Just when you thought you’d read the last article analyzing the vehicle purchasing habits of Millennials, here comes another from Canada’s largest national newspaper, the Globe and Mail.
“Why car companies spend so much time targeting hipsters” is the headline of Jon Cook’s story, which delves into the cringe-inducing ad campaigns automakers have crafted to lure young and hip people into showrooms.
The author touches on some valid marketing points in the piece, then un-ironically introduces people who embody the hipster stereotype to talk about what hipsters like themselves want.
For starters, “hipster” is not interchangeable with “Millennial,” and the tropes that come with hipsterdom do not necessarily resonate across the age spectrum occupied by Millennials (roughly, people born in the 1980s and ’90s).
For this reason alone, automakers should think twice about getting involved in a campaign that portrays their target audience in a manner in which only a small portion of the audience identifies.
Hipsters, like the hippies and beatniks that came before them, are a small, like-minded subset of an age demographic, usually clustered in major urban centers, who all conform to a similar aesthetic (which for some reason is seen as enhancing individuality).
Artisanal bike baskets hewn from repurposed barn doors, beer with more hops than anyone needs, and beards borrowed from Rasputin might float some people’s boat, but they’re not the interests of an entire generation.
Still, automakers continue to court the hipster demographic in big cities like Toronto or New York, simply because a lot of young people — often with jobs! — live there.
Ahead of last year’s launch of the Audi A3, Cook writes, dealerships were advised to hold “hipster-esque” bashes, and directed “to feature locally sourced food and craft beer and to have DJs only spin tracks that had ‘obvious cool factor.'”
Think back to Chevrolet’s painfully awkward launch of the Spark subcompact for real-life lessons on that.
At some point, a marketing person working for an automaker has to ask, “Do young, moderately employed, eco-friendly people paying high rents in the downtown areas of cities containing decent transit and horrible traffic want to sign their life away on a new car?”
This “hipster = all Millennials” thinking is the reason we’ve been inundated in articles about how Millennials don’t want cars, a much-hyped myth that’s only now crumbling in the fact of actual data.
Yes, many Brooklyn hipsters probably have no use or want for a car. A 27-year old living in Oklahoma City or a suburb of Cleveland or Raleigh might want one, but they’re slightly outside the orbit of New York writers. Who knows what lies west of the Appalachians?
In 2014, industry sales analyst JD Power released a report showing that Generation Y buyers had surpassed Generation X in new auto sales, possibly on target to surpass Boomers within the decade.
The study found that Generation Y buyers wanted a car that stood out from the crowd and came with the technology they liked, but didn’t care all that much about environmental friendliness.
Gee, there’s no parallels with the original Mustang/Charger/GTO here …
Derek Thompson, writing in the Atlantic, was forced last year to dial back his earlier predictions of a car-less generation of Millennials living in urban flats. Shockingly, once some people of his age gained money and a family, they began looking for a home in the suburbs and a car in the driveway.
There’s a danger in assuming everyone in your age demographic subscribes to your personal ideals, or that your generation’s wants must be vastly different than that of the previous generation.
The lesson for automakers? There are better ways of targeting a broad segment of the population while casting the widest possible net for sales. No subset of the population has ownership of a theme. Retirees like freedom and spontaneity, too, assuming they have savings or a pension. Don’t get caught in the narrow focus trap, understand the diversity of your audience, and most of all — don’t be lame.
“The study found that Generation Y buyers wanted a car that stood out from the crowd and came with the technology they liked, but didn’t care all that much about environmental friendliness.”
HAHHAHA. Good, good. Conspicuous modern brougham returns.
Yes we can.
Just today I saw a conspicuous modern brougham in the visitor parking. It was too big to fit under the garage entry, I suspect.
Pearl white
four door
long bed
sunroof
dually
F-350
diesel
button-down bed cover
Platinum
Dually F-250? Usually we call that an F-350, but okay.
I didn’t know that – but I was on the 5th floor and quite a ways away.
Drzhivago138 – gotta keep those car guys on the straight and narrow :)
CoreyDL – you can’t get a dually in a F250.
Yeah I edited that part. Had no idea. I’m guessing I was looking at about $70k sitting there.
My son bought a leftover 2015 F350 XLT DRW 4X4 4-door longbed in ABQ, with a $13,500 incentive discount, $71,534.17 out the door.
But it is a diesel and the best in class, by far.
I just built one like I saw because I was curious – yep $70,000.
In Canada full bling SuperDuty trucks are pushing $94k.
I don’t see many in the hands of younger guys unless they are a logging contractor.
The brodozer of choice around my part of the world is Chevy. I see more lifted play trucks from them than anyone else.
MOAR DEBT!!!!
NOMMM NOMMMM NOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!
Debt Monster HUNGRY!!!!!
NOMMM NOMMMM NOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!
Canadians’ Debt is Out of Control
*Candadian Business Journal
In a prolonged interval of economic uncertainly it appears a number of Canadians are opting to ignore the red-light financial warning signs and continuing to spend well beyond their means. We’ve all reaped the benefits of borrowing against low interest rates. But when interest rates rise – and they eventually will – a large percentage of borrowers are going to find themselves behind the proverbial eight ball.
Canadians continue to pile on debt and now collectively owe more than $1.8 trillion, according to the latest figures from Equifax Canada. The consumer credit rating agency says the level at the end of the third quarter was up almost 7.5% from $1.409 trillion a year ago. Figures for the fourth quarter are not yet known, but they aren’t expected to be any rosier.
http://www.cbj.ca/canadians-debt-is-out-of-control/
Canadian Household Debt Fun In Charts:
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/canada/households-debt-to-income/forecast
https://geroldblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/debt.jpg?w=640
Mark is spending too much money on Saturns!
@DW
I watched a short video explaining that as of early 2015, Alberta was ostensibly supporting the Ponzi of Canada through taxes and it was the only province with a positive replacement rate. I’m sure this has now been reversed, but it still means zee Canucks are going to have to find a new golden goose.
I think one of the underlying trends is a rising rate of home ownership, which is arguably different from credit card debt or car loans.
Add to that the fact that millenials are a mini baby boom (they are the kids of Boomers), so you’ve got lots of first-time buyers (high debt to equity ratio). That particular problem will resolve itself eventually, and the real estate market will cool-off. We are almost at the point where Gen-X’s kids will enter the market, and there’s fewer of those.
Not saying that the kids aren’t paying for knuckle tattoos with plastic, but a significant portion of the rising debt load is demographic.
DeadWeight – Canadians somehow have not learned from the 2008 crash. Our central bank has chosen to keep interest rates low. It is a double edged sword. Low rates keep the lemmings running for the eventual (proverbial) cliff. Higher rates would slow the run but bring the cliff closer to the weak in the colony (is that what they call a group of lemmings?)
No, a group of lemmings in Canada is called a Liberal Party.
And speaking of debt let’s talk again in four years to see how deep the hole is then.
“Canadians somehow have not learned from the 2008 crash.”
Nor have Americans, Brits, Australians, or many others of many nations, unfortunately.
Canadians do seem to be motivated to excel, by relative standards, in accumulating among the highest % of household (i.e. private versus government) debt compared to their income, though.
Once we throw/heap government debt onto the pile in addition to private/household debt, debt is at historically high levels outside of very specific points in history (e.g. WWII) in many western AND eastern nations, however.
The world is a vampire, sent to drain
Secret destroyers, hold you up to the flames
And what do I get, for my pain?
Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game
Even though I know – I suppose I’ll show
All my cool and cold – like old job
@thejohnnycanuck – so it is automatically the Liberal government’s fault for the oil industry implosion?
Why did the Conservatives fall flat on their face in the last election?
Kevin O’Leary pointed out that the Conservatives lost because “Harper was a bit out of touch with what it means to be Canadian.”
“”We’re extremely compassionate, open, inclusive people. That’s the DNA of what being Canadian is,” he said.
“Regardless of our party and our politics or what province we’re born in, it’s exactly that.”
O’Leary said the mandate of every Canadian leader is “to remember who they are.”
“If you ever, ever, ever go off that rail, that defined line, that definition of what makes you a Canadian, the weight of everybody else’s goodwill and what’s in their heart befalls you,” he continued.
“And that’s what unfortunately happened to Mr. Harper.”
“Canadians somehow have not learned from the 2008 crash.”
They have. They learned that those who borrow (and live) “irresponsibly”, gets bailed out by those that don’t.
@stuki – Kinda like GM and Chrysler?
If one were to look at economic growth in the USA and Canada for the past few decades the only reason there was any growth was due to borrowed money. Remove borrowed money from the equation and both economies would be completely stagnant.
Banks, governments, business have all encouraged debt.
We have seen both Conservative and Liberal governments in charge and for the most part ideology has had little real effect on the economy.
I do not want to sound like a member of the tinfoil hat crowd but such a system of indebtedness only benefits the very top end of society.
This link states what @heavy Handle has said:
http://business.financialpost.com/investing/outlook-2016/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-canadian-household-debt-should-we-be-worried
“I do not want to sound like a member of the tinfoil hat crowd but such a system of indebtedness only benefits the very top end of society.”
And which part of society is effectively entrusted with writing the rules……
If only that new Continental came in a 2 door with a V8.
God yes.
And I’m one of these millennial hipsters (from Oklahoma nonetheless) you referenced in the article. I’ve got 4 cars just for myself, doing my part to balance out those car-less NYC millenials…
You’ve got one car more than me, we all have to do our part to cure hipsterism.
Shall I pick up a 90-93 Riviera to help out more?
Yes, you’re slacking with only two.
https://cincinnati.craigslist.org/cto/5476472528.html
Look how clean this is! So unusual. That’ll make a decent cheapo for someone. Always liked the light bar version.
The “wide track” of the GTP always looked better, but I would have traded that in a heartbeat for the full frontal light up grill in that SE. Always gave me a little bit of joy when I saw someone driving around with only their parking lights on and the whole front grill lit up in full European-running-light glory…that person really GOT IT, man. Maybe I was a weird kid.
Family friends had the circa 94 Regal version, in navy blue with gold emblems, and a navy cloth interior. They kept it until maybe a year or two ago (replaced with a Montego). But as a kid that thing always caught my eye. It had so much trim, and looked so nice and expensive!
That is clean for the Northeast, but I think the SE is 60V6 and not 3800 so m’eh.
Y’know the coupe that followed up this model was super sharp.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/White_Pontiac_Grand_Prix.jpg
That was the modern high water mark for Pontiac IMO. Downhill from there to the end.
I prefer the following (and final) generation GP coupe.
I can’t get with that one because it’s so blobby. By that time they had lost it for me with the exception of the exterior styling on the Bonne.
Too many old people memories for me with +90’s Buicks. My Buick interest peaked in the 80’s (and never really waned, honestly. Give me a Regal T-Type any day.)
Now I’m looking up malaise-era Grand Prix’s. Here’s a good example if you really really REALLY like red. http://classiccars.com/listings/view/727719/1976-pontiac-grand-prix-for-sale-in-monroe-new-jersey-08831
An unmolested 80’s T-top version would be even better. EDIT: Oh man, no T-tops, but clean. https://www.mecum.com/lot-detail/FL0116-239320/0/1985-Pontiac-Grand-Prix/Automatic/
Good lord so much red! My eyes!
I can’t get with pointy nose either. They ruined the styling with that crap, just like they did on the Tbird for 71 or whenever.
Gimme Olds.
I’m with you on Olds for the styling alone. Only problem is the Olds premium. Apparently I’m a hipster a la the article because I like to seek out the less popular and non-obvious choice if a deal is to be had.
5 speed!(!!!)
http://classiccars.com/listings/view/764685/1977-oldsmobile-cutlass-for-sale-in-greensboro-north-carolina-27407
Because Olds is the more stylish and tasteful option – it’s anti-hipster! God look how much better it is.
5 speed!(!!!)
http://classiccars.com/listings/view/764685/1977-oldsmobile-cutlass-for-sale-in-greensboro-north-carolina-27407
Wonder what it will go/went for. Not hipster money. :(
I have 2, am a millenial (or gen-Y, the cutoff is a bit fuzzy, born in ’88), am not a hipster and couldn’t imagine life without a car. I like the burbs too much.
2003 Century Custom 121k miles
2014 Focus ST 14k miles
These articles will continue to be churned out as long as there is confusion, jealousy and resentment from older folks directed towards the young, and zero cool factor flyover yokels for stylish urbanites. As long as there are clouds there will be Abe Simpsons to yell at them.
sportyaccordy – more of a case of one demographic not understanding the other. Or as pointed out by the author – a group of the one demographic just assumes that the rest of that demographic is the same.
Other than youth and beauty I have no jealousy of the young.
Bob Seger’s Fire Inside sums it up:
“Then you walk to the window and stare at the moon
Riding high and lonesome through a starlit sky
And it comes to you how it all slips away
Youth and beauty are gone one day
No matter what you dream or feel or say
It ends in dust and disarray
Like wind on the plains, sand through the glass
Waves rolling in with the tide
Dreams die hard and we watch them erode
But we cannot be denied
The fire inside”
“who all conform to a similar aesthetic”
It costs a lot of money to look like you got your clothes from Goodwill. And all those extra hops making your beer taste terrible don’t come cheap. All this to juggle while fearing meat and gluten and maintaining outward ironic superiority.
In my part of the world it often is hard to tell the difference between a hipster and a hillbilly coming to town after workin’ on the pot plantation.
Proximity to StarBucks is a dead giveaway.
“Proximity to StarBucks is a dead giveaway.” There’s probably more you don’t see because you can buy many of Starbuck’s best selling drinks in 40 oz bottles now, to keep a stash at home.
Wal-Mart sells them, Albertson’s, Lowe’s, and of course, all US military Commissaries.
Hipsters only go to the local farmer’s market or Whole Foods. None of those box stores make the cut!
We don’t have those where I live. Box is all we have.
But at least they carry our favorite Starbucks coffees.
Hipsters require those things and an urban center with bikes and Uber! I’m not sure you have any hipsters out there in the desert.
I understand, but we are experiencing a huge influx of both hipsters and hillbillies coming into our region from both the East Coast and the West Coast.
And they want the things that they have grown accustomed to, back where they came from.
So we see little mom&pop coffee shops spring up, along with little Bistros, cupcake cafes, pastry shops, Boutiques, etc., in unlikely places like the Regional Medical Center. As if…..
Temporary hipster gentrification? Hmm.
It ain’t temporary AFAIK. They’re buying homes and real property with the money they brought from whence they came.
They want to make little desert farms! Oh no!
One is growing Pecans on acres and acres of desert land. Others grow Pistachios.
Several grow grapes and have opened their own wineries.
Pretty nifty. We particularly like the local White Zinfandel. It may not be Napa but it is tasty.
look at the bright side, hipsters, hippies, hillbillies, and flower children plugging up the desert with their sh!t will make it harder for those Mexicans to sneak in.
“look at the bright side, hipsters, hippies, hillbillies, and flower children plugging up the desert with their sh!t will make it harder for those Mexicans to sneak in.”
Lou-BC, I don’t know about that. In Jan 2016 we got a shipment of ~700 apprehended illegal aliens (mostly unaccompanied children dumped at the TX border) and parked them at the nearby Air Force Base in the old SatCom compound.
They stayed for several weeks, were fed, clothed, nursed back to health, inoculated, given physicals, etc, before being dispersed to different places around the US that would take them.
It’s a shell game. Before this there was a hoard of ~600 illegal aliens kept at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, NM, before they were shipped off to a brand new detention center in TX.
Most of this stuff never makes the US national news, much less Canadian news.
You can’t make up this stuff. The real truth is often stranger than fiction.
highdesertcat – “Proximity to StarBucks is a dead giveaway.”
Oh and that was meant as a joke.
We don’t tend to have that kind of accessibility to StarBucks and we are no were as heavily militarized as the USA.
Hipsters tend to prefer the trendy places and the rest of us get our coffee at Tim Horton’s.
Lou, it may have been meant as a joke but it is painfully close to the real thing in real life.
Just got back from San Diego, CA, today, and there are plenty of Starbucks there, and most of them in trendy places.
And, you guessed it, that’s where all the hippies, hipsters, hillbillies, and former flower children hang out.
I was born on America’s West Coast but I wouldn’t go back to live there for any amount of money.
Every time I go there I get totally weirded out. This last time too.
And, you guessed it, that’s where all the hippies, hipsters, hillbillies, and former flower children hang out.
They are all different with maybe the exception of flower children and hippies.
The Hipster vehicle of choice around me seems to be the Crown Vic, unless all these automakers are planning on pumping out a 04 Crown Vic competitor, than the hipsters are going to continue looking on the used market.
Hipisterism and Panther Love?
Worlds are colliding.
Honestly it makes sense, it’s a perfect little circle.
Crown Vic = opposite sex repellent
I am a millenial and I think modern cars and their associated advertising is completely unappealing. Although I am an enthusiast of cars and a mechanic so I am a little biased. I don’t want to drive anything except an obd 1 era or earlier solid axle jeep or truck, or a BOF full size car. But even in my group of friends, none of them are remotely interested in anything new. Everything from panthers to old Chevy g vans and c/k trucks to an Isuzu impulse and broncos. Wow 700 HP hellcat that’s cool, sure as heck doesn’t make me want to go buy a dodge.
Last time I was at my office, all the millennials (we have a bunch of them) circled my new M235i like a pack of wild dogs around a wounded raccoon.
But none of them will be able to remotely afford one (new) for another 20 years, just like I couldn’t when I was their age. And the circle of life continues. I drooled over 325is when I was that age too.
You can never have enough hops.
“More hops than anyone needs”. Pfft, this is a web site for people who only want to meet the bare minimum? MOAR HOPS!
Can’t TTAC use a different photo?
Those two dudes need to get a room and be done with it.
Totally. The first time I saw the photo I thought the woman in the middle is meant to emphasize the chemistry between those two.
She looks somewhat uncomfortable in that sandwich…
It was a similar story with Scion. The original xB appealed to artsy people, which exist in every age group. And why was everyone surprised that those cars attracted a lot of older buyers? People too young and too old to have kids have similar automotive needs. Age just isn’t a unifying feature.
Though it does seem that my generation likes urban life more than my parents’ generation. I’m now in the suburbs, but that was a financial decision more than a lifestyle preference.
It is shocking how our media and advertising is informed solely by the east and west coast urban ethos. There is an entire country out there of actual real regular people with no access to hybrid busses and bike sharing apps. They need cars.
“There is an entire country out there of actual real regular people with no access to hybrid busses and bike sharing apps.”
There aren’t very many of them, though, and there are already more than enough cars to meet their needs.
We Millennials leave college with suspiciously close to the average new car transaction price in college loans.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/05/08/congratulations-class-of-2015-youre-the-most-indebted-ever-for-now/
$30,900 for college debt, generally with 120 month loan terms
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/05/04/new-car-transaction-price-3-kbb-kelley-blue-book/26690191/
$33,500 for a new car, with 72 month (and increasing) loan terms
The educational-industrial complex has it pretty good right now.
Vote Bernie and all your student debt will be forgiven….. because College should be…….. Tuition……Free.
He wants to forgive outstanding student loans too?
That’s my understanding. And the way he would do that is to tax the upper 1% at the 90% income tax rate, while giving full tax-credits to people who owe student debt, when they file.
My grandkids in San Diego told me all about it when I was there this week.
They’re all fired up about Bernie and are feeling the bern…..
Too bad Bernie doesn’t stand a snow ball’s chance in hell against Hillary. The kids (students) sure like him.
Then again, voters do not decide the POTUS. The Electoral College does.
The kids aren’t fired up enough to go vote, since Dem turnout is down and Bernie is getting creamed by Hillary.
dwford, as an Independent I don’t have a pony in this race since I don’t like ANY of the candidates on either side.
But I do think that the US national election in November will be well-attended because so many people are so angry, some because they lost so much during the past 7 years, and some because they stand to lose so much during the next four years.
Works for me, and relatively speaking I owe diddly in student loans now. But I graduated with over $25K 20 years ago, which was a lot for back then. I think I have 6-7 years left at $166/mo. 1.75% interest, so no hurry to pay that off. Kids get raped on consolidation loans these days, thanks Congress.
Tax the rich, they can afford it. But I agree Bernie is unelectable.
The voters indirectly elect the electoral college, so I don’t entirely see your point. It is not possible for someone to be elected president without the support of the people, it’s just that today we are so closely divided that the you can get odd results, like barely winning the popular vote but barely losing in the electoral college. Ultimately, there is usually little difference between whomever the final Republican candidate is and the final Democratic candidate – you need to be relatively moderate to get elected.
This year could be highly aberrational if Trump actually wins the Republican nomination. He is “unique” to say the least. But ultimately, once elected, I doubt he would do much different than anyone else, the Congress and the Courts will see to that. The president has some independent power when he is allowed to use it, but Congress and the Courts can clamp down if they see fit. And since the Republicans AND the Democrats hate Trump, I wish him all the luck in the world if he manages to get elected, he’s gonna need it.
Not holding my breath on that. President H. R. Clinton’s first official act will probably be to pardon herself for any theoretical wrongdoings. :-) I don’t love the woman, but I think she is well qualified for the job and as good as anyone else qualified will be.
Ultimately, I’m a good Maine Independent and think they all suck in their own ways, though for the past few election cycles I have thought the Republicans have sucked considerably more. They have just turned into the Bible-thumping bag of d!cks party.
“It is not possible for someone to be elected president without the support of the people”
There have been instances where the Electoral College voted against the wishes of the people who voted them into office.
Most recently, Gore vs Shrub. IIRC, the SCOTUS had to settle that one and that isn’t exactly a resounding win nor a resounding endorsement.
But then there was 9/11 for America and it is infinitely more likely that Shrub’s response was more indicative of what we, the people, wanted.
If Gore or any other ‘crat had been POTUS, America would have turned the other cheek, like we are doing now. The result is, no respect and being dissed as a nation.
So, yes, America always gets exactly what it deserves, because we vote for it.
HDC,
Are you saying that the American people wanted yet another war in Iraq after 9/11?
Wow.
VoGo, what we have now is far worse than another war in Iraq was – today’s war we cannot and will not win.
It is a war based on religious ideology that started from a power vacuum. Faith can move mountains and America’s chickens have come home to roost (Jeremiah Wright – 2008) And with them, those chickens brought Muslim terrorists.
Just because it doesn’t make headline news doesn’t mean that there isn’t a serious shooting war going on in the Middle East.
Except these days the launching areas are Kuwait and Turkey, and the first-line defense for the Homeland is the AMOC at March.
(Oops…. cat out of the bag?)
Sure glad none of mine are in this Viet Nam style conflict of today.
Obama’s War will last a lot longer than one generation while more of it will be waged on America’s home soil, by Muslim terrorists.
Hope that is preferable to you, bud.
highdesertcat –
“If Gore or any other ‘crat had been POTUS, America would have turned the other cheek, like we are doing now. The result is, no respect and being dissed as a nation.”
You actually believe the stuff you post! Wow.
Why did the USA go into Afghanistan? Most of the 9-11 terrorists were Saudi Arabian.
Iraq??? They weren’t front and centre in 9-11 either.
“Obama’s War will last a lot longer than one generation while more of it will be waged on America’s home soil, by Muslim terrorists.”
Really?
Since 9-11 more people have been killed in the USA by extreme rightwing groups than by Muslim Terrorists. Double the amount.
Out of the 360 plus “mass” shootings in the USA last year ONLY ONE was done by so-called Muslim Terrorists.
I’m going to stop now before I say a bunch of things we both are going to regret.
Lou_BC, are you sure you’re not my Canadian brother-in-law residing in Vancouver BC?
I could have sworn…….. In fact, I have heard that same whining from him. And I still love him as long as he treats my sister decent and makes her happy.
“I’m going to stop now before I say a bunch of things we both are going to regret.”
You’re free to say whatever is on your mind. I won’t be offended.
You’re entitled to your beliefs, as I am to mine. It’s a tenet we each have to live by.
We each have to believe in something we’re comfortable with, and I cling to my bible and my guns, yet I am far from conservative, nor Republican.
Imagine that.
highdesertcat –
Whining?
Far from it.
Once again you exhibit your own bigoted racist view of the world that goes against claims you have made of being Christian.
What do you want?
The USA to go to the Middle East and turn it all into a radioactive dust bowl?
Why?
You feel that Muslims are ALL evil subhuman threats to the American way.
(Note that is an answer not another question)
The chaos that IS the Middle East was created decades ago and part of that stems from deep paranoid fear of socialism. Add to that American Exceptionalism. Throw in neoliberal economics and the goose is cooked.
One can add conflicts between the three great religions of the region and even conflict within each one.
” The result is, no respect and being dissed as a nation.”
You can’t force respect. War and terror and fear is what you are alluding to.
Those are ISIS tactics and your tactics. Those tactics failed the USSR, Nazi Germany, and even the USA.
“But then there was 9/11 for America and it is infinitely more likely that Shrub’s response was more indicative of what we, the people, wanted.”
“We the people”
You implying that America is full of people just like YOU?
Trump is pandering to types just like you. Fortunately for the USA the uneducated angry bigoted racist white male demographic is dying of old age and education is killing off the other portion.
Lou-BC, feel free to believe what you will. If you prefer Muslim terrorists like those of ISIL/ISIS, I hope they will pay you their respects. Perhaps you could join them?
From your writings I get the impression that you’re a fearful Canadian isolationist, afraid to stand up for your own principles and rights even if someone slaps you in the face.
Develop some backbone! Man up!
What we need today is another Crusade, but alas, we’re too civilized for that now so the Muslims terrorists’ slaughter of Christians continues.
If you feel so strongly about Muslims, why not join ISIL/ISIS? I hear they’re hiring.
You’ll be known henceforth as Jihadi Lou.
@HighDesertCat – emphasis on “high”.
I would normally use factual data to refute you but that is rather easy but time consuming.
Looks like I scored a direct hit on that aging Islamaphobe carcass of yours.
Trump hits those same pressure points on a daily basis.
Manipulation 101 – exploit xenophobia.
LOL
Trump…..onward christian soldier.
Protector of fearful aging gun totting white guys all over Murica.
Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha
Lou_BC, ultimately it is what we each believe in and live our lives by.
It has to be a belief that works for us. Mine works for me. Yours works for you.
I won’t accept your beliefs and I don’t care what you think of mine.
What is one man’s bible is another man’s Quran.
I don’t have a dog in this political fight because I believe I have successfully disassociated myself since I don’t favor any of the candidates still standing.
Trump christian. Bernie jew. Hillary atheist. Obama muslim. One is as bad as the other when it comes to running America.
Whatever the majority wants, they can have. I’ll steer clear and plow on my own way.
highdesertcat – your view works for you and you alone. You’ve confirmed that point multiple times.
I rally against ANY form of extremism whether that be homophobia, xenophobia , or religious extremes of ANY religion.
Not all Muslims are terrorists.
“It is reported that Egyptian Muslims offered themselves as ‘human shields’ to protect Coptic Christians during their celebrations of Christmas on January 7th a week after a suicide bomber killed 21 Christians and injured over 80 in Alexandria.”
“Tunisian hotel staff formed human shield in heroic move to save tourists:
‘You must kill us first, but we’re Muslim’: Tourist reveals how hotel workers formed ‘human shield’ to stop gun maniac shooting more dead as Britons tell how they played dead to survive”
“On February 21, Reuters reported that more than 1,000 Muslims formed a symbolic human shield around a synagogue in Norway, chanting “No to anti-Semitism, no to Islamophobia.” A group of young Muslims had organized the demonstration, which took place in subzero weather, in response to the recent killing of two people at a synagogue in neighboring Denmark. It was an inspiring spectacle.”
I can easily find multiple other stories.
Your comments are hateful, no different than Daesh.
“your view works for you and you alone. You’ve confirmed that point multiple times. ”
Not true. In another thread Trump is being attacked for holding many of the same views and yet I’m not a Trump supporter.
The sissyfied people living in the large cities have their beliefs they choose to live by but not so people who live in the rural areas like I do.
And once they can, those metrosexuals often move out into the country to get away from all that diversity and tolerance of the big cities.
@hdc
“College” as an industry should be destroyed.
28-Cars-Later, there’s a lot of merit in that statement.
The way I see it, Colleges and Universities encourage students to take on these massive amounts of debt, while at the same time raising the rates on tuition, boarding, nutrition and whatever they can gin up.
Having put four of my own through college and one adopted one, it should not surprise you that I was dirt poor for much of my life, and constantly had to work to generate income.
I kid you not.
They raise the rates because there are no effective limits on the amounts being disbursed.
Somethings gotta give if there were to be any change.
I agree. You have a solid grasp and understanding of this situation. You are indeed wise.
Yah. Maybe Bernie. He wants to raise $1.3Trillion.
Okay by me as long as I don’t have to pay for it.
Bernie wants to alleviate the situation [for victims] while buying votes but AFAIK he’s not attempting to tackle the root of the problem at all.
I think it is much more than buying votes. I think Bernie really believes this even though he doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting elected POTUS. Hillary has too much baggage this time around.
That’s why I wrote that I do not like any of the candidates on either side.
Trump is only out for himself, not “we, the people.” And the others are just plain unelectable.
As I wrote another time, I’ll be voting for the former governor of NM, not Wm Shatner.
55 comments and not one mention of the photo. You guys are slacking today…
I already mentioned the photo.
Well-written article with flow, very much an improvement. Thanks.
“beer with more hops than anyone needs”. I said this a few days ago because it’s my view too. Hops to the craft beer crowd is (are?) like excess horspower to the tuning crowd – you can never have enough, as a poster above agrees.
To me, who spent years making the stuff from scratch, I scratch my bald pate at raves over the products of yet another local brewery. Bought some and found thin gruel that tasted only of hops. I wouldn’t even call it beer, as the malt only swam through leaving a brief remembrance of its passing. Call it alcohol imbued hop flavored water and leave it at that.
I want my malt taste!
Lots of hops, lots of malt, lots of ABV, age it in a bourbon barrel. Yum.
Honestly, a lot of these kids aren’t buying cars because they’re still driving their parents hand-me downs. Mom gets a new Tahoe or Dad gets a new F-150 and the 5 year old vehicle moves down to the next of kin.
Great article. I am surrounded by ad agency employees (or their immediate vendors) in my personal life. Every one of them under the age of 45 or so shares the hipster aesthetic. I bet if you ask an ad agency to hit a young demo without specifying which one they will, without fail, zero in on the bk, la, pacific nw hipster category bc that is who they are, who they hire and what they see. Even the older creatives seem prone to this, probably bc every newly hired post grad secretary they just hired and want desperately to bang fits the profile.
They aren’t entirely wrong though, hipsters are in the driver’s seat in regards to music, fasion and art right now. They are doing a way better job as gatekeepers of pop culture than all of their immediate predecessors. What they aren’t is a significant present or future buying demo for the industry. That’s why your article was spot on.
tedward – they are trapped by their paradigm. That has been standard fare since we started walking upright and wearing clothes.
Back home in Germany, college is free. I’m not sure Americans would like it as much as they think they would.
First of all, the schools aren’t the palaces they are here in the US, as they compete for student’s hard-borrowed dollars. And secondly, there they think nothing of flunking half the students in a given class at the two-year mark. So long, and better luck next time.
It’s not called weeding out. It’s called “Electrical Engineering I-IV” or “Theoretical Physics.”
It’s free tuition but it ain’t no free lunch. It’s more like handing out free work. I’m a a big fan.
The problem is that “millennial” is a uselessly broad category, and “hipster” is a uselessly narrow category.
I was born in 1980, which typically puts me right on the edge of GenX and Millennial, depending whose definition you use. If you use “born in the 80’s and 90’s”, you are talking about everyone from 15 year olds to 36 year olds. That’s a huge range, with hugely different needs, and hugely different amounts of money to spend, so you can’t really make any generalizations. My car buying needs are different, and my budget much different, than it was was when I was 22. And I’m unmarried and childless – that’s even more true for people my age who also have to factor a couple of rugrats into their car-buying decision.
Marketing by cliché…..
I bet these people still think youngsters use Twitter and Facebook to socialize/communicate with each other.