportation or walking/biking but for car transportation. 2)\tThat whole frontiersman mythology has been successfully translated to cars from the start and they stand for individualism and liberty. This is further reinforced by American pop culture and car marketing/advertising. 3)\tOwning a car is an easy way to signal status as it requires virtually no knowledge or taste just enough money to buy one (it is also recognized by almost anyone for the same reasons). In fact this is why in certain social strata where cultural capital is paramount you’ll find many people openly shunning cars and the ensuing culture. These people will often pay a lot of money buying/renting small places in prime locations when they could have bought a huge house elsewhere and drove a luxury car when they had to move around. It’s usually not even an option they’d consider as not being central or having a luxury car would actually harm the image of themselves they’ve built. You’ll notice that car enthusiasts (it appears we’ve got a couple here) will work around the inherent vulgarity of car culture by developing a taste for certain esoteric modifications, being very selective in the designs they like (i.e, “BMW sucks now”) and generally using signs of recognition and a meta-language not understandable by the average car buyer, kinda like the MC suit wearers or SWDers do when discussing clothing (Margiela good Dsquared bad, Borrelli good Armani bad). 4)\t Liking cars is masculine (power, freedom, risk taking, active vs passive, phallic symbol), liking fashion is feminine (ornamentation, passivityVs the (male) gaze, socialization, that whole **** culture). You’re not a ****** are you? 5)\tCars are uniquely American, fashion is an European thing.
I'm honestly not sure how you're framing your understanding of American culture, but you're wrong. Having discrepancies in financial wealth automatically assumes differences in class. I don't know why you think America dreams of becoming a Marxist utopia. If anything, America celebrates individualism more than any other modern country.
Thanks, those are all interesting and accurate comments. But what about the angle of how the stronger distaste for elitism in America affects the acceptance of that which is inaccessible to the masses? Your point #3 seems to touch on the subject by echoing the same thing I originally said-- i.e. how it requires little knowledge or taste to buy a car. Expensive cars feel accessible to the everyman, but expensive clothing is not and is thus viewed as elitist. And America clearly has a stronger distaste for elitism than Europe. Thus I feel any discussion of this subject should ideally address this area. Bullshit. Differences in wealth do not automatically assume differences in class. Haven't you ever heard of the concept of the nouveau riche, watched the the Beverly Hillbillies, or known someone who was wealthy yet adhered to the values of lower class society? And what exactly did I say that implies I feel America dreams of becoming a Marxist utopia? I actually said that Americans dream everyone has an equal chance to become wealthy, they nearly celebrate displays of wealth, but they dislike displays of class difference and elitism. Americans like to believe that displays of wealth are not displays of class difference. Try actually discussing the concept of class difference with the average American-- many will get angry! But you can happily discuss expensive cars with even the poor.
Most Americans tend to believe in (or perhaps hope for) a society with no social classes where the main measure of success is financial wealth.
Thanks, those are all interesting and accurate comments.