"We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control . . .
All in all, it's just another brick in the wall
All in all, you're just another brick in the wall."Pink Floyd, in 1979 rock opera, "The Wall."
I am trying to understand the nihilism of the driver of this truck.
I don't see the value in his big "F--- You!!" to the world.
Someone spent a thousand dollars or more to modify a pickup truck so the driver can switch on big cloud of black smoke. At 4:58 p.m. yesterday on the Crater Lake Highway just outside of Medford I was behind this truck.
I had noticed an enormous cloud of smoke being emitted intermittently from the truck. I was behind him at the next stoplight. Then this:
And this:
And this. I was blind for about three seconds at 40 miles per hour.
The driver, a young man, turned on "the coal" three or four times over the three miles leading into town. It happened to be an area that included the county sheriff's headquarters, but the pollution bursts weren't focused there. It was at the world at large.
The serious venues of social commentary are full of articles about "the problem of young men." They have fallen behind women in education; they are playing video games instead of working; they are involved with drugs; they aren't settling down and starting families; and they are dying early in "deaths of despair." Political pundits observe that most of them are voting for Trump because he appears to be the one who will "burn it all down."
Objectively, measured by the unemployment rate (3.5%), and the wage people need to pay to have a person regularly show up at work ($20+ at minimum; $25 for agricultural work) conditions are not bad. A young American man need not fear being drafted into a war. The working and non-working poor have Medicaid health benefits under the ACA/Obamacare. Statistics don't seem to matter. The mood defies the data. They have tuned in to the zeitgeist and dropped out into angry nihilism.
The mood goes beyond young men. It includes older, fully established and connected men and women who have voted Republican for decades. These are people with careers, homes, and 401(k) accounts. They are people who go to church and have kids in scouting and soccer. They teach their children to be good sports and accept winning and losing. They tell their children it is wrong to cheat on tests. They, too, have picked up some of the "burn it down" attitude, at least in their politics. They know Trump is a con man, a tax cheat, a man who stiffs and bankrupts vendors. They know he stole classified government documents and lied about it, then complained when the government caught him in the lie and recovered them. They know he did something wrong to E. Jean Carroll. Most of them know by now that there was no factual basis for his claiming he won the 2020 election. Both Fox and Newsmax insert "No, he didn't. He lost" when they show video of Trump asserting that he won the election.
But even about 80 percent of those "good" Republicans go along, supporting for election a man whose job is to "faithfully execute the laws" even though he openly, flagrantly, and proudly flouts laws and the institutions of justice that enforce them, at least when they are enforced against him. They know he is a scofflaw, and they are OK with it. It is a feature, not a bug.
I took photos of the truck because I was frustrated and angry at the young man. But I also feel sorry for him. How miserable it must be to feel so angry and disaffected that he will trash his own place with such a pointless gesture of defiance.
I am more frustrated and angry at Republican officeholders and community leaders who know better. They have every advantage of privilege and power, but still support a leader who is so flagrant in his own nihilism. He is saying "F--- You!" He is trashing the place.
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13 comments:
Absolutely disgusting with all that black smoke.
Note however, it could also be a diesel pickup that needs a lot of engine work. Sure, the driver probably doesn't care, or simply cannot afford to fix his rig.
The jump to bashing Republicans and Trump is a big one, though. Driver may or may not be a MAGA Republican. I did not see any flags or bumper stickers that may give us a clue.
All that said, you failed to mention another important fact. The driver is a resident of Oregon, and most likely has been here, growing up here, and may have been educated in Oregon schools.
Any chance that Oregon plays a role in the driver's upbringing? Do Oregon schools and teachers play a role, too, in addition to the driver's parents or guardian?
And one more thing...
Oregon and its DEQ have a role in this.
Several other states have addressed the problem and enacted legislation to make "rolling coal" illegal. Surprised to see that Oregon has taken this up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_coal
Rolling Coal from Wikipedia
This piece recalled for me the John Goodman character in "The Big Lebowski", who muses about nihilism, noting that even National Socialism, by contrast, was at least an affirmative ethos.
I doubt this young man truly believes in nothing, any more than Michael Brown's stepfather with his "Burn it down!" before the Ferguson arsons and looting, or Portland's antifa hooligans.
If angry, hostile rejection of existing systems is the theme, I for one still can't understand why many unhoused can't be bothered to cart their garbage to the nearest trash receptacle.
It's gratuitous, lazy destructiveness that really rankles. I suppose that does includes those who'd simply let Trump be Trump, sanctioning toxic, chaotic emissions on a grand scale.
It’s easy to assume that “F--- YOU” gestures, whether spelled out on bumper stickers or not, are made by MAGA Republicans since they’re the ones threatening to burn it all down if they don’t get their way.
I have to laugh at a resident of Florida, where schools are spreading measles with the help of their anti-vaxxer surgeon general, being so critical Oregon schools. Physician, heal thyself.
What kind of car were you driving. I've seen this sort of thing three or four times and I think it is sometimes aimed at drivers of Prius type cars.
Now Mike, another big assumption that me, Mike, aka M2inFLA, is happy with our surgeon general or measle outbreak. You know what it means to assume, right?
As for my experience with Oregon schools:
I was PTA president in the Beaverton School district for 2 years, and an active school volunteer for 12 years. I taught computer classes in the elementary school as the teacher responsible for that didn't know how. We raised funds in that school to offer extra classes to augment what the teachers wanted to do, but did not have time to. At the high school, I again stepped in to help the website get updated and assisted the students so they could maintain and update the website.
When BSD wanted to replace traditional math in the HS with a non-effective one, I led the effort to restore traditional math in all the high schools for students that needed that math. The admin responsible for the switch eventually retired when I revealed she was profiting from that proposed change.
Finally, I led an effort to get 3 new school board members elected, ousting incumbents who weren't doing anything effectively.
I'm retired now, and enjoying life. And yes, I am aware of both the good and bad here in Florida, and doing my part to support the good work that is being done here.
And I'm playing lots of golf and pickleball, too, interspersed with world travel. Next stop, Egypt and Jordan starting next week.
M2inFLA – I suppose I assumed you were happy with Florida’s surgeon general because in the past you’ve expressed such admiration for DeSantis, the guy who hired him. He must have done it to placate his base for his initial support of the COVID vaccines.
I don’t know which state has the better school system, but Oregon’s HS graduation rate is higher than Florida’s.
RE: Vaccines
At the start of the pandemic, DeSantis made sure that 65+ seniors had access to everyone who wanted a vaccine. I helped so many neighbors who weren't computer savvy navigate the reservation system. Yes, we have a high concentration of seniors, so the extra effort made by DeSantis to get vaccines helped so many. Other states apparently did not have as good of an early access to the vaccines.
I wasn't happy to see DeSantis run for President. I wanted him to stay here, and finish his term as governor, So, I'm happy that he abandoned his campaign to get the R nomination.
As for school outcomes,, you may want to check Oregon vs Florida in this US News rating for all the states using several different metrics:
Florida Rankings
You can select Oregon, or other states to see how things are.
I lived in Oregon for most of my adult life, and I owe a lot to Oregon for my success. It pains me to see the decline in the metro areas that I once loved. I can't fix Oregon's problems. What I can do is help my new state continue its growth and success. Almost 1,000 new residents making Florida their new home each day. That is growth. Oregon isn't growing right now.
Those who can leave, are leaving Oregon.
Why do I spend time reading the Oregonian and other Portland media, visiting this blog, and staying in touch with my Oregon friends and business associates? I still want to help Oregon, but I don't want to see my tax dollars being wasted.
Each state has its pluses and minuses. Each of us shares the responsibility to make our states and homes better for everyone living there. Reinforce and continue the good things. Try to eliminate the bad things.
Hopefully we can agree somewhat as to what is good, and what is bad.
I have always thought that Trump was a giant orange middle finger raised in the direction of globalist woke elites.
You may think it’s irresponsible or irrational to vote that way; those voters don’t give a f*** what you think. That’s a political reality.
An effective political strategy needs to work in the context of that reality. Bitching about the existence of that reality and those voters is just ineffective whining.
DeSantis' early response to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic was to issue some of the most stringent government-enforced restrictions of anywhere in the country, but quickly dropped that approach and has not looked back, to the point where he's been hailed as an anti-vaccine hero on the right.
We're all happy that he abandoned his campaign to get the R nomination, but I'm not sure which is worse. Trump is a giant orange middle finger raised in the direction of our democratic Republic whose voters don't give a f--k about the rule of law but whine a lot about being "persecuted" for breaking it.
Coal boy is cool. Like muffler boy, popping and gunning blowing it out weaving the traffic to the front in charge! Fastest to the light.
Roll right over your mighty muck gas savers, mommy drivers in the slow lanes with blinkers and quiet speeds to stay in sync with light changes. Pass them on the fucking right and cut them off on the left using the passing lane to speed around these careful cautious mommy says traffic obeyers.
Let’s go cruise Bobs Big Boy in the San FranValley Tolluca Lake, MOTHER Fu——ka
We have our very own hunter Thompson! 😱😀
In every generation and culture there are those who take a perverse pleasure at the suffering of others. Some do it secretly, and some take an extra measure of satisfaction when their contempt also humiliates the “other”. Their reasons vary but some do it for no reason at all except for the feeling they get from it. I worked and socialized with these types when I was younger in the construction trades. I found there’s a kind of bravado that seems to affirm their self-worth. There’s not a lot of self-reflection. That’s for soft weaklings.
I believe it ties into previous conversations about incivility here. People long for meaning and identity. For some people, if they can’t achieve what they think they deserve, they will make sure those who have, will be reminded how fragile their status is. And with the help of TFG, heaping contempt is not only acceptable, it’s admirable.
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