Video: Why the peasantry HATE the 2024 Tacoma 4th gen

[oxi]

@oxi not trying to start a debate here, but your previous comment is so out of touch with my perception of reality that I just can't help myself. The "bootstraps" argument has been overplayed for decades by this point. It's great that you've found success in your career, you're a hard worker, you have a happy life, etc. etc., but that's how things panned out for you. I've known many, many extremely hardworking people who've busted their asses for at least 17 years, like yourself, who are struggling. Blaming a lack of work ethic or intelligence on their misfortunes is crazy to me. The wealthy class, the massive corporations and their shareholders, the politicians and the lobbyists who twist and push for government policies that keep the average working person struggling to get their fair share... the argument that you're pushing here is exactly how they want you to think and believe so that those with power can keep reaping all of the benefits and success made with the blood and sweat of the common "peasant."

Think about it! Look at the wealth disparity in the US... it's simply unsustainable. Just 5 of the wealthiest individuals in the USA have amassed a combined net worth of over a TRILLION dollars ($1.14T to be a little more exact). For some perspective, a trillion, with a capitol "T," is a million millions. Imagine becoming a millionaire a million times! The USA's GDP (which was very strong in 2023) was at around $27T. Their individual wealth is equivalent to 4.2% of our entire nation's GDP! And that's only 5 people, brother. There are now hundreds (I think over 800 of them now) of billionaires in the US. Factor in their wealth, and things start to become VERY clear as to who our "capitalist, free-market system" is intended to benefit. Does it seem normal that fewer than 1,000 people, in a country of several hundred million individuals, possess the equivalent wealth of over 1/3 of the national GDP? Normal people cannot fathom the amount of wealth and power that a billion dollars affords an individual person in the world. Now multiply that by a thousand, and that's how much wealth and power the top 5 individuals possess. Just two of these guys own the two largest social media platforms on the planet. They have the ability to spin any political narratives they wish, spread misinformation and social distractions at will, and sew political division and animosity amongst the powerless to their heart's content! This is only one example of this type of power, and with a little bit of digging, there are a ton more things that begin to come to light.

Overgeneralizing about the state of the youth, or those who are less successful than yourself (be they lazy, drug addicted, unintelligent, and/or unmotivated) is a bit shortsighted. I mean no offense, and of course, I'm just giving my opinion here as well, but take the recent murder of the insurance CEO in NYC, for example. The overwhelmingly positive public reaction to a man being gunned down, to me, is a sign that we may be headed into some trouble amongst the populace. I'm not defending the killer or the CEO (another type of killer) here, but again, our system is set up to allow for things like healthcare 'claims' denials to result in profits for those who are already rich beyond imagining. I watch a football game and I see TV commercials for hospitals! People are getting tired of it.

Sure, we have our nice things to be happy with, and we have our own little victories and accomplishments to be proud of, no doubt, but sometimes a little self-reflection, or imagining yourself in someone else's shoes, can go a long way in making the big picture just a little bit clearer. Maybe it's not the poorest amongst us, or those whom you might say are just "looking for government handouts" who should be the ones to blame for the state of things? Maybe we actually do live in a place and time where the term "peasant" is no longer an insult, but a fact of reality. We're well on our way to returning to another gilded age, and the forces which have pushed us here can only hold on for so long while the true power of the masses wakes up and begins push back.

All of that being said, I hope you don't take my rant as an attack. I've seen, heard, or read statements like what you've written many times before, and I don't normally get all "triggered" like this, I promise. I read your post, saw a tiny opening to get up on a soap box of my own, and so I did. Frankly, I hope we're both totally wrong and the world can become a happy place again; full of sunshine, rainbows, and endless supplies of candy and toys for all to have and enjoy. I might need a little bit of a reminder as to when that was exactly, but I'm digressing again. While it's obvious to make statements like "a lot of people are just lazy," or "the youth don't have enough drive" and be correct in some form or fashion, I also think that it's this type of thinking that helps to maintain the status quo. Stay blessed, and thanks for reading if you've made it this far!

Your fine, all ideas and opinions and the like are welcome with me.

I am just seeing too many not tapping their full potentials. They like to be in that rut and stay there.

I promote the ones that are ambitious and show the drive and energy, along with merit.

I was raised in a poor surrounding and I use my past experience to motivate others. I am not from some special gene pool, we worked hard to get where we are at, and I like to tell them my story to show them there is a path for everyone. It might be a different one, but the path is there, go find it and fight hard to remain on that path.

That is why we promote so many hourly into salary positions, showing others, you can come from the shop floor and next thing, you're running million-dollar accounts and have your own office. We have those stories where I work. You need outside talent, absolutely, but we also need local talent right in our own campus.

I do my best to promote those that seek the new path because it also reflects upon my leadership. Case in point, look at Patriots and Chiefs. Patriots coach was among the best of the best, but few below him became head coaches. Now look at current Chiefs coach and how many below him became head coaches. Just a "football" analogy and example.

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[Kdbradley85]

@oxi Hard to argue anything there! I'm in a similar position at my workplace, and yeah, rewarding the guys/gals (it's all guys on a construction project, who am I kidding?) who show the initiative and show up to work every day and coaching/pushing the ones who are struggling to be and do better is what any leader should be expected to do. It sounds like you're a great example of someone who leads by example.

I was more so getting at the theme of the original post, or the idea that these trucks are not for "peasants." I believe that many people in the US have a right to be upset with the way things have been for the average worker here. My point about the wealth disparity between the haves and have nots... it should be clear that our path down this road has been getting further and further past the point of fixing without radical societal changes, and today's young folks (I'm a millennial myself) know it in their core, even if they don't outright say it. The attitude that many from the older generations continue to push is super unproductive in my opinion; this idea that young people (in general) are just lazy/expecting handouts, and so they don't deserve what their parents or grandparents were able to attain with just a bit of elbow grease and determination. For many, it seems the American dream is borderline impossible to obtain without a good deal of luck on their side. Yes, showing up and doing the work that's expected of them IS the prerequisite, but the work/life balance in the US is so out-of-whack, and the average pay is simply not keeping up with the cost of living and rate of inflation.

For me, I feel lucky. I got a degree in something that I knew I'd be able to find a decent career in, and I've landed jobs that I've genuinely enjoyed and thrived at. I understand that not everyone can be so fortunate. I've had jobs where I was expected to work 60+ hours every week, and I've worked projects where 80-90 hours/week was required. I'd be working alongside guys twice my age complaining about the younger generations being lazy. "Well, you're the exception," they'd say. NO, I'm just fortunate. Homes, vehicles, food, entertainment, LIVING... it's unaffordable for many these days. Social media has made things 10x worse too.

 

[CrispyTacoLover]

@oxi Hard to argue anything there! I'm in a similar position at my workplace, and yeah, rewarding the guys/gals (it's all guys on a construction project, who am I kidding?) who show the initiative and show up to work every day and coaching/pushing the ones who are struggling to be and do better is what any leader should be expected to do. It sounds like you're a great example of someone who leads by example.

I was more so getting at the theme of the original post, or the idea that these trucks are not for "peasants." I believe that many people in the US have a right to be upset with the way things have been for the average worker here. My point about the wealth disparity between the haves and have nots... it should be clear that our path down this road has been getting further and further past the point of fixing without radical societal changes, and today's young folks (I'm a millennial myself) know it in their core, even if they don't outright say it. The attitude that many from the older generations continue to push is super unproductive in my opinion; this idea that young people (in general) are just lazy/expecting handouts, and so they don't deserve what their parents or grandparents were able to attain with just a bit of elbow grease and determination. For many, it seems the American dream is borderline impossible to obtain without a good deal of luck on their side. Yes, showing up and doing the work that's expected of them IS the prerequisite, but the work/life balance in the US is so out-of-whack, and the average pay is simply not keeping up with the cost of living and rate of inflation.

For me, I feel lucky. I got a degree in something that I knew I'd be able to find a decent career in, and I've landed jobs that I've genuinely enjoyed and thrived at. I understand that not everyone can be so fortunate. I've had jobs where I was expected to work 60+ hours every week, and I've worked projects where 80-90 hours/week was required. I'd be working alongside guys twice my age complaining about the younger generations being lazy. "Well, you're the exception," they'd say. NO, I'm just fortunate. Homes, vehicles, food, entertainment, LIVING... it's unaffordable for many these days. Social media has made things 10x worse too.

What’s the solution?

 

[Kdbradley85]

@CrispyTacoLover Stronger antitrust laws, stronger unions and cracking down on companies who continually knock down attempts at collective bargaining, universal basic healthcare for everyone, selective tariffs (not idiotic, across-the-board tariffs), raising minimum wages, more accountability for fraudulent behavior (banning things like pump and dump schemes, multi-level-marketing pyramid schemes, insider trading, etc.), anti-price gouging laws… I dunno, a ton more things, but starting somewhere would be good I think. Our education system is a mess, our government is full of corruption and greed, and we’ve allowed ourselves to be distracted over and over again by BS like the “woke agenda,” transgender athletes, climate change “politics,” the latest immigration statistics and caravans invading our southern borders, Haitians eating our pets, and on and on. Transgender people ain’t gonna stop folks from going broke because they got sick without health insurance. Nobody’s gonna lose work because the hippies wanna build some windmills and solar panels. These things are all just distractions to get people riled about about issues which have little to no impact on their actual lives. Last I checked, most people were in favor of raising taxes on the wealthiest among us, universal healthcare, sending white collar criminals to jail instead of giving them bailouts, or ending our continued involvement in foreign wars. Why is it that these things can never seem to get accomplished? What’s actually preventing the will of the people from being made a reality? Whether you agree with me or not, that’s just my opinion. I could probably spout off on this stuff for days lol.

 

[CrispyTacoLover]

@CrispyTacoLover Stronger antitrust laws, stronger unions and cracking down on companies who continually knock down attempts at collective bargaining, universal basic healthcare for everyone, selective tariffs (not idiotic, across-the-board tariffs), raising minimum wages, more accountability for fraudulent behavior (banning things like pump and dump schemes, multi-level-marketing pyramid schemes, insider trading, etc.), anti-price gouging laws… I dunno, a ton more things, but starting somewhere would be good I think. Our education system is a mess, our government is full of corruption and greed, and we’ve allowed ourselves to be distracted over and over again by BS like the “woke agenda,” transgender athletes, climate change “politics,” the latest immigration statistics and caravans invading our southern borders, Haitians eating our pets, and on and on. Transgender people ain’t gonna stop folks from going broke because they got sick without health insurance. Nobody’s gonna lose work because the hippies wanna build some windmills and solar panels. These things are all just distractions to get people riled about about issues which have little to no impact on their actual lives. Last I checked, most people were in favor of raising taxes on the wealthiest among us, universal healthcare, sending white collar criminals to jail instead of giving them bailouts, or ending our continued involvement in foreign wars. Why is it that these things can never seem to get accomplished? What’s actually preventing the will of the people from being made a reality? Whether you agree with me or not, that’s just my opinion. I could probably spout off on this stuff for days lol.

You lost me in the first sentence with stronger unions.

 

[Kdbradley85]

You lost me in the first sentence with stronger unions.

Why’d I have a feeling like you were trying to be smart by asking a rhetorical question . I know we’re not supposed to talk politics on here, but the topic of this thread kind of makes that a bit impossible. Of course I lost you in the first sentence, cause everybody knows stronger unions and worker’s rights are bad in this country lmao!! The corporate overlords know what’s best for us all; more productivity and lower wages. That’ll fix it .

 

[goin2drt]

You lost me in the first sentence with stronger unions.

That is so funny. I started reading his reply and was scrolling down to type this exact comment. Not even worth the debate.

 

[Kdbradley85]

@CrispyTacoLover & @goin2drt I’d be pretty interested to read what either of you two think is a better path forward, or maybe an explanation as to why you think unions are a bad thing. I can’t picture why people, especially blue collar people, believe that workers shouldn’t have the right to negotiate terms with their employers. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

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