The “Turning”

Who knew that a bunch of truckers could become the worldwide symbol of freedom?

Those men and women who spend their entire lives on the road, hang out in truck stops, have at least one-third of all country music written about them and suffer social disrespect even though on average they make well over $100,000 per year, nearly twice the median income of all Americans.

It’s a rough life and takes a special person to do long haul for the amount of time they will spend away from their homes and family. Even the short haul truckers experience the great physical toll of sitting in a cab all day, loading and unloading products, food and necessities that we, the public, expect and demand arrive in a reasonably short and efficient period of time.

A mother saying “My son is a trucker” is not nearly as dramatic as “My son is a doctor.” Yet both have immense power in determining the quality of our everyday lives.

On hearing that a convoy of truckers was headed to Ottawa to protest Canadian Covid related government mandates, Justin Trudeau said “A very small but angry group are lashing out. Canadians are not represented by this very troubling, small but very vocal minority of Canadians who are lashing out at science, at government, at society, at mandates and public health advice.”

Guess he’s not good at gauging public sentiment. Take off the blinders Monsieur.

The estimates of trucks range wildly from hundreds to thousands, so we have to wait to find out how “troubling and small” this protest is. As important are the Canadian citizens who are coming out to stand by the roads and show their support to the truckers along the journey. Maybe too the American Truckers who are standing in solidarity with their Canadian comrades. There are whispers that a Truck Convoy could develop here in the U.S.A.

At stake are the mandates that Trudeau and his government have decided are fair game. Truckers, most of whom are solo drivers, must wear masks in their trucks. But that’s just the small stuff. The Canadian Government requires all truckers be vaccinated. Canada requires that unvaccinated truckers quarantine for a period of time if they come into Canada with a load from the United States, losing valuable time and income.

And it’s all those things, but the last one is most important. Requiring a quarantine means a delay in delivering goods from the U.S. to Canadian consumers. In other words, the prospect of empty grocery shelves is real and average Canadians are concerned, just like we here are concerned about supplies.

So it would be true to say that the Canadian truckers are standing up not just for Canadians, but for all of us. Truckers move goods in two directions; that is their business model.

The news of the Canadian truckers is not just hemispheric. The usual suspects like the BBC and Le Monde have been covering it, but so too has Hindustan Times. It’s surprising that Sky News Australia has a story up, given Australia’s draconian mandates and quarantine prison camps.

Unconfirmed Rumors are that American Truckers will be staging a similar event in D.C. in solidarity with their Canadian cousins. I wouldn’t be surprised to see French, Spanish and Greek truckers join in, those people like their protests.

But this protest and the attendant amount of money it has raised, speak to the weariness of all people worldwide. We are so done with Covid bullshit. Whether it’s vax passports, schools closed, mask or vaccine mandates; all seem so venal. At base we understand that our physical health is not really the value, however often it’s been expressed. The real value is power.

If power were not the objective, why would our own government encourage social media to shut down Covid misinformation? It’s not “we” who should be silenced, it’s the ever flowing dribble and nonsensical decisions that ensures absolute power to government and closed societies.

The Canadian Truckers get that. And so do their hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of followers worldwide. A very interesting and due “Turning” is happening. Stay Frosty My Friends.