Very recently, I put together a piece about ‘California’s car culture’. However, given further insight into this potentially complex subject, I realised that it sorely needs some updating and revision.

As I have mentioned previously, at other times and different venues, after nearly 63 years of owning and driving motorcycles (Japanese only…no ‘Hardly-Goodsons’), earlier this year I finally sold my last crotch-rocket rice burner and ended my long personal involvement in California‘s wheeled motorcycle sub-culture. Given the ineffable changes in society, the increased highway and roadway use density, and not least of all today’s youthful disregard for the safety of others that share the road with them, it was clearly, unequivocally time to stop tempting fate on a powered, two-wheeled vehicle. The fact that I was now also in my late 70s further prompted this decision.

Amazingly, throughout those 62+ years of motorcycle use, I only had a single ‘significant’ accident…in 1982, when a motorist failed to yield right-of-way at an all stop sign “T-intersection.” Having just begun to start through that junction, I was fortunately moving at a cautious rate when said driver suddenly pulled out in front of me, causing me to T-bone his large American sedan with predictable ballistic results.

My bike (a Honda CB-350) ended under the driver’s side of his car and I went flying over the top of it, doing two complete summersaults in mid-air before coming down in what we school swim team athletes called a perfect jackknife position, so that when I alighted, I was more or less in a seated posture. Most of the impact with the asphalt was therefore absorbed by my ‘nether end’ (and not…worst case scenario…by my head, since I had left my helmet, my boots, leather jacket and gloves at home, on the kitchen table after coming home from the hospital and on my way to a corner store for a carton of milk!). I was, simply put, just damn lucky.

My injuries were seemingly minimal, with a left knee that was a bit achy (although it quickly swelled to grapefruit size), but otherwise I appeared to have escaped serious injury. What I didn’t realise until decades later is that I had actually suffered a slight tear in my left medial knee’s meniscus. Nothing that was apparent back then, but which many years later brought my habitual recreational running and bicycling to an unanticipated end. The ravages of time and changes in bone calcium levels that are a given by the time you reach the age of 70 or so, finally conspired to reduce me to less impactful exercise.

Still, it was a lesson that as an inherently safety-mind individual, was not lost on me to the slightest extent. In fact, in later decades my activity in medical aspects of human physiological function (with a focus on head protection) increased exponentially.

The above is both necessary backstory to what follows below, and a warning to younger people whose immature awareness completely cancels out any mindfulness about the mandatory need for and use of appropriate safety gear when operating potentially hazardous vehicular transportation (of any kind). Naturally, it will be utterly lost on any one under age 30, who engages in all the risky things we do in our youth with feckless abandon.

Thinking back on my last years on classic, state-of-the-art motorcycles, a further incentive to finally ‘get off the bike’ was increasing awareness of the fact that I seem to have presented a ‘target’ of sorts, riding sedately along on my high-performance Japanese machine (and decked out in all the safety gear I so much advocate, to speed-obsessed “kids” in hopped-up muscle cars (and also on MCs). This always puzzled me, since all I had to do was take my machine out for its weekly Sunday drive to find myself being recurrently challenged by these youthful cretins with speed fixations and teenaged brains.

You have to be a car or motorcycle rider to full appreciate what I refer to, here. After long thought and reflection, however, I finally realized that to the average kid on a powerful motorcycle (or in muscle car-on-steroids), I was just another one of them. Not a fully mature adult individual who has had a life-long interest in and appreciation of vehicular technology.

Since others like me (i.e. mature adults) who share these interests in state-of-the-art mechanical vehicular engineering are far and few between these days (or merely smart enough to realise that contemporary risks and hazards of motorcycle operation preclude safely operating them on public roads and streets and have foresworn them), increasingly I found myself enjoying motorcycles less and less.

Eventually, given all of the above factors and having no club or social organsation to share these values with, I simply bailed. Fin de siècle. Punto. Ende!

Despite all of the above, I was still also a life-long sportscar enthusiast. Beginning back in my first year out of the Air Force, I had quickly embraced the classic European preference for road-racing. This took the form of SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) ‘club racing’ events, all of which are the amateur equivalent of professional Le Mans, Euro Gran Prix, and Formula-1 involvement.

Since I have covered this somewhat already in my previous story about California’s car culture, I won’t recapitulate that material here but suffice it to say that SCCA people FULLY understand that automobile racing belongs on a sanctioned course and NOT on ordinary urban streets. Ditto for NASCAR and the Good Old Boys in that group. Racing, inherently dangerous and fraught with potential peril for drivers (and spectators, in some cases, when major accidents occur on a race course) is not a sport to indulge in without a whole support network within which to participate safely.

Which brings us to the subject of this update on California Car Culture: the phenomenon known as car ‘sideshows.’

Being inclined towards taking the path of least resistance in this matter, I decided to seek some background material on what exactly IS the nature of sideshow activity that has such appeal for younger members of our society. Us older people typically learn of youth fads like this through reports on the ‘evening news’ (since most of us still watch such programming out of a lifetime of habit, rather than the actual social-political news network bias that substitutes for ‘unbiased journalistic reporting content’ these days).

To that end, I turned to Microsoft’s BING browser, with its ‘Co-Pilot’ AI function, posing the question: “What are the demographics of car sideshow participants, in terms of social class, ethnicity, economic background and age considerations, and has anyone carefully studied this subject?”

Some of the answers AI dredged up for me were as unsurprising as they were reaffirming of my existing suspicions and a few were not. But bear with me.

Car sideshows, particularly those originating in Oakland, CA, have sparked a national interest in spontaneous, reckless exhibition of risky, often highly dangerous driving among younger people (unsurprising).

It needs to be noted that dangerous “thrill-driving” has been with us ever since the car was first invented at the turn of the century (by Daimler-Benz), but more recent iterations, such as the sideshow, are a fairly modern manifestation of the youthful urge to push the limits of reason and safety for the sake of thrills. While car sideshows have occurred in urban areas across the country, the West Coast seems to again be in the vanguard of trendy youthful outrages (e.g. Oakland, CA).

Some demographic considerations revealed by AI:

Demographics of car sideshow participants (somewhat simplified).

1) Social Class and economic conditions. Many participants in these activities are from working-class backgrounds (unsurprising), although sideshows appeal to a much broader age-range, generally speaking. The majority who are employed work in unskilled work positions that require no educational background (i.e. fast-food service, consumer delivery services, and general unskilled labor areas of employment). Parents of these individuals are frequently possessed of similar backgrounds, lack formal education, are sometimes on public assistance, suffer from mild or moderate substance abuses, but not always. A great many come from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods (also unsurprising).

2) Ethnicity. A majority of the participants (at least in major urban environments) are predominantly black and Latino. The sideshow culture in Oakland has historically been dominated by youths from the black and Latino communities but as may well be expected, this factor is a typically a reflection of the broader ethnic composition of the urban areas in focus. (Unsurprising).

[NOTE: Oakland, CA, has an ethnic demographic comprised of approximately 26% blacks, 25% Latino/Hispanic, 32% whites, and 17% Asian-American as of the US 2010 Census. All of these groups are generally clustered together more or less tightly, with wealthier, upper-class individuals also clustered in specific ‘community areas.’ Thus, poorer black youths and Latino youths are disproportionately represented in ‘official’ (read: Law Enforcement) data narratives. Sideshows are most popular in the large black & Latino parts of Oakland, and least popular (if not completely non-existent) in middle and upper-middle class, predominantly white neighborhoods. It is therefore interesting to note that what has now spread to other parts of the country’s large, urban areas, sprang to a substantial degree from Oakland, CA.

As has been already noted, ethnicity and demographics vary widely from community to community, across the USA, so there appears to be a basic appeal associated with rebellious recklessness of this type that reaches out to all young people below a certain age, with almost all (driving) participants being male.

Sacramento, CA, provides an interesting contrast, with a demographic breakdown as follows: 15% blacks, 30% whites, 28% Hispanic, and 20% Asian (with roughly 7% omitted, due to overlapping sub-ethnic considerations), but again, distinctive ethnic communities within the greater urban area exist with a higher percentage of one specific ethnic group.

One observation that emerges is that car sideshows, far from being an ethnic-specific activity, have a much broader appeal to ALL individuals below the age of about 22 or so, but it is extremely difficult to quantify that percentile data so restrictively. This logically suggests that immaturity (irrespective solely of age) is a notable characteristic in sideshow participation, as well as the fact that lack of adequate recreational outlets for ‘disadvantaged youths’ very likely also plays a significant part in car sideshow events. To a some smaller extent, youth gang associations also figure in it.

Add to this the fact that lesser-educated youths, who lack a broader sense of social awareness, civic responsibility and historical context (both social and cultural, in their greater expanse) and their place in it, seems to be quite relevant, as well.

AI further states that to date, this topic is one that has not received a significant amount of academic attention, in terms of studies, documentation, explorations and cultural associations, although a few have taken place, principally highlighting their place (sideshows) in community identity and general youth culture. Clearly, much more research and investigation of the range of relevant complexities needs to be undertaken to better understand the phenomenon.

From a law enforcement standpoint, most data that emerges in reports is couched in terms of public safety and delineates crime prevention aspects of this emerging fad.

CONCLUSIONS

It is therefore safe to posit that car ‘sideshows’ are mostly a manifestation of age, economic deprivation, lack of community educational and recreational resources, cultural associations and educational opportunities, but not necessarily specific solely to ethnicity, per se. Criminal and drug-abuse dynamics likely also play a not-insignificant role in the sideshow scene, but more so the latter than the former.

The reduced law enforcement policies resulting from the 2020 protests and the rise of anti-law enforcement sentiment spread by leftist activists (DEI, Woke, CT, unaffiliated anarchists, et al) has added further difficulties to preventing and/or discouraging these sideshow gatherings, that aside from often being dangerous to both participants and spectators, can cause quite serious civic disruptions in large urban settings.

THE ROLE OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY IN CO-CREATING YOUTHFUL ACTIVITIES OF THIS SORT

One Dynamic that is repeatedly under-considered in the search for causative factors here, is Hollywood’s Philistine crassness and its co-dependent role in fanning the flames of youthful rebelliousness and anti-social behaviors of this sort (a classic example of sheer exploitation for profits).

A prominant case in point are ‘The Fast and the Furious’ movie sequels (now numbering about 13) that feature ultra-violent, sexually-blatant action heroes who typically engage in non-stop, brutal action scenarios, in which reckless driving, excessive speeding and destruction are commonplace themes that amplify viewer excitability.

Hollywood denies any responsibility for encouraging immature viewers to emulate this socially damaging behavior and regard it as being ‘normal and acceptable’, but the fact is undeniable that immature individuals are still not intellectually developed enough to completely understand that such movies are utter fantasy and absolutely unacceptable in real life. Fully grown, mature adults supposedly have the mental awareness to differentiate pure fantasy from acceptable social reality, but this theoretically sharp line that divides the two is more readily blurred in younger individuals. Hollywood consistently refuses to accept this well-documented fact or accept any responsibility for ‘encouraging’ anti-social behavior.

Centuries ago, fairy-tales told to children were often dark, grim and also full of violence, but they were chiefly tools with which parents taught children socially important, crucial lessons in objective, religiously acceptable morality, ethics and related ‘humane’ values. Today, Hollywood action films are the contemporary equivalent of those Grimm Brothers stories but delivered totally bereft of the vital moral context which they were originally set. Furthermore, America has today reinvented itself from a land wherein factual reality was and is ascendant, to one in which fantasy is presently widely accepted as an acceptable substitute for reality. In that environment, it isn’t hard to imagine what a generation or two raised on electronic ‘fantasy gaming’ and ‘Super-Hero’ movies would take away from a typical ‘action film’ such as those in reference here.

When set within an aggressively progressive social lifestyle that stridently denies biological reality and believes that what really matters is not hard, cold science but outrageously euphemistic, subjective wish-fulfillment (e.g: “I identify as a ‘Furry’, not as a human being”, etc., or “I identify as a woman”, despite having inalterably male biophysical genetic features at birth), Pandora’s box has been fully opened and all the destructive social devilments contained therein have been irrevocably released.

Given the uniquely remorseless nature and socially reprehensible character of the “for-profit” monster that is today’s Capitalist Mega-Corporation, the chance that we may successful reverse any of these retrograde advancement in social thought are, in my opinion, quite remote. Therefore the former great experimental Ideal that was democratic America (our Federal Republic) is in all likelihood doomed to fail utterly at some not-too-distant date.

Youthful social disruptions in the fabric of our former fairly stable nation, such as dangerous youth fads like the carshow, were not as potentially catastrophic as they have become today, since we didn’t formerly have the “curse” of social media and its co-enabler, the Internet, to rapidly popularize and disseminate potentially harmful and dangerous things such as this particular form of youthful social anarchy (defying the cops is now national youth sport, so it would appear). What would otherwise previously have remained a highly localized event in one small (or large) urban setting, now exponentially transforms itself into an international one in the span of a few seconds, thanks to social media and smartphones in the hands of mere misbehaving children.

In short, when our whole nation relinquished traditional Judeo-Christian parental guidance and nurturing responsibilities and turned them over to commercial exploiters (and progressive leftist radicals) to do with their tender, as-yet-not-fully-formed awarenesses as they wish, such a denouement as this (the downfall of a once-great nation) is just a matter of time.

FINAL OBSERVATIONS

Today, having forsaken two-wheeled vehicles of the powered persuasion, I’m back in the sportscar mode, acquiring yet another of my favorite Porsche underdogs, the much unfairly badmouthed and undeservedly sneered-at Porsche Type 47 (914). It suits me perfectly, speaking as a remarkably eclectic curmudgeon with remarkably eclectic tastes and driving an equally eclectic automobile. I have never made any pretensions about being conventional in any way, shape or form, so I’m happy with my little yellow, air-cooled 914 ‘problem child’. We’re two of a kind, actually, neither one of us being particularly successful at gaining an appreciable esteem in the public (or private) mind. But heck, that suits me just fine.

My sole complaint concerning ‘Jezibel’, my 914, is that due to the puerile mentality that is associated with youthful car sideshows and the fact that these “kids” are everywhere, I can’t head out onto the street for purposes of taking a periodic ‘freshening-up’ drive to keep Jez “exercised” without attracting every kid in the neighborhood driving one sort of a muscle-car or another, who all look upon me as a potential race competitor (“Hey, wanna drag, man?”). Really, it is so very tiresome.

But, I suppose this is the price of being a ‘more’ mature child than they are, who must contend, as did the British Imperialists back in India, with tirelessly predictable uprisings by ‘the native savages’… [Conversational exchange in the British Consulate in Bombay, between the First Lord’s secretary and the First Lord, back in 1870, as they look out the consulate window. Sec: “Sire! The natives are revolting!” First Lord: “Yas, aren’t they!”]

And every single night, usually in the wee, small hours of the early AM, I find myself awakened by several of these cheese-for-brains kids, giving their tachometers nervous indigestion as they try to spin ‘broadies’, do trick burn-outs and engage in other hare-brained antics they learned from Hollywood action movies, off in the distance.

At one point last night, my long-suffering wifie also woke up and when I turned to her, in answer to her question of “What’s going on?”, I caught myself replying only half sarcastically, “Umm. Drums speak! Natives restless tonight!”

Ungawa!