Cars are seen as a status symbols in a lot of places, instead of as the utilitarian things they are. Where I’m from people will see you in a better or worse light depending on what you drive, for sure. Most young people get first in debt not for college, but for the 200.000km second or third hand car imported from Germany.
That’s a far too simple take. Everyone (yes, also you) have biases around cars. And depending on the bias, people want to have these character traits associated with them.
That is exactly, what I mean. It’s not so much about impressing other people and more about impressing themselves. They want a big car, because they think, it makes them big. Even people who care about cars don’t see every car and think how cool the owner must be.
What I wanted to point out is that these people are not too wrong in their assumptions. It is, indeed, impressive to society.
Example, if you look at a shiny new(ish) Mercedes, that’s well cleaned, and in perfect shape. What’s the first things you attribute to that driver? At least “wealthy/successful to some extent”, right? And that’s a trait that is impressive in a lot of (capitalist) societies nowadays.
It’s not about whether this is a good or bad thing. It’s just something that we need to acknowledge and understand when fighting car centricity. We can’t just deny the existence of it.
Is it really something that inpresses other people? I feel cars only impress their owners and they hope other people are as impressed.
Cars are seen as a status symbols in a lot of places, instead of as the utilitarian things they are. Where I’m from people will see you in a better or worse light depending on what you drive, for sure. Most young people get first in debt not for college, but for the 200.000km second or third hand car imported from Germany.
That’s a far too simple take. Everyone (yes, also you) have biases around cars. And depending on the bias, people want to have these character traits associated with them.
That is exactly, what I mean. It’s not so much about impressing other people and more about impressing themselves. They want a big car, because they think, it makes them big. Even people who care about cars don’t see every car and think how cool the owner must be.
Understood, yes. 🤔
What I wanted to point out is that these people are not too wrong in their assumptions. It is, indeed, impressive to society.
Example, if you look at a shiny new(ish) Mercedes, that’s well cleaned, and in perfect shape. What’s the first things you attribute to that driver? At least “wealthy/successful to some extent”, right? And that’s a trait that is impressive in a lot of (capitalist) societies nowadays.
It’s not about whether this is a good or bad thing. It’s just something that we need to acknowledge and understand when fighting car centricity. We can’t just deny the existence of it.
Unfortunately, it appears to.