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White liberal bling-bling
It's a fairly simple matter to understand the appeal among the lower socioeconomic masses of what has come to be called bling-bling.
Even some breeds of songbirds are attracted by shiny, glittering objects, and it is not out of the question to observe the same phenomenon among not only the more unsophisticated extreme, but also amongst the insecure and overpaid.
Thus we see the Cartier wrist watch on a stockbroker, while an inner-city type will equip his car with a set of those peculiar and expensive wheels that I have come to call "ghetto pepper-grinders." You've seen them I'm sure--they look like they are turning backwards while the vehicle is in motion, and they continue to spin while it is stopped. I've come close to vertigo observing these under certain peculiar light conditions.
There's also a splendid melding of the spinner wheel and the overpriced wrist watch. You will find these (see photo at right) offered on eBay, at a modest price representing the profit on a couple of rocks of crack. The spinner mechanism is hinged, and must be swung aside to see the watch face. The modern equivalent of the old turnip-style pocket watch, I suppose.
As I say, all this is understandable, in view of the fact that the homeboy and the stockbroker lead equally boring and insecure lives.
What puzzles me is what I'll call--for lack of a better term--white liberal bling-bling. You can barely drive a block in the city without finding some nice, newish vehicle--generally a Volvo or a Honda Accord--festooned with bumper stickers touting the most mawkish and oversimplified of political opinions. Not only on the bumpers, but messing up the paint job, and often blocking the rear windows. I have no favorites among them, although the most amusing one that comes to mind is "What would Buddha do?" which I observed this morning. The car had half a dozen other stickers, but none quite so inane as this. Another interesting phenomenon about liberals and bumper stickers is the longevity (of the stickers). It is now mid-2006, and there are any number of fresh-looking Kerry/Edwards stickers to be seen. I suspect that the more dedicated liberals stocked up on them, and renew them now and again when they are looking too tired.
I am not the bumper-sticker type, although I do confess that my 6,000-pound, 10 mpg SUV bears one that reads "I'm the NRA and I Vote." And if there were a bumper sticker supporting Teddy Roosevelt for President, I'd have one, for sure.
I haven't yet found a window-sticker I like, although my current desires are along the lines of a drawing of the cartoon character Calvin pissing on a donkey...