With all the stupid takes, I've been wondering whether or not the leftists on Twitter and Reddit have any idea what truckers actually do. Hell, I don't really, but I also don't act like I'm capable of doing a trucker's job. This was made kind of evident a while back, when Kiwis were discussing why automated vehicles can't easily replace a human with a CDL, but it's really sunken in for me at this point.
I'm pretty sure the lefties think the truck is 100% ready to go for the trip when the trucker shows up, and the entire job is just driving it to its destination. At this point, I can only conclude that yes, the leftists really do think it's that simple.
They talk about the Freedom Convoy and the protestors with an air of, "Well, I could do that job, and I'm perfectly capable of doing that job, but I'm an artist/intellectual/activist/important ally. But those people couldn't replace me, so I'm needed where I currently am in the world. But I could definitely do their job, if I really had to."
I genuinely think they believe the working class is so stupid that each and every little task must be broken down and assigned to a different worker or group of workers, like an assembly line at an automobile factory. One group of guys loads the pipes onto a flatbed, another groups of guys straps the pipes down, other guys check all the brakes, another guy checks under the hood, another guy checks the tires, and the trucker just shows up to drive.
Then, when the trucker arrives at his destination, another group of guys is responsible for everything that happens between the time the trucker pulls up until the time the vehicle is ready for its next trip. Or maybe the trucker does do stuff, but they just have to, like, unload all the stuff, put gas in the truck, load other stuff on, and just, like, drive to the next place. Maybe they have to check, like, the headlight fluid or something, but I'm sure it's really simple.
It's just not possible for one working-class, blue-collar, college-degree-lacking man to do more than individual, simplistic tasks. I have to assume this is what leftists think, because they treat the working class as though they're entirely too stupid for anything more complex. They equate education with intelligence. If it doesn't require a college degree or special piece of paper, it requires zero skills, and no one performs any tasks outside of what their piece of paper says they can.
Truckers? They have to take an extra driver's test to get a CDL. Therefore, they are qualified to drive those vehicles. Therefore, they only drive those vehicles, and nothing else. And semis operate exactly the same as an F-150, just bigger. Get behind the wheel, and off you go.
Every time the Redditors puff up their chests and talk about staging their own Freedom Convoy-esque protest, I don't think they even stopped to consider that, even if any of them could magically acquire trucks to drive, they'd have to know how to drive a standard. They probably don't even have any online friends or acquaintances who know how to drive a standard. If they state otherwise, it's because racing games have made them think they know more than they do. That's how poorly thought out their "solutions" to the Freedom Convoy have been.
And somehow, even though truckers have such a simple job, they make so much money, and every man owns the rig he drives, because the truckers make so much money, and the only reason is because life isn't fair.
I have no idea how else the people on Twitter and Reddit can rationalize their stance on this issue.
tl;dr: There's no sense to be made here.