WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:09.759 Joining us now, and it's always a pleasure I have 2 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:12.599 Eric on it's been too long since we talked. Eric 3 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:17.679 Peters of Eric Petersautos dot Com a real soulmate when 4 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:22.839 it comes to the issues of liberty and mobility as 5 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:24.800 these companies like to call it. But you know, it's 6 00:00:24.839 --> 00:00:27.359 really driving cars is what we think of we think 7 00:00:27.399 --> 00:00:30.359 of mobility. I'm not looking at getting into some self 8 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:33.600 driving taxi and I'm not looking at I don't. 9 00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:34.719 Think of that as mobility. 10 00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:37.240 I think of mobility as being able to use a 11 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:39.640 car to go where I want when I want, and 12 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:43.039 not have to follow a schedule from some mass transportation 13 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:46.560 thing or get into a car that's owned by these 14 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:48.159 corporate conglomerates. 15 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:50.479 But thank you for joining us, Eric, Oh, thank you, David. 16 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:52.320 I always enjoy being here. And by the way, whenever 17 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:55.520 I hear that word mobility, I almost think to wheelchairs. Yeah, 18 00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:58.600 I'm that guy. Well, I enjoyed driving and. 19 00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:00.280 They want to break our legs, don't they. 20 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:03.079 I mean, they sure seem to want to. And it's 21 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:04.959 really something, you know, when I think about how this 22 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:07.840 country has changed in that respect just over the course 23 00:01:07.879 --> 00:01:09.599 of the last forty years. You know, when I was 24 00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:11.879 in high school, most guys loved cars, and a lot 25 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:14.599 of girls like cars too. Right now, you know they 26 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:18.519 have succeeded so effectively in alienating people from cars. I 27 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:22.439 get it. You know, they've become appliances, they've become soulless, 28 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:26.120 and on top of that, they become just impossibly expensive 29 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:29.040 for ordinary people to even consider buying anymore. So no 30 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:32.519 wonder people are turning off to cars, and that's unfortunate. 31 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:34.920 Getting us back to this whole idea of mobility, which 32 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:37.719 really just means, as you said, being able to just 33 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:40.400 go where you want to go without being leashed, you know, 34 00:01:40.519 --> 00:01:44.159 without without having to put your take your hat off 35 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:45.719 and beg. 36 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:47.799 For Yeah, there was a song about that, you know, 37 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:50.760 got to go where you want to go, do what 38 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:51.359 you want to do. 39 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:53.840 What happened to that? 40 00:01:53.879 --> 00:01:54.319 America? 41 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:54.599 Yeah? 42 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:56.799 What happened to that song? We don't hear that anymore. 43 00:01:56.840 --> 00:01:58.359 It's kind of like the other thing we used to 44 00:01:58.439 --> 00:02:01.920 say when when I was younger, people would say, somebody 45 00:02:01.959 --> 00:02:03.319 say can I do this? And it's like, hey, so 46 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:06.400 free country. You don't hear anybody say that anymore, do you? 47 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:08.479 No? I don't think that for anybody say that since 48 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:12.360 probably nine to eleven, twenty five years now. But that's 49 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:14.639 you know, at least that's a sign of psychological health. 50 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:16.960 At least people aren't so deluded as to think that 51 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:19.000 we still live in a free country. 52 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:19.000 That's right. 53 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:22.280 But they are deluded enough to think that they should 54 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:23.919 make a federal case out of everything. That was the 55 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:26.159 other thing, Hey, don't make a federal case out of it, 56 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:27.800 you know, if somebody is making a big deal out 57 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:30.039 of it. But now we make a federal case out 58 00:02:30.039 --> 00:02:34.879 of everything. Every problem must be solved and managed by government, 59 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:37.120 and it has to be done by government at the 60 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:39.719 highest level. And not even that, but now it has 61 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:42.520 to be done by the president, who will save us 62 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:46.919 from all evil. It's this messianic figure, you know. I 63 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:50.840 was just talking yesterday about this article out of the 64 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:54.000 Atlantic and they were talking about a study that was 65 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:56.120 done by some people of the UK. They came the 66 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:59.039 same conclusions that Strauss and how did about the fourth turning. 67 00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:01.599 They went back five thousand years of history. One of 68 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:04.080 the things they said was, you know, the the corruption 69 00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:08.280 and the decay and institutions, but also people start getting 70 00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:11.000 very messianic about their leaders. I thought, yeah, that's what 71 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:13.159 I see all the time about MAGA. You know, it's 72 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:16.319 got to be Trump. He's got some special mission from God, 73 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:18.360 you know, he's specially annointed it and all the rest 74 00:03:18.360 --> 00:03:21.039 of this stuff. It is truly amazing. They're so desperate 75 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:24.560 for a messiah that they'll even project that onto somebody 76 00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:25.960 like Donald Trump. 77 00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:30.960 It's sometimes it's jaw dropping. I'm a professional writer, so 78 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:33.439 usually I'm not at a loss for words, but when 79 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:36.000 it comes to Trump, I often find my job heading 80 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:39.719 the floor. My eyes bottle like cash Betel, and I 81 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:42.080 what am I going to even say about this stuff? 82 00:03:43.240 --> 00:03:44.879 That's right? It truly is amazing. 83 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:49.319 Well, you told me when we were just connected and 84 00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:52.800 you said there's some interesting news about Miada that I 85 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:53.840 don't think I'm gonna like. 86 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:55.280 What is that news? 87 00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:58.840 Well, just some background. The Miata has been around since 88 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:01.560 nineteen eighty nine. They introduced it as a ninety model, 89 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:04.120 and it has been for many decades one of the 90 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:07.680 most successful models that Mazda has ever brought out. Because 91 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:10.840 anybody's driven one will tell you it's just it is 92 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:14.000 one of the most enjoyable fun cars that you can 93 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:17.639 possibly get and drive. The problem is that it's gotten 94 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:20.839 to be pretty expensive. The current model twenty twenty five, 95 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:24.040 the base price is nearly thirty thousand dollars. To put 96 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:26.639 that in some perspective, back in nineteen ninety, it was 97 00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:30.120 just over thirteen thousand dollars. Now, granted, some of that 98 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:33.439 as inflation, and some of that, of course, are what 99 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:37.079 I call compliance costs. You having to have multiple airbags 100 00:04:37.079 --> 00:04:39.839 in the things, and all of the other stuff that's 101 00:04:39.879 --> 00:04:42.160 been added to vehicles that has been raising the cost. 102 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:45.160 People talk about inflation, and of course that's true, but 103 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:49.160 the thing that's important to understand is that people's earning 104 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:52.480 power hasn't tracked with the devaluation of buying power. That's 105 00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:56.079 really what inflation is. So back in nineteen ninety, regular 106 00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:59.079 Americans could afford to have two cars or even more, 107 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:03.079 to have the fun car they get, the Miyada as 108 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:05.199 the weekend car, the track car, the fun day. 109 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:07.040 Car, right, summer car. Yeah yeah, But. 110 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:08.720 They also had you know, you've got to have something 111 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:10.800 that has more than two doors and more than two seats. 112 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:13.279 If you've got kids, you've got a family, you're going 113 00:05:13.319 --> 00:05:15.319 to need something that's practical. So they would buy the 114 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:17.600 practical car for that purpose. But they'd have the Miata 115 00:05:17.639 --> 00:05:20.040 for fun. Well, now things have gotten to be so 116 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:23.079 tight that most people can only afford one car, if 117 00:05:23.079 --> 00:05:25.839 they can even afford that, So there aren't many people 118 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:28.000 left it who can still afford a thirty thousand dollars 119 00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:31.120 fun car like a Miada, and a thirty thousand dollars 120 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:33.720 crossover on top of that, and the cost of insurance 121 00:05:33.720 --> 00:05:36.040 and everything else that goes along with it. So what 122 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:38.040 are they doing. Well, when you're faced with a choice 123 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:41.040 between the practical and the fun, most people are going 124 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:43.000 to have to pick the practical. That's just the way 125 00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:45.800 life is. So it's not that the Maata has lost 126 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:48.439 its appeal. The problem is that there are not enough 127 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:51.759 people anymore who can afford it to sustain the car 128 00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:55.279 as a viable enterprise for Mazda. And so apparently that's 129 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:56.959 why they're thinking about canceling it. 130 00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:01.480 Wow, Well, I got mine, you know, as not as 131 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:04.480 long as the government doesn't find some way to declare 132 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:05.759 it illegal on the streets. 133 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:07.680 So I'm okay with that, and I did have mine. 134 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:11.199 And from a practical standpoint, there's this eric Groceries have 135 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:13.720 gotten so expensive that about all we can fit in 136 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:15.120 the car will fit in the. 137 00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:17.920 Back of it, right, groceries won't it. 138 00:06:18.040 --> 00:06:18.439 That's right. 139 00:06:18.439 --> 00:06:21.079 And there's another facet to this that's kind of interesting. 140 00:06:21.160 --> 00:06:23.959 An additional rumor is that they're not going to cancel it, 141 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:26.040 but what they're going to do is put a hybrid 142 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:29.199 drive train into it for the next generation. The current 143 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:31.040 car has been out since I think twenty sixteen, so 144 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:32.879 it's getting a little old, you know, in terms of 145 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:36.560 product cycles, and that the reason for that is the 146 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:39.240 reason why you're seeing so many hybrid vehicles now everything. 147 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:41.279 It used to be that there was the Prius and 148 00:06:41.319 --> 00:06:43.480 maybe one or two other hybrid cars on the market, 149 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.879 and they were marketed chiefly toward people who really wanted 150 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:49.959 hyper efficiency above everything else. You know, there's a market 151 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:50.279 for that. 152 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:53.680 I wanted to a virtue signal about their greenness that too. 153 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:55.560 But now you may have noticed if you look at 154 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:58.839 the new car landscape, practically everything is hybrided now, you know, 155 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:00.920 to some degree or another, either a mild hybrid or 156 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:03.040 a full hybrid or something. And the reason for that, 157 00:07:03.079 --> 00:07:05.319 of course, has to do with the federal government continuing 158 00:07:05.319 --> 00:07:09.720 to require ever stricter mileage and so called emission standards, 159 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:12.720 which chiefly means carbon dioxide, that awful gas that plants 160 00:07:12.759 --> 00:07:16.199 have used to metabolize and produce oxygen for us, so 161 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:18.959 that we grieve Trump by the way, today is supposedly 162 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:22.279 going to make an announcement about CAFE the corporate average 163 00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:25.879 fuel economy standards, and we'll see whether it's any meaningful 164 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:28.879 reduction or simply to kind of riff on or Well's 165 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:31.759 nineteen eighty four. Remember when when the people were so 166 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:35.199 happy because big Brother had decided to increase the chock ovation, 167 00:07:35.399 --> 00:07:39.040 when in fact, of course it had been decreased. So 168 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:41.040 what they had been hinting at was that they were 169 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:43.160 going to just roll them back or keep them at 170 00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:45.959 where they were in twenty twenty. Well, the reason everything's 171 00:07:45.959 --> 00:07:48.839 being hybridized right now is precisely because the only way 172 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:51.639 to comply with the twenty twenty standards was to build 173 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:54.959 these hybrids, which cycle the engine off as often as 174 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:58.680 possible and put smaller and smaller engines in cars. It's 175 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:01.920 the only way that they can achieve compliance with these 176 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:06.360 federal dictats. So unless we see them actually roll back significantly, 177 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:09.399 or better yet eliminate it altogether, I think we're going 178 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:11.839 to see more and more hybrids, and we're also going 179 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:14.240 to see fewer and fewer interesting cars like the Miata 180 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:15.319 available for people. 181 00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:18.720 Well, in terms of what Trump is doing, anything less 182 00:08:18.759 --> 00:08:22.839 than a complete shutdown of the CAFE regime is not 183 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:27.040 anything that I would be favorable of or applaud. But 184 00:08:27.560 --> 00:08:29.680 if they roll it back a little bit, you know, 185 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:32.120 it'll be pushed back with the next one. What they 186 00:08:32.120 --> 00:08:35.240 really need to do is to go back and change 187 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:39.960 the or get rid of Nixon's EPA and take away 188 00:08:40.039 --> 00:08:45.720 their power to regulate air pollution. Right, that is the 189 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:48.639 emission standards that needs to be taken away from the EPA, 190 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:50.559 and the e PA needs to be shut down. I mean, 191 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:53.480 let's not just stop with the CAFE rules. Let's get 192 00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:55.720 rid of the EPA, and let's get rid of this 193 00:08:56.519 --> 00:09:01.200 finding that they can they can tell us about. 194 00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:03.679 All these gases, because that is a real fraud. We've got. 195 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:08.799 Ev pollution is being ignored for this fake climate crisis. 196 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:14.399 Is the headline of a What's Up dot Com article, 197 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:17.039 and it's absolutely true they ignore the pollution from the evs. 198 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:20.559 But I think the biggest glaring hypocrisy with all of this, 199 00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:24.440 as in the past, been that they would ignore the 200 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:28.360 two biggest polluters on Earth, China and India. They could 201 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:30.879 make as many power plants as they wanted to and 202 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:35.039 continue to make them, put no cleaning devices on them whatsoever. 203 00:09:35.639 --> 00:09:39.039 And this was supposed to address a global issue. Well, 204 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:41.600 how does that address a global issue? It's nonsense. But 205 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:44.840 now we've had this kind of come home in the 206 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:48.240 sense of the AI data centers. They want to put 207 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:50.679 these AI data centers out there, so they're obviously not 208 00:09:50.840 --> 00:09:56.559 interested any missions anymore. And this has really made outraged 209 00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:59.639 a lot of the environmentalists that are out there. But 210 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:02.639 it is just another example of having real hypocrisy. It's 211 00:10:02.679 --> 00:10:06.120 not a real problem. It certainly is not existential, and 212 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:09.799 it is if it's in their advantage to do it, 213 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:11.519 and it is in their advantage for the AI, So 214 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:14.519 because that's all about surveillance and control, that is the 215 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:18.399 killer app And so they're going to do whatever they 216 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:21.000 have to take. And they don't care if we own anything. 217 00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:22.720 They don't care if we're able to go anywhere, and 218 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:25.320 they don't care if we've got any electricity. You know, 219 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:27.200 you and I have said that for the longest time. 220 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:29.879 You know, they don't even want us to have electric vehicles. 221 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:33.159 They don't want us to have electricity. Nevertheless, you know, 222 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:36.120 own a car, So that's where this stuff is all going. 223 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:38.440 But you know, when we talk about the Miata, that 224 00:10:38.600 --> 00:10:42.399 is such a perversion of the whole idea. The whole 225 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:45.279 idea of the Miata was to make it incredibly light 226 00:10:45.639 --> 00:10:48.399 and simple, and so a lot of times, you know, 227 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.960 people talk about modifying the miatas. I mean, there's a 228 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:54.320 company called Flying Miata, and it's kind of interesting what 229 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:56.159 they do with it. Since it's such a lightweight car. 230 00:10:57.240 --> 00:11:01.000 They would shove in a V eight inch and to 231 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:05.240 the Miata, and I would read with curiosity about it. 232 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:07.120 But it was something that I never wanted because then 233 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:08.919 you've got to get this heavy transmission. And that was 234 00:11:08.919 --> 00:11:13.039 one of the nice things about the Miata was how 235 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:17.200 it shifted and very responsive and how it could turn 236 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:19.960 on a dime. And it was all really about being 237 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:23.279 a momentum car rather than a zero to sixty car, right, 238 00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:26.279 And so if these people are going to put in there, 239 00:11:27.960 --> 00:11:30.200 you know, all the added weight and all the rest 240 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:32.440 of the stuff to make it a hybrid and to 241 00:11:32.519 --> 00:11:35.720 make it complicated, to make it expensive, they might as 242 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:36.639 well cancel it. 243 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:39.279 Well, I agree, and it just speaks to the kind 244 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:41.960 of tone deafness of the people who are running these 245 00:11:41.960 --> 00:11:45.480 car companies. You'll see this happening across the industry. For example, 246 00:11:46.200 --> 00:11:48.399 the Dodge. The people in charge of Dodge who thought 247 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:50.399 it would be a fine idea to take the Challenger 248 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:54.159 and the Charger, which were popular costs sold well, and 249 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:57.200 turn the thing into an Evy, and not only ev 250 00:11:57.399 --> 00:12:00.159 with a base price that was twenty thousand dollars higher 251 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:02.600 on pre gas engine model, and they thought that that 252 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:04.679 would sell. They're showing what I'm trying to get at 253 00:12:04.679 --> 00:12:07.639 is that they were showing contempt for their own buyer demographic. 254 00:12:07.720 --> 00:12:10.759 Oh yeah, yeah. Or Jeep. I'm sure you wear Jeep. 255 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:11.000 You know. 256 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:14.559 Jeep is this French company, and they have upscaled the 257 00:12:14.679 --> 00:12:18.360 Jeeps so much that nobody can their market can't afford it. 258 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:22.360 People wanted something that was rugged and affordable, and that's 259 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:23.960 the same kind of thing they're doing to the Miata. 260 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:27.200 They don't want to everybody wants to make exactly the 261 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:30.000 same car, and they all want to upscale everything because 262 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:32.559 they understand how expensive cars are getting and they know 263 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:34.600 that only they're really rich can afford this. 264 00:12:34.679 --> 00:12:38.240 Stuff. So it's going to become a plaything for the rich. Probably. 265 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:40.799 I don't know if it'll be in my lifetime because 266 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:42.639 I'm getting at the end of it, but probably in 267 00:12:42.679 --> 00:12:45.720 your lifetime you'll probably see the idea that, you know, 268 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:48.360 owning a car is like having a private plane today. 269 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:50.759 You know, oh sure, it's going to be a reversion 270 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:54.080 to the early days of the car car industry, the 271 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:56.759 car world. If you went back to say about nineteen 272 00:12:56.759 --> 00:13:00.240 oh five or so, the only people who owned a car. 273 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:03.799 We're extremely wealthy people. You know, go watch episodes of 274 00:13:03.799 --> 00:13:06.679 Downton Abbey, the you know the BBC show about that. 275 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:09.200 Era, or Toad of Toad Hall. 276 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:12.519 Right, Yes, he could aboard a car and he didn't 277 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:14.320 really care what the fines were like. He was very 278 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:18.360 much like Elon Musk who opened up his uh uh. 279 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:20.559 He opened up a couple of businesses. They're not too 280 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:22.919 far from when we used to live in Texas. He 281 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:26.159 had boring and he had I think it was I 282 00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:28.240 can't remember, maybe it was SpaceX or something, but it 283 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:31.279 was not it's not did anything to do with the 284 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:35.440 launching thing, and and he was doing violating all kinds 285 00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:38.480 of rules from the Department of Transportation, as well as 286 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:41.240 dumping waste water directly into the Colorado River. 287 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:41.919 He didn't care. 288 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:44.159 They kept finding him and they gave him the maximum 289 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:46.039 amounts of fines and he didn't care. So they said, well, 290 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:47.600 we need to raise the fines up. And it's like, well, 291 00:13:47.639 --> 00:13:49.639 you know what, they raised the fines up. It's going 292 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:52.799 to be applied against people who can't afford it. Uh, 293 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:54.360 And you're not going to be able to raise the 294 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:59.399 fine up high enough to to affect elon Musk under 295 00:13:59.399 --> 00:14:01.320 any circums. So he was kind of like Toad of 296 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:02.759 Toad Hall, you know, right. 297 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:05.200 You know, here's here's something to kind of explained the 298 00:14:05.240 --> 00:14:06.919 point to people who may not be familiar with the 299 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:08.879 history of it. Used to be that when you opened 300 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:10.720 the door of a General Motors vehicle, you would see 301 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:12.440 this little badge on the sill and it would say 302 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:15.440 body by Fisher. You remember that, oh yeah, and that 303 00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:18.000 that is something that harkens back to the days of 304 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:20.960 what we are called coach built cars before the Model T. 305 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:22.440 This is around the turn of the turn of the 306 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:25.120 last century or nineteen hundred or so. If you wanted 307 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:27.759 a car, you went to a coach builder and you 308 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:30.159 would specify what you wanted, and it was all custom 309 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:33.200 everything was made to order. And obviously only very wealthy 310 00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:35.519 people could afford a vehicle like that, so it was 311 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:38.639 a rich man's toy. And you know, Henry Ford came 312 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:41.399 along and had the affront rate to simplify the thing 313 00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:44.080 and to mass produce the thing that had common parts 314 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:46.679 that were stamped out, and so that anybody who worked 315 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:49.039 at a Ford plant could afford a car. You know, 316 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:52.559 and for one hundred years afterward, people like you and I, 317 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:54.600 regular people could afford to have a car. Well, they're 318 00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:57.360 trying to bring us back to that era when when 319 00:14:57.440 --> 00:15:01.200 vehicles were luxury items that only the very affluent people 320 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:04.320 in society could afford. It's really despicable. And I wanted 321 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:06.159 to mention something else to get back to what you 322 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:10.480 were mentioning before about the whole emission slash climate control fraud. 323 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:15.440 People don't realize that there are evs that you can 324 00:15:15.480 --> 00:15:17.279 get in Europe. I did an article the other day 325 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:20.320 about a little car called the micro Microlina. Did you 326 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:21.039 happen to catch that? 327 00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:21.399 No? 328 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:26.600 I didn't say what Microlina cute as a button? Golly 329 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:28.440 is so nice that they named it twice, right. 330 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:31.919 What it basically is is a small electric car that's 331 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.559 essentially it looks just like the old BMW Isida. Do 332 00:15:34.600 --> 00:15:35.440 you remember the Isota. 333 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:39.720 Was that the one that opened in the front, Yes, exactly. 334 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:43.159 See, I've actually set in one of those up in Chicago. Yeah, 335 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:46.039 they had it as a display in a garment store there. 336 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:48.919 So the same concept. It's just a little EV. It's 337 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:52.200 not designed to go ludicrously fast, you know, it's designed 338 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:55.360 to be an urban, suburban, runabout little car. And it 339 00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:58.440 costs about sixteen thousand dollars. Why can't we have that? Well? 340 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:01.519 I attack elector cars all the time, but fundamentally, what 341 00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:04.279 I'm attacking is the way they're being forced on people 342 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:06.600 and the way alternatives are being taken away from people, 343 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:08.759 not the EV as such, I really don't have a 344 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:11.399 problem with. You know, why can't people buy a sixteen 345 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:14.519 thousand dollars basic car if they don't need ludicrous speed, 346 00:16:14.759 --> 00:16:17.279 they don't need to on the highway for several hundred miles. 347 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:20.080 And the point is, like, if it truly is the 348 00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:23.720 case that we're facing this existential threat, the climate is changing, 349 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:26.159 you know, we're all going to die unless we don't 350 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:28.559 drive electric cars. Well, why wouldn't they want to encourage 351 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:32.639 these affordable little electric cars that people can actually buy 352 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:36.279 as opposed to these elitist cars, these evs that you know, 353 00:16:36.279 --> 00:16:39.399 we're allowed to buy fifty thousand, sixty thousand dollars electric cars, 354 00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:42.440 but we can't buy the little sixteen thousand dollars electric 355 00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:44.639 car that you can buy in Europe. It just speaks 356 00:16:44.679 --> 00:16:48.399 to the disingenuousness of the narrative, the way they're trying 357 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:50.519 to tell you that, you know, you have to make 358 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:53.080 this transition because if you don't, we're all going to 359 00:16:53.159 --> 00:16:56.600 die in the climate catastrophe. Well it's nonsense. If that 360 00:16:56.720 --> 00:17:00.639 were true, they'd be doing everything conceivable to incur these 361 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:03.080 low cost, efficient, simple little cars. 362 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:04.720 That's right. It's just like the pandemic. 363 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:06.680 If they really believed everybody's going to die, they'd let 364 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:08.599 us try some alternatives to their vaccine. 365 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:10.720 But the plan had been that they were going to 366 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:11.480 lock us down. 367 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:13.599 Until they got their vaccine ready and then they were 368 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:16.880 going to inject everybody and all the companies harmless with 369 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:19.720 what they did. But you know, that was another smoking 370 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:22.279 gun about that fraud. But you know, as you're pointing 371 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:24.440 out these little little things like that. And I remember 372 00:17:24.440 --> 00:17:27.000 there was also the Messerschmidt. Do you remember that that 373 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:30.400 was featured in Brazil. That was the car that the 374 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:33.319 character drove in that. I've never seen one of those 375 00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:36.599 in person, but I have set in the bmw Isaeta 376 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:39.480 I've said in that thing. But you know, these things 377 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:45.680 are basically golf carts just on it, you know, you know. 378 00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:47.599 I mean back when I was in college, I broke 379 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:49.839 a seventy four Beatle. Love the car, but really it 380 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:52.039 wasn't much more than a golf cart, you know, right. 381 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:55.680 It had trouble maintaining sixty five miles an hour on anything, 382 00:17:55.799 --> 00:17:58.319 you know that was at all inclined. That was pretty 383 00:17:58.359 --> 00:18:00.440 much it cost. You know, if you had a downhill 384 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:02.440 stretch and the wind was at your back, you might 385 00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:03.960 be able to get to get up to about seventy 386 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.319 five a miles an hour in a Beatle. It was fine. 387 00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:07.440 It was cheap. 388 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:10.559 It allowed me to get on wheels, you know, so 389 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:12.279 that I didn't have to walk or take a bus. 390 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:15.160 And that's why I'm kind of so annoyed about the 391 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:17.559 fact that you can't buy new vehicles like that little 392 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:21.680 inexpensive ev that's available in Europe, because after all, if 393 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:23.680 that thing we're on the market is a used vehicle, 394 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:26.680 it would probably cost only seven or eight thousand dollars, 395 00:18:27.079 --> 00:18:30.519 you know, after a couple of years of depreciation. And imagine, 396 00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:32.240 you know, you're an eighteen year old kid and you 397 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:33.759 know you don't have a lot of money, but you'd 398 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:35.920 like to have a car. So you know, here's a 399 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:38.400 car that you could would work as your first car. 400 00:18:38.920 --> 00:18:40.640 And my point is, you know, we're being denied all 401 00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:44.359