Karen Slater.
11x World Champion and self-proclaimed environmentalist Kelly Slater threw his great and powerful voice behind a burgeoning law and order movement, last night, bolstering elderly white suburban males who prefer kids keep off their lawns and those who have just opened bespoke coffee shops in what was formerly “bad part of town.”
In a surprise all-caps Instagram story he firmly stated the question:
WAIT, SO SOME PEOPLE WANT TO ABOLISH THE POLICE.
before continuing:
IS THAT SO THAT THESE IDIOTS CAN TAKE OVER AND RUN THE ASYLUM? I WONDER HOW SAFE YOUNG KIDS FEEL IN THESE CITIES RIGHT NOW WITH THE ‘PEACEFUL PROTESTORS’ BLOWING SHIT UP. POLICE BRUTALITY AND BAD TRAINING IS A PROBLEM BUT ANARCHY AIN’T THE ANSWER. FEEL FREE TO GO TO ANY COUNTRY WHERE THE POLICE ARE ALL TRULY CORRUPT AND BOUGHT OFF BY THE CARTELS AND SEE HOW YOUR PROTESTING GOES.
It can be assumed Slater is referring to the very recent vigorous protests coming on the heels of yet another police shooting of a black man. The summer has, of course, burned hot since George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the end of May.
Protests, riots, carnage spread from coast to coast then around the world and, clearly, the most accomplished professional surfer ever is sick of it.
Fed up.
Not going to take it anymore etc.
Anarchists will be disappointed to know, once and for all, that they do not have Slater’s political support.
As a world traveler myself (buy here), though, I am curious as to which country he is referring where “the police are all truly corrupt and bought off by the cartels” and love to bash protestors?
Belarus? I think a bit of a stretch to describe the Lukashenko regime as a “cartel.”
Mexico? To call “all the police truly corrupt” is… sweeping.
Australia’s Gold Coast?
Possibly.
In any case, Slater’s full-throated backing of those currently running the asylum will be applauded by Karens everywhere.
More as the story develops.
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California`s GDP is masked by Silicon valley`s tech industry, that` the grunt of it I am assuming but too lazy to research online. Agree 100% on the population issue, the only thing to do now would be a gov`t funded birth control program with incentives for people not to have so many kids, but conspiracy theorists would be terrified of that and never once give an objective look at the issue and its bad ramifications as the numbers just keep growing
Agree 100% and been saying it for a while. There was a study done by some obscure harvard professor years ago that if you play the game of “5 why`s” with any major world problem in a questions format you will eventually arrive at the answer that “it`s because there are too many people”
Yes overpopulation is the gorilla in the room but do any politicians ever talk about it? No. Why is that? Is it political death to tell people not to have too many children?
You risk alienating Mormons, Catholics Jews and East Indians because when I walk through airports those are the families I see with five and six kids.
I hate to keep harping on Norway but it’s the one place I’ve seen that haa admirably controlled its population and has Agent Smith’s equilibrium between population and resources.
5 million people is just right. As I’ve said before: Imagine California with only 5 million people. We could have a 100% renewable grid.
More resources than population.
The per capita income would be like $650,000 per person.
Two questions for any economists out there.
What is the correlation between population and GDP?
If California’s population dropped to 1/8th of what it is now would the GDP necessarily drop 218?
And could you even run California with 5 million people?
I think just agriculture employs about a million people.
Anyone? Anyone?
5 million is probably too few, you do need a large amount of lower skilled labor for menial jobs, especially agriculture. You could argue that California shouldn’t need the volume to supply the rest of America (and parts of the world, especially with nuts) with produce but that`s a much deeper and technical analysis to be made
Yes no politician is willing to talk about it and get labeled as an extremist for calling out the “right” of these fucking families to have 8-10 kids. It`s unfortunate because higher number of kids is positively correlated with higher poverty levels all around the world
Interesting I made a personal response to some generalised accusations. Your response does not respond to mine. It attempts to deflect from my, I humbly assume valid points, with belittling rather than addressing the points made.
On the off chance that you are willing to discuss a key point I’ll try to summarise my defensiveness. My work experience from beginning to now has had versions of this guy. Working at a recycling centre for a company that had a website full of heartfelt mission statements about caring for staff, the environment and community. 3 ‘equal’ managers. Yet only 1 who had actually read the mission statements.
This was the one who was following the higher leadership directions for the day to day running of our site. Of the other 2, one had all the bits of paper, but when it came to actually using them, not so hot. Didn’t show a lot of understanding of the actual running of a recycling centre. The other one was a practical man. Very good at making and fixing things. Not so good at following directions if given by a woman. Even if that woman was only passing on directions from above.
Out of 11 employees, 10 made complaints about the qualified ‘paper’ man. After 8 months of these complaints made about inappropriate interactions with staff and the public and nothing happening, 4 staff left. People committed to the supposed ideals of the company while the dickhead causing issues is still there. More have left since then.
That’s not an isolated experience. I’ve had a bloke who objectively didn’t like me, admit to management that I was the hardest and best worker in the department and the main reason why it functioned effectively. And in that case, he had been brought in as an objective outsider to justify getting me kicked out, yet he had to admit that the clowns he was mates with weren’t capable of running the joint without me. Plenty of other examples, but I don’t want to try your attention span.
Not long after that, I got the nod to take on leadership training with the company. Fortunately, I had already decided to invest in a self-employment opportunity which went well. Made money, went on surf trip holidays, could work around swells for the most part, paid my own way through uni to do the teaching degree and sold it for much more than I paid for it, as well as paying off the 5 year loan in 2 years.
So if you wonder why I’m “defensive much”, it’s because my experience of hard work and brains being rewarded in the lucky country just isn’t what I’ve seen. It’s more likely to be the brown-nosed shit-lickers catching the breaks. I’ve seen genuinely good, hard, smart workers passed over so many times. Because they are a threat to those in middle management, it’s a more compelling generalisation based on real events than the cheap, ‘backed up by exception rather than rule’ thoughts you present.
Somebody who comments (long comments) a hundred times on a post is mentally ill. You’ve disqualified yourself. Good day.
You make the assumption that I was seeking validation through gaining levels. As a teacher, I was doing nothing more than being the best teacher I could be for the students in my classes each day. The point being that no matter how good or bad I was on that day, I would still be out-earned by someone sitting in an office making decisions that were not generally based on making the learning experiences for the students the best they could possibly be.
I didn’t become a teacher to become an administrator, I wanted to be a teacher. And I was a very good teacher. Just got sick of working in systems that perpetuated the theory of meritocracy, but promoted those who weren’t good at understanding the role of teachers and how to support that. Example: A teacher who was famous for arriving at school after a few hours sleep and a bit dusty. Next step on her ladder was as a Principal, where one of her jobs should have been firing people like herself. It’s not a judgement on all, but a real experience, among others similar.
Lets’s go through your list.
‘1. You are neither best nor bright.’
Definitely not. But there is only 1 best and or brightest person in the world at their job and I guarantee they aren’t at the top of any tree.
2. Are not very talented, or driven.
What’s talent? The ability to do something naturally? Or the ability to work hard enough at something to do it well? I’ve seen both. Naturally gifted footy players with the world at their feet. Champions in their teams, local comps, even regions. I’m describing a very good rugby league player here, but it could be anything, sport, plumbing…
This kid had it all. but when he got to the state championships, he was competing against 8 other kids who were pretty much the same as him. He didn’t get the state jersey. On the other hand, another kid from his club team, admittedly blessed physically, did make the state team. This kid wasn’t playing the flash role, just a workhorse. But he would listen to the coaches, do what they asked, work to do his job as well as he could. That’s the kid who got the career in footy. Not the best player, but the one who played his role.
Talent? I’ve got all I need to do anything I put my mind to. Driven? I’ve done all the things I wanted to.
3. Make dumb excuses that make no sense.
Am known to own up to mistakes, and share credit. Both career killers.
4. Your powers didn’t have much height.
I’m 6’7″. My powers come from a great height motherfucker.
5. They say it can’t be won, the way the game is run. But if you choose to stay you’ll wind up playing anyway. It’s okay!
What the fuck does this even mean? You don’t have a game unless you have the players. If you don’t have a game, then no one can win.
6. Education and retail? Really? You didn’t soar to magnificent heights in education or retail?
Yeah. I believe in service. Just because I don’t shoot people for a living don’t mean I’m not providing a service. Your condescending tone implies a lack of respect for these industries.
The fact that what I see as key to the roles does not acknowledge that the key aspect that the parts of the roles that I am good at; teaching/serving, are not necessarily indicators of administrating ability.
7. All of the above.
None of the above. Genuinely not interested in sacrificing my skills for an office job, when I enjoyed my work.
Imagine a hospital. The bestest hospital in the world. Great admin, the best surgeons, doctors, nurses, orderlies. A well run machine. It’s running the best it can with the resources it’s got. To reward all the hard workers, everyone gets a pay rise. Except the cleaners. They are the department down the bottom of the ladder. Not that important. It’s the doctors and nurses that get people in and out the doors to make the hospital experience the best it can be.
The cleaners realise they aren’t getting the same reward as everyone else, so they get a bit dis-heartened. Start doing things a bit half-arsed. One day, a little staphylococcus bug gets in. And doesn’t get sorted out. Turns out that the cleaners were kind of important to the whole reputation of the hospital. Which is now fucked.
Now, it’s a pretty trite example. I’m not saying that the surgeon who does 10 years training and study to learn his trade shouldn’t be earning more than the cleaner, but the point is that the cleaner has a responsibility that is not being adequately remunerated.
We can’t all be the best surfer in the world. We can’t all be Elons or Bills or Jeffs. Because these fuckers ride on the shoulders of those actually doing the grunt work. Most of them acknowledge the element of luck that played into them gaining their fortunes. (Bill Gates sent the IBM guys to a guy around the corner. The guy didn’t trust people in suits and hung out in the company spa pool, making the IBM guys wait for hours. They got jack of it, went back to Bill. Bill went to some guy and bought his operating system off him for $50000. Changed a few things and licenced that OS into all IBM computers which worked out a bit better than $50000).
It’s nice that Tesla is offering employees the option to buy stock in a company that they fucking made. Fuck me. Why don’t they automatically get a share of the profit commensurate with the effort they put in to creating that profit?
He’s getting close to “stable genius ” territory
Everyone keeps saying look at these guys, it’s possible with a little elbow grease you can be the little engine that could. But my experience* is that with a few exceptions, management will only encourage those who either aren’t an intellectual threat to established management, or those who are prepared to be ruthless in a way that doesn’t threaten established management.
I’ve seen the best and brightest get pushed to the side for those sycophants that ‘play the game’.
If what your saying is correct, why didn’t I make the world tour for my surfing ability. In fact, why didn’t I even get a sponsorship when I was at the height of my powers? Fact is, the game is skewed and very few actually get the success that gets touted as achievable. The vast majority of us are stuck at the thin edge of the wedge.
*In a range of industries, from education, retail, service, both private and government.
discoveries were made to be superior.
Todos was a boil and a run to the nearby channel. Technically not that challenging and it had it’s moments very much smaller in size… decent reef break. Point is, we moved on when the sport realized something much better.
Sunset same deal. Random collection of moving 2 story houses with a garage that can spin toward you and collapse. Technical as all fuck, but more risk than reward and rarely that good. Wind too… blustery. An acquired taste.
Required specific boards too that weren’t good anywhere else.
fucking shame… I’m so sick of fires.
NRA needs to end. Too many guns, few registered.
Heard talk about limiting ammo, but that’s probably too late.
It’s one big Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western.
Parko is from the alley?
You seem stuck in an era. An era that considered Sunset elite.
Remember when people thought Todos Santos was a great big wave? Dominated YOUR editorial and what is it now?
That joint could not buy less attention. Toast.
Do you know how Republican you sound Benny?
You’re focused on words and missing the message.
The cams would not have existed if not for the industry. Cause and Effect man.
And your industry pandered to the “broader demographics” which is an ideology that has plagued the goddamned sport. There is no broader demographic and that is exactly why your industry FAILED. (and the ASP, now WSL).
I don’t have a genre of years that I surfed other than 50 odd. Now time frame to my involvement except always.
Equally, I surfed sunset for a dozen years before Sam wrote the only article of his I agreed with.
Same theory can be applied to the current tour. Margies, Bells, even Snappa, Portu, Rio, …. none of those venue qualify for a dream tour. Lowers is, on a worlds score, so over rated. Almost comically. The Lame is one of them. You have a nostalgic take during your “surfing years”, well ok, but your opinion doesn’t resonate with the light of objectivity.
Oh, Kelly, you muy macho surfer boy with the tiny little pene and muy lindo, albeit dinky little plums…what a funny little boy you are. you make me go he he when you say those oh-so-macho things. Muy macho, yes? And indefensibly ignorant.
cringe everytime I hear someone say that making guns illegal is going to deter criminals from having them and reduce violence..
That’s cold!
You don’t surf so you can never understand someone who resents what your industry has done to our lifestyle, all for personal gain at the expense of the tribe.
Next time for sure
Thanks.
There is a best Coldplay song?
VONR knows good waves, Ben.
Remember when Sam George wrote that Sunset Beach was over rated? ONly time in history I agreed with him, just like the lame Lane.
It’s kind of funny that I’m going to chastise you for alluding to locations when Morgan fucked that goat in “83 following the epic winter. Of course, I asked him in Byron why he did it and for nothing profitable and he played the punk rock card that he didn’t care, it was art.