Irrational? Sure. But still . . .
I don’t exactly disagree with Charlie’s view on cars as political statements (and who doesn’t enjoy a knock on Adam Schiff?), but there’s another layer or shade to the matter of whether what you drive or buy implicates you in, or aligns you with, some sort of belief or message.
When I was growing up, my parents bought one broken-down used car after another. Our favorite was the enormous white convertible (an Impala, maybe?) with a ruby-red interior. But there was one sort of car my parents wouldn’t have driven even if given to them for free. They had arrived in this country as Jewish refugees from Nazi-annexed Austria. They would never have bought a German car.
The idea that buying a German car was wrong (for Jews like us) was ingrained in me and my siblings. I’m not saying this was rational, but it didn’t need to be. It was an instinct, a gut feeling. A car is a big, expensive thing that carries you around in public — it can be taken as a statement, even if it isn’t one. And yet, when my husband and I were looking for a car many years ago, and our mechanic came up with a used Audi station wagon that he thought was ideal for us and our kids, I came around to the idea that it was okay. I told myself that, since the car was used, the money we were paying for it wouldn’t in any way get into the hands of some descendant of Nazis in Germany. I hoped my late parents would have forgiven me.
Wouldn’t you know it, that Audi turned out to be a lemon. We poured ridiculous amounts of money into it before junking it. I took this as condign punishment.
Charlie also talks about such mundane household items as toasters and dishwashers. And this brings me back to my mother’s early vow — early as in the days when suddenly it seemed that everything you could buy, from toasters to socks to toys to hair clips, was made in China — not to buy things made in a Communist totalitarian country. We (her kids) thought it was admirable, if increasingly impossible to stick to.
A good friend of ours, a center-left Democrat and a car guy, was toying with the idea of buying a Tesla. He had qualms because of Elon Musk’s role in the government. His son told him not to do it — it would be tacit support for Trump. He bought a Mazda. Part of me sees this as silly, for the reasons Charlie lays out. But part of me can relate. He just didn’t want to be associated, by the wheels he chose, with the Musk-Trump-palooza.
Recently, I bought a wood cutting board at a chain store that sells household items. The tag had an Italian-sounding brand name, with the word “Italy” under it. When I got home, I discovered a label stuck to the back that said “Made in China.” It made me mad. I thought of my mother. The board was sixteen bucks, and this is a dumb thing to get vexed about. But the next week, I returned it.