Post by howard lee on Jan 6, 2022 17:01:19 GMT -5
Peter,
From where I see it, yes, there has been a swing—globally—toward the right, to authoritarianism (despite some groups' efforts to effect smaller government and bigger individual liberties), and especially the deterioration of individual privacy. And I'm not saying that politicians on the left are guiltless, either. Frankly, I am starting to think that the majority of politicians, whatever their stripe, suck.
I'm sure you read both of those novels in high school, and you know what their main messages were. I'm just saying it's largely coming to pass as those two authors envisioned the future.
I agree that the majority of politicians, whatever their stripe, do suck. However, the power of the Deep State is overwhelmingly leftist/progressive. The really scary thing is that the more they take over, the richer they get. And because politicians always cave to the idea that somebody's got to do something, they continue to uncritically fund and enable what the Deep State wants to do. The right that got Trump elected believes in whenever possible, you do you and I'll do me. We'll leave each other alone and share some beers on the back deck.
Regarding the topic at hand, this kind of crap has been going on in automobiles almost from the invention of digital controls. Heck, it started before that because government drove the adoption of digital controls.
In the mid-90s California pushed an upgrade to onboard diagnostics systems in engines to basically light the check engine light if the tailpipe emissions get above standards. It was going along pretty much under the radar until some idiot at CARB let the truth slip out that they were thinking of putting sensors by the side of the road to detect the diagnostic codes and mail the driver a ticket. Then they said that if you couldn't fix the system so it worked properly, you couldn't get a license for the car. So far, so good. But then they proposed that this applied to all cars, even ones that predated the diagnostic system because the key to reducing emissions is to get rid of older, more polluting models. Suddenly guys with cherry '55 t-birds worth a half mil or more got pissed saying you can get rid of my car when you can pry it out of my dead hands. Then other people woke up to the fact that things like vehicle speed is also included in the control system allowing police to mail you tickets and the whole idea of sensors fell apart. For that reason, I'm not too worried about this proposal because the whole idea still has to survive the Deep State process of making the regulations to do this and that could still prove difficult.
What is really terrifying to me is the IRS hiring 85,000 more agents to comb through your bank account looking for transactions of more than $600 under this same legislation. Being at times a bankrupt professional musician who paid the bills with music, that scares the bejesus out of me. About 10 years ago or so, they forced venues to issue 1099s if they paid a musician more than $600 a year.
Ever onward, ever lefter.
Lefty or righty, it's all looking pretty bleak to me. I worry more for our kids and grandkids (the latter of which I don't have yet).
We could be pretty screwed.
Yes, I did read them my undergraduate degree is in English Literature.
Hey—so is mine.