Owning a Hummer H2 is not justified.

Hey Harlan, thanks for bringing up this interesting topic. You argue that owning a hummer h2 is not justified. I have a problem with your premise. What is justification? Who must they 'justify' this to, the all powerful government? You? Isn't this their choice, not yours, and not the governments choice? You may speak of justification when you are buying something, or when something is being bought with your money, but not with somebody else's property. Moving on.... I agree that most people who buy a H2 will buy it as a status symbol- but is that not what most cars are? You could buy a cheap 10,000 dollar car, but if you make enough money to buy an expensive car buying it is often used as a status symbol, or something to, as you say, 'look cool'. If 'looking cool' makes the hummer owner happy it has served its purpose entirely, with full justification. After all, they are spending their own money on this- so the only justification they need is their own. If they find spending an excessive amount of money to 'look cool' justified so be it. You have different tastes than others, you have the right to not by a H2 because you don't believe it makes you look cool, or you aren't interested in looking cool- but I find it distasteful and pretentious to criticize someone for simply fulfilling their wants with their own time, their own money, and their own labor. You repeat yourself alot for the next few paragraphs with a pretentious rant, so I will disregard that and move right on to fuel efficiency. While the Hummer H2 may have somewhat low fuel efficiency, this is not something you should care about if it is not your own car. I am not going to attack you for refusing to buy leather seats, you should not attack a consumer for buying something inefficient. It is their money, and again, their choice to buy an inefficient vehicle. You act as if buying a hummer is "obviously" going to have "Very negative effects" on the environment. That is simply untrue. CO2 is one, very small, contributor to the Global Warming Effect- humans produce an even smaller fraction of the CO2 exchanged in the atmosphere yearly, and a single person owning a single hummer H2 produces such a minimal effect it would be like dropping a grain of salt in the ocean and claiming you rose the salinity of the ocean by 'vast proportions'. I wouldn't' necessarily say we are running out of oil any time in the very near future, but the market determines the prices of oil. Clearly, for those who purchase H2's, the extra money they have to pay for their gas is worth it. As oil becomes more scarce prices will rise, leading H2 owners to be less and less interested in H2's (Which is actually happening as we speak). The H2 is not any more of a war machine than a jeep is a war machine. Just because a slightly similar vehicle is used in war does not make it a war machine. H2's are NOT built for war, HumVees are. Also, what is 'safe'? Are they 'safe' for the driver? Well, maybe more safe than a small car, less save than a semi truck. Are they 'safe' for other drivers? Well, less safe for small cars, more safe for semi trucks..... There are no especially 'safe' cars on the road when you consider the possibility of collisions will ALL vehicles. In conclusion, if the consumer finds it to be justified- it is therefore justified to him, and that is all that matters. Consumers need not justify their purchases to the almighty government, nor to you.