That Guy Getting Pulled Out From Under a Burning Car ... There's No Better Metaphor For the Times

[NashVegas]

In case you didn't see it, go look.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/13/earlyshow/main20105286.shtml

In the midst of these heroes who risked personal injury to help the motorcyclist, one person in the video stands out: the man in the suit. In all likelihood, that man is John Johnson, the driver of the BMW. I may be reaching, but I think there's about a 97% chance I'm right on this.

Rescuers said he was in shock:

Rescuer Matt Barney, a radiation therapist who works with cancer patients, said Johnson appeared to be in shock after the accident. "He was really worried about the safety of the young man," Barney said at a police news conference. "He was very emotional and shaken."

What a metaphor: The BMW once was, and for some people still is, a symbol of 1980s greed as young people stopped looking for ideals and their fellow man and took refuge in wealth, creature comforts and status symbols.

In case you wondered, Johnson is an instructor at USU's business school; he teaches about information systems in business applications.

You've probably heard this saying about employment in the academic field: "publish or perish." In a bit of unimaginable irony, Johnson's most recently published article, according to a faculty doc that is no longer available, but cached in Google, is listed as follows:

"Kitchens, F. L., Johnson, J., Gupta, J. N. D. (2002). Predicting Automobile Insurance Losses
Using Artificial Neural Networks (pp. 167-189). Hersey, PA: Idea Group Pub.: Neural
Networks in Business: Techniques and Apllications editied by Michael A Vine, Kate A Smith,
and Jatinder N D Gupta."

So here you have Johnson, a guy who wrote the chapter telling auto insurance how they can use computer systems, rather than human assessment, to reduce their risk.

He's chosen a safe route for a well-paying career, he's bought for himself a safe car that also happens to be a status symbol of wealth.

Finally, on the day when he isn't looking out for his fellow drivers, there's nothing he can do but stand by, helplessly, while people who will take risks clean up after his mess. I'll lay good odds that Mister Risk-Free is scared shitless of a major lawsuit right about now.

Is this not everything we've been put through, as a result of the Reagan Revolution and its continuing aftermath?

[durablend]

1. Betcha NONE of that crowd were teabaggers

No, that guy under the car shoulda taken some "personal responsibility" and lifted that car off of himself (either that or he didn't pray hard enough for the heaven to lift the car off like a feather)

[Common Sense Party]

3. In Logan, Utah most of the crowd were probably Mormons and some

were certainly teabaggers.

[NashVegas]

13. I Wonder

What Tea Baggers would have to say about a rescuer with a name like Abbass Al Sharif"

"This is being a human, I don't think it's being a hero," Al Sharif said. "Either you do something or he's going to die."

[hedgehog]

14. I would agree with both premises, that most likely those were mostly Mormons

and mostly Republicans. It's worth taking a second look - Here we have a group of people who probably never have voted the Democratic ticket, but who, when given the opportunity, spontaneously stepped up to do the right thing.

There are some true blue (true red?) Tea Party types who will tell you the sun rises in the west if the Koch brothers say so, and they will believe it. However, instead of dismissing all Republicans as the enemy, we need to start viewing them as potential voters who would vote with us if we make the effort to get past all the noise and explain that we're really the ones on their side.

So, Mormons are all anti-gay bigots, right? Well, as a Catholic I can tell you that there is a difference between believing in a faith and believing everything a Church leader tells you. For the Mormons I know, family is the foundation of everything, and I can't see them exiling a son or daughter who comes out. But, even if you have a Mormon who believes that same sex marriage is wrong, you may also have a Mormon appalled at the casual cruelty displayed at the republican debate the other night (let him die). Convince that person that access to health care for everyone is more important than whether a couple of guys get married and that's a vote for our side.

Another thing to remember about Mormons, fundamentalist Christians and Catholics is that very often they are closely associated with missionaries. As such, they are much more aware of conditions in Africa, Asia and South America and the effects of American foreign policy than the average American.For example, Catholics who associate with the Maryknollers and Jesuits are adamant that the School of the Americas needs to be shut down.

[Mimosa]

17. ^ Thoughtful realistic observations, Hhedgehog ^

I've known ice-hearted 'I've got mine ' type Christian' Republicans as well as a few who are like the good people enumerated in your last paragraph. It can be dumb to generalise. ;)

[AverageJoe90]

18. Good point here. n/t =)

[ZombieHorde]

24. I know two gay guys from Mormon families. One says his family no longer talks to him,

the other said the family left the church over it.

[tuckessee]

11. That's ridiculous.

I hope you really aren't so ignorant as to believe the absolute bullshit you wrote.:eyes:

[peace13]

2. Even though I think that I would help push my car off of someone that I had hit...

I don't know. I'm going to give the guy the benefit of a doubt and say that he was in shock. He'll have to work the details out with his insurance guy!

[Fumesucker]

4. The motorcycle hit his car hard enough to put him in shock?

Right... :eyes:

[NashVegas]

6. Almost As Much

As all those loan defaulters put stockholders & execs at Bear Stearns in shock, to continue the metaphor.

[CherokeeDem]

7. Hey...

I wondered about this guy as well...then decided he was the driver of the car. Shock...yeah...he could have been in shock or very stunned...

I had a hood latch break on my car as I accelerated up a ramp onto an interstate. The hood flew back, cracking my windshield into a thousand pieces, reducing my visibility to a couple of inches below the hood. I was fortunate that I was not injured,and that as I slowed down there were no cars or 18-wheelers on my bumper. I managed to pull over to the side of the road quickly. I was shaken for days, very distracted for the first 24 hours...and there was no other person involved.

I think this guy deserves the benefit of the doubt. And the crowd, who gives a f*&% what political bent they are...they did the right thing to save that young man's life.

[Fumesucker]

9. I watched my brother get hit by a car when I was twelve..

The woman driving the car went into literal screaming hysterics, my friend who was with me and I had to respond as best a couple of twelve year olds could.

I haven't had much sympathy for adults who panic in emergency situations ever since.

[TwilightGardener]

10. I had a near-miss, too, on an interstate--hydroplaned during a thunderstorm

on I-90, spun around and went backwards down into the median. Just so lucky that no one else was nearby, that I was able to stop myself from going into the opposite lanes, that I didn't roll the Jeep, and that I'd missed large construction vehicles parked in the median in various places. I had been on my way to work, ended up shaken and distracted throughout my shift. I can certainly see not being able to take action when involved in a wreck.

[Fumesucker]

21. I've had more than "near misses", been involved in several crashes..

Both as driver and as a passenger..

In one case I was passenger in a van that flipped completely upside down and slid down the interstate at 60 plus..

I know the feeling you're describing but that does not excuse inaction in the case of a severe emergency, an emergency that is evidently the fault of the BMW driver.

[NashVegas]

22. In the Crashes You've Been Involved In

Were you never stunned in the first few minutes after?

I can't attribute 100% of his uselessness on being freaked out by the lawsuit he'll, no doubt, get hit with. But even if I did, I still can't help feeling a little sorry for the guy.

His uselessness is now on display in front of the whole world, and he's the guy who writes white papers telling corporations how they can eliminate humans on their payroll and save money.

Maybe the rescuers' irrational selflessness will give him a little something to think about on that front.

[Fumesucker]

23. As a long term motorcycle rider I have zero sympathy for the guy..

He "didn't see" the motorcycle and pulled out in front of the rider, I've had several friends seriously injured by that particular bit of stupidity.

And then he compounded the dumbass by not rendering aid when it was blatantly evident aid was critically needed.

[peace13]

16. Shock does not always come from blunt force.

I am in no way excusing this guy but we don't know what was going through his head. That is one thing we do know!

[Turbineguy]

5. Interesting analysis.

Let's hope it ends well for the motorcyclist.

[Javaman]

8. Frankly, I think it would work better as a simile...

the car is the bank and the guy is the people.

Instead of helping the guy, the car would have been given more gas.

[demosincebirth]

12. Well, maybe, he just didn't want to get his suit dirty. Did you

think of that?

[Safetykitten]

15. So is the BMW the symbol, or is it the suit? Is he a registered republican?

Just asking, in a tastefull way of course. And using a motorcycle accident victin to persue a very far point, is well, very distastefull.

[RebelOne]

19. Two of the rescuers who pulled the motorcyclist from

under the burning car were on Good Morning America this morning. They were so soft-spoken and humble. The video of the rescue has gone viral.

[NashVegas]

20. Nice

And not surprising they were humble. So often a rescuer will find theirself thinking, "that could have been me on the ground."

[datasuspect]

25. hell, even the damn cop chipped in

the first guy who tried to lift the car himself looked like an older guy.

and you just gotta love the hardhats. i wonder if they were union guys?

wow. that is an image that needs to be communicated on tshirts with a good tagline:

"suitguy burns people" or something

maybe a safety-style drawing (in panels, like airline safety guidelines cards) showing the correct procedure for corporate suits in high-risk security incidents.

then you show step-by-step of the guy getting out of the car, finger fucking his handheld device, and watching the proper authorities and common people with hardhats and badges take care of any messes. this will reduce overall liability and increase shareholder value.

[Claudia Jones]

26. brilliant

That is truly brilliant commentary.

Every day we are told by the conservative faction with the party that "selfishness is human nature! You can't change that! You need to accept reality!" as they defend the rightward drift of the party.

It seems that for one man on that scene selfishness is his "human nature," and as you allude to it is too often the case that those with the most access to resources and power and those defending those with such access are the ones with that "nature." For the other 15-20 people on the scene, none in suits and all working class, it would seem that altruism, self-sacrifice, helping others, and cooperative effort are "human nature."

Yes, this is a perfect metaphor for the times and the conditions we are enduring. A relatively small percentage of the people, those with power and authority and more access to wealth, are acting in extremely anti-social ways and justifying that by calling it "human nature" and saying it is inevitable.

[NashVegas]

27. Thanks

and the nugget is that he's teaching students ways to use technology to reduce the need for humans.