SUVs

[Ken Hanly]

I can recall during the final stages of the Vietnam War there were a few
representatives of the transitional government (forget what the correct
title was) who toured Manitoba. I was involved marginally. We were driven by
an older leftist who drove a Volvo. One member of the Vietnamese delegation
was puzzled  by the fact that he drove a Swedish car. The leftist explained
that Sweden was a progressive country and that the car was well made.. The
response of  Vietnamese guy: You should  buy an American car. They have best
technology.

Cheers, Ken Hanly

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Pugliese" <debsian at pacbell.net>
To: "lbo-talk" <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2001 11:01 PM
Subject: Re:SUVs


>    Today as I was loading the leftovers from a DSA picnic in Golden Gate
> Park into a Volvo, I remarked to another Sociology student (Stanford PhD)
> that back in my undergrad days at UCSC, after a talk by S.M. Lipset on,
"Why
> There Is No Socialism in America, " I saw Seymour shake Walter Goldfrank's
> hand, and then climb into his Volvo. A car I've always thought as one that
> social democrats drive. Not that S.M. has been one for decades. Anyway,
Ross
> the Stanford Sociologist grad, then tells me that when S.M. taught there
he
> walked around the faculty parking lot and listed the makes and models of
all
> the cars and then compared to the ideological committments of the faculty.
> American cars signified right leaning, foreign cars, more left leaning. I
> asked if S.M. did a break down between Japanese and European. Didn't
> remember. One marxist in econ. dept. had a expensive Italian sports car.
> Rattled off some possible names. (Wasn't Paul Baran, died long ago,
> essentially hounded to an early death anyway, mentioned John Gurley, drew
a
> blank with Ross.) I do know that Martin Jay at Cal, Berkeley drives a
sports
> car too.
> SUV's still suck though. Gas guzzlers and how many of their owners do any
> off road country drives anyway?
> Michael Pugliese
>