Agreed. I have a model 3 and a Lightning, and I’ve had more visibility issues on the model 3. Height is never the issue, it’s the ginormous A-pillars modern cars have.
Of course, they do serve a purpose, in that there's more often than not airbags in them, plus they provide structural integrity often lacking in older cars - so making the car safer for its occupants at the cost of anyone outside the car.
Say, I have a Range Rover Classic (1972, 3.5l V8) I mostly use for fun and games during weekends in the summer months. Its A-pillars look like strands of spaghetti, making for excellent situational awareness from the driver's seat. It is effectively like driving around in a moving greenhouse. (Doubly so in summer, seeing as the A/C is of dubious efficacy, to put it mildly.)
If I ever roll the thing, I'll be done for, though.
That Apple serves as a "Veblen goods" lifestyle brand is well established. Your amusement is what's weird.
Of course people show off their iPhone. It's a big reason of owing one, it's also a big reason behind slight/major redesigns (people are able to show they have the latest model).
Perhaps you take "show off" literally, like someone going "hey, look, I have an expensive phone"?
It's way more subtle than that, only someone totally crash would do it that way. It's done the same way people buy expensive sneakers and clothes, or how people buy Teslas (or used to) and similar stuff. As a consumer identity that signals you afford a higher cost lifestyle.
democratic socialist isn't inherently interchangeable with social democracy. the DSA defines democratic socialism as explicitly at odds with capitalism, and aims to achieve socialism by going through and past social democracy (where european social democracy is plenty capitalist). Mamdani himself has actively disavowed capitalism.
> Capitalism is a system designed by the owning class to exploit the rest of us for their own profit. We must replace it with democratic socialism, a system where ordinary people have a real voice in our workplaces, neighborhoods, and society.
> We believe there are many avenues that feed into the democratic road to socialism. Our vision pushes further than historic social democracy and leaves behind authoritarian visions of socialism in the dustbin of history.
> [...] We want to win “radical” reforms like single-payer Medicare for All, defunding the police/refunding communities, the Green New Deal, and more as a transition to a freer, more just life.
It has to be a deliberate joke, right? Isn’t rotisserie chicken the poster child for loss leaders? For all the reasons to buy it, luxury is the bottom of the list.
The rich have in my view become increasingly (outwardly) selfish and craven, so it makes sense that they are now associating with the vibes of apocryphal Marie Antoinette quotes.
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