Homogenization and Cultural Disintegration

The most profound thing I found in all of our readings for this residency was Jackle's assessment of the automobile as a manifestation of the prevailing American mindset. In the course of my independent study this semester, I have been grappling with what these underpinnings might be but could not come up with an appropriate way to make such gross generalizations. Conveniently (for me) Jackel and others have long been contemplating these larger cultural trends, as well as their manifestations and implications for the future. The automobile exemplifies the lifestyle long glorified by the American dream. Conversely, the auto also epitomizes the great cultural disintegration and homogenization that has swept our country since its invention. It has, quite literally, been the single largest vehicle of change in modern society, driving further inequality, division and segregation within our society. Ironically, many of those values that it supposedly reinforces have been undermined by its pervasive presence in our society today.
The underlying reasons for our intense love of the auto, as given by Jackle, are: "...individual fulfillment through freedom of mobility, the love of newness coupled with a naive belief in change as progress, the embracing of privatism fueled by competitive rather than communal impulses, the pursuit of the utilitarian that embodies profound disrespect for the environment, and the belief in equality whereby a tyranny of the majority often rules." Several of these values have clearly been reinforced by the automobile. However, other components have been undermined by the very invention through which they were rendered accessible to Americans as a whole.
The auto has certainly given us greater freedom of mobility, accelerated change, and increasing privatization of resources. It is also the ultimate manifestation of our "pursuit of the utilitarian that embodies profound disrespect for the environment." These facts are indisputable.
However, I do not fully agree with Jackle in that the other values previously mentioned have not been reinforced but undermined by the proliferation of the automobile. For instance, the American love of the new has been dulled by the homogenization of our culture. We now look to "new" products or novel electronic stimulation or numb ourselves with substances to rescue us from the mundane life and landscape we have created. "So pervasive has strip development become that a sort of sameness, born of roadside clutter, has emerged across the nation. As the suburbs are characterized for their homogeneity, so the roadside also suffers blandness." Clearly, the automobile has allowed for massive social, political, and cultural change in America and around the world. This new culture is built on rapid change, competition and freedom of mobility. The dramatic alteration of our lifestyles have left our culture brimming with apathy, loneliness and a surging desire for material gains.