Wednesday, April 17, 1235
Daily Nc bracken
PotJ'3 5
Living WKhB
I heir on ths r.:.Y3 report the ether n!r ht th:t
& f ;jr.i:y i.i America tc I:y muling $30,C00 a year
cornet rJTord to toy a m ear.
i means
1X1. ci JiCSS ill
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Bill
Hen
Fcmme reason that didn't seem culte rirht. I
mean, I believe that the family can't afford the
car, but it seems to me that they slmuld be able
to.
There are two asps ei3 to this.
The first is that in our society today a car is a
necessity. There was a time perhaps where this
wasn't true end I'm sura it is possible to get by
without a car, but to fd!y appreciate and func
tion simply in today's world most people would
think that a csr is, at least, a r.ecc:::ry evil.
Ar.i when I say this I'm not talking about the
new ca I'll get to that later. I'm talking about
basic transportation, soiasthtog that runs. Most
people can afford "something that runs."
- The second aspect is that someone ' that
makes $SO,COO a year should be able to do a little
better than "something that run3."
I den't have exact figures but $30,000 a
year Is more than most people make. School
teachers make half that. Many laborers make
much less than that. I vak around a bunch cf
Jcumaliats so I'll use them fcr an example. Let's
say two little journalists grew up, graduate from
college, get newspaper Jobs, have two kids and
make about 130,000 a year combined (that's
about the norm). Thee two people have worked
throng the system and reached a level where
they should be able to start enjoying some of the
benefits of that system, yet they ct't afford to
buy a new car. I won't even go into the financial
troubles associated with buying a home.
Car manufacture. .- are a major part cf the
problem, but not all cf it. For one thing American
car manufacturers can't, or won't, compete with
foreign manufactures so in order to make money
they sell fewer cars at a much higher price. The
foreign manufacturers can keep the price cf
their cars as high as they want as long as they sell
fcr less than American competition. Still, accord
ing to the report, I heard net being able to afford
a new car includes not being able to afford a new
foreign csr.
The big factor in all this is people continue to
buy new cars even though they can't afford them.
- A shoe salesman that makes $10,000 a year and
wears suits to work feels he has to have a new car
to "keep up that yuppie image." People right out
cf high school o n their first job have to prove to
the world that they've made it, so they buy a new
car, even though they can barely afford rent.
Ibis i3 part cf a mass sickness that perpetu
ates high prices. It is a status symbol to cvn a
new car. The only thing is the status symbol is
false and people are sacrificing what could be a
much better life so they can make car payments,
other payments. Car manufacturers aren't the
only evil in this mass neurosis. People that
should be saving or investing money for worth
while things buy the $50 pair cf jeans and then
complain because they have no money to pa? the
light bill.
Jeans are a necessity. $30-a-pair jeans are net
a necessity. A car is a necessity. A new car is not
a necessity. I myseif would be perfectly content
to drive "something that runs," instead cf going
into a debt that would be hard for me to pay off.
We have a president that tries to stimulate the
economy by saying "buy, buy, buy." Too bad he
doesn't remind us also to "pay, pay, pay."
This same president talks about a return to
traditional American values. What about those
values of hard work, living within your means
and being proud of what you can accomplish?
Hot7 call you be proud of that new err or
new home if you are still paying for it and will be
into the foreseeable fat;
V.Z7I can you be proud cf that ncs? car when
you end your wife are screaming at each ether
because you can't pay the bilk?
What cf these traditional family values when
you don't have time to toss a ball with your kid cr
go far a walk with your spouse on a summer
evening because you have to put in overtime to
pay fcr that new car?
And guess what? As long 83 we are wil
ling to put in thst overtime and go into debt, the
prices cf cars are not going to become reasonable.
It i3 really frustrating for those who try to live
a life based on personal values when no one else
ccopentes. I think the healthiest people are
those that go at life with all they've got, love
themselves and the ones close to them, and
accept gracefully and gladly all that they are
able to accomplish.
In the meantime, those of you driving new cars
you can't afford, remember that it's you and
others like you that keep someone that has
worked to make $30,000 a year from being able to
afford a car, too.
But then, you don't care. As a matter of fact,
that person making $30,000 probably has a new
car anyway, even though he can't afford it. "Buy,
buy, buy."
Hi i
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1V&SS CUltur8 literature in general? The practically inexcusable.
stones sne icia were anout nara-wormg
Nebraskans who relished their accom- Thomas Sullivan
Ons cf the things that I enjoy most plishments as well as taking pride in senior
about' UNL City Campus is walking them. I find nothing enjoyable about a English
through on a nice spring day. As I come patch of dead grass dedicated to Willa
up between Andrews and Burnett, I Gather. The spirit she demonstrated in
notice that the trees are in bloom, her literature would never hare allowed IMitiir'a nates Whs, mrwm
Walking further still (p if I were geing it to com to this. ; to be & psteh of dead grass' la lsf pOli'iT
to Sheldon Art Gallery) I am amazed at I suppose I'm less mad than just rc&llyt&ebesaSnoffibsfMo U Wi V,lil
tr.e rar.aem clutter cr numar.3 lying in displeased, is there something that przisa Izvtz, m kc?p!ii ths
the rich grass. Yet as I pass the library, can be cone about this? On a campus : taciae cf k&ito oLmts fcr tt
I resllzo that the Willa Cather Garden where the Grounds Department Is so WiUa Cs&er Gsrdea, jtceordSsg
is rxthln more than a' patch cf dead essr to plant several trees and gsner- to UHL ronds department
gr?.23, with no tppeal whatsrevcr. . .ally renew the life of., the Harper-. d2r-drt.lSD2sbirc2!v
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