Word: suv
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IMAGINE THAT AMERICA IS A CAR. IN FACT--SINCE WE'RE talking about America here--imagine it's an SUV. We are packed in together, and it is a long drive. The sole thing that keeps us from bloodshed is that we have our own capacious beverage holders, business-class-size seats and entertainment pods. Dad has his satellite radio, Mom has her magazine, and the kids have their DVD consoles and MP3 players and Game Boy Advances, happily obliterating the unpleasant evidence of one another's existence...
...great American pacifier is our love of stuff and our ability to fashion our own insular worlds through our staggering selection of things to buy (even if we can't actually afford an SUV). But consumer America is different from political America. In consumer America, diversity of preference is not just tolerated. It is mandatory. The market has created reasons for us to be finicky and dissatisfied about anything--cable TV, pasta sauce, running shoes, yoga programs. It depends on you to like zesty Italian and me to like chipotle ranch and someone else to like low-sodium raspberry honey...
When it comes to presidential politics, there is no SUV. We all surrender our headsets and consoles and pile into a 1964 Chrysler with bench seats and no drink holders and one radio. And we have forgotten how we ever managed to ride in this damn thing without murdering one another. "I'm driving this car," says Papa George, "and I say we're listening to Toby Keith." Mama Laura taps her toes while Uncle John hums a Peter, Paul and Mary tune in protest. In back, half the kids sing along with the radio raucously, and the other half...
...great American pacifier is our love of stuff and our ability to fashion our own insular worlds through our staggering selection of things to buy (even if we can't actually afford an SUV). But consumer America is different from political America. In consumer America, diversity of preference is not just tolerated. It is mandatory. The market has created reasons for us to be finicky and dissatisfied about anything - cable TV, pasta sauce, running shoes, yoga programs. It depends on you to like zesty Italian and me to like chipotle ranch and someone else to like low-sodium raspberry honey...
...When it comes to presidential politics, there is no SUV. We all surrender our headsets and consoles and pile into a 1964 Chrysler with bench seats and no drink holders and one radio. And we have forgotten how we ever managed to ride in this damn thing without murdering one another. "I'm driving this car," says Papa George, "and I say we're listening to Toby Keith." Mama Laura taps her toes while Uncle John hums a Peter, Paul and Mary tune in protest. In back, half the kids sing along with the radio raucously, and the other half...