Examining Truck Nutz and Modernist Conflict with The Negative
Subtlety is not something not usually identified within the fabric of American culture. American exceptionalism means we’re steeped from birth in the praise of excess. For the purposes of this essay, this overt spirit will be referred to as The Positive. The Positive is the lifted truck complete with chrome testicles, or the meal you can eat for free, but you have to eat a 72 ounce steak, four helpings of vegetables, and half an apple pie in order for your meal to be fully subsidized. Americans have long identified with The Positive, because it embodies our rejection of Postmodernism.
What I’m saying here is, (Bear with me if I’m throwing some of this over your head, because this shit right there, this shit is Doctorate thesis level shit I’m giving you.) there are some ontological complications that Senator Bernie Sanders unearthed within America, and these grievances cannot be backfilled. Senator Sanders and his campaign uncovered a willingness for Americans to finally accept postmodernism, en masse. How? Democratic Socialism has become the vehicle through which we can experience The Negative.
The Positive.
Before we get into The Negative, let’s go back to our lifted truck, on massive tires, five feet in the air, with chrome testicles. The Trump supporter driving this monstrosity values The Positive. Its brashness and conspicuous consumption is apparent from the outside, and only from the exterior. The owner of the vehicle can only appreciate the aesthetic *loud coughing* beauty of the truck from the exterior. Within the interior, the truck is not a vehicle from which you look outward and experience a drive, but rather an attention-grabbing piece so that others may observe you.
The Positive.
Donald Trump and his supporters can be grouped into the epistemology of The Positive, because their values and beliefs hinge on how others observe them. Trump flies in an enormous airplane with his name on the side. Every building is emblazoned with “Trump”. He sits on a (literally) gold throne, in a (literally) gold building, and lavishes praise upon himself; embodying everything about The Positive.
The Positive.
A carbon copied McMansion, with a pool in the backyard, financed with a mortgage that will soon balloon out of control. Invite people over, and witness how ornate and lavish a McMansion lifestyle is. Drink beer labeled “America” by a pool that only absorbs, and never reflects. In the slab-sided garage is a truck with chrome testicles, because a McMansion is The Positive. “Do you even lift, bro? Shutup, you pussy. Check out my gun collection, and bask in the glow of my artificial tan as I flex my biceps, replete with tribal tattoos. Find yourself as you only can within the reflection of these limited fucking edition Oakley sunglasses, you libtard.”
This truck is “rolling coal” as a Confederate flag waves on the porch. A bald Eagle swoops in gracefully, and asks you what mistakes you made to arrive at this place.
The Positive.
The reflection of Modernism, via the curvature of chrome truck testicles.
Americans reject postmodernism because it assumes The Positive cannot exist within the scope of technology, because we created postmodernism with one terrifying act. (More on this in a moment.) Americans have historically resided within the values of modernism, especially after the start of the industrial revolution. Modernism and its epistemology can be conveniently packaged into the “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” brand of American exceptionalism. The core thought here being, through the value of hard work, anyone can experience the values of The Positive.
Postmodernism began the moment the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, because everything we work hard for as described by modernism could be destroyed in an instant. Americans have been slow to adopt postmodernism, because our lives were not profoundly changed by atomic weapons, as we had our finger on the red button. (Mutually assured destruction, “duck and cover” notwithstanding, excess survived, and modernism survived with it.)
Through the slow erosion of regulation, and massive wealth inequality, American culture fractured into two disparate groups with deeply conflicting “geists”. Georg Hegel described the human state of being as “Geist” in German, which doesn’t really have a good direct English translation, but it’s your state of mind, basically.
The geist of many young Americans is overwhelmingly pessimistic. This can be easily understood, as our primary interactions with the world have been a stock market tumble in the 80s, a tech bubble burst in the 90s, a housing market crash in the 2000s, and several wars with “Brown people who hate Jesus and Freedom” peppered in for good measure. Lobbed on top of that are soul-crushing student loans, limited job opportunities, and the knowledge that our world can plunge into war at any time. Other than that, things are totally great, really. Thanks for asking.
Postmodernism resonates with American (*goddamnit I didn’t want to go this direction*) Millennials (*there I fucking said it*) because… well, our reality is measured by socially, financially, and technologically unique experiences. Our houses are not safe from foreclosure. Our jobs are not safe from being sent overseas. At any time, someone can walk into a public place and kill you with a military-style weapon purchased legally at a gun show. Some of our earliest formative memories are airplanes flying into skyscrapers inflicting massive death.
So what I’m trying to say is, things are “great”. Really. Couldn’t be better.
No phrase succinctly describes the battle between modernism and postmodernism quite like Donald Trump’s rallying cry.
Trump’s message promotes modernism, and the notion that the reason things seem bad is because society is steeped in postmodernism. ‘If we could only return to the way things were, we’d be much better off.’ This waxing nostalgia for The Positive is a glittering generality, but a devout belief. Modernism means hard work is the American dream, and that dream manifests itself as a large home, 2.5 kids, luxury cars at the drive in theater, a garage full of American-made tools where Dad listens to Steely Dan and drinks good whiskey after dinner… and other revisionist versions of American history packaged into a Leave It To Beaver caricature.
Modernism refuses to address the failures of the aforementioned (silent comma)“Again”, because the implication itself is resoundingly false. In much the same way McMansions are carbon-copied versions of The Positive, so is the American Dream as viewed in its slightly-more-than-recent-antiquity.
Dad drank too much whiskey, slowly descending into alcoholism, and beat Mom because they were in a frustrating marriage. Mom was a deeply closeted lesbian, but being out wasn’t an option, because Catholicism doesn’t dig when ladies start scissoring. When the kids were bad, Dad got out his belt or paddle, and practiced some well-worn child abuse disguised as “building good young men with character” and “Biblical punishment”. Your sister was raped by a football player at the local high school, got pregnant, and ended up getting a back-alley abortion, which eventually took her life due to infection. Since that’s a complicated story, everyone decided to lie and say she died from a ruptured appendix. The Positive, when viewed through the lens of modernism, sure is swell, isn’t it?
The actuality is further from the pale, and there is no honest version of The Positive. The Positive has no regard for actuality or nuance. The Positive is only about portraying a manufactured outward appearance, which is why modernism, and its partner The Positive, strike so deeply with Trump supporters. Trump is a “successful” businessman who won’t release his tax records — because truth would undermine his image. He’s a billionaire, he says. His businesses are always succeeding — even though he’s being sued for fraud, and empirical evidence has (repeatedly) demonstrated that almost everything about Trump is a lie.
But, hang on for a second there, because this is really motherfucking important: Trump’s supporters aren’t cheering Trump. They’re cheering The Positive. They’re cheering modernism. They’re cheering the Leave It To Beaver television program, because it’s deeply uncomfortable to admit the dark and unspoken realities of what “Again” really means in American history. That’s because in Leave It To Beaver, black characters drank from different water fountains, and children still ended up paralyzed due to polio. (Anti-vaxxers, take note. This could be us, but you playin’.)
Postmodernism means taking comfort in The Negative.
Bernie Sanders is a champion of The Negative. The Negative is reliable, and pragmatic. There are no pretenses with The Negative. The Negative is honest and introspective. The Negative looks outward, and observes. The Negative has a different conclusion about what direction we’re heading. Bernie Sanders preaches the gospel of The Negative. Most notably, and importantly, Modernism is incompatible with The Negative.
The Negative.
That hippie looking bearded guy you just saw leaving the Trader Joe’s parking lot? He’s The Negative. He departs in his Volvo 240 station wagon, because his goal isn’t about drawing attention to himself. The Negative derives value from introspection. The Volvo 240 station wagon is the box from which he views and studies his world. The Volvo 240 station wagon doesn’t want you to look at it, because it’s looking at you.
The Negative.
That house with the two girls who garden every evening? They grow their own tomatoes and zucchini — not because they lack the means to purchase food, but because they place value on simplicity. She’s a barista with a communications degree and $45,000 in student loan debt, but she’s not unhappy or hopeless. The Negative is pragmatic about limitations, and hopeful about carefully planning a better future.
The Negative.
Bernie Sanders stands up in front of tens of thousands and exclaims a message of basic health. There are never promises of ornate homes or sports cars on his teleprompter. Bernie Sanders is a prophet of The Negative, because his sincere message is wheat toast, light on the butter, two scrambled eggs, and some watered down orange juice. No one will be impressed by this breakfast, but it’s not supposed to be impressive. It’s an honest breakfast within your means.
The Negative.
The big brother of Bernie Sanders stands before the Democratic National Convention and paints a stark picture of a real American family. These were children born before World War II, with parents who lived through the Great Depression. The Negative: “They did not have easy lives, and they died young.” A plain and humble man, speaking honestly about a bleak actuality, completely stripped from revisionist reality, is The Negative. We are heartened by The Negative, because we feel close to it.
The Negative.
Emotion isn’t a weakness. It’s perfectly acceptable to absorb the humanity in the words of Larry Sanders, and well up with tears in your eyes. (Watch the clip above if you haven’t. It takes one minute, and I guarantee you will cry. Even you soulless Trump voters out there.)
You can count on The Negative, because “we’re all in this together”. There is no perfect and ideal family. It’s just us, and we’ll pull though.
The Positive was supposed to defeat The Negative after World War II, because our world was perfect, and nothing could ever vanquish the American spirit again. Within The Positive, actuality was supposed to be subordinate to transcendental accomplishment of The Negative. Our modern society would abolish all these postmodern hippies to the periphery — and for a time, we did.
But the waves of postmodernism kept lapping the shore of modernism, eroding it grain by grain. The postmodern and The Negative began to feel the “trickle down”, but the color was less green, and more of a pale yellow. Because it was pee. The Negative is pragmatic and restrained, but also dislikes the sensation of being urinated on, much to the chagrin of R. Kelly.
This is really goddamn important, so don’t fucking miss this point: Bernie Sanders isn’t about Bernie Sanders, and his rallies were not about his policies. Bernie Sanders is the modern Messiah of The Negative — the son of parents who survived The Great Depression. Sanders espoused The Negative as a gospel of Geist. That’s why his adherents are so fanatical, even in the face of certain failure. This is their ethos, and core of who they are.
Rewind the tape for a moment, because I’m going to run that back. This is about Hegel’s “Geist” again — the core of your humanity. Your soul. Your thoughts. Your being. You cannot reasonably decouple Bernie Sanders from The Negative, with his sensible JCPenny suits and pervasive middle class message.
Bernie Sanders is the polar opposite of Donald Trump, who occupies the same spectrum, but The Positive. While Trump says “look at me”, Sanders says, “look at yourselves”. When Trump says “Look at my wealth”, Sanders says, ‘I’m actually pretty poor’. Trump inherited his wealth from his father — a wealthy real estate developer in New York. Sanders never had wealth, coming from poor Jewish parents in New York. Their point of origin was the same, but their philosophies are disparate.
The Positive is immune to recursion.
Recursion happens when something is defined by itself, or its type. This cannot happen within the scope of The Positive, because it’s like pointing a mirror into another mirror. The Positive is basking in itself, begging you to look at the spectacle it hath wrought — but pointing a mirror at a mirror just turns into a carnival funhouse. This frightening event is why Trump supporters cannot exist alongside empiricism. The resulting horror show is the aforementioned nonsense and logic trap. A Trump supporter isn’t defending racism, xenophobia, sexism, or any of the actuality Trump espouses to be “making America great again”. Trump’s supporters identify with The Positive. You cannot confront The Positive with itself, which is why confrontation with Trump supporters is a wasted effort, and the best case scenario is a house of horrors.
The Positive as defined by Donald Trump means you get a lifted truck with a gun rack. You park your huge truck next to a farmhouse in a red state, walk in the door, and throat-fuck your big titty wife while the Dallas Cowboys score a touchdown on your big-screen TV, and win the Super Bowl. When you’re finished, your wife swallows and says, “Thank you for blessing me with your American cum cannon.” You nod, saying nothing, and walk into the next room, where your two children exclaim, “Hello father! Can we recite the scripture we learned today in our public school during prayer time?” Then, you listen attentively as your angelic, porcelain white babies recite anti-gay passages from the Old Testament.
The Negative is inherently self-reflective.
Before admonishing “Bernie Bros” for their almost-suicidal zeal, it is imperative we understand a core tenet of The Negative. The Negative is compassionate to a fault. The Negative has $20, and gives you $10 because you’re hungry. The Negative will eat itself without understanding it’s eating itself. The most fervent Bernie Sanders supporters shout “Bernie or Bust!” because it is the only outward force of The Negative. Once again, this is their Geist, as defined by Hegel. The Negative is a mentality so devout and true, it stands unbroken through the harshest adversity.
As Bernie Sanders began losing primaries and delegates, The Negative was a boxer in the middle rounds, taking body blows. More states passed, yet The Negative stood tall, going into the late rounds. The Negative is not a quitter, because The Negative doesn’t exist for victory. Victory is a positive and unexpected outcome for The Negative. Victory is not the sole goal of The Negative, because victory is inherently self-congratulating.
With every round, The Negative was losing by just a few points on the scorecards. The Negative stood in the ring, taking more blows. A crowd standing ringside were yelling at The Negative, “Throw in the towel! Quit! You’re finished!” Yet, The Negative never gave up.
The Negative.
A stubborn refusal to give up. Not because you’re doing something for yourself and personal victory, but because defeat is when you stop giving back to others.
Behind it all, there exists a most ironic, and counter-productive balance.
The Negative speaks to The Positive, “You’re only thinking about other people. Why don’t you just focus on yourself? Why do you care so much about what everyone else is doing? Do you get joy from making other people’s lives miserable? Why do things always have to be your way?”
The Positive speaks to The Negative, “You’re only thinking about yourself. You’re so selfish. Can’t you think about other people? Why do you only care about yourself? Do you get joy from only caring about yourself? Why do things always have to be your way?”
Of course, the externalities make no sense to either party, because The Negative completely misunderstands The Positive, and the inverse is true. This fundamental misunderstanding is the reason productive conversations start with projections and never progress any further than toxic Facebook comments.
This is all boils down to how you feel about…
Truck Nutz.
There is no right or wrong answer to this question, because it’s not a question. It’s your “geist”. It’s your soul. Your core. Your thoughts. Your being. But it can only exist one way or the other, and it’s determined by how you feel about Truck Nutz. Your compatibility with postmodernism is determined by how you feel about testicles hanging from the back of a truck.
