THE UNITED STATES OF MEDIOCRITY, PART II.

Editor's Note:  This week, we reprise one of Peter's most popular columns - and a non-automotive one at that - in which he unloads on the dismal state of America, and which, unfortunately, shows no signs of abating. In On The Table, we preview the new 2025 BMW M2. And our AE Song of the Week is "A Girl Like You" by Edwyn Collins. In Fumes, we present Part XI of Peter's riveting series "The Racers," this week featuring Roger Penske. And in The Line, we have results from the 24 Hours of Le Mans, along with an announcement about TV coverage for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the iconic Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge beginning in 2025. Enjoy! -WG




By Peter M. DeLorenzo

  

Detroit. It’s no big revelation that we’re living in the midst of the most inelegant age in American history. Everything about life as we know it today is infested with rancor, outrage, dismissiveness, relentless self-promotion, unwarranted “celebrity” status and rampant boorish behavior everywhere we look.

It’s sue me, sue you; fuck me, fuck you. It’s mindless video blurbs that garner ridiculous amounts of attention while raking in obscene amounts of money. And for what, exactly? We’re being inundated by a seemingly relentless shit storm of fluff generated by mindless people pumping out vapid videos signifying nothing and amounting to less than zero - except for those stupefying profits, of course.

I have often contemplated where it all went wrong for our current societal makeup; the “whys” and the “wherefores” and the “WTFs?” But it’s really no use. It’s like we’re on a runaway train to StupidVille, and even if we don’t want to go along for the ride we’re dragged along unwillingly through piles of crud while being bombarded with one illiterate proclamation after another.  

Serious discourse has been permanently sidelined by belligerent musings and dumbbell comments by legions of Unctuous Pricks who actually think they matter and are worth listening to. They’re not, of course, but after all, the stupidity seems to be the point. Why make sense when you can make noise instead? Why add worthwhile discussion points when you can blow up the conversation with nonsensical and crude rejoinders that add nothing of value or substance?

Yes, all of this royally pisses me off. I’d like to say we’re better than this, but are we really? I’m not so sure. The degradation of our educational system over the decades is starting to wreak havoc on our daily lives. Stupidity has emerged as a sick badge of honor, the new currency of the misinformed and the ill-prepared. This has traveled far beyond the “everybody gets a trophy” trope too. We’re now existing in a lowest common denominator world punctuated by “who cares?” and “what’s it to you?”

Is there a way out of this? I am really fearful that there isn’t, or if there is, the window of opportunity to do something about it is rapidly closing. Paying teachers more and emphasizing the teaching of critical thinking is fundamental, but it’s only the beginning. A real premium must be placed on the accumulation of actual knowledge - there will never be a practical substitute for that. And a 30-second read on the Internet or a feverish trip through social media will never constitute learned behavior, either, especially when people can’t tell the difference between what’s real and worthy and what is just so much bile.

Living in this Land of Self-Aggrandizement is debilitating and depressing. People who shouldn’t be given the time of day are assigned substance and value on a whim, which is both offensive and unwarranted. And the fact that some are even bestowed with celebrity status because of it is simply unconscionable and unforgivable.

David Byrne (of the Talking Heads) once famously said in “Life During Wartime”:

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
This ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey-dovey
I ain't got time for that now

Indeed, the clock is ticking on what used to be the American conceit. We’ve become the United States of Mediocrity, an airy, vapid wasteland of unserious people spewing flat-out stupidity 24 hours a day. The collective “we” dines on a cotton candy menu devoid of substantive ideas and purpose. Fewer and fewer things have true meaning and retain genuine, legitimate value because people are all too busy with relentless self-absorption and the pursuit of “more” to pull their heads out of their asses and actually see where this is all going. And oh, by the way? That downward spiral is accelerating.

I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again before I stop creating content for this website, but this country needs an enema. It needs a total rethink and a brutal reminder of what matters, because we’ve become a rumbling, bubbling, stumbling paean to mediocrity and an embarrassing homage to “less than” and “why bother?”

And if you don’t see it as a giant, steaming bowl of Not Good, I don’t know what to tell you.

And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.

Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG