OPINION

How, and why, are these items connected?

Lately there are certain mysteries that seem to pop up, and everyone accepts them as if they are just part of life, without trying to understand them. They quickly become so popular that they even show up as new words in the dictionary. Have you ever wondered about the meaning of these words, or why are there so many white trucks on the road?

First, a disclaimer on white pickups: Mega-city dwellers may not have noticed, but out here in the sticks, white trucks are everywhere. They are at least 10 to one of any other color.

So what? Inquiring minds want to know. And if you know all of the mysteries of why seemingly unrelated elements are connected, you can move on to read the funnies.

Do we think there is a connection between white trucks, Bitcoin, and wokeness? Let's look into the mining of Bitcoin. Yes, that's how you get more Bitcoin, and it takes a lot of energy. I do know something about mining since I'm a geologist, and have had the mining of Bitcoin explained to me several times. Yet I always end up saying, "Huh?"

The explanation is that it takes a huge amount of energy to come up with the value, and that's it. Hard work or complicated math or other calculations give value, and what makes Bitcoin valuable is the hard work and the amount of energy it takes to create more Bitcoin.

But please, Bitcoiners, don't contact me in any manner, because I already have a Bitcoin overload, and my brain can't process any more data.

But whether we understand it or not, the business section of this paper prints Bitcoin values every day, just like stocks or commodities. Bottom line: There are a lot of folks who think Bitcoins have value.

Another disclaimer: I do not own Bitcoin, but if someone wants to donate some, I'll be glad to take them, and I'll let you know if you can buy something at Starbucks with them.

Now to wokeness, or is it Wokeness? It seems to be a word that everyone uses, but no one understands what it really means. I'm one of the many who will nod when someone such as a governor says he or she is going to save us from it.

Being Woke does seem to be a Democratic condition, but what about Libertarians? Can Libertarians be Woke carriers? Maybe; but is Woke a mental condition, or is it something like covid? Can you be a little Woke-ish, or is it like being pregnant, and you are either a Woke person or not? Can you be cured if you are Woke? You know, like the Korean War veterans who came home from prisoner of war camps quoting Stalin? Maybe there should be incarceration for severe Wokeness, where people are strapped to chairs and forced to watch Fox News for about two weeks, and then compelled to go to a restroom of their birth sex.

While you are contemplating those mysteries, let's see if we can understand the proliferation of white pickups, and is there any connection? If you haven't noticed how an overwhelming number of trucks are now suddenly white, you are color blind.

Henry Ford once said, "You can have any color of car you want as long as it's black." Well, Henry, it ain't that way now. I bought a pickup a few years back, and told the dealer I wanted a red truck. He responded, "All we have available are white."

So maybe we're so far down in the sticks here in Lower Arkansas that white trucks are all we get, or just maybe white is the preferred color that a huge number of buyers prefer. I had a used car dealer once tell me that a red car on the lot would usually bring a couple of hundred dollars more than a comparable car of a different color. I don't know if that's the reason we drive only red cars or not (except for the white truck), but when you see a red car driving in downtown El Dorado, it is usually either Vertis or me driving it. I passed a parking lot driving to work today, and there were 15 white trucks in it and only two of any other color.

Now comes the hard part. Do white-truck drivers exhibit any of the signs of Wokeness and own Bitcoin?

I think we will all agree that there is a connection, but it is just the opposite.

Email Richard Mason at richard@gibraltarenergy.com.

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