On Hummers, Part III

The Hummer certainly seems to polarize. Many consider it to symbolize the worst of conspicuous consumption; a wasteful behemoth that is only bought for posturing and makes the roads dangerous for the rest of us. Others aspire to own one, or appreciate its offroading capabilities, and think the Hummer-haters would just get over it.

Me, I guess I don’t care too much. The disapproving busybody in me wonders if the people who buy them wouldn’t be better off with something more practical and less expensive, but that’s really none of my business. I have no plans to buy one, as its feature list doesn’t match well with my values. But it’s a free country. People can get whatever car they like.

I will say one thing, though. I get the feeling, browsing around, that some Hummer owners feel unjustly persecuted, and think that people have no right to mock their choice of vehicle. That just kills me. I mean, it’s a bit rich to buy an overexpensive SUV that is marketed almost purely on image, and then complain that people are judging you for that. (I’ll cut you slack if you bought your Hummer primarily for off-roading, but my guess is that very few people do so.) That’s like getting plastic surgery and then complaining that people think you’re superficial, or dying your hair pink and then complaining because people think you’re different.