A Decidedly Limited Frustration...
I must suffer from some sort of driving disability, because I have now, three times, scraped my car up against the parking spot at my apartment and put white paint (and a few scratches) on the passenger’s side.
The first two times my future Father-in-law was able to buff out the white paint and leave only the natural Royal Blue sheen of my Civic.
This time was a little worse. I put a tiny dent on the wheel well. And there is far more white paint than ever.
Some people blame the parking spot itself. I blame myself, for being always impatient and not slowing down enough to ensure that my car doesn’t rub the old fashioned, carriage-sized spot.
But it got me thinking. Why does it even matter. I know a car is just a vessel for transportation, and the damage is entirely cosmetic. If I rode the bus, I wouldn’t care that it had a dent on the side. Perhaps a better example... if it’s my lawnmower, I don’t give a crap.
Of course... I already know why it matters. And I’m sure we all do. To begin with it was GM in the 1920's convincing us that a car was a status symbol (and not just a use-value commodity like the Model T). So the cosmetic appeal is more important than the use-value (which is unaffected by the paint).
Which is to say it’s all pecuniary emulation. As Veblen said:
“possessions then come to be valued not so much as evidence of successful foray, but rather as evidence of the prepotence of the possessor of these goods over other individuals within the community. The invidious comparison now becomes primarily a comparison of the owner with the other members of the group. Property is still of the nature of trophy, but, with the cultural advance, it becomes more and more a trophy of successes scored in the game of ownership carried on between the members of the group under the quasi-peaceable methods of nomadic life.”
In other words, because if my car has a scratch in it... that means I’m NOT better than other people. And quite frankly that’s something I just can’t accept.
Mark
The first two times my future Father-in-law was able to buff out the white paint and leave only the natural Royal Blue sheen of my Civic.
This time was a little worse. I put a tiny dent on the wheel well. And there is far more white paint than ever.
Some people blame the parking spot itself. I blame myself, for being always impatient and not slowing down enough to ensure that my car doesn’t rub the old fashioned, carriage-sized spot.
But it got me thinking. Why does it even matter. I know a car is just a vessel for transportation, and the damage is entirely cosmetic. If I rode the bus, I wouldn’t care that it had a dent on the side. Perhaps a better example... if it’s my lawnmower, I don’t give a crap.
Of course... I already know why it matters. And I’m sure we all do. To begin with it was GM in the 1920's convincing us that a car was a status symbol (and not just a use-value commodity like the Model T). So the cosmetic appeal is more important than the use-value (which is unaffected by the paint).
Which is to say it’s all pecuniary emulation. As Veblen said:
“possessions then come to be valued not so much as evidence of successful foray, but rather as evidence of the prepotence of the possessor of these goods over other individuals within the community. The invidious comparison now becomes primarily a comparison of the owner with the other members of the group. Property is still of the nature of trophy, but, with the cultural advance, it becomes more and more a trophy of successes scored in the game of ownership carried on between the members of the group under the quasi-peaceable methods of nomadic life.”
In other words, because if my car has a scratch in it... that means I’m NOT better than other people. And quite frankly that’s something I just can’t accept.
Mark
posted by M S Martinez at 11/01/2006 10:49:00 AM
5 Comments:
i can i guess. (have you seen my car?)
is that why you aren't marrying an ugly woman too?
I haven't seen your car... what are you driving now?
Rachel was telling me that I really don't need to fix it if I don't want to. And I think I was being tongue in cheek with this post... but sarcasm doesn't translate well to the printed word.
I caught YOUR sarcasm. . . .
I am confused. Is driving supposed to be a euphemism?
i drove YOUR euphemism. . . .
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