Waste Not?

The Only Clunk Heard Was That of My Head Striking the Desk
(Image Credits: Autocar Magazine Online)

The fact that I have no love lost for the Cash for Clunkers scheme is not news on this blog. Richard Bremner's latest in Autocar magazine, though, really drives the point home. Have a glance through the gallery at the twisted priorities of Western consumerism. Perfectly good cars traded in on a whim for something shinier, more satisfying(?), but certainly unnecessary. Admittedly--or rather, hopefully--these cars are outliers of an otherwise successful effort to get oil-burning rust-buckets off the street. But is it at all surprising that people used this scheme as an excuse to just get a new car? We do it with other consumer items, as well. Take for example, the iPod. Sure, it might be frustrating if the batter doesn't hold a charge for days on end like it did new, but if it still is holding a charge for at least a day, let alone 12 hours, is that not good enough for it to still be useable? The cars in these pictures were not good as new; they were probably not even good as used. Yet, they were by no means ready for the scrapyard. Cars, quite unlike consumer electronics, are meant to be maintained. In past lean times, people would "make do" with what they had. Scrappage schemes are an affront to common sense; rather than encouraging people to make sensible purchases, or educating people on basic personal finance, governments are throwing money out for any old purchase. Sounds like giving a man a fish, if you know what I mean.