I almost talked myself into not voting today. It wasn't that I'm not a voter, it's just that I didn't feel like I had a good feel of all the different races and candidates down here in Jasper County, South Carolina.
When I was on the computer early yesterday I saw the above image and I said I had to go either way. Voting is a freedom, that comes with American citizenship, one that so many have fought for, it's our right, and our duty, to our country, and each other.
Lucky for us Sun City is a big enough community so there's multiple places inside to cast your vote. What's nice about that is, while it's public, it's kind of protected from the outside, no signs, no posters, no jokers, to make you feel uncomfortable. Just go and throw the lever, well there's no levers anymore, at least where I've been voting.
Before we went I did my best to check out the different candidates that were running. The big ones were for the Senate and Congress seats, and for Governor. In addition there were County and Local positions up for grabs as well. Surprisingly there's the option to just vote straight down a party line, which I found out a lot of people do, which I find too easy, and in a way alarming. I'm an independent, and would cast a vote for a Democrat, Republican, or other, freely and without explanation, or a fight.
For me, just voting Red or Blue, would be like always taking the side of your kid, or the cop, or any person, solely based on their affiliation, or blood, or even gender, or race. I never liked the two-party system. It's too easy to hide behind an ideal which doesn't allow for civilized conversation and debate, and individual thinking. It's all or none, winner takes all.
I tried to watch the results reporting into last night but found all of the different telecasts swaying one way or the other, as usual. There wasn't much reporting to be found, yes they gave you the numbers, but there was a palpable bias when the polls closed and the winners were predicted. Some relished in the results, like "they" had won. In the end it looks like the citizens of America have spoken, and what some say, was a message sent to the sitting President, Donald Trump.
As with past elections I'm never excited when landslide victories occur. Since I'm a middle of the road thinker, going to the extreme Right, like it did, and then to the extreme Left, which it did last night, isn't a good thing. It's an over-correction to where things stand at the moment, in both politics and the lives of the Americans they serve. I always say, and it kind of relates to everything, where things were, and where things are now, would be better if they were a mix of both, and would exist somewhere in the middle. To me, things were always better back in the day, maybe I'm just getting old and can't adjust to change. I still prefer riding in firetrucks with open cabs, ironworkers walking the steel without having to tie off every two feet, and handwriting nursing notes rather then staring at a computer screen the entire shift. And I think we've lost something by not using cash anymore, so you see where I'm stuck.
South Carolina made the news in a big way as Democrat Annie Andrews defeated Republican Darline Graham, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham. She, a rehabilitation counselor, without political experience, was appointed to her brother's seat after he died in July of this year. Regardless of how you vote, name recognition and party line, shouldn't get your vote, on either side of the aisle. But then again, it's your vote, and that's why we vote. The Palmetto State will be sending a Democrat to the Senate after a 30-year run of Republican representation. I see back in Jersey Jeff Van Drew conceded his seat to Democrat Zack Mallot. I wonder if Cape May County has shifted to the Left or is this just an anti-Trump reaction.
So I'm always left wondering if these big swing elections are a true representation of political shifts or a peoples reaction to who's currently in office and how the state of the lives of American's are going at the moment. Like, is this how we really feel in our gut, or is this a knee-jerk reaction, which will only change during the next election cycle. And then there's always those who say, on both sides, "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it".
And these polarizing swings just prove to me how divided we are as a people and a Country. Basically, we really don't like each other. We can't even have civilized conversations, or debates, with each other about our similarities and differences. We live our lives putting ourselves, and like minded, and looking people first, and before others. Yes, we fake it, and maybe even at times do something noble, or heroic, for someone different than us, but really we don't care. We want ours, and want what we want when we want it.
While people may blame President Trump, or the Republicans, for everything that is wrong with the United States at the moment, we really show that we are all short and small minded. Were things better with President Biden or Obama in office? Or with President Bush? Remember, we have short, well long term memory loss, when it comes to remembering how things were. These guys used to be criticized and gutted everyday during their terms in office, but looking back, everything was just peachy. Will this "Rout", as The New York Times puts it, and a Presidential election in 2028, which will probably go to the Democrat's, going to change us as individuals and as a Country? I think not. I will just be a pendulum swing from one extreme to the other. Remember, "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it".
Of all the stupidness, and pretty witty stuff, that will be out there I have to tip my hat to Charlotte, North Carolina realtor Maria Womack. She wins for the best and first out of the gate.
Remember when all those famous people who claimed they were leaving the United States if Donald Trump won the Presidency? Well, above is her take after yesterday's election. Well played Nakia. And, to be honest, although not a fan of Rosie O'Donnell, she did put her promise into action, she actually moved to Ireland after the election. Give props to where they are due. She put her money where her mouth was.
For me, who's not a fan of politics, the real threat is germinating right in front of our eyes, and we're too stupid to see it. It's not the social issues, not the gas prices, not the over development, not the wars and meddling in things around the world, it's what we are creating that is going to hurt us the most. Well, the truth is, there's no more creating it, we did it, and now it running on it's own and will destroy us worse then any power a political party could hold.
And what is that? The threat from China or Russia? No, that's old news, and childs play. Could someone hit the button and end it all abruptly? Of course, that threat has been around since World War II. The threat is our need to be satiated immediately, to have and know everything, to level the playing fields of who knows what and when, that we're all equal and have the same things, and the need to create an image and lives that don't exist. Technology in the end will kill us all. It already has. Look at what we've created with the generations that came after us. And you can't fight it, it's here and it's already past us. "If you can't beat em', join em'. "
I do believe technology, specifically AI and ChatGpt type things, will be, or are the demise of humanity. As you wake up and grab a coffee and turn on the TV, or iPhone, or your tablet, to watch post-election coverage, the "computers" are already hard at work. And their work is to know everything about everything, including about you, and know more than you know about yourself, and can control. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but everything we do, and think, and every move we make, is getting broken down into an algorithm, and bits, which will be used against us in the end. And those nerds, or even this generation of workers who are feeding the beast everyday, won't be able to put the breaks on it when it spins out of control. You think the Great Depression was bad, just wait, it's coming. We're one malfunction from a data center away from chaos, and destruction.
But in the meantime we'll relish in the victories of a political election. Too dumb to see the big picture. Too selfish to fall victim to the false promises that people in power spew to us to get what they want, and what we want, when we want it, which is always now. They say America is hurting now, but boy do I see a lot of new homes, grey boxes if you will, being built, cars being purchased, and restaurants full every night. We scan our phones for $6 coffees and pay people to shop and bring us our food, even from fast food places, which were once a refuge of nourishment for those struggling a juggling. We spend a billion dollars a month on Only Fans and streaming services, sports and concerts, and forget about on-line gaming, but yet, we complain about high gas prices and the cost of groceries, which no doubt, is legit.
The kids are still going to private schools, where they can go exist with like minded, and looking peers. Most aren't there for the religious education, let's be honest, is religion, or faith, even a thing anymore? Most people who believe are in for the benefits, always asking a higher power for some help, or a miracle, when things are going sideways. And then there's the big kids, our kids, who are feeding the "beast", that is technology. They're being paid big money to manipulate data and move money around, in services, or in technological advances. In the end most of them are "training" the things that will take their jobs one day. And the companies they work for? Here today, gone or changed tomorrow. They jump on board, get paid big, and then leave to make more money, before said company goes belly up, or reinvents itself. They have lots of money on hand, but shitty insurance, and no pensions. It allows them to afford $3,000 a month rents or mortgages now, but won't help them when they want to retire or need long-term care. And I've said it, those gray boxes of today will be the public housing projects from the past.
And while there's some "kids", those Millenials, or Gen Y's, that get it, most do not. They didn't get that it's basically 18 and out and then it's on you. How did that happen back in the day? People took jobs that paid them well, and most of them, back in America, was physical labor, like a trade, or a civil service position, cop or firemen, or say healthcare, like nursing. No, now they take jobs were they work from the neck up, and I can't even with this, work from home. Most stay in the nest well into their twenties and when they do venture out they hook up with a like minded person. Work all the time, living separate lives under the same roof, only coming together for a latte on the corner, a fancy dinner, a walk in the park, or conjugal visits. Throw in a destination wedding or an exotic vacation once a year and they think they're living the dream, and then the kids come, after the $100,000 wedding.
Both of them work, of course, to afford a lifestyle they can't afford, which always includes a vehicle leased rather than owned. And that means the grandparents, who should be entering the times of their lives, are relegated to raising another set of kids. And it works for them, as being an empty nester, and not thrilled with their spouse anymore, gives them new life, and a new meaning. In the end they feel wanted and needed again. For the kids there's no more cheap first apartment above a set of retail stores. No first clunkers. No stay at home parent, either guy or girl, when the kids come. And you know how I feel about that, women are the best Mom's, stay at home Mom's that is. Hey, I'm old school, sorry. Remember when you were a kid and your Mom was there everyday and you couldn't wait for Dad to get home? Or pick you up on those divorce decree visitations? Yes, my single Mom worked but she was somehow always around.
The politicians that are in office now, and the one's that are coming, aren't the problem. We are. We've allowed ourselves to stray from the things that matter and just rollover and get caught up in the fray, always trying to keep up, get more, and live above our needs, and means. Just an example before I finish this 3 am rant. I had a solid during student who was taught all the good old school things about nursing. She went on to take a bedside position. Hard work, good foundation, and great pay. But soon she was tempted by easier, and "better" work. So now she injects botox into people's lips and foreheads. How long will that be fulfilling, and is she following her dreams and passions?
I wish I could shut it all down and it could all go away. But truth be told, I'm here, writing this for some unknown reason. Just another person who's part of the problem. Feeding the "beast" with content and images that in the end produce nothing meaningful. But he truth is I wouldn't know how to exist without it all, even this dumb blog, as I've been lured away from what life used to be, in the good old days.
And now I can put the pick up truck saga behind me. I have to say I have two feelings on this, glad it's over, and sick to my stomach that it's over. It's been going on for two months and it's been a bigger deal in my life then it should have been. I've dragged Theresa in on it, and even the people from the used car lot, who in the end, were glad yesterday was the last day they'd ever see me.
This is a big purchase for me. Over the course of the last few months it's come down to, "Do I really need this?", to "Is this a good truck?", to, "Will this thing even last?". Well, there's no guarantees, except for the new transmission, that a 16-year old truck with 209,000 miles will last, but I think it's a good truck, and yes I need it, for no other reason, as I told Theresa and my elderly neighbor last night, would be to save the neighbors during a hurricane and flooding event, "Hey, no one on this block has a four wheel drive vehicle". To which they both shook their heads.
Then I have to question myself if I'm just fighting this whole life changing downsizing thing. Am I continuing the chaos I created and existed in back in New Jersey? Probably so. But she does look good in the driveway! And then there's the question about what to do with the Suburban. Both can't stay in Sun City, and making the pick up a daily driver with 209,000 miles, not a good move. So one of them will be parked at The Fly Barn.
I have to tip my hat, and thank, and apologize, to Theresa for bringing more of the same down here to South Carolina. And for having to park her car in the street in front of the house, even just for a bit. While she does admit she likes the look of the pick up in the driveway better then the Suburban, she did hit me with a valid question last night, "Do you need anything else?"
Well, I do, I need to get to work, need to go through the stuff in the garage and organize it, finish up the work at The Fly Barn, and need to brace myself for the upcoming change in American politics, all before the world as we know it ends after AI runs wild and implodes.