Cannot think of a good heading

[Broompilot]

Months ago I posted on here regarding contacting representatives in office. What I predicted what the dangers of Mexican Trucks entering here. What alone it will do to us but to the local economy of Laredo, El Paso, Eagle Pass etc..

I was actually called by one member a RACIST.

Now I never have or said I hated Mexicans, only the fact that they are being given open inviation to our jobs and markets.

Here is just another good example, just Friday at the intersection of off ramp on 85 NB and Graham street I was behind a Bobtail, next to me another American Truck. Bobtail had a sentance in Spanish accross the sleeper, to bad he did not put any $ into those drive tires instead of his cute little phrase. Tires were way below 3/32 as there were no groves in the Rubber at all, something like a sandwich meat?

So why was that post taken serious months ago? Forewarning went out OODA was critized as well, plus it was a waist of time was also mentioned. Now look what we got?

 

[greg334]

I can - stupid people

Broompilot

I have been called racist too, who cares.

It does not prevent me from posting or making money, I just believe that everyone is equal and many have no choice but to do what they can do.

The Mexican issue for me has nothing to do with the people driving the truck, the condition of the truck or anything like that; these issues are superficial when I really examine it as a problem. The real issue is the US truckers and their laziness to pull together as a group I see this as the real problem, nothing else on this issue.

To be clear, today’s truckers are incapable of using their intelligence to communicate with the people who they elect, they just don’t want to get out of their little world – their comfort zone - and do something about issues that affect them.

Don’t get me wrong and please don’t bring up the OOIDA, but the average OTR driver is in their little world, many would rather sit on their fat a**, watch DTV, eats cr*p food and drink soda instead of taking the time to register to vote, to write to their proper representatives and to vote. NO EXCUSE for this.

The OOIDA is only a very, very small part of the solution – a catalyst so to speak but never could be the solution.

Do I sound frustrated?

Well I am, maybe because I hear how patriotic truckers are, how they are the backbone of America – BS. If they were, they would be engaged for change, they are not.

Maybe my frustration has something to do with my background. I come from a different world, my last employer has a PAC, and we were exposed to the workings of the government not from the voter’s point of view but the big company’s point of view and how to leverage the power of the voter to make a change for the company. What can be done there could not be done in our world today. If you read any number of my posts, there is a pattern to all of them when it comes to government - I wonder why?

When I talk about pulling together as a group, I don’t mean showing up in Washington and shutting it down, no one will be able to tell and that is stupid anyways. What I mean is getting out of the truck, talking to your fellow trucker and asking them “are you a voter? Did you call or write?â€

No one who will be affected does this, do they?

They are afraid to offend people?

Maybe it is the fact that many view voting as a private thing, well asking one who they voted for could be but not asking someone if they are registered to vote or have voted is.

Until the truckers themselves get out of their comfort zone and do something American, don’t expect this to change for the better – it will all get worst before it will get better.

Oh well, I got to go celebrate the demise of the union.

 

[Turtle]

RE: I can - stupid people

Greg, considering that truckers aren't "a group" to begin with, it's hard to expect them to pull together as one. Its hard to expect disjointed individuals to come together as an organized group, because there is simply no method for bringing them together.

Grass roots, face-to-face efforts in trying to get truckers to organize as a group and to vote are generally meaningless, because Americans in general as a group don't even vote. Only about 50% of eligible voters ever make it to the polls to cast their votes. And for people who travel for a living, like truckers, the percentages are dramatically less than the general population.

"...but the average AMERICAN is in their little world, many would rather sit on their fat a**, watch DTV, eats cr*p food and drink soda instead of taking the time to register to vote, to write to their proper representatives and to vote. NO EXCUSE for this."

I agree.

And in America, unlike the rest of the world, the less money you make the less the likelihood that you'll vote. There is a helpless frustration at work. 'Oh, but voting is important. Voters, regardless of their income, education, race or ethnic background, have equal power to influence our democracy! People have died trying to vote. Think about the struggles of women and blacks in America to obtain the simple right to vote. Your vote matters!'

No, it doesn't. Not really. Thanks to PACs, money talks and horse hockey walks.

So, we are left with organized representation. The Teamsters? The ones who have effectively priced their membership out of the world market? The ones who invented the need to move jobs to other countries? No thanks. Then there's the ATA, an industry PAC which as part of its Mission Statement is "to advance the trucking industry’s image, efficiency, competitiveness, and profitability." Individuals cannot even join, it's a company thing. Then there's OOIDA, which, by and large, spend most of their time combing through court decisions looking for procedural errors that can be cause for the appeal of a decision they don't like.

So, we're left with grass roots efforts to convince a significant less-than 50% of the general voting public who vote roughly 20% of their eligibility, to increase their voting registration and voting percentages significantly. You can call and write your congressmen and representatives all day long, but if you're not on the list of registered voters, they will ignore you, because you don't matter.

I vote in every election, national and local, either in person or by absentee ballot. Not that it matters.

I'd write more, but I gotta go paint an American flag on the side of my van. Maybe a POW-MIA thingy on the other side while I'm at it. Oh, oh, oh! and one of them five dollar yellow magnetic ribbons that are made in China. I'm patriotic.

Slow and steady, even in expediting, wins the race - Aesop