{"id":7345,"date":"2020-10-27T01:50:05","date_gmt":"2020-10-27T01:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elcohaulicssanonymous.com\/ELCO\/?p=7345"},"modified":"2024-01-01T16:05:14","modified_gmt":"2024-01-01T21:05:14","slug":"politics-car-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elcohaulicssanonymous.com\/ELCO\/politics-car-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics & Car Groups\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Touchy Subject:<\/strong><\/em><\/h6>

Politics & Car Groups\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>

As the saying goes \u201cnever discuss Politics or Religion in public\u201d, and in today\u2019s rabid political environment, this typically cannot be any truer!<\/p>

In our favorite Social Media Groups, bringing these topics up is almost a surefire way of bringing out the worst in people, and cause rampant division. Most people seem to share the opinion that the Automotive Enthusiast Groups we participate in, are an \u201cescape\u201d from the doldrums and stressors of everyday life, as well as a place where those of us with common interests, can \u201ccome together\u201d and share our accomplishments, ideas, and concerns about our hobby. It would seem that nearly just as strongly, they staunchly believe that Politics has no place within the confines of these Groups. I tend to agree with this statement\u2026to a large degree, but not completely.<\/p>

There is a certain truth that remains I feel should not be overshadowed by all of the turmoil surrounding these discussions being in our Automotive Enthusiast Groups. The simple fact is that you can only choose to ignore Politics for so long, before it rudely shows its ugly face in your very own driveway! When that point finally comes, you will have no choice but to accept it, and by that time it may be far too late to make any difference.<\/p>

Unfortunately, Politics have a direct and sometimes brutal effect on our hobby, and like it or not, they are very much connected. The policies, laws, rules, and regulations enacted by political parties and politicians are what can make or break our hobby, sometimes with the simple stroke of a pen. Even though we don\u2019t particularly like to relate the two ideas, who you cast your vote for and the party they represent, WILL<\/strong> directly affect your beloved hobby eventually. It might not be tomorrow, or next week, but possibly when the next legislative session convenes, and it may hit you square in the garage (and the bank account)!<\/p>

Take the recent and current political environment: On one particular side of the aisle, you have a party that has made the absurd claim that \u201cCalifornia should be the model for the entire Country\u201d. Well, they already have been spreading their cancerous influence for many years! Look at the evolution of emissions regulations and systems in the last four or five decades.<\/p>

California\u2019s ridiculous laws have done more to injure and debilitate the automotive industry than the rest of the country as a whole. And it has affected us all as enthusiasts. Their extremely stringent emissions requirements that are tougher than the majority of the rest of the country (California vs. Federal Emissions), require extra equipment, cause more negative effects, and drive up the costs of vehicles and their replacement parts.<\/p>

Furthermore, the end result is the Nationwide burden of the tradeoff of somewhat reduced emissions, for reduced performance and fuel economy, and much higher pricing and expense. Not to mention the added costs and hassles of trying to make the vehicle you have (paid for) live up to their ever-changing standards. Add on \u201cwheel taxes\u201d, tolls, surcharges, rate increases, insurance requirements, local ordinances, etc., and it gets ever more prohibitively expensive.<\/p>

Another example is to look at VW<\/strong><\/em> and \u201cDieselGate\u201d. There were approximately more than three-hundred-fifty thousand cars that had to be bought back by VW<\/strong> <\/em>because they \u201cdidn\u2019t meet government standards\u201d for mandated emissions output.<\/p>

I witnessed several acres of these cars sitting in fields along the interstate near Colorado Springs, waiting to go to the crusher, or wherever they were destined. Hundreds of thousands of vehicles that likely might have exceeded the \u201cparameters set by big brother\u201d simply by fractional amounts.<\/p>

I don\u2019t know the exact specifics, but what appears to have been blatantly overlooked, was the fact that all of those diesel vehicles were extremely more fuel efficient than the majority of the remaining vehicles on the road. I\u2019ve seen several examples of those TDIs getting between 45-50, even 55 MPG in optimum conditions, and that\u2019s with little to no aftermarket enhancements! But \u201cno, we can\u2019t be having 0.003 PPM of NOx coming out of the tailpipe every so often\u2026\u201d<\/p>

Is not reducing the overall amount of fuel used, effectively also reducing the gross amount of pollution emitted, by using and refining less amounts of the said required fuel? And don\u2019t get me started on the fact that diesel is easier to refine, and lower on \u201cthe refining food chain\u201d than gasoline, but now costs more\u2026!<\/p>

Additionally, consider that the aftermarket industry, which we all greatly depend on, is continuously getting knee-capped by California\u2019s already-far-too-heavy influence on the Federal level. With extra regulations and requirements (CARB-California Air Resources Board<\/em>) constantly creating costly hoops manufacturers must jump through to get their products approved for use, these added costs get passed on to us, the consumer.<\/p>

And when, or if these costs become too much of a burden for those companies, they are forced to either sell out, or go under completely (Hypertech Industries<\/em>). Not to mention, it affects our choices by limiting what\u2019s available to us. To top it off, in many cases we have to bear the burden and consequences of using what\u2019s left. Seems they\u2019ll ticket you for even looking at your exhaust funny in that state. Thank God for organizations like the SEMA Action Network<\/strong> <\/em>to lobby against these power-hungry entities and at least attempt to keep them somewhat in check!<\/p>

Today we have one particularly bold group of politicians that have blatantly presented their stand signaling the elimination of fossil fuel refining and production, and the elimination of the traditional automobile. You do realize what that means for you\u2026right? You do remember that your pride-and-joy, classic El Camino is powered by, and maintained with fossil fuel products\u2026right? You do understand that restricting, or limiting our country\u2019s access to our very own bountiful supply of fossil fuels, will reduce the availability of those fuels, as well as drive up the costs for you, right?<\/p>

And hopefully, you also understand that it won\u2019t be limited to the price of gas! Every piece of plastic, rubber, cloth, glass\u2026 the paint and coatings, lubricants\u2026all of the parts in that ride of yours\u2026 even the metal ones are directly affected by the cost and availability of petroleum-based products! Sunlight, a stiff breeze, rainbows, and Unicorn farts aren\u2019t going to magically synthesize a new set of tires for your ride, I can guarantee you that!<\/p>

The thought of gas being above $5 a gallon again alone is enough to make me shudder. But that\u2019s not the least of it by any means. Overreaching regulations can just as easily destroy our hobby as well.<\/p>

Does anyone else realize how close we possibly were to losing it all with the \u201cCash for Clunkers<\/strong><\/em>\u201d program during the last administration? Granted, \u201cvintage\u201d vehicles were somewhat \u201cprotected\u201d at the time, but for how long was that going to last? There were no guarantees and that program was a major step towards what was surely to be a very bad ending.<\/p>

If things didn\u2019t go the way they did then, and now hearing where we all could be headed if things go horribly wrong here in the very near future, I can\u2019t help but feel it\u2019s safe to say it\u2019s highly likely that all of our hobby cars would have been crushed within the last few years if things had gone differently. There wouldn\u2019t have been any \u201cbuy back\u201d programs, we\u2019d all be tens-of-thousands of dollars in the hole, and we\u2019d have nothing to show for our hard work and good times beyond our photo archives in our favorite Social Media Groups. You can take that to the bank!<\/p>

Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m not against doing what\u2019s reasonable in taking care of Mother Earth. However, to me, the gains don\u2019t have any chance of ever outweighing the costs. And I\u2019m not just speaking financially, but also ideologically. This country was founded on the principals that we all have the guaranteed rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. How is any of that relevant to our hobby? It is as simple as this to me: \u201cIf owning, building, maintaining, and driving an El Camino falls anywhere remotely into the realm of your happiness, then that is your God-given right\u201d, and that\u2019s a right I would really, REALLY<\/strong> like to keep!<\/p>

Elections have consequences, and those consequences can and will bite you in the back bumper if you\u2019re ignoring the political climate because it \u2018stresses you out\u2019. We\u2019re in the middle of a huge fight for our basic rights, some of which comprise the core characteristics that have made America the great nation that it is, and the envy of the rest of the world. We must choose wisely, and be careful not to fall into the traps of basing our decisions on emotions, falling for blatantly false information, trendy clich\u00e9 hashtags, or by simply \u201ctowing the party line\u201d. We must make these decisions based on OUR own personal values, and what issues are important to US\u2026even if we don\u2019t particularly like who the best choice is.<\/p>

The future of our personal Liberty is gravely at stake and there are very few things we can do about it. But if we choose to ignore it all because we don\u2019t want to hear it, we will have no one to blame but ourselves!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Touchy Subject: Politics & Car Groups\u2026 As the saying goes \u201cnever discuss Politics or Religion in public\u201d, and in today\u2019s rabid political environment, this typically cannot be any truer! In our favorite Social Media Groups, bringing these topics up is almost a surefire way of bringing out the worst in people, and cause rampant division. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7343,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[479],"tags":[478,476,472,474,471,473,469,477,470,475],"class_list":["post-7345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-discussion","tag-elections","tag-emissions","tag-enthusiasts","tag-groups","tag-hobby","tag-politics","tag-pollution","tag-social-media","tag-voting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elcohaulicssanonymous.com\/ELCO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elcohaulicssanonymous.com\/ELCO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elcohaulicssanonymous.com\/ELCO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elcohaulicssanonymous.com\/ELCO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elcohaulicssanonymous.com\/ELCO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/elcohaulicssanonymous.com\/ELCO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elcohaulicssanonymous.com\/ELCO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elcohaulicssanonymous.com\/ELCO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elcohaulicssanonymous.com\/ELCO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elcohaulicssanonymous.com\/ELCO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}