Reason people buy AR-15 type guns is similar to the reason why people buy Huge SUVs...

[LanternWaste]

219. My guess is that like other commodities, Madison Avenue has done a bang-up job

My guess is that like other commodities, Madison Avenue has done a bang-up job branding their products to a base-line demographic, and then laying out an appeal for that demographic to trumpet.

And like other commodities, we will aggressively protest all criticisms to the contrary with a righteous might and a smörgåsbord of rationalizations and justifications, from simple appeal and desire to the vague and a diaphanous "it's the one that's right for me".

Madison Avenue has sold all of us a bill of goods, and we all willingly purchased it in many varied forms, from computers operating systems to vehicles to rootin'-tootin' weapons. In our opportunistic culture, the "we" is more often than not, merely lip service. The "me" is our priority, and we will defend our personal desires above the collective good of humanity.

The Enlightenment was a very cool experiment, but it really didn't work as well as was first thought.