"Get The Truck Outta Here"

I'm a polyglot. That means I speak multiple languages. Three of them are European though I'm not quite fluent in German or Italian yet. But I'm working on it. I went to school for one European language, the other two are kinda "self taught". I've got this nifty app called Duolingo and I greatly enjoy it. 

Among the languages I know, several aren't taught online or in the classroom. Life and experience has helped me master "snark", "sarcasm" and "asshole" to a level far above "scholar". These, in addition to just plain English, have become my most common forms of communication. Unfortunately, however, I haven't learned to speak "dumbass" yet. Which led to yesterday's miscommunication. 

See, there's a new Petro truck stop in Illinois and I had to stop there for fuel. Nice, big place with pleasant employees. Inside things were great. When I walked back out, however, things went not great. There was a guy outside with a sign advocating getting trucks off the road. 

My first thought was, "is this some radical new form for committing suicide??" I couldn't help myself. Target acquired and locked. Prepare to engage! 

"Um, excuse me, what's with the sign?" 

We are a group supporting Bernie Sanders' proposal to get trucks off our roads. 

"Hmm. You're a Sanders supporter AND you're at a truck stop advocating putting trucks out of business. So that already tells me what I need to know about you but I'll play along. This could fun for a minute." That was my internal thought. What I said aloud was "you know you're at a truck stop with this, right? That's about like a rabbit hopping into a wolf den.

"So why're you wanting trucks off the road?"

"Because they cause too many deaths and accidents."

"Hhmm. Ok. How many deaths and accidents a year are trucks responsible for?"

"A lot"

"Wow. A lot, eh? Is that an official number? Try this number out: the department of transportation states that in accidents between cars and trucks, the car is at fault for 86% of those accidents. 86%. That's an actual number. 

"So maybe we should advocate to get 86% of the cars off the road and the roads would be much safer. Whatcha think, Sparky?"

"Well trucks go too slow and clog up traffic too."

"Hmm. Let's explore that. Most companies govern, that's limit the speed of, their trucks for insurance purposes. My truck isn't governed. Should I run around driving as fast as you guys do? Let's also remember most cities restrict trucks to certain lanes but not cars. So you guys are free to get around us slow rolling wildebeests of the road.

"Since we're here, though, let's talk some more. Let me ask you, how long can you be up and driving before you're required by law to stop?"

"That's absurd. No one tells me when I can and can't drive. But at least I'm smart enough to get off the road when I'm tired. You guys aren't. You drive tired all the time."

"Ok. So you can drive as much as you want. Do you know that the department of transportation limits us to no more than 14 hours on duty, meaning 'up and doing stuff', with no more than 11 hours of those being drive time? And, of those 11, we can't be on duty for more than 8 hours before being required to take a break. 

"Look around, Tiger, you see all those trucks in the parking lot? Those guys are sleeping or taking their required break. Our choices for places to stop are more limited because of the size of our vehicle but we do stop when needed.

"Now, what's your solution to trucks? People need stuff. We bring stuff. It seems to work that way."

"We could just move everything by train. It's better for the environment and won't cause so much trouble on the roads."

"Capital idea, my man! Capital idea. Wait. You seem to be wearing store bought clothes. So let me ask you, if I may, when you went to the mall to get your clothes did you happen to see... Oh, I don't know, a TRAIN STATION there? Get your car at a dealership? See a train depot on the lot? At the gas station? The grocery store? Should I continue or are you getting the general idea here?"

"We could build more railways. It would create more jobs."

"Oh. You mean jobs for the 650,000 plus people you're looking to put out of a job? You ever pick up one piece of railroad rail? It's heavy. How do you plan on getting that rail everywhere? Got a train that doesn't need rail? Yep. It's called a truck.

"Look, killer, right up until I saw your sign and you started speaking I assumed you were brighter than your shoes. After that I rapidly changed my mind. I recommend Tony Chachere's."

"Huh?"

"Tony Chachere's. It's a seasoning. We like our food seasoned. Good luck out here, you're gonna need it. I've gotta run. But, before I go, consider this:

You want trucks off the road in your county, imagine when you've gotta drive to the next county for pretty much everything you need that you can't grow. Welcome to the Wild West, pardner"

Now, as it turns out, the website he mentioned (yes, I've omitted their website because I simply don't promote their cause) was founded by a woman who lost her 8 year old grandson due to a "collision with an 18 wheeler". Let's process that. Not "was hit by", but collided into. 

In other words, THEY ran into the truck. The loss of a loved one is tragic, I understand that. However, to fault trucks for people in cars not knowing how to drive is idiotic. 

We (truck drivers) deliver products that everyone needs. Just like the rest of you, we are simply trying to do a job. We don't run around looking to cause problems for cars. More often than not, cars are the ones causing the accidents. Think long and hard about what life would be like if you couldn't just go to the store to get what you want. What life would be like if you couldn't just stop in and fill up your car at the gas station. Even what it would be like if there were no lumber stores or buildings to get materials needed to build or run your home. 

People hate that our giant vehicles get in the way and slow them down. They blame us every time they cut us off and cause an accident. They want us off the roads but they fail to realize how much we drive the economy. Highway usage taxes and fees in the billions yearly that help support construction of new roads and repair of old ones. They fail to realize how post apocalyptic the world would be within a week if we all just stopped. 

"Getting Berned"

Ok, I know I'm not supposed to talk about politics but I also know I don't care. So there's that. I can't help myself and, besides, I do what I want. So there's also that, I reckon. 

Politics keeps looming up on the horizon and there's this thousand year old guy running for president. More and more people seem to be liking what he's saying. I think that's a testament to our society of entitlement and our abysmal education system. 

See, here's problem number one. He's a socialist. "Hurray!", you say? Nay. This is bad. 

First off, let's look at socialism at its roots. Society working together for a common goal and advancement. Sound good? Sure, if everyone in that society is willing to work. Uh oh! We've already hit our first hurdle. There's a bunch of people in our society who are more than happy to sit home and live off the rest of us. Well, shit. How does that work? Only the ones who WANT to work do so and everyone else keeps getting a free ride? 

Socialism, in theory, works. But only with creatures that don't have basic human greed and laziness. If we were a bunch of bees, sure, right on. Ants, they've got it figured out. But every organism in those society actually WORK! Humans aren't ants or bees. 

Next up, "free health care and free college education". Huzzah! "Free". Such a magical word to anyone who doesn't understand THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "FREE"! 

Look, let's start with health care. Doctors need to be paid. Medicines cost money. Surgeries. Every aspect of health care has a cost. So if no one is paying for it, how do those expenses get paid? Oh, the costs go down? Probably. Along with the quality. Hey, doofus, we ALL pay for it. Well, those that work do. It's called taxes. No problem, we will just raise taxes to cover the costs. So much for "free". The working guy just starts paying more taxes. Buh-bye "free". 

Free college sound great? Sure. Everyone gets to go to college. The schools will need more teachers. Cha-Ching. Only now the tuition that supports these schools either A) goes away or B) is paid for with tax money. Guess who gets taxed more now? The ones who work. You know, the ones having to work more now to take home what they were making before. 

Of course THOSE people will be so busy working to compensate for the increased taxes that THEY won't be able to go to that "free" college. They'll be busy trying to keep supporting their families instead. 

Since tuition drops but the need for teachers increases, the teachers will have to make less money. Like they make a lot now? So there goes the quality of education. That's alright, our educational system sucks in America anyway. 

There's a plus, though, right? Everyone can get degrees. So the guys who can get higher wages now for earning a degree, make sure you lock that wage in now. See, when everyone can get a degree then having one makes you no more qualified as anyone else. The value of a degree essentially becomes that of a diploma. "Look at me, I've got a college degree! I can earn more now!" Fat chance. Everyone has a degree now; you're nothing special. 

Oh, you got a teaching degree but you can barely read and write? Good, you can become a college teacher now. You've got the degree after all. 

And, let's face it, not everyone who CAN go to college SHOULD. Look at that stupid "no child left behind" crap. All they did was dumb everything down so everyone moves ahead. They didn't raise the level of education; they just lowered the difficulty of tests. So everyone can "feel good". 

So then you'll have people becoming doctors who really shouldn't. That's alright, they'll just work for less since doctors won't be able to make as much once health care is "free". So, again, there goes your quality of health care. "Billy isn't too bright but he can be a doctor now." Great plan. 

People already don't apply themselves as much as they can in the free public school system what makes you think they'll be any more compelled to give it their all at a free college? It's not like they're worried about wasting their money. It's a self-defeating cycle. 

Besides, we already have a system in place for free college. A couple of them actually. The first one is pretty simple: fucking APPLY yourself and get a scholarship. I was offered one to art school in my early 20's but didn't take it. It's not that hard to get them really. 

Second option: it's called the G.I. Bill. Serve your country. EARN your college. If your country handing you "free" stuff that others have earned doesn't bother you but applying yourself or actually earning it for yourself bothers you... You don't fucking DESERVE it. 

Oh, what's that, he plans to tax a ludicrous amount to those who make over $250,000? Well that should work out well. The harder you work to gain wealth, the more you're penalized for it. Good plan. Way to keep people from trying to reach their full potential. 

Here's the solution to that: you take a job paying $150,000 so you can take home the same amount as those making $250,000. So you run out of those quarter million dollar jobs. No one wants them and they're all making less and keeping more now. Brilliant. You've successfully run off the high earners. Oh, they'll still be there... Just working from a different country. Genius move! Way to take the money out of the economy. 

You see where this is going yet? It defeats the purpose of a degree, drives people to make less money and you've still got people living off those that are left working. 

Degree or not, you still need people to stock shelves and run registers. Oh, we will just have to pay them more because of their degrees. Sure. So let's raise wages everywhere. Great plan. So the cost of goods goes up so companies can afford higher wages. Yay! Everything costs more now! So you're right back to the same cost/income ratio. Except now all the highest paying jobs pay less. 

So here's the simplest solution: flat tax. Get rid of income taxes. And, for the love of God, quit giving tax "refunds" to people who don't work. How the HELL do these people get "refunds" when they never paid in?! That's ridiculous. It's like feeding bears then wondering why they're in your neighborhood. 

A simple flat tax doesn't penalize success. Apex fucking predators and we cater to the weak and unmotivated. Pathetic. 

Socialism has PROVEN itself NOT to work in every human society. Yet Americans somehow think moving in that direction is the way to go. Because they hear the word "free". They hear "redistribution of wealth". They don't realize that if you tax the wealthy into poverty you're removing the incentive to succeed. Why succeed if you're gonna get punished. Let's make the upper middle class the top tier and shift every class down one from there. Way to create more "lower income" families. 

That's the America we've created though. People want something for nothing and politicians are promising it to them. You know, politicians who don't have to worry about the rules they make because they weasel their way into immunity. The people who are already living off the system will continue to vote for politicians who promise they won't have to go out and work. 

Now I've heard people use Canada as an example of the system "working". Sure, sounds great. Wait. How much is a tank of gas in Canada? How high is the cost of living? And where do the wealthier people of Canada go for medical care? That's odd. Speaking with a few Canadians I've heard that the ones who can afford it come to America for some aspects of health care. Both because of the quality and because of the wait up there for certain procedures. So where are they going to go once we adopt their system that's so "awesome"? You'd think if it was that awesome they wouldn't need to come here to get stuff done. Funny how they never use The Soviet Union as a good example of how socialism works. Wait... Oh yeah.. It DOESN'T. 

"But...but...Bernie Sanders is going to make everything equal." Screw you and your equal. I work hard for what I have and I EARN what I get. You want shit, go out and earn it and quit looking for ways to get handouts. I don't want the ambitious and motivated people to be unfairly penalized. I want the UNmotivated to be penalized. Natural selection. 

Look at every socialist country. Health care and education aren't very good. Economically they fail. Humans are too greedy for money and power on one end of the spectrum. On the other end, people are lazy and unmotivated. If we were bees, ants, robots or some shit...maybe. But we aren't. 

Ole Bernie is a "democratic socialist" though. Oh, well thanks for that distinction. That means we VOTE for the people who screw us. Guess what, we already do. 

I have no problem if you believe in socialism and "redistribution of wealth". Have at it. Mail me your money, go ahead.