{"id":27631,"date":"2025-05-14T16:30:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T23:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=27631"},"modified":"2025-05-14T16:30:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T23:30:15","slug":"cartoon-top-ten-reasons-americans-want-enormous-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=27631","title":{"rendered":"Cartoon: Top Ten Reasons Americans Want Enormous Cars"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This cartoon is by me and Becky Hawkins<\/a>. (The final panel, which I love, was all Becky’s idea.)<\/p>\n

(I want it on the record that I did not, as a writer, request that Becky draw eight characters into the final panel! Becky chose to do that to herself.)<\/p>\n

This cartoon doesn’t get at all into the policy reasons that cars in the U.S. have gotten so big. But our individual preferences have been shaped by the way federal policy shapes our car norms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Legally, car companies can avoid stricter emission standards – and make higher profits – by selling bigger SUVs and trucks. As a result of this loophole, auto makers have spent decades on a nonstop campaign to convince us that huge cars are a necessity.<\/p>\n

There are also tax reasons. Tariffs – which have been in the news a lot lately – are the reason we don’t have more smaller cars to buy.<\/p>\n

In the early 1960s, Europe raised the ire<\/a> of American officials by slapping a 50 percent tariff on chicken exported from the United States. In retaliation, the US enacted a 25 percent tax on pickup trucks imported from abroad. The dispute is long forgotten, but the \u201cChicken Tax\u201d lives on.<\/p>\n

Although the tariff was initially aimed at Germany\u2019s immense auto industry (Volkswagen in particular<\/a>), it also applies to pickups imported from newer automaking powers such as Japan and South Korea, where carmakers are often adept at building vehicles much smaller than those available to Americans.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Chicken Tax (a name that is sure to confuse) makes it impossible to make a profit selling small foreign cars in America. So they don’t.<\/p>\n

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TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON<\/p>\n

This cartoon has eleven panels. The central panel says, in large friendly letters, “Top Ten Reasons Americans Want Enormous Cars.”<\/p>\n

Panel 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

An angry woman gestures at a computer screen.<\/p>\n

Woman: “Emissions” were made up by China to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive!<\/p>\n

Panel 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

A cheerful man wearing a big, sparkling watch smiles as he explains.<\/p>\n

Man: How else will strangers know I’ve got money to burn?<\/p>\n

Panel 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

A woman lies on a sofa as if she’s getting therapy.<\/p>\n

Woman on couch: My big car gives me a sense of security, power, and control, which I know is pathetic, which makes me feel weak, which makes me want an even bigger car.<\/p>\n

Panel 4<\/strong><\/p>\n

A person is looking a bit up into space, crying with joy.<\/p>\n

Person: Someday someone will ask me to move a piano and on that day I will be ready! It’s coming! Any day now…<\/p>\n

Panel 5<\/strong><\/p>\n

Man smiling wryly: Because shooting bikers and pedestrians is illegal. … For now.<\/p>\n

Panel 6<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the center panel, and is dominated by the title: Top Ten Reasons Americans Want Enormous Cars.<\/p>\n

Below that, a small girl flees in terror from a huge SUV.<\/p>\n

SUV Driver: The higher the car, the closer to Heaven!<\/p>\n

Panel 7<\/strong><\/p>\n

A man wearing a red baseball cap backwards pumps his fist in the air.<\/p>\n

Man: If we don’t burn as many fossil fuels as fast as possible the woke DEI liberals win! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!<\/p>\n

Panel 8<\/strong><\/p>\n

A cheerful guitarist on stage speaks to the audience.<\/p>\n

Guitarist: If Jesus had a big truck the Romans would never have caught him!<\/p>\n

Panel 9<\/strong><\/p>\n

A thin man is smiling and saluting at us. A U.S. flag, but with a swole arm instead of stars, is being projected onto him.<\/p>\n

Man: It makes me a real man and a real American.<\/p>\n

Panel 10<\/strong><\/p>\n

A woman in a business suit looks at us derisively.<\/p>\n

Woman: A compact? What am I, five?<\/p>\n

Panel 11<\/strong><\/p>\n

A harried looking woman driving seven women in an SUV.<\/p>\n

Woman: Gotta keep my kids safe from all the giant cars people drive!<\/p>\n

CHICKEN FAT WATCH<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Chicken fat” is a neglected cartoonists’ term for fun little details the cartoonist puts into the art.<\/p>\n

Panel 1: A sticking-tongue-out emoji is on the coffee cup.<\/p>\n

Panel 2: The man’s t-shirt says “Thorsteid Veblen was RIGHT.”<\/p>\n

Panel 4: The person’s shirt says “I \u2764\ufe0f Band.” They’ve got a full tattoo sleeve, showing a lighthouse, a bear, a sneaker, a bat, and piano keys. Becky explains:<\/p>\n

I started with piano keys because this person wants to move a piano, so they probably like music (hence the I \u2764\ufe0f band shirt). The other tattoos are a product of free association. I don’t have any tattoos, but I’d hypothetically get a Pittsburgh skyline on one calf and a Portland skyline on the other, since they’re both bridges-on-a-river cities that are important to me. My initial attempts to draw a legible skyline on a small cartoon character’s arm while on a deadline were unsuccessful. I tried drawing a bridge, but soon decided a lighthouse would be easier and just as effective. Bears are fun and great, so I drew a baby bear. Apparently bear bodies are easier to draw than bear faces, so after a few tries, I placed the tattoo where the face would be out of sight. I had a coworker who was known for wearing Converse All Stars, so much so that on his 60th birthday, the hostess gave away little sneaker keychains as party favors. A former housemate of mine had a vampire teeth tattoo, but I think I’ve drawn someone with that on a different cartoon, so I drew a bat instead.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Panel 5: Although the girl is getting away from the SUV, she’s lost a flip-flop, which is flying into the SUV’s grill.<\/p>\n

Panel 11: So much detail here! This is one of those SUVs with three rows of seats. In the back-back, a toddler drawing hashmarks on the window with a red marker. A girl is shouting to be heard by another girl, who has headphones on.<\/p>\n

In the middle row, a baby is playing with its foot, as babies do. Another girl with headphones is staring at an iPad. And a boy in the middle is shouting for the boy in the front passenger seat to pass him a bag of snacks, which the boy is doing.<\/p>\n

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Top Ten Reasons Americans Want Enormous Cars | Patreon<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This cartoon is by me and Becky Hawkins. (The final panel, which I love, was all Becky’s idea.) (I want it on the record that I did not, as a writer, request that Becky draw eight characters into the final … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[245,17,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-capitalism","category-cartooning-comics","category-environmental-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27631"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27633,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27631\/revisions\/27633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}