Don't Bother to See Rock City!

SEE ROCK CITY! Just about everybody knows about this piece of Americana. The owners of Rock City in Tennessee paid a painter to travel the better part of the United States and paint this slogan on barn roofs everywhere. Thousands of signs popped up all over in an attempt to gain publicity and tourism dollars. In one of the first such advertising campaigns of its kind, a part of American history was born. There are books and paintings based upon the slogan. Along rural highways all over, these rustic pieces of history can be seen, decaying and harkening back to the days of family road trips. One thing I suggest is to get off of the interstate highway system and take a long drive on some of the smaller, lesser known highways and byways (what the hell is a byway, by the way?) Look around, smell the roses as it were; some great scenery waits. One thing that I don’t recommend… seeing Rock City. As it turns out, Rock City is as about as exciting as finding out what “Rosebud” means at the end of Citizen Kane; it’s not. As it turns out, Rock City is just a bunch of god damn rocks…don’t waste your time.

I was watching a documentary on Wikipedia and the informational revolution happening on the internet today. The main focus of the show was how information can be convoluted and manipulated on reference sites like Wikipedia. As you may know, anyone can edit articles about anything that they want to, making some information unreliable and hearsay. Predictably, the producer of the doc interviewed a spokesman from The Encyclopedia Britannica. With nose held high in the air, the guy with the forced and over emphasized English accent explained how the articles in his encyclopedia are written by experts in each field that is covered by the missive. It occurred to me, how can you trust any information that you read? Just because some guy is an “expert” in some field doesn’t mean he’s right. What if he has a motive to misrepresent the facts? Let’s say some scientist is getting funding from the government for his research in the endangerment of a certain species of lizard. Because of his extensive research on the subject, The Encyclopedia Britannica calls him to write an article about this lizard. Regardless if the species is actually in harms way or not, the writer will paint that picture knowing that more funding for research awaits him. I shudder to think what goes on in the authoring of school textbooks on history or social studies. If you want the public schools to buy your textbooks and reward you with a big paycheck, your facts better be consistent with what the government’s story is. How many textbooks do you remember mentioning that the IRS was to be a temporary measure to raise funds for the war effort? Wikipedia may not be perfect, but it isn’t any better or worse than other things you read. Just because what you read is bound in a book doesn’t make it real. You need several sources.

I am not sure about what the solution to the health care crisis in America is, but keep this in mind. When was the last time you dealt with a government employee that did something right? Seriously, are you willing to let your health issues be handled by some jerk-off government employee? Have you been to the DMV or permitting office lately? These are the fucking bozos that will be handling your case, arranging doctor’s appointments and writing prescription approvals. Really? Is that really what you want? You want the guy that can barely read and has a hard time stringing together a sentence in charge of whether you live or die? Think about it…