Auchtoon!

I’ve had two distinct thoughts of late regarding the ongoing UAW autoworker strike and the news around it (or the lack thereof):

The first thought: It’s weird. Having been a Michigander most of my life, it’s just odd that the UAW strike isn’t consuming our every waking thought as it would have, say, a few decades ago.

Of course there are a host of reasons why this is: Manufacturing is much less dominant, the Detroit Three are much less dominant, it’s not a simple “white-collar vs. blue-collar” situation anymore, (and lots people have no idea what “white-collar” and “blue-collar” even mean). Still, having grown up in Flint, it’s hard to get used to a UAW strike not being the biggest possible news.

The second thought: It’s troubling. I mean, we could all focus on a good, old-fashioned labor dispute a lot more easily if the rest of the world wasn’t such a freaking mess. (No need for further explanation.)

Social media is a lot of things, but I don’t think it has fundamentally changed who people are. We have always found ways to miscommunicate with one another. Social media just does an exceptional job at facilitating it.

Most of the time, the stakes are pretty low, so it doesn’t matter. But when something truly awful happens, like what is currently happening in the Middle East, the consequences of miscommunication are dire. It’s critical to listen, really listen and hear what the vast majority of people are saying. We are appalled by the violence, and our hearts break for innocent lives lost and all those who suffer. That’s the only place where we’ll find solace and, ultimately, solutions. Not in what side we perceive others are taking or whom they are blaming.

There was an article in the Washington Post this week titled, “Red and blue voters are backing UAW strikers in one swing county.” I thought it was going to be about Macomb County, our famed “Reagan Democrat” bellwether community where reporters tend to go to monitor the pulse of the nation. It was actually about Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Different state, but same theme.

The angle of this particular “go to the diner and talk with the common folks” story was that liberal/conservative voters seem to be in rare alignment on the UAW strikers and the working class in general. Of course this alignment doesn’t have much depth. Disagreements quickly appear when you bring up things like labor unions and electric vehicles, as demonstrated by the very different rhetoric during President Biden’s visit on to Michigan on Tuesday and former President Trump’s visit on Wednesday.

But do you know the one thing most Americans seem to be able to agree on that stands the test of time? It’s okay to mock super-rich corporate executives. Especially out-of-touch super-rich corporate executives who insist that they’re doing us all a favor by being super-rich. So after this sympathy for the autoworkers falls apart, at least we’ll have that.

I profess not to be a country music fan, and yet there are certain country songs (twangy steel guitars and all) that I find fantastic.

I think jet skis are a terrible idea — excessively loud, exhaust-belching danger machines. But I’ll admit to thoroughly enjoying the handful of times I’ve ridden one.

I believe that “he’s the kind of guy I’d like to have a beer with” is probably the most intellectually vacant reason there is for supporting a politician. But that didn’t stop me from voting for Obama twice.

All that to say, I can’t expect other people to be completely consistent with their beliefs and behaviors if I am unable to be completely consistent with mine. But that won’t stop me from calling them out on their B.S.

Republicans trying to align themselves with striking UAW union workers? That’s some B.S. right there.

We Michiganders are already well-versed in expensive auto insurance, what with our history with unique no-fault laws and personal injury protection. We continue to wrestle with finding the proper balance for the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association.

We also continue to penalize people based on their credit scores rather than driving records, which tends to price poor people out of car insurance so more go uninsured, which in turn boosts prices for everybody.

Good news! We are not the only state experiencing auto insurance rate increases significantly outpacing inflation. The bad news, it’s an “in addition to” situation, not an “instead of” situation.

NPR had a story this week: 4 reasons why your car insurance premium is soaring. Alas, all of them simply pile onto what we are already suffering from.

Is there any solace to be found? Well, some of those Progressive commercials with Dr. Rick are pretty funny. (Unfortunately, most of the other insurance ads are ubiquitous and annoying.)

To all of you who yearn for days of yore, nostalgic for the past when things were great and life was so much better — consider time officially turned back! The Big Three and the UAW are at each other’s throats, and an auto worker strike again threatens to tank the Michigan economy. Hooray! America is great again!

Or is this not what you were talking about?

Spoiler Alert: If you have never seen the television series, The Good Place, consider reading no further. It’s best to watch it from the very beginning, and the reveal I’m about to, well, reveal is so much better experienced as intended.

So there are four main characters, modern-day human beings who have died and think they have gone to the good place (heaven). They haven’t. It’s a massively arranged hoax to torture them in a unique way (not exactly the bad place but a satellite operation). For three of the characters, it’s pretty clear why they are not in the good place — they were objectively terrible people on earth. For the fourth one, Chidi, it’s not so obvious.

Chidi was a professor of ethics. He is kind and earnest and giving. But it’s his striving for perfect morality that is his undoing. He overthinks every choice to the point of incapacitation and ultimately drives away loved ones and fails his friends. He is not at all evil. Just super, super annoying.

I’m trying not to be a Chidi with college football. I recognize that there is LOTS wrong with it, particularly the big D1 version. And, yes, recent developments have accelerated it toward awfulness. But, God help me, I still occasionally enjoy watching a game.

So, there were two PFAS-related stories this past week in Michigan — one positive, one less than positive.

The first story:

The U.S. military has agreed to install groundwater treatment systems to stop the flow of PFAS contamination around the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda — a move hailed by politicians and local advocates.

The decision, first announced in Oscoda Wednesday, is seen as a first-in-the-nation step by the U.S. Defense Department to take quicker action to contain the compound from spreading, and follows years of criticism from local and state officials about the commitment and pace of military efforts to address the environmental harm.

Hey, you don’t hear this often, but, “Good on ya, Defense Department! We appreciate you stepping up to do the right thing.”

Naturally, as an editorial cartoonist, I decided to address the second story:

A new state appeals court ruling would kill Michigan’s restrictions on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) levels in drinking water, if left standing.

The 2-1 ruling stems from a 2021 lawsuit by Minneapolis-based chemical manufacturer 3M, which argued Michigan’s process to develop drinking water standards was “rushed and invalid.”

To which 3M stockholders not living in Michigan say, “Good on ya, 3M! We appreciate you stepping up to do the right thing.”

Full disclosure: I am not a Detroit Lions supporter. My team has always been the San Francisco 49ers. Or at least since I was 6 years old and I arbitrarily decided I liked their helmet the best on the side panel of my electric football game. (There is a deeper discussion here about the just how capricious tribalism can be, but that’s for another day).

However, if not all, most Michiganders are Lions fans, and there is definitely a positive vibe going on this year. Some of it is measurable — season tickets sold out this year for the first time in Ford Field history! But mostly what I’ve detected is an underlying current. It’s optimism, but an optimism that’s unique to Lions fans. Cautious optimism is much too mild. It’s more like hopefulness but without even a trace of positive expectations. (It comes from suffering a LOT of disappointment).

In any case, there are lots of terrible things going on in the world. There always are, of course. Still, the news of war, floods, fires, indictments, etc., seem to be hitting especially hard of late. You can’t blame Lions fans for allowing themselves to be hopeful about something.

It’s a natural impulse for individuals to band together to defend themselves from a common, more powerful foe. Actually, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a foe — just a group or a person (the Supreme Court says corporations are people) who will not otherwise keep the best interests of individuals in mind in their decisions.

It is this natural impulse that drives the creation of both labor unions and boycotts, both as means of negotiating with and defending against corporate decision-making. It’s curious to me that this is often where similarities end.

As the United Auto Workers begins contract negotiations with automakers, they are seeking a better deal, especially for workers manufacturing batteries for EVs. As groups of conservatives continue to prosecute their battles with so-called woke businesses, they are seeking …a reason to quit drinking crappy beer?