Not Hate.
The weatherman doesn't tell you it is raining because he hates you.
We are all experiencing sticker shock. My Sprinter takes diesel, and I do most of my driving between southern RI and CT. In Rhode Island, over the last thirty days or so, the price of diesel has jumped to over $5/gallon. In CT, it is already $5.79. It’s going to become more expensive still. I won’t be shocked to see $7, or even $8/gallon by July.
The average tractor-trailer also consumes diesel and has two fuel tanks that hold about 150 gallons each. They get about 6.5 miles per gallon. Yikes! That means, to fill up a big rig at the pump costs more than $1500, and that will haul one container of goods about 2,000 miles.
Everything that is carried in those trucks (which means, pretty much, everything we purchase every day) is going to get more expensive. This is on top of the already record inflation that is due to a government that is (literally) printing money at a record rate. Holy Junkpunch, Batman! This is (again, literally) like looking over your monthly bills and saying, “Whew! Well, at least I’m not broke. I still have checks!”
The median income in the US is about $45,000. Meaning a full half of the country earn less. $45K, about $935.00 a week. Half of the nation makes less. This is going to hurt, and it is going to hurt those among us with the least, most.
So I’m a little bit amused watching the progressives wring their hands and wonder what could ever have gone wrong. All of the right ideological boxes were checked! All the right buzzwords were included! Green, diversity, sustainable, fair. Biden appointed people according to identity, exactly as the ideological recipe required! He accounted for melanin, gender, and status as historical victims, all of the really important things. How could the wheels fall off like this?
Last night I had a brief exchange as the car I was in drove past a gas station (because I refuse to argue politics) that went something like this.
Person: “Wow. Look at those prices.”
Me: “Yep. Well, it’s what people voted for. They should get what they vote for.”
Person: “You’re blaming Biden for this?”
Me: “They are his policies. It isn’t a secret.”
Person: “Oh there you go! Everything was great with Trump! If Trump were president today I wouldn’t be blaming him.”
Me: “We wouldn’t be having this conversation if Trump were president. The prices wouldn’t be like this.”
Person: “Oh, because Trump is magical!”
Me: “Magical? No, but he had different policies, which bring different results. I knew this was coming the day after the election.”
And then we dropped it. But it caused me to think, even though I left the thoughts unspoken. For one, of course Trump would have been blamed had this happened on his watch. He was blamed for everything when in office. He was impeached, twice, for completely fictional infractions. No way is it fair to claim it is unreasonable to hold Biden responsible. When Trump gave his state of the union, Nancy Pelosi made a point of tearing his speech to pieces on camera. She clapped like a trained seal while Biden gave his and was espousing the very policies that have brought us here.
More importantly, though, had the conversation continued I would have asked a question: If the policies of an administration don’t matter, why was it so important to you to see Trump removed from office? If Trump was dangerous, as you claimed, doesn’t that indicate that you believed a president can do harm? The simple fact is, Trump’s policies did little harm and much good. Biden’s policy was to undo what Trump had done, and this is the result. Who should be held accountable? “Shit happens” doesn’t cut it I’m afraid. The response of Congress to this crisis? They passed another $1.5 trillion spending bill a few days ago, before anyone has read it. What could possibly go wrong?
There is no need to get into heavy discussions regarding the deep state and theoretical constructs like critical theory being foisted on an unwilling public. We need only shrug and say, “Elections have consequences and you voted for this. There are no do overs. Choose better in the future.”
It’s going to suck. And it’s going to get worse before it gets better. The silver lining here is progressives will have to live in the world they helped create, and as their agenda is rejected on every level and at every turn they will have to do the simple moral calculation again and again and again: “Am I responsible for this? Or is it the fault of someone who is not me?”
Kids. The election was less than two years ago. If you voted for Democrats this is what you voted for, whether you choose to accept it or not. None of what we are experiencing is happenstance. It was always baked in. It is not hateful to point this out. You wanted it, and you got it. Enjoy the victory.
For as long as it lasts.
I appreciate your easy going, realistic style which is certainly not overly confrontational. I believe that is what it takes to reduce the level of idealistic division in the United States.
It is extremely difficult to cause a change in the beliefs of a person, or for that person to change her belief system on her own. The first time I heard the term "paradigm shift" a light came on and I found a new perspective to understand myself and others. Typically, if I try to debate with the person it causes her to defend her position which reinforces her belief system. The person has to come to a point of doubting her current beliefs before she can consider that a different set of beliefs might actually be better, more truthful and accurate. Subtle, non-polarizing, non-political comments that do not spark arguments are the only way I can have a discussion with such people. When that happens I can start to understand how the other person thinks, and maybe have some chance they will open their mind just a bit.
Regarding current events on the global scale, is anyone else having trouble getting the thought of "Neville Chamberlain" our of their head?
A year and few months later they are still blaming someone else. It’s sad really that the VP of our country cannot answer a question or for that matter answer without cackling. Whenever I ask people I know that voted for this shit show one thing Biden has done. They either have no answer or say something silly like “ He rejoined the Paris accord!” Than they will start spewing hate because they have nothing else. It’s sad.