New trend of politics in moto media that's bugging me (For Matthes, Anton, Ping, Cox, DBo, JT and whoever else...)

slipdog wrote:

My entire social media feed, except maybe Nerd, is filled with anti-maskers and COVID-hoaxers. I don't get it, but I have a customer in the bio...

My entire social media feed, except maybe Nerd, is filled with anti-maskers and COVID-hoaxers. I don't get it, but I have a customer in the bio lab industry that filled me in back in Jan-Feb before all this went down and so far he was dead on and I trust him more than the media/social media.

If I don't agree I just ignore and move on because you aren't going to change my mind and I won't try to change yours. As long as we have dirt bikes, we're cool...

huutnanny wrote:

I took a look at ping’s twitter. It’s a bit abrasive. But here’s the thing. Despite all those things that I would disagree with, step back...

I took a look at ping’s twitter. It’s a bit abrasive.

But here’s the thing. Despite all those things that I would disagree with, step back and look at the entire picture. The guy is does a job to serve the public. I have not heard anything bad about the guy. His twitter feed seems kinda out there, but the silver lining is that maybe people are actually more centered than whatever their social media account reflects. Look at what people do. It’s seems to be more telling than what they post.

huutnanny wrote:

I took a look at ping’s twitter. It’s a bit abrasive. But here’s the thing. Despite all those things that I would disagree with, step back...

I took a look at ping’s twitter. It’s a bit abrasive.

But here’s the thing. Despite all those things that I would disagree with, step back and look at the entire picture. The guy is does a job to serve the public. I have not heard anything bad about the guy. His twitter feed seems kinda out there, but the silver lining is that maybe people are actually more centered than whatever their social media account reflects. Look at what people do. It’s seems to be more telling than what they post.

Suicidal_Tendencies wrote:

What is Ping's twitter, I can't find it.

Nerd wrote:

This is not intended to be a politically divisive post. I will keep the actual politics to the bare minimum in hopes GuyB won’t flush it...

This is not intended to be a politically divisive post. I will keep the actual politics to the bare minimum in hopes GuyB won’t flush it. Here we go:

People can break down politics many ways—left/right, libertarian/authoritarian, individualist/collectivist, etc—but obviously I decided a few years ago to focus on running for office as an *independent* knowing it would be an uphill battle, and believing that I had it in me to persevere in large part due to my history as a motocross racer.

There is no tougher sport. There is no better test of mettle. I love motocross and supercross racing. And just as with motocross racing, I’m figuring out how to run for office, and I’m making lots of mistakes, but I’m also making incredible progress—>900 votes in 2018 on $3000, ≈8500 votes in 2020 on $500. I legitimately think I can win in 2022 with a system we (myself and my campaign staff) have developed, and after we prove the effectiveness of this system in 2022, we’re going to put together a free handbook on running for office as an independent and help put more independents into government. I wholeheartedly believe this is the answer to fixing our broken government.

I’m a new dad, and my daughter, Daphne, is my entire world. In most ways, she’s softened me, but she’s hardened my resolve. I’m 43 years old now with an infant daughter and I know I won’t be around for her as long as most parents are. I’ll be 60 when she graduates high school. And I absolutely refuse to leave her in this world as it is.

And this pandemic—and many of my friends’ responses to it—has revealed my tipping point. I can, and do, respect people of all political ideologies because I believe there’s truth to all of them. The flaw this pandemic revealed, IMO, is mainly between the “collectivist” and “individualist” ideologies. I think in reality both of those ideologies rely on each other. You can’t have individualism without collectivism and vice-versa. People refusing to wear masks in public are going to lead to our economy shutting down again, and this “individualist” behavior may actually end up killing off the sport we all love so much.

But if we act as a “collective”, with knowledge, and respect for each other’s safety—since the cloth masks are designed to protect *others* from *us*, not protect *us* from *others*—that will *enable* our “individualist” pursuits in deciding which sports (if any) we want to support and participate in.

And that is how politics permeates motocross, and everything else.

I also have two parents who are both susceptible to lung-related illness, and if either of them catch COVID, they’ll likely die. And infants are also especially susceptible to this illness, and if I lose my daughter to this illness because of these short-sighted “individualists”, hell hath no fury...

That’s why, having attempted (and continuing to) to discuss this rationally with many “anti-maskers” (who are mostly just victims of their own normalcy biases and political bubbles) I have a short fuse on this particular issue.

But I think if we love our sport, as I believe all of us do, we need to be willing to talk about *certain* things that have a political ideology attached to them (whether they should or not, as I don’t think science should usually be considered a political issue).

Best wishes everybody. Truly. And I don’t mean this like these celebrity dummies who feel it’s torture to be stuck in their mansions: We’re all in this together, whether we like it or not.

Sierra Ranger wrote:

Had my daughter a month before my 47th birthday- she's 6 now. I'll be 64 when she graduates high school! Good post, Nerd. The ugliness between...

Had my daughter a month before my 47th birthday- she's 6 now. I'll be 64 when she graduates high school!
Good post, Nerd. The ugliness between you and DBo on Instagram partly inspired my original post. It's sad to see this stuff in the moto community.

HuskyEd wrote:

Steve, congrats on becoming a dad. My sister-in-law became a new mom at 46 and my brother-in-law was 44 so you're not alone on the age...

Steve, congrats on becoming a dad.

My sister-in-law became a new mom at 46 and my brother-in-law was 44 so you're not alone on the age thing.

Nerd wrote:

This is not intended to be a politically divisive post. I will keep the actual politics to the bare minimum in hopes GuyB won’t flush it...

This is not intended to be a politically divisive post. I will keep the actual politics to the bare minimum in hopes GuyB won’t flush it. Here we go:

People can break down politics many ways—left/right, libertarian/authoritarian, individualist/collectivist, etc—but obviously I decided a few years ago to focus on running for office as an *independent* knowing it would be an uphill battle, and believing that I had it in me to persevere in large part due to my history as a motocross racer.

There is no tougher sport. There is no better test of mettle. I love motocross and supercross racing. And just as with motocross racing, I’m figuring out how to run for office, and I’m making lots of mistakes, but I’m also making incredible progress—>900 votes in 2018 on $3000, ≈8500 votes in 2020 on $500. I legitimately think I can win in 2022 with a system we (myself and my campaign staff) have developed, and after we prove the effectiveness of this system in 2022, we’re going to put together a free handbook on running for office as an independent and help put more independents into government. I wholeheartedly believe this is the answer to fixing our broken government.

I’m a new dad, and my daughter, Daphne, is my entire world. In most ways, she’s softened me, but she’s hardened my resolve. I’m 43 years old now with an infant daughter and I know I won’t be around for her as long as most parents are. I’ll be 60 when she graduates high school. And I absolutely refuse to leave her in this world as it is.

And this pandemic—and many of my friends’ responses to it—has revealed my tipping point. I can, and do, respect people of all political ideologies because I believe there’s truth to all of them. The flaw this pandemic revealed, IMO, is mainly between the “collectivist” and “individualist” ideologies. I think in reality both of those ideologies rely on each other. You can’t have individualism without collectivism and vice-versa. People refusing to wear masks in public are going to lead to our economy shutting down again, and this “individualist” behavior may actually end up killing off the sport we all love so much.

But if we act as a “collective”, with knowledge, and respect for each other’s safety—since the cloth masks are designed to protect *others* from *us*, not protect *us* from *others*—that will *enable* our “individualist” pursuits in deciding which sports (if any) we want to support and participate in.

And that is how politics permeates motocross, and everything else.

I also have two parents who are both susceptible to lung-related illness, and if either of them catch COVID, they’ll likely die. And infants are also especially susceptible to this illness, and if I lose my daughter to this illness because of these short-sighted “individualists”, hell hath no fury...

That’s why, having attempted (and continuing to) to discuss this rationally with many “anti-maskers” (who are mostly just victims of their own normalcy biases and political bubbles) I have a short fuse on this particular issue.

But I think if we love our sport, as I believe all of us do, we need to be willing to talk about *certain* things that have a political ideology attached to them (whether they should or not, as I don’t think science should usually be considered a political issue).

Best wishes everybody. Truly. And I don’t mean this like these celebrity dummies who feel it’s torture to be stuck in their mansions: We’re all in this together, whether we like it or not.

HuskyEd wrote:

Steve, congrats on becoming a dad. My sister-in-law became a new mom at 46 and my brother-in-law was 44 so you're not alone on the age...

Steve, congrats on becoming a dad.

My sister-in-law became a new mom at 46 and my brother-in-law was 44 so you're not alone on the age thing.

Sierra Ranger wrote:

Had my daughter a month before my 47th birthday- she's 6 now. I'll be 64 when she graduates high school! Good post, Nerd. The ugliness between...

Had my daughter a month before my 47th birthday- she's 6 now. I'll be 64 when she graduates high school!
Good post, Nerd. The ugliness between you and DBo on Instagram partly inspired my original post. It's sad to see this stuff in the moto community.

huutnanny wrote:

I took a look at ping’s twitter. It’s a bit abrasive. But here’s the thing. Despite all those things that I would disagree with, step back...

I took a look at ping’s twitter. It’s a bit abrasive.

But here’s the thing. Despite all those things that I would disagree with, step back and look at the entire picture. The guy is does a job to serve the public. I have not heard anything bad about the guy. His twitter feed seems kinda out there, but the silver lining is that maybe people are actually more centered than whatever their social media account reflects. Look at what people do. It’s seems to be more telling than what they post.

Suicidal_Tendencies wrote:

What is Ping's twitter, I can't find it.

huutnanny wrote:

twitter.com/davidpingree101

Nerd wrote:

Oh, and I meant to post Daphne celebrating ‘murica. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/07/10/437251/s1200_F785BE76_3E2F_47CA_8D8F_8EEBCDA51128.jpg[/img]

Oh, and I meant to post Daphne celebrating ‘murica.

slipdog wrote:

My entire social media feed, except maybe Nerd, is filled with anti-maskers and COVID-hoaxers. I don't get it, but I have a customer in the bio...

My entire social media feed, except maybe Nerd, is filled with anti-maskers and COVID-hoaxers. I don't get it, but I have a customer in the bio lab industry that filled me in back in Jan-Feb before all this went down and so far he was dead on and I trust him more than the media/social media.

If I don't agree I just ignore and move on because you aren't going to change my mind and I won't try to change yours. As long as we have dirt bikes, we're cool...

Suicidal_Tendencies wrote:

It appears to be set to private so I can't follow or see his posts.

Nerd wrote:

This is not intended to be a politically divisive post. I will keep the actual politics to the bare minimum in hopes GuyB won’t flush it...

This is not intended to be a politically divisive post. I will keep the actual politics to the bare minimum in hopes GuyB won’t flush it. Here we go:

People can break down politics many ways—left/right, libertarian/authoritarian, individualist/collectivist, etc—but obviously I decided a few years ago to focus on running for office as an *independent* knowing it would be an uphill battle, and believing that I had it in me to persevere in large part due to my history as a motocross racer.

There is no tougher sport. There is no better test of mettle. I love motocross and supercross racing. And just as with motocross racing, I’m figuring out how to run for office, and I’m making lots of mistakes, but I’m also making incredible progress—>900 votes in 2018 on $3000, ≈8500 votes in 2020 on $500. I legitimately think I can win in 2022 with a system we (myself and my campaign staff) have developed, and after we prove the effectiveness of this system in 2022, we’re going to put together a free handbook on running for office as an independent and help put more independents into government. I wholeheartedly believe this is the answer to fixing our broken government.

I’m a new dad, and my daughter, Daphne, is my entire world. In most ways, she’s softened me, but she’s hardened my resolve. I’m 43 years old now with an infant daughter and I know I won’t be around for her as long as most parents are. I’ll be 60 when she graduates high school. And I absolutely refuse to leave her in this world as it is.

And this pandemic—and many of my friends’ responses to it—has revealed my tipping point. I can, and do, respect people of all political ideologies because I believe there’s truth to all of them. The flaw this pandemic revealed, IMO, is mainly between the “collectivist” and “individualist” ideologies. I think in reality both of those ideologies rely on each other. You can’t have individualism without collectivism and vice-versa. People refusing to wear masks in public are going to lead to our economy shutting down again, and this “individualist” behavior may actually end up killing off the sport we all love so much.

But if we act as a “collective”, with knowledge, and respect for each other’s safety—since the cloth masks are designed to protect *others* from *us*, not protect *us* from *others*—that will *enable* our “individualist” pursuits in deciding which sports (if any) we want to support and participate in.

And that is how politics permeates motocross, and everything else.

I also have two parents who are both susceptible to lung-related illness, and if either of them catch COVID, they’ll likely die. And infants are also especially susceptible to this illness, and if I lose my daughter to this illness because of these short-sighted “individualists”, hell hath no fury...

That’s why, having attempted (and continuing to) to discuss this rationally with many “anti-maskers” (who are mostly just victims of their own normalcy biases and political bubbles) I have a short fuse on this particular issue.

But I think if we love our sport, as I believe all of us do, we need to be willing to talk about *certain* things that have a political ideology attached to them (whether they should or not, as I don’t think science should usually be considered a political issue).

Best wishes everybody. Truly. And I don’t mean this like these celebrity dummies who feel it’s torture to be stuck in their mansions: We’re all in this together, whether we like it or not.

Nerd wrote:

This is not intended to be a politically divisive post. I will keep the actual politics to the bare minimum in hopes GuyB won’t flush it...

This is not intended to be a politically divisive post. I will keep the actual politics to the bare minimum in hopes GuyB won’t flush it. Here we go:

People can break down politics many ways—left/right, libertarian/authoritarian, individualist/collectivist, etc—but obviously I decided a few years ago to focus on running for office as an *independent* knowing it would be an uphill battle, and believing that I had it in me to persevere in large part due to my history as a motocross racer.

There is no tougher sport. There is no better test of mettle. I love motocross and supercross racing. And just as with motocross racing, I’m figuring out how to run for office, and I’m making lots of mistakes, but I’m also making incredible progress—>900 votes in 2018 on $3000, ≈8500 votes in 2020 on $500. I legitimately think I can win in 2022 with a system we (myself and my campaign staff) have developed, and after we prove the effectiveness of this system in 2022, we’re going to put together a free handbook on running for office as an independent and help put more independents into government. I wholeheartedly believe this is the answer to fixing our broken government.

I’m a new dad, and my daughter, Daphne, is my entire world. In most ways, she’s softened me, but she’s hardened my resolve. I’m 43 years old now with an infant daughter and I know I won’t be around for her as long as most parents are. I’ll be 60 when she graduates high school. And I absolutely refuse to leave her in this world as it is.

And this pandemic—and many of my friends’ responses to it—has revealed my tipping point. I can, and do, respect people of all political ideologies because I believe there’s truth to all of them. The flaw this pandemic revealed, IMO, is mainly between the “collectivist” and “individualist” ideologies. I think in reality both of those ideologies rely on each other. You can’t have individualism without collectivism and vice-versa. People refusing to wear masks in public are going to lead to our economy shutting down again, and this “individualist” behavior may actually end up killing off the sport we all love so much.

But if we act as a “collective”, with knowledge, and respect for each other’s safety—since the cloth masks are designed to protect *others* from *us*, not protect *us* from *others*—that will *enable* our “individualist” pursuits in deciding which sports (if any) we want to support and participate in.

And that is how politics permeates motocross, and everything else.

I also have two parents who are both susceptible to lung-related illness, and if either of them catch COVID, they’ll likely die. And infants are also especially susceptible to this illness, and if I lose my daughter to this illness because of these short-sighted “individualists”, hell hath no fury...

That’s why, having attempted (and continuing to) to discuss this rationally with many “anti-maskers” (who are mostly just victims of their own normalcy biases and political bubbles) I have a short fuse on this particular issue.

But I think if we love our sport, as I believe all of us do, we need to be willing to talk about *certain* things that have a political ideology attached to them (whether they should or not, as I don’t think science should usually be considered a political issue).

Best wishes everybody. Truly. And I don’t mean this like these celebrity dummies who feel it’s torture to be stuck in their mansions: We’re all in this together, whether we like it or not.

t_baum88 wrote:

Yeah let’s hope the screenshots of you calling your fellow Americans “retards” “bootlickers” and “fucking idiots” two nights ago on DBO’s instagram doesn’t get to your...

Yeah let’s hope the screenshots of you calling your fellow Americans “retards” “bootlickers” and “fucking idiots” two nights ago on DBO’s instagram doesn’t get to your opposition.


This is what Cox means when he says “let’s talk rationally”.

Nerd wrote:

This is not intended to be a politically divisive post. I will keep the actual politics to the bare minimum in hopes GuyB won’t flush it...

This is not intended to be a politically divisive post. I will keep the actual politics to the bare minimum in hopes GuyB won’t flush it. Here we go:

People can break down politics many ways—left/right, libertarian/authoritarian, individualist/collectivist, etc—but obviously I decided a few years ago to focus on running for office as an *independent* knowing it would be an uphill battle, and believing that I had it in me to persevere in large part due to my history as a motocross racer.

There is no tougher sport. There is no better test of mettle. I love motocross and supercross racing. And just as with motocross racing, I’m figuring out how to run for office, and I’m making lots of mistakes, but I’m also making incredible progress—>900 votes in 2018 on $3000, ≈8500 votes in 2020 on $500. I legitimately think I can win in 2022 with a system we (myself and my campaign staff) have developed, and after we prove the effectiveness of this system in 2022, we’re going to put together a free handbook on running for office as an independent and help put more independents into government. I wholeheartedly believe this is the answer to fixing our broken government.

I’m a new dad, and my daughter, Daphne, is my entire world. In most ways, she’s softened me, but she’s hardened my resolve. I’m 43 years old now with an infant daughter and I know I won’t be around for her as long as most parents are. I’ll be 60 when she graduates high school. And I absolutely refuse to leave her in this world as it is.

And this pandemic—and many of my friends’ responses to it—has revealed my tipping point. I can, and do, respect people of all political ideologies because I believe there’s truth to all of them. The flaw this pandemic revealed, IMO, is mainly between the “collectivist” and “individualist” ideologies. I think in reality both of those ideologies rely on each other. You can’t have individualism without collectivism and vice-versa. People refusing to wear masks in public are going to lead to our economy shutting down again, and this “individualist” behavior may actually end up killing off the sport we all love so much.

But if we act as a “collective”, with knowledge, and respect for each other’s safety—since the cloth masks are designed to protect *others* from *us*, not protect *us* from *others*—that will *enable* our “individualist” pursuits in deciding which sports (if any) we want to support and participate in.

And that is how politics permeates motocross, and everything else.

I also have two parents who are both susceptible to lung-related illness, and if either of them catch COVID, they’ll likely die. And infants are also especially susceptible to this illness, and if I lose my daughter to this illness because of these short-sighted “individualists”, hell hath no fury...

That’s why, having attempted (and continuing to) to discuss this rationally with many “anti-maskers” (who are mostly just victims of their own normalcy biases and political bubbles) I have a short fuse on this particular issue.

But I think if we love our sport, as I believe all of us do, we need to be willing to talk about *certain* things that have a political ideology attached to them (whether they should or not, as I don’t think science should usually be considered a political issue).

Best wishes everybody. Truly. And I don’t mean this like these celebrity dummies who feel it’s torture to be stuck in their mansions: We’re all in this together, whether we like it or not.

t_baum88 wrote:

Yeah let’s hope the screenshots of you calling your fellow Americans “retards” “bootlickers” and “fucking idiots” two nights ago on DBO’s instagram doesn’t get to your...

Yeah let’s hope the screenshots of you calling your fellow Americans “retards” “bootlickers” and “fucking idiots” two nights ago on DBO’s instagram doesn’t get to your opposition.


This is what Cox means when he says “let’s talk rationally”.

ATKpilot99 wrote:

Who's DBO ?

slipdog wrote:

My entire social media feed, except maybe Nerd, is filled with anti-maskers and COVID-hoaxers. I don't get it, but I have a customer in the bio...

My entire social media feed, except maybe Nerd, is filled with anti-maskers and COVID-hoaxers. I don't get it, but I have a customer in the bio lab industry that filled me in back in Jan-Feb before all this went down and so far he was dead on and I trust him more than the media/social media.

If I don't agree I just ignore and move on because you aren't going to change my mind and I won't try to change yours. As long as we have dirt bikes, we're cool...

jemcee wrote:

Edit: The following is based on a misread post haha I understand now after reading again Slip was talking about being anti-mask but I still mean...

Edit: The following is based on a misread post haha I understand now after reading again Slip was talking about being anti-mask but I still mean the rest of it haha

I agree with everything you wrote (and can't really remember ever not agreeing with anything you've written) but I think part of the problem in society these days is 'you aren't going to change my mind' if we all weren't so stuck in our own beliefs and what we see as 'right' and having an open mind and didn't see changing our mind as weakness then maybe we wouldn't be so divided.. (not saying you are one that I mentioned but that line stuck out to me)
'I won't try to change yours' is where I sit on things I'll speak my thoughts on something and people can do what they want with it..

I've got a mate who's a really good journalist who I truly think is 'centrist' and he's great to talk to about this stuff
(Oh do ya? Wow that's incredible, tell us more about it! haha)

huutnanny wrote:

I took a look at ping’s twitter. It’s a bit abrasive. But here’s the thing. Despite all those things that I would disagree with, step back...

I took a look at ping’s twitter. It’s a bit abrasive.

But here’s the thing. Despite all those things that I would disagree with, step back and look at the entire picture. The guy is does a job to serve the public. I have not heard anything bad about the guy. His twitter feed seems kinda out there, but the silver lining is that maybe people are actually more centered than whatever their social media account reflects. Look at what people do. It’s seems to be more telling than what they post.

huutnanny wrote:

I took a look at ping’s twitter. It’s a bit abrasive. But here’s the thing. Despite all those things that I would disagree with, step back...

I took a look at ping’s twitter. It’s a bit abrasive.

But here’s the thing. Despite all those things that I would disagree with, step back and look at the entire picture. The guy is does a job to serve the public. I have not heard anything bad about the guy. His twitter feed seems kinda out there, but the silver lining is that maybe people are actually more centered than whatever their social media account reflects. Look at what people do. It’s seems to be more telling than what they post.

charge wrote:

While I think his posts are a a bit too polarizing, what gets me is the comments. It just becomes “these people are your allies” and...

While I think his posts are a a bit too polarizing, what gets me is the comments.

It just becomes “these people are your allies” and it is pretty ugly

Silas444 wrote:

The comment made by Nerd about there being a need for both collectivists and individualists is, to me, the nub of all these sandpapery politically-charged disagreements...

The comment made by Nerd about there being a need for both collectivists and individualists is, to me, the nub of all these sandpapery politically-charged disagreements we've been having here on Vital.

Individualists are exceptional people by definition, and when pushed on the matter, they'll all grudgingly accept the need for society to be largely made up of pliant, incurious, collectivists, as the group think they embrace is the soft, willing, fertile soil that allows individualists to plant their seeds of independent thought and have them take root. You can't have rebels without having a big 'ol lump of conformists to stick them in the middle of, and once you have, there's no way to make one or the other feel at ease. It just doesn't work that way. Collectivists don't like individuality. Like a drop of oil being put in a bowl of water, collectivists offer no choice for an exceptional individualist but to either leave "the bowl" or pretend to be what they're not. And many do. Most, in fact.

What's happened here on Vital is that's there's been a necessary but disturbing dismantling of a prevailing presumption - a presumption that, because we all moto, we all simply MUST be exceptional, and thus we all simply MUST be individualists. Well - no. No, we most certainly are not. Most of us here on Vital, in fact the vast majority, as it turns out, want to be members of a polite society that goes along and gets along and pays it's taxes and obeys the rules and brings it's charming children up in a peaceful nation that admires it's neighbors and mows it's lawns and........ conforms. It does what's best for the majority. And then there's a few (very few, sadly) of us who moto (like me, for example, who rode only yesterday and found it to be wildly reckless but worth it), that are individualists who find the conformist nature of our moto-brethren to be, well, a textbook example of cognitive dissonance. Regardless, it's not fixable, mates. It just IS, but it's better that we know. I've been questioning authority since I was eight years old, and the 51 years I've lived since have done NOTHING to tame me. I'm a rebel, and I feel no need to be otherwise. I'll die this way, and when I do, I'll be yelling to the collectivists that safety is an illusion and caution is overrated. I'm here to create unease amongst the calm, and to awaken any unrealized rebels to what is possible if they stop trying to be popular among the throng. I'm like a drop of oil in a bowl of water. To mask or not to mask? - HA! - that's just the tip of an iceberg, my friends. I wear one, but only because I became curious how it would feel to obey. It feels fascinating. I now await the downvotes of the conformist militia with a twinkle in my eye and a sly grin.

Rick Amatuzio wrote:

Pings Twitter is great! He has a brain... love it. Liberalism/Stupidity will be the death of America, have a nice day.

Silas444 wrote:

The comment made by Nerd about there being a need for both collectivists and individualists is, to me, the nub of all these sandpapery politically-charged disagreements...

The comment made by Nerd about there being a need for both collectivists and individualists is, to me, the nub of all these sandpapery politically-charged disagreements we've been having here on Vital.

Individualists are exceptional people by definition, and when pushed on the matter, they'll all grudgingly accept the need for society to be largely made up of pliant, incurious, collectivists, as the group think they embrace is the soft, willing, fertile soil that allows individualists to plant their seeds of independent thought and have them take root. You can't have rebels without having a big 'ol lump of conformists to stick them in the middle of, and once you have, there's no way to make one or the other feel at ease. It just doesn't work that way. Collectivists don't like individuality. Like a drop of oil being put in a bowl of water, collectivists offer no choice for an exceptional individualist but to either leave "the bowl" or pretend to be what they're not. And many do. Most, in fact.

What's happened here on Vital is that's there's been a necessary but disturbing dismantling of a prevailing presumption - a presumption that, because we all moto, we all simply MUST be exceptional, and thus we all simply MUST be individualists. Well - no. No, we most certainly are not. Most of us here on Vital, in fact the vast majority, as it turns out, want to be members of a polite society that goes along and gets along and pays it's taxes and obeys the rules and brings it's charming children up in a peaceful nation that admires it's neighbors and mows it's lawns and........ conforms. It does what's best for the majority. And then there's a few (very few, sadly) of us who moto (like me, for example, who rode only yesterday and found it to be wildly reckless but worth it), that are individualists who find the conformist nature of our moto-brethren to be, well, a textbook example of cognitive dissonance. Regardless, it's not fixable, mates. It just IS, but it's better that we know. I've been questioning authority since I was eight years old, and the 51 years I've lived since have done NOTHING to tame me. I'm a rebel, and I feel no need to be otherwise. I'll die this way, and when I do, I'll be yelling to the collectivists that safety is an illusion and caution is overrated. I'm here to create unease amongst the calm, and to awaken any unrealized rebels to what is possible if they stop trying to be popular among the throng. I'm like a drop of oil in a bowl of water. To mask or not to mask? - HA! - that's just the tip of an iceberg, my friends. I wear one, but only because I became curious how it would feel to obey. It feels fascinating. I now await the downvotes of the conformist militia with a twinkle in my eye and a sly grin.

hamncheeze wrote:

Greatest piece of self-promotion I’ve read today.