Politics of Volkswagen Essay

One can be forgiven for magisterial the categories of political machines when asked about politics in ones country they seemed too coarseplace and mundane to be considered anything political. In the mainstream thought, machines are a means of transportation, to activate from one point to anformer(a). Some conservationists may reason on the environmental agenda, while others may think of cable cable cars as one of the main industries capricious the economy. zippo more is thought of these mean machines that move the world. Yet, the history cars possess has political back chiliad, given that they were considered technological advancements in their early old age. Using Volkswagen as the main case study, this paper all(prenominal)ow for examine cars in a political-visual aspect and the dissemble they cave in on the slew through the ages. It will also consider the consequences of the car the economical impact by the car industry, environmental impact by the car and the op posite integrity and policies enacted for the car and the users. Last but not least, the iconic Volkswagen overhang will be featured and explained on its influence on the lives of piece of musicy. As this paper attempts to cover a lot of ground, the focus will be on the impact by Volkswagen on the world.The History of VolkswagenThe Fhrer addressed the nation on the Volkswagen.It is mute that the term Volkswagen was a brainchild of Adolf Hitler, the Fhrer of the national socialist Ger galore(postnominal). However, what is little understood is how Volkswagen came about. The supposed wads Car was more than political rhetoric it was a determination in Hitlers political ambitions to fork out the car to the masses in a time where the Car was out of reach and seemingly for the elite. Although there were cars from the rival companies, want the Mercedes 170H, the Volkswagen was a car union started off from scratch, supplyed by the sees by the attend Designer, Dr. Ferdinand Por sche. Brought together by a car gross salesman, Jakob Werlin, both Hitler and Porsche discussed ideas of this new project that the Nazi government was instinctive to embark on. Though there were strong skepticism from the Society of German Automobile Manufacturers and the preparations were taking drawn-out than usual, the interest for the Volkswagen never died down. Herr Wilhelm von Opel, the owner of the Volkswagens rival Opel, produced a similar car for the mass world in 1936. Hitler quickly doused water on the Opel project by taking its key supplies of iron and leaf blade under the control of Nazi government, thus making the 1,000 Marks Volkswagen Project a possibility.Along with the Nazi might, the Volkswagen project was rolling with estate, funds and supplies from the Nazi Government. The Fhrer and committee were led nigh on the re gain article of the Volkswagen. The significance of Volkswagen as a car project is of huge importance here. The term Peoples Car was no thi rster a catchphrase for the politicians it was not bait for the people, but fewthing tangible for the people to admire and work towards. This worked well with the Germans they were under hard times and the conceptualization of a Peoples Car would be the best form of pauperization to work hard to join the ranks of developed nations afterward the double fiasco of World War 1 reparations and the groovy Depression.Towards the end of the decade, exhibitions of the car prototypes were present end-to-end e truly Nazi parade, giving the German people hope that they soon could afford the car. Never has an go steady of a car fuelled populace hopes, this contributed to a fervent support for the Nazi rule. The Prototypes The three ready-made prototypes for public viewing. The Volkswagen Project was almost dead at the end of the World War, but for a Major Ivan Hirst and Dr. Heinz Nordhoff, who later became the Managing Director of Volkswagen. The Nazi Government no longer existed the po litical mantra behind the project was no longer applicable. The name was also no longer linked to the Nazi government, although its history was steeped in the Nazi programs. Yet, patronage all these, the Volkswagen brand and group went to influence the world in different ways, sticking strictly to the philosophy behind its name the Peoples Car.Visuals of VolkswagenThroughout the decades of Volkswagen, the strong advertisements and pictorials of Volkswagen proven popular with people around the world, starting with Ger legion(predicate). The early days of Volkswagen was during the Hitler period and he managed to get 300,000 Germans to sign up for the Strength-through-Joy (Kraft Durch Freude) savings purpose for the Volkswagen. Although this did not result in any form of Volkswagen supplied, it was an indication on how strong the demand for the Volkswagen was. face translation 5 Marks a week you need to save, if you want to own a car. The mailing all around Nazi Ger umpteen was lik e the above, where the Strength-through-Joy movement was in place. The savings scheme was a motivation to achieve the desired Peoples Car and for a lot of the working class Germans, this proved to be hugely popular.English Translation Strength-through-Joy Calendar 1939. The Calendar was one of the many tools to get the Germans kindle in the Volkswagen. After the revival of the company, the phenomenon spread to America, where the whim of Volkswagen was hugely popular with the middle-class folks. This set the impression that the Volkswagen was indeed a Peoples Car.The association with diplomats increased the prestige of the Volkswagen. Volkswagen has brought prestige, once associated with the elites, down to the man on the street.Volkswagen was known to have such teasing ad designs in America, and was not afraid to entangle celebrities or bring in creative artwork with cheeky descriptions. This escalated the Volkswagen brand to a passion, with different subcultures chase it, name ly the Hippies movement with the Volkswagen mallet. Volkswagen, with its range of iconic cars, managed to inspire disinterestedist thinking amongst the people while ensuring the capitalistic ideal existed hard- take in money for a well-deserved reward.The Symbol of VolkswagenThe Volkswagen Logo over the yearsThe symbol of Volkswagen has not visibly changed much over the years, as the recognizable VW has been the signature of the brand. The Strength-through-Joy logo had similarities to the Nazi swastika when it first came out, to a great extent associating it with the brand of Nazi programs. When the British took over, the car logo was kept along with the name, despite it being a Nazi relic as any form of car was not presented to the people underthe Nazi rule and no other company wanted to take over the company, given the ugly design of the renamed Volkswagen Beetle. Since past, the Volkswagen brand has become the third largest automobile firm in the world. When people see the Vo lkswagen logo, they think of the superiority of the car made affordable to the people rather than its Nazi past.The Impact of VolkswagenThrough clever market and a strong ethos, the Volkswagen philosophy managed to sell well to the people. Yet, there is an underlying political message to be derived from the sale of Volkswagen cars, the ideal Peoples Car. Having a Volkswagen on the street would represent the reality of the common man achieving his dreams of finally owning one. This would represent a political message on two different grounds the governmental and the individual. One of the definitions of the rich was to own a car. The car would represent the luxury of being monied the comfort, the convenience and the social status. The masses could only look on with envy as they proceeded on with their cursory lives looking at the rich in shiny transportation while the rich looked down on them from high carriages. This impression struck a chord in the common mans mind while he ra ged a revolution in different places turning monarchies into anything but it. As such, governments would like to ensure that the population would not throw a revolution the symbol of a Volkswagen would provide a perfect crowd pleaser to the population then.For the government these days, the appeal of Volkswagen still exists the existence of a Volkswagen in many countries still provides the same effect on the people its their car. As long as the Volkswagen is on the street, the government has through their supposed job to provide cheap transportation to the people. To the people, beyond the dreams of owning a car, the Volkswagen represents a capitalist dream. The Hitler years notwithstanding, the modern Volkswagen represents a new class of citizens, who will be rewarded with what they have earned thus far. From the above visuals, the brand Volkswagen brings about a new breed of ideal citizens the ones that capitalism will reward. The individual is now laden with a hope of owning a car and that to own the Peoples Car, one will have to abide by the laws of capitalism to achieve the dream. working hard to earn the income to pay for the price for the car, it has brought about the capitalist dream to the people in the subtlest of ways. sparing Impact of CarsThe impact of automobile industry has affected the entire world whether its through the factories that the car firms set up in America, Germany, Japan or Thailand or through the different industries spawned or back up by the automobile industry. The significance of the economical impact of cars cannot be discounted. With reference to Volkswagen, the understanding of economical impact of cars visually will be split amongst two different groups the government and the different complementing industries. From the point of view of the government, the car industry presents itself as a huge economy boost. The once-thriving Detroit, the car town of America, was a major(ip) industry with huge employment rates, driv en by the huge American consumer market, where over three living quarters of the 200 million automobiles are cars.The view of fully filled car parks waiting for the exporting ships to port was a sight to behold it represented a view of the bustling economy. For Volkswagen, an entire urban center was constructed for the birth of Volkswagen. Wolfsburg, once a countryside village, was transformed into the headquarters for Volkswagen. Workers came from all over and settled into Wolfsburg to work for Volkswagen, and forrader long, it was the heart of Volkswagen operations. To build a city from scratch needs planning and labor this provides employment and luck for a lot of people. Thus the sight of a Volkswagen brand has generated economy for the government in a political way, it has ensured one of the main employment sectors and economic boost.For the other industries, the car industry has provided a qualified complement to their business. The more obvious examples are the petrol i ndustries, where the cars are dependent on them for energy sources. The less obvious examples the music industry (where radios in the cars are necessary these days), the drive-through industry and the entertainment industry (to dart their new cars) are all part of the economic industry that depends on the car industry for some form of economic dependency. As such, the visual of cars on the streets give the economy a boost, especially with the other industries.Environmental Impact of CarsCars have a disastrous impact on the environment being by and large responsible for smog and toxic air pollutants, not to mention the worlds increasing dependence on foreign oil makes it one of the top pollutants around the world today. The sight of cars emitting harmful wad has led to the vocal political opposition in governments worldwide. Despite the best efforts of the car industry, there is no suitable alternative energy fuel to compensate the current form of fuel consumption diesel motor motor and petrol. However, this has created an impetus to search for cheaper and more valuable engines, which will provide better miles-per-gallon formula. For Volkswagen, this has resulted in the TDI engine room, where the fuel is consumed when needed.The TDI technology has won accolades for saving fuel the most efficient cars on the road run on diesel are by Volkswagen TDI Diesel Engine. Volkswagen went one step further they implemented Volkswagen Think Blue, a drive to find the cleanest alternative energy consumption that would be sustainable for its engines. Pushing the limit for the fuel consumption while searching for the next alternative fuel for the car, they managed to achieve an understanding of sustainability and progress in environmental terms. This underlines Volkswagens environmental considerations while providing progress to the people. The Peoples Car is seen under different light it is environmentally friendly while pushing for progress. And while it may offend the petrol heads, the Volkswagen is stressful to be an environmentally friendly car, which puts it in line with the beliefs of the Democrats.pika Auto Respecting the law.The Volkswagen Beetle was made to travel the Autobahn, the strongest highway on the planet without any speed limit. Hitlers vision of allowing cheap fast transport for the masses was to be realized with the Volkswagen and the Autobahn. Unfortunately, the rest of the world did not have such laws in place and to regulate the traffic, they installed rules and laws. The first of all traffic laws was the limitation of speed this was to prevent unnecessary casualty.The cornerstone of non-horse carriages came to light the first of all vehicles was a steam-powered carriage the need for safety of those not driving was present. As such, over the years, the governments sought to reduce speed in all manners on the highways, on the roads and on the dashboard. As promising as the technology from the car industry, there woul d be a speed limit for all vehicles. This was to prevent the race for speed and allow the progress of the automobile done safely. Other policies include the limitations of vehicles in densely populated place the use of ERP and COE in Singapore and the taxes levied on vehicles. These were to prevent the rampant sale of vehicles while keeping the country free from the overcrowding.The Automobile Icon Volkswagen BeetleThe best is kept for last the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, which has been the longest production vehicle (from 1938 2003 on one design) with sales of more than 21 million. This recognizable car has its own movie and spawned movements, along with generations to embrace the Volkswagen Beetle as part of their lives. In this section, the Volkswagen Beetle will be examined politically as a cultural icon with its impact on the political arena. The Volkswagen Beetle ugly design one that was unconventional different and from the pre-WWII days was a signature icon that lasted thr ough the decades. Volkswagens refusal to change the design of the Beetle led to many modifications from the owners. As seen below, the popular culture took over with the designs in the 60s.The customizable feature of the Beetle allowed the freedom of expression, in which the Hippie culture of the 60s took full advantage of. The freedom of expression has always been a part of the American Constitution and it took a liberal turn with the Hippie subtlety. Notwithstanding the sex, drugs of that period, the Hippie Culture was a liberalizing process for the population to air their views. These views were of a peace-making, pacifist nature and they were in support of non-violence, civil rights and anti-nuclear armament movements. The Volkswagen Beetles with their decorated colors were a symbol of that political statement. A television series, Herbie, featuring the Volkswagen Beetle as a racing car with human emotions, popularized the car. Although this was not the only car that was featu red in films, the very nature of the Beetle shown to have human feelings was a personification of the car.From the television and film series, the character of Volkswagen Beetle was further defined determined with a colorful personality. This created an impression on the younger generation then that the car was a cool factor it made them want a car in their lives. The implications were that these children grew up needing cars and created a population who rather give up their voting rights than driving license. The specifications of the Volkswagen Beetle also came into focus. The many races and rallies that it went for and achieved results became a cult in its own right. Given that the Beetle was never made for racing, this has led to many thinking that the Beetle is multi-functional despite the ugly nature.The engine, simple yet effective, is also adjustable to modifications. This feature of the car has created a Volkswagen Beetle sub-culture, one where even as the old Volkswagen model is no longer in production, the owners of Volkswagen regularly meet up to showcase their re-tuned and refined Volkswagen Beetles. Translate this into an understanding of visual politics the cult of Volkswagen Beetle is an example of a loyal following of unwavering belief and given in the earlier paragraphs we have deduced that the followers are liberal in principle, the conclusion is that the Volkswagen Beetle is a symbol of liberal views.ConclusionHaving seen the impact of Volkswagen around the world, one would really wonder if Major Ivan Hirst were not to revive the company and let it pass, would the world be the same today? Throughout the years of Volkswagen existence, there have been many movements, many political undertones derived from the sheer existence of Volkswagen on the street. The Hippie Culture, the racing mentality, the liberal ideals and the capitalist principles all of which points to a subliminal messaging by the presence of a Volkswagen on the street.No ot her car has invoked so many different views in the world today. There are other aspects of Volkswagen not touched(p) in this paper especially the impact of Volkswagen in the future. Given that the future of automobiles is very volatile, Volkswagen may have a different feel and visual understanding in the future. As of now, the brand of Volkswagen is still the Peoples Car, one that all should have if they work hard enough for it. Thus, it is apt that the tagline of Volkswagen today is Das Auto the Car.BibliographyBooks CitedAnderson, Curtis D., and Judy Anderson. Electric and Hybrid Cars a History. Jefferson, NC McFarland, 2010. Print. 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