<VV> An American Revolution!

[Keith Hammett]

In the quest for the automotive industry to "give us what we want" and
to simplify our driving experience they have actually begun an
irreversible process.  You ask what the process could possibly be.  The
process is called the "Dumbifing of America"!  This is a simple process
that your tax dollars are hard at work doing.  With the attention to the
automotive industry practice of "building unsafe" automobiles in the mid
sixties we have steadily raised the price of autos while making our
driving experience "safe" (so we have been told).  To this we can thank
Ralph!

 

I too was caught up in the wanting of the new technology that made the
driving experience more pleasurable (or so I was brain washed).  When I
started driving I wanted the new and "safer" and more convenient vehicle
that was being produced.  The hydraulic clutch made the shifting of the
transmission much easier on my legs.  The lights were wired with a
buzzer to let me know that I was dumb and left the lights on before I
left the vehicle.  Seatbelts are wired to alert me that I had not put it
on.  Air conditioning is a standard feature to remove me from the
environment that I was driving in.  Antilock brakes took the brain
control out of applying the brakes in a controlled stop, now you just
have to push the pedal and it will do it for you.  The accelerator pedal
is a nice smooth and effortless motion, no real feel for what is
happening under the hood.

 

Then ten years pass and again I am once again noticing the new shining
vehicles.  They are silently calling my brain, "you know you want me,
just test drive me and you will see".  Kind of like Green Eggs and Ham,
they just keep on until you finally decide that you must stop in and
look at those new vehicles on the lot.  As soon as you step foot out of
your old car they have the hook in you.  Then they start showing off the
new and improved features of the vehicles.  Windshield wipers that are
intermittent and even automatic have replaced the driver controlled
units.  New safety devices have been added, they call them air bags (and
they are sensitive to if someone is sitting in the seat).  Headlights
are automatic, so you don't have to fuss with them.  Some models even
will notify authorities if you have been in an accident.

 

You might ask just how someone would notice these small changes that
have occurred in the process called "Dumbifing of America".  This is
very simple; all you need to do is drive your new "safer" and convenient
auto for awhile; then step back in time into a Corvair and experience
the way driving is supposed to be!  As soon as you get behind the wheel
you can feel the excitement and you know that you are going to be in
control.  You close the door and have that solid feel and sound, like a
door is supposed too.  Then you work the throttle just to get the car
started, no fuel injectors to do the work for you.  Next you pull the
lights on, click the seatbelt and check your mirrors.  Now you slip the
transmission into gear and start off on your adventure.  You must work
the brake in order to have a controlled stop.  It starts to rain so you
reach down and turn the knob for those wipers to come on, then you
proceed with the unconscious dance of turning them on and off as needed.
When you get to your destination your experience isn't over with just
the flip of the key, no you need to reset the knobs in order to complete
your adventure.  You have arrived safe because you were in control and
not just along for the ride.  Then it hits you that the automotive
industry and Ralph have been "Dumbifing America", you just smile as a
coworker pulls up next to you in their fancy new vehicle and they wonder
why you own a Corvair.  You can answer them because its "An American
Revolution".

 

This was my experience this morning!  What was yours?

 

Keith (in control) Hammett

'62 Rampside

 

P.S. Anybody know how to put intermittent wipers and oh yes automatic
headlights on a Corvair?  <GRIN>