The Bubble and the Pickup Truck

 

John Ekdahl asked a simple question Tuesday night:

This not at all complicated query should generate one of two answers: yes or no. Instead, Ekdahl got hours of contempt, confusion, and rage.

Ekdahl never mentioned guns, immigration, country music, race, or “real Americans,” yet a flurry of journalists and other progressives tried to shame him with each for daring to ask this non-political question. All because they didn’t want to admit that they live in a bubble.

Many Americans, left and right, live in monochrome cultural enclaves. Many of my friends at DC think tanks and my relatives on the farm don’t interact with many people who live different lives than themselves. Admitting this isn’t a black mark on either group; it merely helps us understand our limited perspective.

Since I live in the Phoenix suburbs, I know plenty of people in both groups. The economist PhDs make me feel dumb and the ranchers make me feel wimpy, so I learn a lot from both. Humility is a requirement if you want to learn or write about the many subjects outside your ken. Journalism would be a lot better if our media accepted this truth.


A longer version of Ekdahl’s question was posed by Charles Murray in his now-famous Bubble Quiz (which includes a question about pickup trucks, natch). I was in the middle of the pack with a score of 58 out of 100. Let me know what you get in the comments.

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  1. JosePluma Coolidge
    JosePluma
    @JosePluma

    AmishDude (View Comment):

    Seriously, though, you’re right. That’s all a reporter is supposed to do. But then Journalism got to be a profession.

    Even if you think journalism should be a profession, why journalism departments? Why not a simple English degree?

     

    My father was a journalist for 40+ years with just a Bachelor’s of History.  He hated journalism degrees and would not hire anyone who had one.

    • #151
  2. JosePluma Coolidge
    JosePluma
    @JosePluma

    66 and proud, by the way.

    I lost points because I was never poor and didn’t watch most of the TV shows and movies.

    I gained a point because I bought mass-market beer.  I don’t use the good stuff in my beer cocktails for the same reason I don’t use Garrison Brothers or Town Branch in my old fashions.

    • #152
  3. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    In Search of Moderate Islam Eggin McMuffin The Loch Ness Monster The Blue Yeti And Great Chinese Takeout (View Comment):
    If Dr. McCoy doesn’t qualify as white working class then I’m not a green blooded half human you know what.

    “Dammit Jim, I’m a doctor, not some knuckle-dragging, white working-class Trump supporter . . . YOU change the tire on the shuttle!”

    • #153
  4. Cow Girl Thatcher
    Cow Girl
    @CowGirl

    GLDIII (View Comment):

    Cow Girl (View Comment):
    65 …But that is because I lived on a dairy farm for the first 18 years of my life. I’ve lived in the city mostly after that, but because we were in the military in the Carter years, we were technically in “poverty” so that’s another factor. My dream car was a Chevy Suburban because I had five children. We’ve always owned a pick-up truck because Mr. CowGirl was a rancher and I was farmer. We learned early how useful a truck can be.

    Is there not a musical that says you two should not be mixing? More or less having five children together….

    Ha ha!! You guys are hilarious! @Midget Faded Rattlesnake!  Actually, Mr. CowGirl would not describe himself as a “rancher” but as a biker who had to ride horses a lot and take care of cattle. His real passion was, and is, old Harley-Davidson’s. He’s had a few in the 43 years since we’ve been together. It was a plus to him that I had farm-girl skills. He likes women that are capable of doing things. The women he knew as he grew up in his family had to be tough; they were all married to his male relatives!

    • #154
  5. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    JosePluma (View Comment):

    AmishDude (View Comment):

    Seriously, though, you’re right. That’s all a reporter is supposed to do. But then Journalism got to be a profession.

    Even if you think journalism should be a profession, why journalism departments? Why not a simple English degree?

    My father was a journalist for 40+ years with just a Bachelor’s of History. He hated journalism degrees and would not hire anyone who had one.

    My degree is in Journalism. I learned everything I needed to know in my first class, an overview of the entire field. The rest? Meh.

    Journalism is a trade, not a profession. You need a curious nature, decent writing chops, and a big, um, bull detector.

    • #155
  6. Grosseteste Thatcher
    Grosseteste
    @Grosseteste

    I got a 57.

    • #156
  7. CM Inactive
    CM
    @CM

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):
    All kinds of questions come to mind:

    Have you ever eaten an animal that you shot yourself?

    Have you ever ridden in the back of a pickup truck? (Not one of those extended cab abominations — I mean the bed.)

    Have you ever lived anywhere that was only accessible via a gravel road?

    To be completely fair though, it should ask questions like, “Have you ever ridden a subway to work every day”. As it is, it equates living in flyover country as having less of a bubble. While in general that may be true, since the culture is steeped in the other culture, I think you can take the assumption too far.

    This… I think, though, he assumed his respondents would be more at the upper-end of living. Which is a bubble inducing assumption, itself.

    I thought the questions (when I looked at one of them) was aimed at you having experienced something the majority of the population has… because if the majority of the population owns a pick up truck and you don’t know anyone who does, you are slightly insulated. If you have never eaten at one of those restaurants, but something like 100 million have, you might be in a bubble.

    Transit stats show the majority of miles traveled by public transportation is done by bus.

    • #157
  8. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    CM (View Comment):
    Transit stats show the majority of miles traveled by public transportation is done by bus.

    Yeah, in a later comment I changed that to any mass transit.  For example, the best mass transit I ever did was a water taxi.  I lived in Jersey City, right on the water and right next to the Newport pier, and I worked on Wall St. that has Pier 11.  There was a boat that just went back and forth between those two stops all day.

    10 minute commute, which is about the shortest I ever had.  Then they killed that line, and it took me about an hour to do the same thing by train and foot.

    • #158
  9. Midget Faded Rattlesnake Member
    Midget Faded Rattlesnake
    @Midge

    CM (View Comment):
    If you have never eaten at one of those restaurants, but something like 100 million have, you might be in a bubble.

    Yabbut, didn’t it ask, how many time’s you’ve eaten there in the last year?

    Which supposes that one year without those particular restaurants is enough to put you out of touch.

    • #159
  10. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    Midget Faded Rattlesnake (View Comment):

    CM (View Comment):
    If you have never eaten at one of those restaurants, but something like 100 million have, you might be in a bubble.

    Yabbut, didn’t it ask, how many time’s you’ve eaten there in the last year?

    Which supposes that one year without those particular restaurants is enough to put you out of touch.

    I lost big time on that page.  I’ve eaten in every one of them, but none in the last year.

    • #160
  11. Matt Balzer Member
    Matt Balzer
    @MattBalzer

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    Midget Faded Rattlesnake (View Comment):

    CM (View Comment):
    If you have never eaten at one of those restaurants, but something like 100 million have, you might be in a bubble.

    Yabbut, didn’t it ask, how many time’s you’ve eaten there in the last year?

    Which supposes that one year without those particular restaurants is enough to put you out of touch.

    I lost big time on that page. I’ve eaten in every one of them, but none in the last year.

    You have Steak ‘n Shake. Why would you need to go anywhere else?

    • #161
  12. Midget Faded Rattlesnake Member
    Midget Faded Rattlesnake
    @Midge

    Judge Mental (View Comment):
    I’ve eaten in every one of them, but none in the last year.

    Yep.

    • #162
  13. CM Inactive
    CM
    @CM

    Matt Balzer (View Comment):

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    Midget Faded Rattlesnake (View Comment):

    CM (View Comment):
    If you have never eaten at one of those restaurants, but something like 100 million have, you might be in a bubble.

    Yabbut, didn’t it ask, how many time’s you’ve eaten there in the last year?

    Which supposes that one year without those particular restaurants is enough to put you out of touch.

    I lost big time on that page. I’ve eaten in every one of them, but none in the last year.

    You have Steak ‘n Shake. Why would you need to go anywhere else?

    Cuz the fries are anemic.

    • #163
  14. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    CM (View Comment):

    Matt Balzer (View Comment):

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    Midget Faded Rattlesnake (View Comment):

    CM (View Comment):
    If you have never eaten at one of those restaurants, but something like 100 million have, you might be in a bubble.

    Yabbut, didn’t it ask, how many time’s you’ve eaten there in the last year?

    Which supposes that one year without those particular restaurants is enough to put you out of touch.

    I lost big time on that page. I’ve eaten in every one of them, but none in the last year.

    You have Steak ‘n Shake. Why would you need to go anywhere else?

    Cuz the fries are anemic.

    That’s why I stopped ordering fries, and go with a second Double n Cheese instead.

    • #164
  15. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    CM (View Comment):

    Matt Balzer (View Comment):

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    Midget Faded Rattlesnake (View Comment):

    CM (View Comment):
    If you have never eaten at one of those restaurants, but something like 100 million have, you might be in a bubble.

    Yabbut, didn’t it ask, how many time’s you’ve eaten there in the last year?

    Which supposes that one year without those particular restaurants is enough to put you out of touch.

    I lost big time on that page. I’ve eaten in every one of them, but none in the last year.

    You have Steak ‘n Shake. Why would you need to go anywhere else?

    Cuz the fries are anemic.

    That’s because they’re cooked to perfection — then cooked some more.

    • #165
  16. Matt Balzer Member
    Matt Balzer
    @MattBalzer

    CM (View Comment):

    Matt Balzer (View Comment):

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    Midget Faded Rattlesnake (View Comment):

    CM (View Comment):
    If you have never eaten at one of those restaurants, but something like 100 million have, you might be in a bubble.

    Yabbut, didn’t it ask, how many time’s you’ve eaten there in the last year?

    Which supposes that one year without those particular restaurants is enough to put you out of touch.

    I lost big time on that page. I’ve eaten in every one of them, but none in the last year.

    You have Steak ‘n Shake. Why would you need to go anywhere else?

    Cuz the fries are anemic.

    That would be odd: go to one place for burgers but then get fries from another place. Anybody here ever do that?

    • #166
  17. CM Inactive
    CM
    @CM

    Matt Balzer (View Comment):
    That would be odd: go to one place for burgers but then get fries from another place. Anybody here ever do that?

    Not I. Denny’s hits my sweet spot in burgers and fries good enough to not go through that trouble, but I’m halfway dying for a post on best burgers and best fries thread…

    • #167
  18. Umbra Fractus Inactive
    Umbra Fractus
    @UmbraFractus

    Matt Balzer (View Comment):

    That would be odd: go to one place for burgers but then get fries from another place. Anybody here ever do that?

    Not fries, but I have gotten a burger from Whataburger and tots from Sonic, yes. (They’re right next to each other in my town.)

    • #168
  19. Matt Balzer Member
    Matt Balzer
    @MattBalzer

    Umbra Fractus (View Comment):

    Matt Balzer (View Comment):

    That would be odd: go to one place for burgers but then get fries from another place. Anybody here ever do that?

    Not fries, but I have gotten a burger from Whataburger and tots from Sonic, yes. (They’re right next to each other in my town.)

    Now that I think about it, there are combo restaurants, but I’ve never gone to both. I did kind of want to hit the Long John Silver’s and the Taco Bell at the same time, but I figured that was a little much.

    • #169
  20. lowtech redneck Coolidge
    lowtech redneck
    @lowtech redneck

    Does no one own a friggin’ VAN, anymore!?

    My family used to move across the country about once a year, we would stack the mattress in back and the four of us kids would travel on top, about two feet from the ceiling (not so good when travelling 3 thousand miles without air conditioning).  Also great for hauling trash and yard equipment.

    Modern vans are tiny in comparison, but still have way more room in back than pick-up trucks.

     

    • #170
  21. Eustace C. Scrubb Member
    Eustace C. Scrubb
    @EustaceCScrubb

    @lowtech-redneck our 2006 Dodge Caravan took us all across the country last year, crossing 200,000 miles as we came back to California.

    • #171
  22. Midget Faded Rattlesnake Member
    Midget Faded Rattlesnake
    @Midge

    lowtech redneck (View Comment):
    Does no one own a friggin’ VAN, anymore!?

    My family used to move across the country about once a year, we would stack the mattress in back and the four of us kids would travel on top, about two feet from the ceiling (not so good when travelling 3 thousand miles without air conditioning). Also great for hauling trash and yard equipment.

    Modern vans are tiny in comparison, but still have way more room in back than pick-up trucks.

    Well… we could ask @skipsul and @randyweivoda, but CAFE standards might be one reason – large vehicles must be classifiable as “trucks” to meet the more reasonable standards trucks enjoy compared to cars. I know it explains the demise of the station wagon and rise of the SUV, but might also explain the demise of the family van. My family was a van family.

    • #172
  23. Midget Faded Rattlesnake Member
    Midget Faded Rattlesnake
    @Midge

    Y’know what, @lowtech-redneck, maybe after I’m done with some other stuff today, I’ll compose an OP for us “van people” :-) After all, the first family van I remember was such a lurid specimen of the genre that it really does deserve some sort of sendup!

    • #173
  24. Matt Balzer Member
    Matt Balzer
    @MattBalzer

    lowtech redneck (View Comment):
    Does no one own a friggin’ VAN, anymore!?

    My family used to move across the country about once a year, we would stack the mattress in back and the four of us kids would travel on top, about two feet from the ceiling (not so good when travelling 3 thousand miles without air conditioning). Also great for hauling trash and yard equipment.

    Modern vans are tiny in comparison, but still have way more room in back than pick-up trucks.

    It’s not so much about the volume as it is about the material. For example, sometimes I haul wood, which you probably could toss in the back of a van but I’d rather not.

    • #174
  25. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Actually, mine is only a pickup by courtesy:  a 4 cylinder Toyota Tacoma.

    • #175
  26. lowtech redneck Coolidge
    lowtech redneck
    @lowtech redneck

    Matt Balzer (View Comment):
    It’s not so much about the volume as it is about the material. For example, sometimes I haul wood, which you probably could toss in the back of a van but I’d rather not.

     

    Heh.  There’s theoretically more separation between storage and passenger areas in a pick-up, but I suspect the cockroaches and ants find their way inside just as easily.

     

    • #176
  27. Matt Balzer Member
    Matt Balzer
    @MattBalzer

    lowtech redneck (View Comment):

    Matt Balzer (View Comment):
    It’s not so much about the volume as it is about the material. For example, sometimes I haul wood, which you probably could toss in the back of a van but I’d rather not.

    Heh. There’s theoretically more separation between storage and passenger areas in a pick-up, but I suspect the cockroaches and ants find their way inside just as easily.

    Yeah, it’s more a case of in a truck, I can sweep the chunks of bark and sawdust out of the bed more easily.

    Also with the liner in, the bed seems pretty watertight. If the summer gets especially warm I’m considering filling it up a bit and making a temporary pool.

    • #177
  28. skipsul Inactive
    skipsul
    @skipsul

    Midget Faded Rattlesnake (View Comment):
    Well… we could ask @skipsul and @randyweivoda, but CAFE standards might be one reason – large vehicles must be classifiable as “trucks” to meet the more reasonable standards trucks enjoy compared to cars. I know it explains the demise of the station wagon and rise of the SUV, but might also explain the demise of the family van. My family was a van family.

    Full sized / full power vans are only now made by GMC – the Savana Passenger Van.  Ford makes the old Econoline (now known as and E-Series) only as a cutaway chassis (cab, motor, frame rails only, no body), and only to the work vehicle industry.  This is entirely due to CAFE standards.

    CAFE standards do not restrict vehicles by economy per se, but by the total average fuel economy all vehicles sold of certain classifications (which are broadened every time politicians want to appear “green”).  So if a company reckons it will only sell some small percentage of a vehicle then it doesn’t have to worry so much about its economy.  However, E-series sold like mad so had to be dropped in favor of the Transit Van (which is made in Turkey) and its much less powerful V6.  GMC just doesn’t sell many passenger Savanas, so it can keep selling them, which ought to tell you something about the perversity of CAFE standards.

    • #178
  29. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    skipsul (View Comment):

     

    Full sized / full power vans are only now made by GMC – the Savana Passenger Van. Ford makes the old Econoline (now known as and E-Series) only as a cutaway chassis (cab, motor, frame rails only, no body), and only to the work vehicle industry. This is entirely due to CAFE standards.

    CAFE standards do not restrict vehicles by economy per se, but by the total average fuel economy all vehicles sold of certain classifications (which are broadened every time politicians want to appear “green”). So if a company reckons it will only sell some small percentage of a vehicle then it doesn’t have to worry so much about its economy. However, E-series sold like mad so had to be dropped in favor of the Transit Van (which is made in Turkey) and its much less powerful V6. GMC just doesn’t sell many passenger Savanas, so it can keep selling them, which ought to tell you something about the perversity of CAFE standards.

    Somehow I missed the original alert on this.  Unless they’ve changed this in just the last few years, minivans and full-size vans are in the same EPA category, so CAFE regs wouldn’t have made any difference in people moving from one to the other.  I think there are just a lot fewer families that are large enough that they need a full-size van this century.

    @skipsul, it’s actually the Transit Connect small commercial van that is made in Turkey, although Ford has also been building them in Valencia, Spain.  The big van  – just regular old Transit – is built in Kansas City, at least the ones we get.  It’s sold all over the world and built in multiple locations.  And while the Transit is usually equipped as a cargo van, there is a passenger van model.  While the base engine in the Transit is a V6 with moderate power (275 hp), you can get a turbo diesel, and a turbo gasoline engine that makes 310 hp and 400 ft/lb of torque, which is quite a bit better than the old V8’s made.

    Skipsul is right that fuel economy regulations pushed Ford to transition from the Econoline to the Transit, but there are other factors, as well.  The Econoline chassis has been largely the same since the early 1970’s.  At some point, it’s time to throw out the old design and start over from scratch.  And Ford figured they may as well have one large van design for the whole world instead of having a North American van and a completely different model for the rest of the world.

    • #179
  30. skipsul Inactive
    skipsul
    @skipsul

    Thanks for the correction, but I do recall the first ones were imports.  In fact, the one at the first measuring session we went to was made in Russia and had a faulty electrical system.  Upfitters were ticked at that one.

    Regarding the e series, it has a full boxed frame with seprate body, very easy to build on.  Transit is light duty and a real pia to add even a heavy duty alternator to.  Work truck folks and ambulance makers do NOT like it.

    • #180
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