Absence of the Family Car
September 1998

A thought came across my mind one day as I saw several people after church getting into late 1970's and early 1980's cars that people call "tanks" today. Many others were getting into mini-vans too. Why didn't these people have a new car or one of these new sport utility wagons? Hmm, I thought about this for a little while and all of a sudden it dawned on me. Most of these families could easily afford a new vehicle. Yet, because of the ever intrusive government, they would most likely end up breaking the law if they bought a new automobile, unless of course they purchased a van. Why, you ask? Well, it is actually very simple once you look at it closely. Think degraded morals and put in a little environmentalism.. What do you get? No more family car, because there is no more family.

The old fashioned American Family has virtually vanished from American society. Because of moral decay, exemplified by President Clinton himself, America has lost her families. With no families, parts of America start to erode and decay. One of these areas is the family car.

Car manufacturers have decided that it is not profitable to make a family car anymore. What exactly do I mean by the family car? One that holds at least six people. Six?! I hear you say. If you think that four children is too many then maybe you have been brainwashed by modern liberalistic thinking. Please notice I said maybe. If your second thought is that no one has that many children anymore, then I would almost definitely say that you have been mislead in your thinking. Just take a look at the high sales of mini-vans after the large cars became extinct.

There are several families in each community that have more than two children. And guess what? They cannot find a car that they can transport all their children in at one time. Either one buys a van or must look through the local ads for used cars. They need one of those old "tanks" or "boats" that we all use to take for granted.

The government has passed regulation after regulation that makes larger cars a manufacturer's nightmare. Even most of the so called large gas-guzzling sport utility wagons only have five seats and thus only five seat belts. So, if a family of six were to ride in one of those, they could be arrested in many states for not wearing there seat belts.

Now as we see the decline in mini-van sales, I ask the question, are we in the last few days of true old fashioned American Families?

What else can we determine from the absence of a family car? Does it also mean that people are becoming less friendly? Do people only want to think of themselves? No more, "Oh, I'll drive so that we don't need to waste all our money on gas." We all go to the same place in separate vehicles. Thus many more problems are created. More cars mean more money needed for road construction. More cars mean more traffic which means more "road rage."

The absence of the family car is just another sign that America's ethical beliefs and society are heading in the wrong direction.