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Originally Posted by GranvilleDsouza Safety of vehicles is paramount now, can't see any reason why people would buy smaller cars until they're driving strictly in the city! |
Safety of vehicles has always been paramount, but whenever someone says that safety is restricted to one size of cars, or one brands of cars, I feel that there is no upper limit to choosing vehicles. A driver of a Volvo will almost certainly look down upon regular "bigger" cars because they don't have radar braking, better cage and lane change assists etc, a Mercedes S Class owner can have the right to call almost every other car as unsafe trash because his/her vehicle is unquestionably the safest there is.
Not harping on this single point, but people will buy what they want to buy, entry-level, medium, large or super-large. Safety at the end of the day is a personal call and their choice at the end of the day is the safest for them given their budget, preferences and spatial limitations.
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Originally Posted by Zed As as middle-class teen growing up in the 90's I dont recall adrenalin fuelled irresponsible behaviour being exclusive to rich kids with western values. Perhaps it is the Indian interpretation of western values and lifestyles that you refer to as 'western culture' that could, at best, be a part of the problem. |
True, and I hoped I'd made it clear when I wrote "sense of belonging", i.e a warped perception of western culture. This is not to say that American kids are entirely responsible, I've heard enough stories of DUI's in America and infact, one site called MADD.org (mothers against drunk driving) cites that 28.3 million adults admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol in 2013. The same site also says that the rate of drinking is highest among 26-29 year olds. Still, yes the infrastructure and stronger legal framework of the country creates much more fear than in India.
Again, I choose my words very carefully.. you can see that I made NO mention of rich/poor, all I wrote was that the amount of adrenaline is directly connected to the amount of resources available to them. A parent can choose to give much more resources to their kids than they can afford, and at the same time a parent can choose to curb the amount of resources available even if it can be spared easily. I only made a note that I didn't have the resources due to our economic condition, and even if I did, probably the middle-class way of being raised would never have changed.
Also the post was purely for the particular incident. There is no politically correct way to call out crimes, it always boils down to something wrong at the ethos of the nation, the mindset, the parenting, the law etc as you've duly noted.
Maybe I'm the only one who sees it, but I see it nevertheless. There is a compelling need for people to copy America, consciously or subconsciously. There's a place in Bangalore called Brigade Road which is like the Indian version of the NY Times Square and much like Times Square, people ring in the new year in that location but this time reportedly, a few dozen people who were drunk resorted to getting frisky and took advantage of women standing there. The incident blew up all over the media and overnight Bangalore has been labelled an antisocial paradise. I always felt India isn't the place to be out and about at 12.a.m unless maybe you're in Mumbai. Likewise anything portrayed in movies, shows, songs etc are about the only idea most Indians have about "western" civilization. This "unorganized" party nonsense honestly, has to stop. That is the origin of way too many incidents.
Alcohol has to be consumed within 4 walls strictly and even if one has to go out, they should Uber.
BTW I have no grudges against America, I quite love it. Hollywood is the only form of t.v entertainment I like and I've glugged more bottles of Pepsi than I can remember. It is like any other country with its share of perfections and problems. However I feel that India had its own charm and simplicity and its fast disappearing under the excuse of globalization.