Greetings dear reader, thanks for stopping by this little blog.

I Dissent will be a blog that addresses the arguments I have daily with myself and sometimes others. Yes, I argue with myself. I overthink, examine, and dig into controversial topics. I simply want to know the actual facts and to understand the biases I hold and others hold. Then I will simply dissent against those biases. I will provide sources for why these biases are… for lack of a more polite word I will use “Dumb.”

My writing will be full of satire, sarcasm, and honesty. If this offends you… good. If it makes you think… good. If it creates dialogue… good. If it makes you my enemy… your loss. If it makes us allies… awesome. If you don’t like “…” that’s fine, I love when writers use them. It gives us readers a chance to think about what we are reading.

Why? I dislike social media for this forum. This is my content and site. I paid for it. I want a place to share my frustrations with illogical thinking (sometimes my own,) and unload the hell that is in my head for days and weeks at a time. I draw inspiration from two writers in this mid-life crisis writing: Bill Bryson and Kurt Vonnegut. I hope I don’t let you fellas down…

No, I won’t use my daily work life as a music educator here. That stays in the confines of my employer, my students, and employment. I care about my community a lot. Will I address issues that affect music education and education at the state and federal levels? Big issues? Absolutely!!!

Here is a bit of I dissent….

Interstate driving.

I despise it. Why? Left lane parkers… you know the ones who go exactly 4-5 mph above the speed limit passing vehicles at the speed of snail, creating back ups 20-30 and in Texas 50 cars long…. (I only can attest to this in Texas during December of 2023.) I am a man of courtesy on the highway. If I see a car or truck in my rearview closing the gap quickly and I’m in the process of passing another vehicle, I get out of the left lane as quickly as possible. Why? Maybe they have an emergency. They’re late to their job. Maybe they like to drive really fast…. Nothing is more frustrating than the left lane parker. When those left lane parkers do a break check on the vehicle directly behind them this is what they are telling everyone else. “I paid for this road with my taxes, and I will go whatever speed I like. YOU CAN’T PUSH ME AROUND BUSTER!!!!!” Yep, they have rights. You don’t, I don’t, but Mindy Soccer Mom from Marshfield, Wisconsin (fictional) sure does and you better not test her.

Here is a solution…. I hate this solution, but if it could benefit all of us that travel faster than five mile Freddy… Let’s do a study! Traffic camera citations!!! Left lane parkers beware! If you have five or more cars backed up behind you and you are going less than 5mph above the posted speed limit you get the dreaded fine of $25 for your first offense, $50 for your second, $75 for your third and traffic refresher school on how to be courteous. Think of that neoliberal cash cow every state could earn off such a racket. Texas could even return to legit “Republic” status! Just kidding Texas… your winters are beautiful.

Why I hate this idea… Big brother is always watching anyway… We don’t need more lousy traffic enforcement cameras that don’t work properly or are placed simply to make money. It is another example of private enterprise using governance as a way to profit. That isn’t good governance as it makes things more expensive for all of us.

I dissent on selfish drivers thinking they can do what they want without being responsible for all of the rest of us too. That goes for the brake checkers, left lane parkers, and even the truck drivers that take 8 miles to pass the truck they have been behind for 30 (69.7 mph passing 69.6mph) Have you seen what that does on I-80, I-74, I-57, I-88, I-94???? This is why we got a go pro for the car… and… why… I dissent… with interstate driving…