Here’s a very interesting video of “Driving in in 1946″… just look at those kids! They are not buckled-up for saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety!
Today, this sort of thing – letting kids ride around not just unbuckled but standing up in an open car would trigger a body-armored Hut! Hut! Hutting! by armed government workers, who would cart the negligent parents off to the clink, impound the car and spirit the kids off to Child Protective Services .
But – in the words of The Chimp – rarely is the question asked:
Is the children better off today?
Are we?
. . .
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I didn’t even have to watch the whole video. Just seeing the words “For Happy Motoring!” under that Esso station awning shows that Americans actually loved driving back then. My, how things have changed!
Hi Bluegrey,
I think part of the reason Americans loved driving, once upon a time, had to do with less Hut! Hut! Huttery! for one thing. I can remember pre-checkpoint (DWI, saaaaaaaafety) America. Everyone knew you were free unless you actually did something serious to warrant the attention of the gendarme – and back then, they were just cops, not these body-armored thug/fags (not meant in the homosexual slur sense) who mix bullying with feigned fear, all tatted up and looking like they’re SEALS ready for a mission.
It was as recently as the ’80s/’90s that the average person could go years – a lifetime – without ever having to deal with an AGW.
Today they are a constant menace – and it has sucked the joy out of more than just driving.
And remember too, in 1946, gas rationing from WWII was finally letting up. Some places the rationing lasted until 1948, years after the war ended.
So people could drive as much as they wanted too, without worrying about the ration cards. And they did, the car culture was back with a vengeance! Some of the most famous and beloved cars were just around the corner!
So those of you out there that think the government would never try to stop us from using our personal cars, think again! WWII is the example I use of the time they did just that! Was the rationing really necessary? My guess, probably not, had the government not taken over control of most of the economy during WWII.
I am guessing in a “time of crisis” will be when they do finally pull the rug out from (our) personal cars. And like WWII most will go along with it. Unlike WWII the “crisis” never ends and the rationing will be permanent.
There were feds back then that probably didn’t want to discontinue the rationing back then too. Thankfully that didn’t happen, as it would have put the country right back into another economic depression.
Eric,
Two things to follow on the interwebs to see the motoring USA the way it was:
The Old Motor: http://theoldmotor.com/
Imbued With Hues: https://imbuedwithhues.wordpress.com/ https://www.facebook.com/imbuedwithhues/
Check out the kind of stuff that happens in this country. A guy sees a father cycling with a 3-year old in a bike trailer, and he feels that’s child endangerment, so he shoots the father in the head. He got 120 days for this. You or I would be in jail for life for murder, but because he’s a firefighter and former military, he’s a citizen of upstanding moral character who showed bad judgement. Fuck these people.
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2009/11/23/charles-diez-gets-120-days-for-shooting-cyclist-in-the-head/
The cult of “what if” has taken over. What if a deer jumped out in front of the vehicle? What if a tire suddenly blew? What if… What if…
If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a merry Christmas.
Hi RK,
Mencken – one of my heroes – held (and I agree with him) that a fundamental character weakness of the average American is poltroonery. They are easily frightened – and so easily controlled.
Many blame women – the emancipation of women, feminism, etc. Well, okay… but men are half the population and for the sake of appeasing their women or out of fear of contradicting them, they cave in to all the saaaaaaaaaaaaaafety nonsense.
It was a man (well, sort of) who gave us the warrntrr and the current police state.
It’s a very old slave control technique best that I can tell. Control and manipulate the women and the men will go along. Well most of the men. The few that don’t can be controlled by conventional means such as violence, social isolation, and so on since there are so few of them.
Hey Eric,
Not entirely related, but, all all this talk of ‘wall building’ and ‘immigration control’ is reaching it’s predictable conclusion; these controls are meant to ‘keep us in’ not ‘keep terrorists out’.
https://papersplease.org/wp/2018/10/01/yes-the-dhs-wants-mug-shots-of-all-air-travelers/
Apparently by 2025 all those exiting the USSA (citizens included) by land, air and sea will be required to pose for a mugshot and submit other identifiable information.
The net draws tighter…
Heck the adults don’t have seat belts on. There aren’t any. ha ha
At the 1:46 mark what is that with the cigar butt on the floor?
Asking for a friend…
There must have been an audio track that didn’t make it through the transfer.
“Your Esso station has clean restrooms, unlike that other one over across the street”