Truck Off

This week has seen an existential shift in the Canadian psyche and zeitgeist. This social shift was ignited by Canadian large truck drivers and yet this author, while impressed by the trucking community found the response to more endearing. The distance from to Canada's British Columbia by road to Canada's Ontario is just over 4200 km and many an overpass along the way was filled by people cheering for the truckers; those cheering were in sub zero Celsius weather waving the flag of their country.  

This author finds those standing on bridges and at the road sides are also part of this equation and they need to be recognized. Being in Canada these pedestrians stood in the cold and cheered like those who cheered for the ones who picked up the rifle in 1812, 1914, 1939 and 1950. In the years just mentioned Canadian men stood for freedom and the braved going far from home to fight for freedom and they too were cheered and regaled by family, friends and their fellow citizens. Technically the war of 1812 does not allow the men to be Canadian though this author thinks the reader gets the point. 

To this day the Canadian military is engaged in some level of war. For example the Whisky War, an on going conflict with Denmark. Though in the typical spirit of both countries the only thing exchanged is a bottle of whisky each year; no sword has been drawn and no bullet has been fired. The reader is encouraged to look this up. 

Now the mantel of protecting the oppressed has been taken up again, though not by the Canadian military, by the citizenry at large on their own soil. This begs the question; what has changed to tip the hand of these trucking people to take up a typically military roll? 

In this the current year, Canadian citizenry are heaping their cheers and thanks upon those who are now willing to make a sacrifice for the freedom of others. The wars of 1812, 1914, 1939 and 1950 spoke to the ideal of bravery; and while Canada did not officially get involved in the Vietnam conflict many Canadians did travel to the USofA to sign up. Canada's military men have a long standing tradition of protecting those who are oppressed and having tyranny inflicted upon them. 

Things have gotten so out of hand on the freedom front in Canada that now even Donald Trump has given recognition to the Canadian truckers. This is possibly another Vimy Ridge moment, where the world once again takes note of the brave actions of Canadians and those who support them. In the past, this recognition of a display of bravery was usually shrouded by the number of bullets used and the number of bodies buried or not. Now that we are counting trucks; this author has to ask - is this not a betterment in our world or for lack of a better term progress? 

The Revolt of the Plebs:

Here is a bit of history for the reader: In ancient Rome, the plebeians were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words "commoners". What happened in ancient Rome, way back then, was that the plebs under an ever increasing weight of  the suppression of freedom left the city of Rome and sat on the seven hills. In short, the orders given by the patriarchs caused them to learn that they needed the plebeians and so the suppression was eased and the plebs returned. 

This ideal was embraced by John Locke and Thomas Paine; both of these men believed in the ideal that government is a bottom up effort by the people. Conversely, Socrates and Plato both discussed the idea of the philosopher king; this is an understandable argument for their time, they were involved in a culture war against the Sophists. The Sophists roamed the lands of their time telling people what to think while those who followed the Socratic method taught people how to think. 

The current lands of this time now includes the entire public Internet, leaving this author to wonder where the next expanse will be towards those seeking acceptance. As the the public Internet grows, the virgin ground for seeding a given type of thinking is rapidly being consumed thus leaving this author to wonder what the next step will be after all the public virgin ground is fully occupied by those who have not been elected by the citizenry, perhaps some fields need to be left fallow for some time. Personal opinion is becoming an ever more scarce resource for those who wish to dictate the social narrative. Putting to much 'shit' in a garden will ruin it as fast as a drought. 

When a government is no longer willing to listen to the demos, that government is by de facto tyrannical. Based on what has been witnessed so far, these truckers only want to be listened to and conversed with. Thus this author has to ask, has the effort to listen and converse with the plebs within the citizenry become too much of an effort for this Canadian government and if so why?