We’re behind you, Tibet
Bumper stickers are hardly ever a source of amusement, much less a cause for pondering human impulses, but as I sat at a traffic light a few days ago I saw one that was both those things. It said, “Free Tibet.”
OK, it’s not funny right away. But you have to consider the context. I live in a small town near the major city (by North Carolina standards) of Raleigh. It’s a place where farmers crowd into the local banks when crop payments are made, and where — until the tobacco auction system faded some years ago — it was common to see tractors hauling cured leaf through town to the area’s warehouses. The local drug store still has a soda fountain. A football game at the high school is a big event. People help strangers in distress, even to the point of using their just-purchased frozen turkey to fight off an evil-doer intent on harm.
In short, my little town has many virtues, but I doubt many of its residents could even find Tibet on a map. And there’s certainly not a Chinese consulate around where its diplomats might see the bumper sticker’s exhortation and immediately cable a message to Beijing saying, “Bad news. We’re losing the public relations battle in rural North Carolina regarding Tibet. Maybe we should reconsider our position.”
It could have just been the long wait for the light, but that thought had me giggling.
Then I began to wonder how the car’s owner had settled on Tibet as the issue most worthy of his or her attention. There were no other bumper stickers on the car, so this person wasn’t one of those people who make their cars a mobile inventory of their political and cultural beliefs. (By the way, it seems that for every vehicle I see with a collection of conservative bumper stickers on it, there are at least five plastered with liberal messages. Feel free to chime in with a theory on this.) Instead, this car’s owner had bypassed all domestic issues and made his or her sole concern the freedom of a remote mountain country best known for a single export — the Dalai Lama.
Maybe the explanation is something as simple as the bumper sticker was pretty. And maybe I should be glad there aren’t all that many traffic lights in my town. Pondering is hard work.
November 25th, 2008 at 9:42 am
It said, “Free Tibet.”
Probably a rabid Richard Geer fan.
November 25th, 2008 at 10:19 am
No, the bumper sticker probably had nothing to do with Richard Geer.
The bumper sticker probably reflected the driver’s interest in or involvement with Buddhism.
What is happening in Tibet is of no immediate concern to most of us, but it is still quite sad and certainly very interesting to those who are familiar with the history and aware of the implications of Tibet’s fate.
November 25th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Maybe it just reflected a deep discount. “Free Tibet (Fine print not visible from other cars: “With every purchase of crap from Chinese sweatshops.”
November 25th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
I don’t think comparing numbers of cars displaying liberal vs conservative stickers is an accurate way of comparing numbers of liberals vs. conservatives, for what it’s worth.
I think that liberals who identify themselves as cultural elites take pride in displaying their bumper sticker causes like badges of honor. It is how they signal to the world that their vehicle contains a compassionate yet intellectually superior individual.
I think that conservatives who wish for small, limited government, constitutionally granted rights, respect the sanctity of life, and the freedom of worship are less prone to feel the need to demonstrate intellectual or societal superiority via a collection of bumper stickers on their car. These folks might sport a police benevolent sticker, perhaps a church decal or a child’s school logo or emblem. Perhaps conservatives feel less motivated to display and preen the plumage of conspicuous self-promotion and elite moral superiority to the rest of the world.
I’ve also found that displaying conservative bumper stickers unfortunately frequently results in having the sticker and the car it is on defaced and vandalized by, ahem, compassionate yet intellectually superior liberals.
November 25th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Well, as a compassionate, intellectually superior liberal, I can assure you that I worry about vandalism of my vehicle just as much as you might.
As person of common sense, i think the theory that liberals are more disposed than conservatives to display bumperstickers is utter nonsense.
In fact, I think most people of common sense know better than to make such asinine generalizations about others based on something as fuzzy as the tag “liberal” or “conservative.”
November 25th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
“I think the theory that liberals are more disposed than conservatives to display bumperstickers is utter nonsense.”
I don’t like “fuzzy” generalizations either; however, I must tell the truth using a “clear” one.
Having lived in one kind of liberal heaven or another all my life, I might just be an expert on the matter.
I’ve met few real hardcore Liberals who have even a semblance of discerning taste in any aspect of their lives.
Very messy.
Little attention to aesthetics.
Buy cheap jug vino, chips, and pretzels when throwing a party at their home…….
……..but when attending someone else’s party, will drink the top shelf spirits dry and eat the place clean.
Love to spend other people’s money.
Love to love you baby if it don’t cost them nothin’.
And yes, cars loaded down with bumper stickers which I have seen belong to Liberals trying to sell their political DNA to everyone they meet.
Who else would harm the paint job on a car by turning it into a mobile message board but an excitable Liberal?
LOL!!!
November 25th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Tibetans in exile:
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12641758&source=most_commented
November 25th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Journal of Applied Social Psychology: Territorial Markings as a Predictor of Driver Aggression and Road Rage
from the abstract: “Both number of territory markers (e.g., bumper stickers, decals) and attachment to the vehicle were significant predictors of aggressive driving. Mere presence of a territory marker predicts increased use of the vehicle to express anger and decreased use of adaptive/constructive expressions.”
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120083259/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
November 25th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Yeah. Those buddhists are rough on the road all right.
Pulllleeeeease~
November 25th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
“I’ve also found that displaying conservative bumper stickers unfortunately frequently results in having the sticker and the car it is on defaced and vandalized by, ahem, compassionate yet intellectually superior liberals.”
who would waste their time on that? please, gimme a break.
November 25th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Reminds me of a bumper sticker I had in Texas on a red Ford pickup I dubbed Ol’ Blue — “Mentally Confused And Prone To Wandering.” Col-yoomist for my own paper saw it, waxed poetically in a similar pondering vein to yours and wanted the Great Readership to help him find the genius who owned this truck. Was sorry to disappoint him so, bless his heart. “Oh, well — at least folks will know I don’t make this stuff up.”
December 1st, 2008 at 10:24 am
GD, while I do most often find your thoughts quite interesting, the real reason I enjoy your blog is the comments. While might thoughts may be identical to Core Conservative, my articulation would be a poor reflection indeed. Thoughtful, insightful, and well spoken …. what more could a blog ask for.