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No argument from me on that. On the contrary, my whole point is that what "concerns kids and home expenses" is a powerful and essential driver of the economy. It isn't a gendered-question either. A mother is going to worry more about a "safer" (costlier) SUV, than a child-free woman, who might instead eschew personal automotive transportation entirely, instead relying on Ueber or mass-transit.
I don’t really think it’s that extreme. Single people buy cars too unless the live in NYC or very big city. They just won’t buy as many seats. But I agree kids and raising kids add a lot to the economy. I never disputed that.
While of course it’s true that child-free people can and do waste money, we’re missing the point: parents have compulsory or near-compulsory purchases. Without children, I can – if I wish – choose to not heat the house this winter. The indoor temperature will fall below freezing. Evacuate the piping of all water, lest the frozen pipes burst… not the most commodious or even the wisest options, but definitely possible, in the interest of zealous frugality. But if I had children? Then the no-heat option is no longer possible.
Much of our frivolous consumerism is of course based on personal vanity, conformism and so forth. But the costs of parenting aren’t optional, or at least don’t feel to be optional. It is no longer acceptable to deny Junior participation in after-school sports, merely because there’s a fee. This is a cost to which parents are locked-in, whereas non-parents can choose to spend that money on dope, or fancy vacations or maybe on savings.
Sports cars are an interesting example. They’re becoming rarer and less oriented towards “sport”. Instead, the mass-appeal these days is for large, hulking, upright vehicles… trucks or SUVs. The implication is that these are more “practical”… never mind how often they’re taken off-road or recruited to carry cargo. The sports car has meanwhile come to be demonized as being frivolous and sophomoric. There are of course sound economic reasons for this. I don’t deny that this trend is good for the automotive industry’s profits, and hence, for the stock market and the economy. But I do very much miss the bygone culture that prizes sports cars.
To be fair, a lot of spending occurs by men trying to impress other men, or women trying to impress other women. Not every ostentatious display of peacock-feathers somehow serves a mating-strategy.
To my earlier point, there was once a time when men could impress other men in armchair debates of whose car was faster in the quarter-mile. That sort of debate now seems to be dismissed, as being uncouth. The new debate is over which crossover-vehicle has a higher safety rating.
The latter depends the age of the man and type of men. Young guy still prefer fast cars, and racing and having fast cars is still very popular and blue-collar circles even among people with kids. You’re talking about like a yuppie subset of people.
The latter depends the age of the man and type of men. Young guy still prefer fast cars, and racing and having fast cars is still very popular and blue-collar circles even among people with kids. You’re talking about like a yuppie subset of people.
My observation has been that the blue-collar set has turned almost entirely to trucks. Even drag-racing and NASCAR are in decline. Meanwhile, my coworkers (almost exclusively men, who drive primarily F-150s) report that their teenage and college-age sons have no interest in vehicular transportation, or sporting activities thereof. This is in a smallish city in the Midwest... not a law-firm in NYC or a tech start-up in Palo Alto.
To the point of this thread, we see the results in the market. What is happened to the automotive industry? What in particular is happening to the automotive performance-industry? How does that bode for suppliers and the primarily-Midwestern industrial complex, and its associated jobs and so forth?
My observation has been that the blue-collar set has turned almost entirely to trucks. Even drag-racing and NASCAR are in decline. Meanwhile, my coworkers (almost exclusively men, who drive primarily F-150s) report that their teenage and college-age sons have no interest in vehicular transportation, or sporting activities thereof. This is in a smallish city in the Midwest... not a law-firm in NYC or a tech start-up in Palo Alto.
To the point of this thread, we see the results in the market. What is happened to the automotive industry? What in particular is happening to the automotive performance-industry? How does that bode for suppliers and the primarily-Midwestern industrial complex, and its associated jobs and so forth?
The cars that actually are quick/fast still sell. There just aren’t a lot of them.
My observation has been that the blue-collar set has turned almost entirely to trucks. Even drag-racing and NASCAR are in decline. Meanwhile, my coworkers (almost exclusively men, who drive primarily F-150s) report that their teenage and college-age sons have no interest in vehicular transportation, or sporting activities thereof. This is in a smallish city in the Midwest... not a law-firm in NYC or a tech start-up in Palo Alto.
To the point of this thread, we see the results in the market. What is happened to the automotive industry? What in particular is happening to the automotive performance-industry? How does that bode for suppliers and the primarily-Midwestern industrial complex, and its associated jobs and so forth?
A lot of younger people don't want to mess with cars as a hobby. I've never had an interest in cars from a hobbyist perspective. That's a big reason for the decline in those activities.
A lot of men get married because they think that will keep the sexual flow going. They are willing to pay for all these things so as to get the sex because they fear that they won't have regular sex without it. They are correct to a certain extent. Statistics bear out that in general marriages and relationships do protect against long term sexual droughts. There are many single men that if not in a relationship, they will go months or even years without sex. To pay for that stuff that you list to get sex 2-5 times a month (hardly impressive) is a better deal to men who face a prospect of 6 months to years without sex, and that's why it is done.
The better deal for a large percentage of men than marriage is serial monogamy, where you get into relationships that last anywhere from 6 months - 5 years, and during times of serial monogamy, traps like babies and committing to marriage are avoided. In that way, costs are reduced and benefits are enhanced. This is sort of the middle ground between the "Chad" arrangement of regular casual sex, which many men are not able to achieve, and the pitfalls of marriage. This is a more achievable arrangment for a lot of men.
Even the serial monogamy I suggest has economic impact. Because of no kids and no commitment, certain sectors of the economy are dependent upon the committed mating couplings.
Less stable couplings and more surplus men who are sexless are not good for many economic sectors. Want to know why a lot of restauarant chains are struggling? It's the mating environment. Less long term coupling and less stable coupling hurts casual dining chains like Chili's and Applebee's because there are more dining alone occasions, and places like those are ill suited for that. Food delivery like Grubhub has done well with the current mating environment because Grubhub allows for restaurant access without the discomfort of dining alone.
BS. No one has to get married to have sex.
Women (most) dont have sex to get a $15 dollar meal. As many women as men work, they dont need your money.
It is really not a bad thing if everyone is not out there having casual sex, spreading STDs and fertilizing eggs.
My observation has been that the blue-collar set has turned almost entirely to trucks. Even drag-racing and NASCAR are in decline. Meanwhile, my coworkers (almost exclusively men, who drive primarily F-150s) report that their teenage and college-age sons have no interest in vehicular transportation, or sporting activities thereof. This is in a smallish city in the Midwest... not a law-firm in NYC or a tech start-up in Palo Alto.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious Conversation
A lot of younger people don't want to mess with cars as a hobby. I've never had an interest in cars from a hobbyist perspective. That's a big reason for the decline in those activities.
Cars, like everything else, are becoming glorified computers, with interconnecting moving parts being almost secondary. So messing with cars today just doesn't feel the same. Even John Deere tractors, the poster boy of self-reliance and fascination in big machines, are computerized nowadays. So this puts cars in that gray area: too geeky for car fans, and not geeky enough for computer fans.
Last edited by MillennialUrbanist; 11-11-2019 at 08:18 AM..
Cars, like everything else, are becoming glorified computers, with interconnecting moving parts being almost secondary. So messing with cars today just doesn't feel the same. Even John Deere tractors, the poster boy of self-reliance and fascination in big machines, are computerized nowadays. So this puts cars in that gray area: too geeky for car fans, and not geeky enough for compute fans.
Yes, that’s an excellent point. When my brother was a young teenager, my grandfather who owned an auto parts store let him buy a junk automobile to learn how to work on cars. He built that car from the ground up practically throughout his entire teenage years. Every single day after school he would be out there working on it. That would not be possible to do with modern cars.
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