Comments on: Limousine Libertarians

By: PersonFromPorlock

PersonFromPorlock — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 02:15:05 +0000

Good heavens, you’ve all missed the point! The ‘Revolution’ limousine isn’t a stretch limo, it’s a blue-collar joke about stretch limos.

By: MFB

MFB — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 11:47:45 +0000

But does it have a Carrera marble floor? And a Jacuzzi?

By: ed_finnerty

ed_finnerty — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 03:26:36 +0000

“I was driving home from the office this evening (yeah, yeah, I know—I prefer to think of it as Arizona taxpayers getting good value for money)”

typical of you environmental hypocrites – it’s always up to someone else to suffer the outrages of transit

By: Ginger Yellow

Ginger Yellow — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:18:12 +0000

Bentleys and Rolls Royces don’t really count as limos. They’re classic luxury cars (not a value judgement but a description, by the way). We’re talking about stretched cars with backfacing seats – the “executive limo” or longer as described above.

By: albertchampion

albertchampion — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 06:47:35 +0000

well, this is quite silly. long before limos were commonplace in the usa, the brits were using them. i can recall arriving at heathrow in 1973 and being picked up by smiths industries in the division bentley.

and in 1976, air france shuttled me from orly to charles de gaulle in a citroen pallas athena.

and just think of flying into hong kong. and staying at the peninsula. routinely greeted at kai tak and ferried to the hotel in royces.

no big deal about limos. second nature to me now.

By: links for 2008-01-22 | Francesco Costa

links for 2008-01-22 | Francesco Costa — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 06:25:52 +0000

[...] Limousine Libertarians Ron Paul si è bevuto il cervello (via Nullo http://nullo.tumblr.com/post/24298014) (tags: paul usa2008 primarie usa) [...]

By: Bruce Baugh

Bruce Baugh — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:05:29 +0000

Jon, re #13: If I had to guess, I’d say that about a quarter of politically active libertarians (that is, those who actually vote as opposed to just whinging online) are anti-abortion in some significant way. Ron Paul’s position is very much not the prevailing libertarian wisdom, but it’s also something every libertarian who does anything political encounters from time to time.

By: Ginger Yellow

Ginger Yellow — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:03:25 +0000

Oh sure, I don’t think the really long ones (or stretch Hummers) were ever more than a gimmicky thing. But even normal “executive limos” are now considered chavvy in the UK.

By: GreatZamfir

GreatZamfir — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 14:50:22 +0000

Sure, but don’t you think part of the reason high status people don’t use them in Britain is because low status people do? See Brad DeLong’s posts on the utility value of exclusivity.

No, I don’t think they were ever in use, not even when renting super-stretched limos was still unknown. I would say the really high-status limo is not the superlong partylimo for popstars, but the ‘executive’ limo that is stretched enough to have opposing seats in the back, so you can have ‘meetings’ in the back.
These appear to be really in use in the US among important people, even if more for show than for real utility. The rest of the world has limited itself to BMWs and Mercedeses that are stretched a some inches to give extra legroom in the back, but not enough to have opposing seats.

By: John Emerson

John Emerson — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 13:51:19 +0000

I get the impression that they are still considered high status in the US, but here in class conscious Britain the phenomenon of “[h]ordes of young people hiring stretch limos for a party night”, as the Times delicately puts it, has thoroughly undermined the perceived classiness of limos.

On the West coast of the US too, I think.

By: Jon Mandle

Jon Mandle — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:44:52 +0000

Are there many self-professed libertarians who are opposed to abortion, and make – as far as I can tell from his website – no exceptions? That’s not being snarky – I’m curious.
It’s much more snarky to point out that on the same page that he says that “Life begins at conception … but, I do not believe this should be a federal issue” he also notes “In Congress, I have authored legislation that seeks to define life as beginning at conception, HR 1094.”

By: Ginger Yellow

Ginger Yellow — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:31:32 +0000

Sure, but don’t you think part of the reason high status people don’t use them in Britain is because low status people do? See Brad DeLong’s posts on the utility value of exclusivity.

By: GreatZamfir

GreatZamfir — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:24:14 +0000

Ginger yellow: I guess the problem in Britain is not just that low-status use them, but more that high-status people do not. As long as the president, CEOs and not-entirely-ridiculous rap stars keep driving in them, the copying behaviour of teenagers is just prove that stretches are something to aspire to.

But in countries where the roads have more corners than in the US (that’s the rest of the world, I guess), no high-status person in his right mind would drive one.

By: Ginger Yellow

Ginger Yellow — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 11:51:50 +0000

The sociology of the limo would be quite a fascinating subject for study. I get the impression that they are still considered high status in the US, but here in class conscious Britain the phenomenon of “[h]ordes of young people hiring stretch limos for a party night”, as the Times delicately puts it, has thoroughly undermined the perceived classiness of limos.

By: MR. Bill

MR. Bill — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 11:51:13 +0000

Passed a stretch humvee on a scenic road the other day. I nearly wrecked, laughing.