Divisions:

We've been reading a lot about how the country is divided between Red and Blue, Religious and Secular, or NASCAR and NPR, to name a few. But those categories are way too large and don't properly address policy issues (e.g. "red" people like Republican foreign policy but would benefit from a Democratic domestic agenda).

A new way of classifying people is sorely needed. With that in mind, we propose going back to an old standard - classifying people by the kind of car they own. Here is GM's company saying* from many years ago:

"Chevrolet is for the hoi polloi, Pontiac for the poor but proud, Oldsmobile for the comfortable but discreet, Buick for the striving, and Cadillac for the rich."

That king of division is not geographically based and promotes a richer dialogue. Plus, there is the fun aspect of critiquing the cars on their own merits (with the added benefit of getting Mickey Kaus to quit writing about politcs and concentrate on his true love: rear wheel drive).

Let's do it! - updated for the current mix of manufacturers.

* NOTE: We discovered the saying in an 1996 issue of the Wilson Quarterly (vol X, no 5). If any readers are familiar with it, we'd be interested to know and appreciate comments. For example, the saying is not dated, but we suspect it was from the 40's or 50's.

posted by Quiddity at 12/07/2004 07:24:00 PM