The reason for that is complete and total discouragement.
We might have all the facts, all the figures, all the truths, but it all matters not.
Mcfarlane represents the way of the world now.
People in Greece are hanging themselves on trees and begging for food on the streets.
It's the Mcfarlanes of the world that end up killing the people.
And it appears that nobody can stop them.
So I am approaching the point of just saying FUCK IT AND FUCK TRIMET.
It might be better for me to just put them out of my mind, forever, because I am disgusted with them and everything they represent.
They are the WORST in government, a complete and total lack of any ethics at all.
And that is why the posts are getting less and less and my participation in other blogs is getting less and less.
I can't fight them anymore-its hopeless.
14 comments:
Don't give up Al, If it wasn't for you, people wouldn't feel the motivation to take a stand....and be informed about whats going on around them.
McFarlane is disgraceful manager to have (understatement?), and no where else will you find someone call him on it!
It gets nowhere Chad-I'm tired
Why do you think i gave up my trimet blog?
It'd be sad to see this one go, but it does make sense. Trimet is so fucked up, eventually you just hit that wall and ask why you keep fighting.
So why do you?
Because I figure someone around here has to make some hell. Someone around here has to make TriMet management feel like they're being watched and that people just can't stand those fuckers and will do everything in their power to bring them down and expose them as the liars they are. I'm an idealistic youth who is too stubborn to accept the idea of these people getting away with ruining a once-great system. It'll probably be what kills me in the end, hell I might end up as one of those great people who ends up tragically dead at 27. That still leaves me nine great years of hell-raising. Hope seems futile, but it's better than accepting death as far as I'm concerned. I'm not about to become another tragic body hanging from a tree; remember, nine more years. It's the idea of hope that brings progression; anything is possible and the things we thought impossible a long time ago are common facts today. It's hope that brought fifty people to TriMet to tell them the truth and expose their lies and show them for who they were once and for all when they were ignored. And whether we like it or not, hope never dies. So we may as well take it.
After all, the information needs to come out even if it's going to cause someone discomfort. We need to know if agencies are failing so we can improve the system.
Why do I indeed Adri, because I care-but I cant win-so maybe its time to move on and let other people who still actually work in that hell hole (and believe they have a good job being a slave)worry about their futures.
There is no future for any working men or women-people are not paying attention to Europe, when it hits home maybe people will wake up-but by then it will be too late
Al,
Don't give up on the trolling... Portland's community of trolls love your contribution keep up the good trolling here and on bojack.
Cameron-I make this comment is complete seriousness-YOU ARE THE BEST THING THAT HAS COME OUT OF THIS MOVEMENT
I can't even believe that you are 17 years old.
And I don't know what that 'autistic' label means, but I don't see you as anything other than talented- intelligent-and brave.
Time to lose that label-it doesn't apply any longer.
If we had more people like you this world would have some hope.
I respect you Al, without a doubt. You are an inspiration to me, and I value your council. I hope that if you elect to relax a bit in your retirement you will still say tuned in to our 'progress'.
I remain hopeful that things at TriMet will be changing in a big way over the next several years. I will do my best to help that happen.
For you and others who still want to have an impact on TriMet's future, allow me to suggest that changing that public agency from within is pointless. But, uniting with the workers and building coalitions with the community may be the method to change TriMet from the more powerful outside, that force we all know as, "We, The People."
It's no big top secret--we already do OCCUPY, OWN, AND OPERATE our transit system. Forcing that institution to change is simply a matter of reminding it's keepers WHO THEY WORK FOR--YOU AND ME!
Move the elected Oregon legislators with constituancies inside the transit district and they will move the Governor and the Board of Directors. Move the Board of Directors, and they will REmove the General Manager. REmove the GM and we're on our way to 99% union operations.
Please sign the petition. Then please share the petition with all your family, friends, neighbors, churches, community organizations, and social netorks. This is a worthy cause if ever there was one. Simply by clicking and clicking you can make a world of difference. Thanks Al, et al!
http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/the-governor-of-or-change-ors267-let-the-people-elect-our-transit-board
But if you do care, Al, why give up and passively sit and watch it be destroyed? The more hell raisers we have around trimet the better: they won't be able to destroy it as quickly or easily. Sometimes when things seem hopeless the best thing you can do it to keep fighting. If you give up, the future holds nothing. If you keep on raising hell things could change--look at opal. It's better to die on your feet than live on your knees.
What about the 'don't tread on me' flag you always have had hanging in the background to your videos at your computer?
P.s. Cameron is 18 now...his birthday was tuesday ;-)
The legendary musician Roger Waters was inspired by a poem written for Danish Amnesty International by Halfdan Rasmussen. Here are those lyrics in part.
Not the torturer will scare me
Nor the body's final fall
Nor the barrels of death's rifles
Nor the shadows on the wall
Nor the night when to the ground
The last dim star of pain is held
But the blind indifference
Of a merciless unfeeling world
Each small candle lights a corner of the dark
When the wheel of pain stops turning
And the branding iron stops burning
When the children can be children
When the desperadoes weaken
When the sea rolls in to great them
When the natural law of science
Greets the humble and the mighty
And the billion candles burning
Lights the dark side of every humand mind
And each small candle
Lights the corner
Of the Dark.........
Al,
Be discouraged--that is human. Then, get back up and dare to fail.
For all the Cameron's of the world, get back up.
I did sign that petition Tom
That's a hell of a poem.
I'll explain further:
I listen (or used to)listen to dispatch and all I hear is operators doing fills, doing bus trades, working RDO's and dispatchers acting like management (even though they are union).
THEY DO NOT CARE-THEY SAY THEY CARE BUT THEIR ACTIONS ARE THE OPPOSITE.
We are fighting for the vast majority of union members that just care about one thing, THEMSELVES AND THEIR WALLET
We can't win because our fellow employees dont care.
And I'll say one further thing on the real powerful transit unions, THEY ARE PREDOMINATELY BLACK! AND THEY DON'T SCARE AND THEY STICK TOGETHER and they win in their showdowns with management.
The drivers here are primarily white, republican, and racist.
The only thing they care about is themselves.
Al I have often thought and felt the same way you do, it seems futile to try and change things at TriMet - and you had the advantage of being on the inside.
But since meeting you I've found an incredible number of people who feel exactly the same way I do, and my Twitter account has found a number of unlikely followers, so I know people are listening. And more and more people are questioning TriMet's management and their decision to disinvest in the bus fleet.
TriMet seems to have its supporters, but I refuse to let them demand I pretend that everything is OK. I have repeatedly asked for management to just come ride the bus with me - they clearly refuse to, knowing that they know I'm right and they are wrong. Neil so kindly ducked me at a "public meeting" so it's clear TriMet knows what it is doing.
It's discouraging, but until I see even a shred of change - I still have a phone, I still ride the bus, and I'll still Tweet my daily adventures on TriMet and post. Unfortunately oregonlive.com and portlandtribune.com have made their commenting more difficult, but there are still viable options - and your blog has made national attention.
I owe a huge debt to you for letting me speak up here and helping to get the word out about TriMet. I understand if you need to step back, it might be good to do that, but don't give up the fight.
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