The Generation Blame Game

Me on the right aged 18. circa 1954Did you know the term “Whipper-Snapper” dates back to the late 1600s? It originally referred to a young person who would stand on the street and crack a whip to make noise and draw attention to themselves.

A sure sign a person is old is if they still call someone a “Young Whipper-Snapper,” because in over 300 years they haven’t learned a better term.

Today’s youth would probably holler out of the widow of a limousine on the way to a school prom, and I would think, “You are in a fucking limousine, you didn’t just win the Super-bowl.”

The result is the same for every generation, make a lot of noise, but have nothing of substance to show. Looking back, was I any different? Of course not, how much life can one experience in just ten years from age 15 to 25?

I believe it was Mark Twain who said,

“When I was fifteen, I thought my father was an idiot. By the time I reached thirty, I was amazed how much he had learned in 15 years.”

I was born in the middle of the Great Depression, and I was between 3 and 9 years old during WWII. I became a teen in the 1950s, and we were pleased the world was a better place. We never blamed the previous generation; in fact, they had just fought a war for us. It was the 1960s with the Civil Rights issues, Vietnam, and the threat of nuclear war, that the blame game started.

The blame lies with mankind collectively, not individuals or even whole generations. Each generation would have done better to have listened to the previous generation, rather than to blame them. This generation will fare no better unless the change what previous generations have done. One never gets a different result by making the same mistake over.

The older generation probably looked at me and my peers and thought, “God help us when they are in charge.” By the time I was 25 years-old, I thought I knew it all, and I had the answers to all the world’s problems, when truth be known, we none of us knew Jack-Shit.

Since the Industrial Revolution began about 300 years ago, technology has increased at an ever-increasing rate. I look at the advances made in just my lifetime, and it is alarming. This advancement in technology has gone hand with a population explosion, the worlds population has doubled in the last 50 years. No one seems to be addressing that problem, as the planet is being destroyed.

Technology increases as knowledge is passed on from one generation to the next, but schools still teach the basic reading, writing, and arithmetic, that began in schools 300 years ago. Religion too is a hodge-podge of different religions the world over, and all based on writings hundreds, if not thousands of years old.

Young people leaving college today are attending classes on “How to cope.” Their parents gave then everything, and sent them to college, now they have graduated the parents expect them to leave home and get a job. They don’t have the basic skills needed to cope. I grew up poor, and left home at nineteen years old. Life showed me how to cope.

I am sure when I was young, I spouted my mouth off about all manner of subjects I knew nothing about. But it only reached my immediate friends, and I doubt much of it went any further. Today, technology has given us the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, You-Tube, and Tic-Toc. The list goes on. Someone can have some inane thought and within days that idea has spread around the world.

We no longer have to wait and say, “God help us when they take over?” Because the young generation is taking over now, through Social Medea. Killing free speech, erasing history, when if there is one lesson I have learned in life, it is. “Don’t dwell on the past, let it go and move on, because no matter how hard you try, the past will never improve.”

"True wisdom lies not in what you know, but in knowing that you can never know everything."

And how can anyone learn that in just ten short years.

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Take a look at what is in your sports drink and energy bars

Energy bars have become the standard and convenient way for cyclists to carry food when racing or training. Used by professional cyclists in events like the Tour de France most amateur cyclists and weekend warriors follow suit, not even stopping to look at what they might be consuming.

Protein shakes have become popular among body builders and other athletes as a way to lose fat and pack on lean muscle. A whole new Sports Nutrition industry has sprung up, and a lot of misinformation is being fed to athletes along with the food products.

Most meal replacement protein shakes and energy bars contain Soy Protein Isolate. (Read the ingredients label.)

"Soy protein isolate is a dry powder food ingredient that has been separated or isolated from the other components of the soybean, making it 90 to 95 percent protein and nearly carbohydrate and fat-free."

On the face of it that might seem okay, but like all highly processed foods, it has little or no nutritional value left. The same with “High Fructose Corn Syrup,” another ingredient in many energy bars. It is corn processed until all that remains is pure carbohydrate and again very little nutritional value.

Some energy bars have the ingredient “Organically Grown Brown Rice Syrup.” This sounds much better than “High Fructose Corn Syrup,” but again it has little or no nutritional value, and is just the sugar or carbohydrate isolated from rice instead of corn.

The problem also with brown rice based products is that many of these are grown in fields that were previously used to grow cotton, and were sprayed with arsenic as an insecticide. This arsenic stays in the soil for years, and is absorbed by the rice.

Arsenic also occurs naturally in some soil, the problem is that rice absorbs arsenic more readily than other plants. Even if it is not enough to kill a person, ask yourself, do you even want to consume even trace amounts of this poison?

Soy too can be highly toxic. What makes soy products even worse is that 90% to 95% of soy grown in the US is Genetically Modified. It is modified to withstand the herbicide “Roundup.” This means the fields can be sprayed with this widely used weed killer and it will not kill the soy plant. It doesn't kill the plant but the plant absorbs it, to be digested later by humans and by animals humans eat.

The active ingredient in Roundup herbicide is called glyphosate, which is responsible for the disruption of the delicate hormonal balance of the female reproductive cycle. "It's an endocrine buster," says UK pathologist Stanley Ewen, "that interferes with aromatase, which produces estrogen."

It is especially dangerous to females and unborn children. There can be miscarriages or birth defects. Men and young boys can experience Gynecomastia. (Breast enlargement, or man boobs.) Some men experience decreased libido and erectile dysfunction.

There is a lot of information on the subject of processed food on the Internet. I have provided a few links in this article, these in turn link to many more. Far be it for me to tell people what to eat, but I am finding it is not always a good thing to believe blindly what the food, and sports nutrition companies tell us.

I’ll agree that energy bars are convenient, but I have stopped using them altogether. I drink filtered tap water, and take electrolyte tablets to replace the lost salts and minerals. For the most part I have stopped consuming any highly processed food.

You might consider limiting energy bars to their use when racing only. If you are consuming them on a daily basis even when not riding, ask yourself what nutritional value are you getting? And worse are you slowly poisoning yourself?

When I started racing back in the 1950s and 1960s, there were no energy bars. My mother made me a solid rice pudding with raisins in it, sometimes a bread pudding. I would cut this into pieces and wrap in foil or grease proof paper.

Three ounces of deli roast beef has 24 grams of protein, a beef sandwich has as much protein as the average protein bar. On your next long ride, try taking some cold boiled potatoes. Small, bite size, boiled so they are soft enough to bite into, but not so soft they break or get squished in your pocket. Carried in a plastic bag they are easy to munch on as you ride.

Potatoes have a high glycemic index, which means they are quickly turned into energy. They are a nutrient rich source of potassium and vitamin C. Make sure you eat the skin because that’s where most of the nutrients are.

You can also make your own energy bars, that way you know what is in them. I know some natural foods like bananas, potatoes, are not as compact as an energy bar.

You could carry a Musette Bag on longer rides. (Left.) It can be folded up and put in your jersey pocket when empty. They used to be called a “Bonk Bag” for good reason, but thinking about it, they are more like an “Anti-Bonk Bag.”

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Art, and the Artist’s Ego

I had an interesting discussion the other day. I stated that without the artist’s ego, there would be no art, and who would create anything if they thought no one would look at it?

There was immediate disagreement and counter argument that the joy is in creating itself. And if the artist creates what others like rather that what he likes then is it really art? I don’t entirely disagree with either of these statements.

I am very much aware of artists who go “commercial,” and create what is popular with the masses. I see that every day in crap TV programs, movies, and music. I appreciate when artists create what they believe in. Without a pioneer spirit nothing new would be created.

However, the original statement was concerned with the artist’s ego, and one has to look closely at the word “Ego.” We are often taught that to have an ego is a bad thing, but I look at the dictionary definition and it means “Self-esteem,” a person’s sense of worth.

On the other hand, there is the word “Egotist,” which means “Self-Centered,” is definitely not a good thing. Initially, artists create for their own gratification, the joy of looking at what they have done.

Does this joy not come from the boost to their self-esteem or ego? Who does not step back and look at their work and say to themselves, “Look at what I have done here, I am a pretty clever fellow?”

There comes a point however, where one must move on from this self-gratification and seek validation from others. This validation may not be immediately forthcoming, and this is where it is important for the artist to continue with what he truly believes in.

This is not always easy for the performing artist, musician, singer/songwriter, actor, or comedian. By nature of their art, they must have an audience, validation from others. And ultimately so must every other artist, be they painter, sculptor, or writer. What would be to point in my writing here if no one read it?

The artist always treads a fine line between pleasing themselves and pleasing others. Sometimes originality is so original that only the artist understands. They can carry on, hoping their audience will eventually “Get it.” Or they can tweak their art, so others do understand and see value in it, without completely “Selling out.” 

There are many people who create for no other reason than their own relaxation. They draw or paint or write in private journals with no intention of sharing. No one is obligated to share what they create.

However, does the art have value? And to know that one must have the validation of other people. People will spend money on your art, and they will tell other people. “You must read this book.” Or “Have you heard this song,” that is validation.

And it is the validation of an artist’s work by others, and especially input from his peers that enables an artist to grow, and create even better things.

What are your views?

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Moving Target

Paul Theroux wrote a series of essays in a book titled “Fresh Air Fiend.” One of the stories is called “The Moving Target,”

It starts out by talking about a traveler named Nathaniel Bishop, who in 1877 rowed a small boat from upper New York State to New Orleans. A distance of 2,600 miles.

On arrival in New Orleans, as the exhausted Nathaniel Bishop tied up his boat, a group of young drunks approached, mocked him, swore at him, and threatened him with violence. Theroux commented:

“This, I have come to think, is a very American reaction, rewarding eccentric effort with scorn and violence.”

Theroux then goes on to write about a man named A F Tschiffely who in the 1920s rode a horse 10,000 miles from Buenos Aires to New York City.

His two and a half year journey took him over the Andes, through Central America, across deserts, swamps, and jungles. However, his worst part of the journey was traveling through the United States.

Cars would deliberately swerve close to scare him and his horse. He had bottles thrown at him, and shouts of “Ride ‘em Cowboy.” In the Blue Ridge Mountains a driver sideswiped him injuring his horse’s leg. Then honked and waved in triumph as he drove away.

After two more serious incidents, Tschiffely had to abandon his ride in Washington, DC and finish the final leg to New York by train. Theroux goes on to write about intolerance towards cyclists and runners, or anyone engaged in any form of exercise in public.

After reading these accounts of how things used to be, I am reminded of a line from the 1969 movie “Easy Rider.”

“Americans talk a lot about the value of freedom, but are actually afraid of anyone who truly exhibits it.”

Isn’t that the truth? Haters are “Equal Opportunity” bigots. It is not just about race, and it probably never was. It is simply prejudice toward anyone appearing different, or doing something different, or behaving differently than the perceived norm.

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Coming to terms with the Vaccine

After being locked down for most of 2020, I anxiously awaited while a Covid vaccine was developed. At eighty-five years of age, I was one of the first to get it. Having signed up with a local pharmacy in December of last year, I got my first Moderna shot in January this year, the second in February. I was fortunate in that I had no adverse side effects from either shot.

There was never any hesitancy in my decision to get vaccinated, at my age I was not messing around with this one, and on completion of my second shot, I felt a huge sense of relief in that I was now somewhat protected.

Recently as restrictions were lifted, and I have appreciated the freedom of not wearing a mask everywhere I go, and the simple pleasures in life like eating out in a restaurant occasionally. Now there is talk of a partial shut down again, and it is not just here in America, it is world-wide. Riots in *Australia and France over restrictions, democracies where people enjoy everyday freedoms, and therein lays the problem. One cannot live in a democracy and mandate that people get vaccinated.

The other issue is the fake news and conspiracy theories that abound. I have read some outrageous claims, mostly on social media, and the comments section of articles. One said that the government was injecting nano-bots into people’s blood stream, the object being to be able to track people. “Really… You think the government would go to that trouble and expense when they can already track what you saying on Facebook?”

Another said that they knew a person who had the shot, and after their arm swelled up so bad, the arm had to be amputated. To which I say, “No, you did not know such a person. You either made that up or read it somewhere.”

One must use logic, and look at the source of the story, and look for other stories on the same subject. The problem is people tend to look for opinions that align with their already established beliefs. This can be seen by the states and areas that have the lowest numbers of their population vaccinated. People tend to believe and do what their friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors do.

One can also see that the areas with the lowest vaccine rates, have the highest hospitalization rates, proving that vaccines work. Also, as the months go by, more and more data is collected, and I do not see the adverse side effects materializing, that those opposing the vaccine use as an excuse not to participate.

What about the long-term effects of the vaccine? What about the long-term effects of the Covid virus when doctors have seen damage to lungs equivalent to a lifetime of smoking? Not to mention long term brain damage. To the people who tell me they are afraid to take the vaccine, I tell them I was afraid not to take it.

Does anyone remember Aids back in the 1980s? No one took that serious until people we actually knew caught it and died. I remember at least three people who died, not close friends but people I had met and conversed with. It had a profound effect. Sadly, it will take the same thing with the Covid. When friends, family, or just people you remember talking to fall victim, it will cause you to re-think. Why not re-think now?

*Australia. See comment below. 

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