I used to be somewhat of a "shade tree mechanic." If you are not familiar with the phrase, a "shade tree mechanic" is one who "attempts" to perform routine maintenance and make minor repairs on his car. Generally, the motive is to try and save money. But sometimes guys, and even gals, just like to tinker. My motive always fell under the saving money category. And I say "attempts" because sometimes the "shade tree mechanic" gets in over his head and ends up costing himself more money than he would have had he just taken the car to the shop in the first place. It's happened to me.
At one time, I somewhat knew my way around my cars. I used to change my own oil and air filter, and flush my own radiator. I have changed disk brakes. I have replaced more than one alternator, a regulator, a water pump, mufflers and tailpipes, and starters. Batteries are fun to mess around with. And then there are all those hoses and belts and cables. I've replaced two radiators, one heater core, and a vacuum-driven windshield wiper motor. I have gapped my own spark plugs and reset the points on my distributor.
I made many a trip to the junkyard in my day, seeking a bargain on a used part to switch with a worn out part. I've made attempts to adjust carburetors with mixed results. With the help and guidance of one friend, I replaced a worn out clutch plate. And with the aid of another, I even removed the valve cover from my car's engine and performed a valve job.
My dad on the other hand was what I call a "spray can mechanic." Dad, it seems, had a spray can for every automotive malady. If I had trouble starting my car Dad would suddenly appear from out of his basement with a spray can containing a magical chemical. "Here, try this," he would say. Squirted in just the right amount, and in just the right place, Dad's miracle spray sometimes actually fixed the problem. At least temporarily.
I'm no mechanic but I have somehow managed to keep my lawnmowers working beyond their normal life-span. By picking up various tricks along the way, I have been able to nurse another summer of service out of mowers that should have given up the ghost.
These days about the only thing I do with my cars is change the windshield wipers, replace the city stickers on the windshield, and the DMV stickers on my license plates. Everything else I leave to the "experts." And it's not because I have lots of spare money, it's because there isn't a whole lot left for the "shade tree mechanic" to do anymore.
Gone are the large dashboard instrument clusters with oil pressure gauges and the like. Today, our vehicle's computer sends us warnings via electronic icons that suddenly light up on our dash. And our only recourse for that pesky "check engine" light is to drive to the shop and have the mechanic plug in his electronic reader. A code pops up and the problem is identified.
If you are the owner of some late model vehicles, you can't even manually check your oil or transmission fluid anymore. Manufacturers are eliminating dipsticks. Your car's computer tells you when your reservoir is low.
When it comes to cars these days, little is left for the regular guy to do. Your toaster breaks, you throw it away and get a new one. Same with vacuum cleaners and blow dryers. Just about all of the smaller appliances and electronic gadgets are throwaways. We are forced to let the experts, with all of their high dollar diagnostic equipment, evaluate and repair.
In the quest to fix an errant television my dad would unscrew the pegboard panel from the back of our television set and remove the vacuum tubes. Then we'd hop in the car, drive to the nearest drug store and test them one by one in that big, yellow vacuum tube tester in the corner of the store. Dad couldn't tell you how a television worked, but he could usually get ours up and running again when it went on the blink.
Some people look down their noses at blue collar workers. Last year, Joe the Plumber clashed with the Obama campaign and came under scrutiny and suffered mockery. And Sarah Palin, then governor of Alaska and Vice Presidential candidate, found herself scorned, ridiculed, and labeled as stupid. These people weren't, you know, educated in the right institutions.
But if a pipe burst in the home of one of these elite critics, the ones that went to Harvard or Princeton or Columbia University, Joe the Plumber could fix it. Those very smart, highly educated snobs would call someone with the skills to diagnose and repair what's broken.
What many fail to realize is that fixing things requires cognitive activity. "Ah, there's your problem," cracks the mechanic, eyeballing that mass of steel and hoses and wires and belts under your hood. Understanding the way things work and making them work again after they break engages the brain. Logic, reason, and rational thought serve the technician.
Today with our dashboard, light-up icons and our throw away televisions, the everyday American is deprived of the cognitive processes that our dads enjoyed. And I say enjoyed because although frustrating, there is little to match the satisfaction that comes from figuring out how to make something work that wouldn't.
Our republic is broken and broken badly. We all know it but we don't know what to do. We rally, carry signs, raise our voices, write letters and make calls. But we still feel helpless.
We don't know how to fix it because we don't know how it really works. Some of us know how it was designed to work, how it used to work a long time ago. And many don't know that, or even care to know. We no longer comprehend how power is really wielded in Washington. Our check and balance system has failed us. Accountability for office holders faded away a generation ago, or more.
We have left our self-governing republic to the experts. We no longer have the cognitive tools to diagnose and fix our problem. As a nation, we flail around in the dark.
Ironic, isn't it? In this age of exponentially expanding knowledge and technology, we employ far less diagnostic capability than our parents. We push a button or flip a switch. If it doesn't work we call somebody or buy a new one.
Can't do that with government.
We aren't nearly as smart as we think we are. Technology leveled the playing field, stripped us of our need for critical thinking and analysis, lulled us to sleep, and is slowly stealing our souls.
Ben Franklin said that our founders gave us "a republic if you can keep it."
We haven't.
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