Why The Struggle

"Choptop" now says "for me and my old club it's not about the trophies - just getting together with friends". But that is obviously far from the truth. If it is not about the trophies, please explain why everyone else has noticed that your old club members consistently vote in a bloc, voting for their own members? It is not supposed to be about the trophies, but that is where your old club's focus has been. And that is the problem. The problem you refuse to even acknowledge.

Choptop then says, "I get all this because you called me a moron?"

No. You get all this because a) you began by telling me to "stay home and leave more room for the rest of us", which was totally uncalled for and demeaning, in a blog that did not even concern you, b) you just wouldn't let it go and c) you keep trying to defend the old, dishonest ways that are indefensible. As long as you continue, I have no choice but to defend my own position. And apparently you still don't get it. This isn't about you, or me. This is about honesty and fairness. Most us us want that; some of you don't want it. The ones who do not want it have had the power in the past, through clubs and the "buddy system", to keep things tilted in their own favor. The purpose of the HotKarz blog is to give a voice and power to the rest of the folks - the ones who want something better.

Here is a newsflash for those who have not noticed: more and more folks have been abandoning their clubs and the "old boy network" because of all the BS, politics and the in-fighting. Your own club died because of the infection people like you gave it. One fellow started a new club that professes "NO BS" because of all the crap in the clubs. He gets it. Folks are getting sick of the abuse of power in the old ways. They see what it is doing to the hobby, but until now they have not had any way of being heard. Now through HotKarz they are being heard, and fighting back. And that is what sets folks like you off.

Not all clubs are dysfunctional, but many are. Sooner or later, like any union that gives its people power, the power corrupts. And that corruption destroys everything that was once good about the union.

And now for something else you do not seem to be grasping: much of what I write are not my words, or my complaints. It is stuff that others bring to me, because HotKarz is THEIR voice, not just mine. People email me. They post comments. They talk to me at shows and cruises. They stop me at Home Depot. They want to be heard, so I publish their concerns.

So, you can attack HotKarz if you wish. Or even me, personally. But that changes nothing, because I am only the middle man, like the newspaper that brings you the daily news. Attacking the newspaper will not stop the news from happening.

Some think HotKarz is causing the drama, but that is not the case. The infection in the hobby has been there a long, long time, long before HotKarz, roiling under the surface, doing its damage in the shadows. It is like a pimple, full of poison.

HotKarz is giving the folks a way to pop that pimple and get the poison out. Sure it hurts! But it will hurt a lot more if the infection is allowed to keep spreading. Think of it this way: ask yourself if "PAIN" is a good thing, or a bad thing. If you said a bad thing, you are incorrect. While pain does cause discomfort, it is nature's method of letting us know when something is wrong. Without pain, you would never go for medical help because you would not even know you were sick or injured. And you would die because of the lack of pain. Pain is to the human body as a smoke alarm is to a fire-prone apartment building in the Bronx. It warns us.

The hobby is being hurt by those who bloc vote, jump class and participate in other unfair activities. The "hurt" is a warning that something must be done to correct it.

As my dad used to say, "If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem." HotKarz has made its choice. It's time for you to make yours.

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