Unions

I was going to reply to this with some normal counter points, but then I heard something truly fascinating today in an unrelated audio book I was listening to about the recent Russian infiltration of Facebook. They were talking about how the Russians are trying to create discord within the United States any way they could, including the promotion of groups calling for California and Texas to secede from the United States. They of course supposedly tampered with the presidential election of 2016, and all sorts of other issues.

Kit to me, and I believe to others in here, almost seems oddly detached from his listeners in a way. He shows up from some extremist Facebook group and doesn't really genuinely debate anything with us. His points make no logical sense most of the time. As Old School pointed out he constantly speaks in platitudes. It seems to me like he shows up to "seed" his ideas, create discord, and leave. You know, like a troll would normally do. Then I heard this in my audiobook today and it was shocking how well it paralleled this situation. This is a direct quote from the book:

The Russians might have seeded Facebook groups across a range of divisive issues, possibly including groups on opposite sides of the issue to maximize impact. The way the groups might have worked is that a troll account, a Russian impersonating an American, might have formed the group and seeded it with a number of bots. Then they could advertise on Facebook to recruit members. The members would mostly be Americans who had no idea they were joining a group created by Russians. They would be attracted to an idea, whether it was guns or immigration or whatever, and once in the group they would be exposed to a steady flow of posts designed to provoke outrage or fear. For those who engaged frequently with the group, the effect would be to make beliefs more rigid and more extreme. The group would create a “filter bubble” where the troll, the bots, and the other members would coalesce around an idea floated by the troll.

It was a eureka moment. Like wow, that's exactly what this feels like. I mean, if you were Russian and you wanted to create discord in the United States, you would certainly target trucking as a possible avenue of disruption. And how would you use the trucking industry to cause disruption? Naturally you would call for a strike!

I'm not saying that's what this is, but the parallels are intriguing.

Old school, it was the electoral college not the voters. And there are people like the Koch brothers who punch the buttons behind the scenes.

C'mon Bruce! So you think two old white guys who were savvy enough in business to make it big are telling the electoral college who to put in office? Why do you think we have the electoral college? Why would they bow to the wishes of two old rich guys when the whole world is paying attention to what they're doing? This system we use of the electoral college has been in place for generations. We can't claim they've gone rogue just because we don't like how it works.

Kit... seems oddly detached from his listeners in a way.

Brett, that is one of the best ways to describe how I feel about him. He never responds to reasonable questions which would require honest debate. He just shows up, posts some random ideology that seems designed to make him appear as the smartest guy in the room, then he moves on to his next rant. It's bizarre stuff.

I certainly don't think he's a bot or a Russian. He actually seems like a decent hard working guy to me. But he won't engage in a civil discussion that might show the fallacy of his ideas. His life is so bound up in his false ideology that he can't stand to have to defend it to people who aren't bent the way he is.

I certainly don't think he's a bot or a Russian. He actually seems like a decent hard working guy to me.

Well he wouldn't be a very savvy Russian infiltrator if it was obvious to everyone.

If he was tasked with spreading discourse he'd probably speak exactly like he is, in platitudes and with grand ideas from history. He would also question our patriotism and self-worth if we didn't agree with him to provoke us further. He would also avoid engaging too deeply in detailed specifics for fear that he might expose his lack of specific knowledge of the topic or the industry.

Regardless of who he is, he certainly doesn't make many credible points, which leads me to believe that if he isn't part of the origin of the movement he's certainly the perfect person to spread the message. He's like an evangelist using dire warnings, scare tactics, and questioning people's sanity for not joining the movement.

I enjoy people who are passionate about things, though I much prefer they're also logical at the same time. There can be a fine line between a passionate follower and a zealot.

Old school: Who won the popular vote? Trump? It's all controlled by the ones who control the money and have the power. It's nothing new, it's been this way in some form or another almost from the beginning of time. So what? We can argue about it because it gives us some sort of illusion that we have some control or influence. But we don't, except in our own little world. I didn't vote in the election because I believe the entire political system is a fraud. But even if I voted for Clinton, she still would have lost.

Brett may be on to something indeed. See how this has turned from from "unions" to "Big Government" to "politics". Kip may be a mole or a sleeper agent!

We can argue about it because it gives us some sort of illusion that we have some control or influence. But we don't, except in our own little world. I didn't vote in the election because I believe the entire political system is a fraud.

Bruce, it's obvious you and I are not going to agree. It just amazes me when people who don't vote try to teach everyone else that their vote doesn't count for anything. I have a close friend like you - he never votes. But he has quit complaining to me about politics. He knows I just brush him off. His arguments are illegitimate to me. If he had cast a vote I'd suffer listening to him, but his unwillingness to participate in our electoral system disqualifies his arguments for me.

Regardless of who he is, he certainly doesn't make many credible points, which leads me to believe that if he isn't part of the origin of the movement he's certainly the perfect person to spread the message. He's like an evangelist using dire warnings, scare tactics, and questioning people's sanity for not joining the movement.

I enjoy people who are passionate about things, though I much prefer they're also logical at the same time. There can be a fine line between a passionate follower and a zealot.

I completely agree with your remarks Brett. He's a frustrating mystery to me.

I still can't get over the name that so called "movement" goes by. "Black Smoke Matters" What kind of political nimrod would ever come up with that?

Brett may be on to something indeed. See how this has turned from from "unions" to "Big Government" to "politics". Kip may be a mole or a sleeper agent!

That's what I'm sayin! I couldn't make any sense of this guy talking about Nixon and all these grand ideas from history. I mean, in his last rant he said we're supposed to rebel against big business, government, and law enforcement! And how should we do it? Well go on strike, of course, and disrupt the nation's economy.

Yet he won't dive deeper into specifics about trucking and how any of this nonsense about ELD's makes any sense.

And why would a guy who claims he's a relatively new truck driver who only works part time and doesn't own his own truck care about any of this???

I'm tellin ya......there's something very fishy about all this.

I'd call the Department of State or Homeland Security, but then the website would get shut down. That would leave only useless garbage sites like Facebook and blacksmoke matters to spew their lies, myths and poison to those actually looking for career guidance.