This post is practically a double

May 17, 2001 9:35 AM

It's posts like this one that really disappoint me. Talk about previously covered territory -- every element of that post has been discussed here at one point or another. If it's an important topic that needs more discussion, could we at least wait until there is some new development that gives a proper excuse for bringing it up? Alternately, I'll just shut up and we can all go back to flogging the dead horse.
posted by norm to Etiquette/Policy at 9:35 AM (15 comments total)

Respectfully disagree, though I'm bored with the topic too. The added value here was the links (though again, the Memepool-like barrage of links might have the perverse effect of making sure hardly any of them get read). So although it seems unlikely to lead to a great thread, I think it's a respectable attempt.
posted by rodii at 9:41 AM on May 17, 2001

I know! We can have, say, four permanent link topics at the top of each page:

SUVs
Bush
Nader
CSS/Netscape 4.x
"I'm New to the Web and My Page Sucks"

Eh?
posted by hijinx at 10:09 AM on May 17, 2001

More of same.
posted by crunchland at 10:22 AM on May 17, 2001

There have only been around 3-5 SUV-related posts in the last six months.
posted by rcade at 11:06 AM on May 17, 2001

Man, I wish someone would post a picture of a cute cat.
posted by Doug at 11:27 AM on May 17, 2001

here's why i started the SUV thread.

this morning i read this article entitled "vandals target SUV windows" which is dated today -- in my mind that makes it a very current issue. i searched MeFi for the SUV tickets thread which is from december 2000 and i don't believe [according to my search of Mefi] that there have been any explicitly SUV threads since then. that entire thread is 12 comments over 2 days. it's from a different era of MeFi. i determined that it was not too soon to revisit this issue.

so i searched google for other forms of SUV vandalism & came up with the potato thing & whatnot.

when i came upon a forum titled "the SUV Blight", it got me to thinking about how polarized people are on this issue. so my main focus, i thought, in posting this thread is 'is it an issue that can be rationally discussed by adults'?

...although that's not really where the conversation went. oh well.
posted by palegirl at 11:38 AM on May 17, 2001

Wish I had thought of this...
posted by fooljay at 11:39 AM on May 17, 2001

Explicitly SUV threads? Naah. But this went into familiar territory back on May 1.

'is it an issue that can be rationally discussed by adults'?

No. But I applaud you for trying.
posted by hijinx at 11:44 AM on May 17, 2001

Uh.. not to nit-pick.. but that list would be 5 permament links, not 4.


posted by rich at 11:51 AM on May 17, 2001

Rich: I caught that after I posted, and was waiting to see who'd catch that. I have no prizes to give you, sorry.
posted by hijinx at 11:53 AM on May 17, 2001

The SUV thing may not be an issue that can be rationally discussed by adults, but that's because it's an intense political issue, which it absolutely should, I think. Palegirl was doing a good thing, seems, in trying to steer the discussion in another direction with the Sierra Club/ general "what else could you do for the environment" thing at the end. The post just looked like sort of a rant, if you weren't paying close attention. But the SUV thing is going to remain intensely political for some time to come. That's the way things work when you're in a self-governing society.

I'm always telling people that most national politics is boring compared to state and local. This is one of the few instances where a national issue becomes as hot as a local issue. Why? Same reason having a parking lot put up in your back yard is hot, why a zoning change can drive some normally mild-mannered people close to bonkers. Because, contrary to the idea that this is all media-fueled, the SUV issue hits people where they live, as it were. Knowing that, if you're concerned about the issue, do you just decide to handle the heat, or do you try to manipulate opinion in some way, try to get people to see the bigger picture? It's a fine line to walk, but that doesn't mean the issue should be avoided at all costs.


posted by raysmj at 12:17 AM on May 18, 2001

Excuse the ignoramus, but what on earth is an SUV?
posted by Tara at 8:46 AM on May 20, 2001

Self-esteem Upgrade Vehicle.
posted by rodii at 12:14 PM on May 20, 2001

SUV = sport-utility vehicle, basically a truck with lots of seating in it, so it can be used for many passengers or for cargo, like a Ford Explorer or Chevy Suburban. Often they have four-wheel-drive. It is now possible to buy a "luxury SUV" in which all the truckness of the vehicle has been smoothed out, thereby completely missing the entire point. For a "luxury SUV" the only part of the acronym that has any relevance is the "V" -- yep, it's a vehicle all right.
posted by kindall at 12:16 PM on May 20, 2001

I consider this a good, even a Howie style post. More than just one link to round out the topic for discussion. A far more important issue in my book would be multi posts. It seems very few people go back even one day to follow discussion of a topic even when they have posted themselves! Perhaps posts should appear old to new with a minimum of 3 days viewed.
posted by roboto at 11:10 PM on May 20, 2001