Monday, August 17, 2009

Prius Vanity Plates

I have seen this twice now and thus it needs addressing, so please listen.

Was coming back from climbing Hat Mountain via Hill City and in front of me was a Prius with a Wellstone! bumper stick on it, as well as vanity plates that read "L S GAS." Now I had see this before where another Prius driver had "60 MPG" as his vanity plate (even though they don't get 60 MPG) and it got me thinking as I drove home.

"This is what they pride themselves off of?"

Understand vanity plates are basically a means by which you tell people something about yourself or your beliefs. Presumably it would be something of importance or pride (LUVWIFE) or, or perhaps you come up with very witty vanity plates such as (I have seen before) "TAXESUK."

But what these vanity plates tell me is that these people actually derive pride from getting faux-good gas mileage, and not only pride, but this is arguably the single greatest accomplishment or achievement in their lives;

Good gas mileage/low carbon emissions.

Now this provides a VERY interesting insight to the leftist mind, and I have alluded to this before; leftists (in a very general sense) want to avoid real work, yet are desperate to feel that they are accomplishing something with their lives. Ergo, instead of majoring in engineering, or becoming an accountant or a doctor and actually producing something or worth, they instead go into sociology, philosophy, the arts or whatever worthless "industries" the social sciences provide and instead of producing something of value to society, CHANGE THE DEFINITION OF WHAT IS VALUABLE TO SOCIETY.

Ergo the crusade over the cause.

Bono wants to help stave off poverty in Africa - no he doesn't, he wants the media attention.
Bob Geldorf wants to do the same - no he doesn't, he wants to be loved.
Jesse Jackson wants to eliminate racism - no he doesn't, he would be out of a job.
Hillary Clinton wants to help America - no she doesn't, she wants power.

And your run of the mill leftists that may not have celebrity status of those mentioned above like to join crusades to "end poverty" or "stop global warming."

No they don't. They want to wear an eco-boyscout badge to brag to other people about how good they are when they drive a Prius or drink "fair trade" coffee or buy organic groceries with a reusable bag or vote democrat/socialist.

These actions not only take no effort (or minimal) but they inevitably do nothing for society, nor produce anything of value. The only thing they do is make those that participate feel like they are doing something worthwhile and giving meaning to their lives. ie-it masks just how hollow their lives really are.

Now, admittedly this is a large brush I am stroking with, for as I've said before, I do know leftist computer programmers, I do know right wing government workers, but for those of you who have such little production and economic worth to your lives, that your primary thing you want to tell the world is that you get good gas mileage and emit less carbon than they average guy (until you have to dispose of those Prius batteries, but never mind, I forgot, it was never about the environment anyway), don't you think that before your time on this planet is up you might want to do something that really matters?

Seriously, think about it. When you die and they're reading off your ulogy, what do you want them to say?

"Skyler McFairtradecoffeedrinker was a great man. He only bought organic, fairtrade coffee from small, locally owned coffee stores that gave back to the community 30% of their pre-tax profits. He volunteered his time at the local minimalist-crapo-art museum where he lobbied the government for more taxpayer money for art nobody wanted. He wasn't a rich man, but he was rich in that his footprint was minimal on this planet. He lived in a small house with environmentally friendly insultation and spent only 79% of the US average on heating and air conditioning. He drove a moped and a Prius and emitted 56% less than the average American in carbon emissions."

You get one life on this planet and the greatest accomplishment you achieved is that you went green?

You know some people have families, some get great careers, some start businesses, some become adventurers, some go to the Sturgis rally, some start bars or restaurants, some fight in wars, some (ahem, cough cough) become economists during the day, moonlight as ballroom dance instructors during the nights, author books on their free time and become dashing Indiana Jones like characters on vacation as amateur paleontologists.

But you, on your death bed will look back at the previous 80 years and your greatest accomplishment?

You didn't eat meat. Wow, way to go.

In the meantime, I (and I'm sure all the junior, deputy, aspiring, official or otherwise economists out there) will be spending our lives achieving real things. So that when we die, we will have a smile on our faces in that we didn't waste that one, precious, finite life we had.

11 comments:

CBMTTek said...

There is a reason why the Prius looks like a nerdmobile.

If it looked like a sports car, then the liberal could not rub it in your face about what a martyr to the cause they are.

Plain and simple.

Vanity plates are just another aspect of that syndrome.

I hope it's costing them a boat load of money every year to keep those plates.

Anonymous said...

Yes finite lives... that is the reason I play video games.

Hot Sam said...

I once saw a Prius with a license plate cover which said,

"My car starves terrorists."

Funny, but the US gets the vast majority of its oil from THE USA, Canada, and Mexico.

Is he talking about Idaho militia groups, hockey players, or illegal aliens serving french fries?

I'm sure that terrorists would be eating quite well regardless of how many Priuses are on the road. If we ceased buying oil from the middle east, there would be one big tanker shuffle and those countries would still sell all they wanted to somebody.

If all vehicles got 200 miles per gallon, middle eastern countries would STILL sell all the oil they wanted and the wealthy sheiks would remain wealthy and continue to contribute to terrorists if it pleased them.

It's too bad the leftist SOB voted repeatedly for people who did nothing but inhibit blowing up terrorists. Bill Clinton allowed Al Qaeda to grow unopposed for eight years. We cashed in his 'peace dividend' on 9/11.

I'm dying to ask these pompous frackers how much CO2 was emitted in the production of their Prius. I'll bet $100 they haven't got a clue.

Anonymous said...

Another great one, Cappy.
P.S. The word for word verification was "servism"

Ryan Fuller said...

Environmentalists tend to view humanity as the enemy. I return the favor.

Environmentalism is a religion. Since they're late to the party, they haven't learned yet that public displays of piety are for assholes, so they're running around like a bunch of pharisees with oversized fringe, sackcloth/ashes, the works. They just want everyone to see how much more righteous they are.

johnsal said...

Oh, it's worse than the story you relate. Rather than rant on, let me just quote from Science and Technology News:

"Through a study by CNW Marketing called “Dust to Dust,” the total combined energy is taken from all the electrical, fuel, transportation, materials (metal, plastic, etc) and hundreds of other factors over the expected lifetime of a vehicle. The Prius costs an average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles – the expected lifespan of the Hybrid.

The Hummer, on the other hand, costs a more fiscal $1.95 per mile to put on the road over an expected lifetime of 300,000 miles. That means the Hummer will last three times longer than a Prius and use less combined energy doing it.

So, if you are an environmentalist – ditch the Prius. Instead, buy one of the most economical cars available – a Toyota Scion xB. The Scion only costs a paltry $0.48 per mile to put on the road. If you are still obsessed over gas mileage – buy a Chevy Aveo and fix that lead foot.

The Toyota Prius has become the flagship car for those in our society so environmentally conscious that they are willing to spend a premium to show the world how much they care. Unfortunately for them, their ultimate ‘green car’ is the source of some of the worst pollution in North America; it takes more combined energy per Prius to produce than a Hummer."

Actually, the "worst pollution" is spread all around the world since the nickel battery is mined in Canada and then makes a processing journey around the world before it gets back to the U.S. showroom in a Prius chasis.

Thus the question: Who is smarter, a Prius owner or a box of rocks?

Dr. Bob said...

Every time I see one of those Wellstone! bumper stickers, I want to reach out to the driver, put my hands on their shoulders and shake them saying. "He's dead. Yes, he's really dead. Gone. Kaput. Get over it and get on with your life."

But what I really do is get as much space as I can away from them, because based on prior experience, people with "Wellstone!" stickers tend to be very bad drivers.

BTW, I get 43 MPG during non-winter times with my 99 Saturn with 155,000 miles on it, but I'm not smug about it.

Anonymous said...

I can't help but think about the South Park episode where it became trendy to buy a Prius.
All the Prius owners became Smug and liked the smell of their own farts.
Then South Park became polluted with SMUG...

That show cracks me up..

HorribleLicensePlates said...

Robert - was it this one?

http://horriblelicenseplates.blogspot.com/2009/08/your-son-rip-is-on-line-toot.html

Geoffrey Freeman said...

Living = producing carbon. Ergo, if the leftists wish to do humanity the ultimate service of reducing carbon emmissions, killing themselves would achieve said goal more efficiently than anything else they could do.
Now THAT would be dedication to the cause.

GMR said...

Today I took my kids to an indoor playground in Manchester, NH because it was kind of drizzly. Read this blog online on my phone. Thought it was kind of funny. Left the place, put my kids into our Jeep, and parked next to me was a Prius.

I checked if the plates were vanity.

They were.

-FILLUPS

I guess you can get a hyphen in NH.