Remerging threats

There are two environmental concerns that have taken a back seat in the last couple of decades:

Overpopulation and Noise pollution.

Actually, this really just one problem because the former is the cause of the latter as it is with just about most other other modern era problems that plague our future. Any human problem is often caused by more humans.

Noise pollution used to be something people were concerned about. It can cause heart disease, sleep loss, stress, and tinnitus. The worst effect of noise comes as a chronic stress generator which can rob people of vitality and health, and lifespan without being obvious to them.

Some noise is unavoidable and is a byproduct of the things that are vital to our community like the noise from transportation. Yet many of the planes, buses and cars that operate around us today are much quieter than they used to be - particularly buses and Hybrid automobiles.

However, some things have not improved or have even gotten LOUDER.

Backup Alarms.

In the past decade just about anything that moves has been required to have back-up beepers. All trucks, mechanical lifts and even electric scooters are constantly spewing out loud and extremely annoying beeps. Supposedly someone has decided that the cost benefit of backing over a small child outweighs the effects of noise pollution here - although I'll bet that the fact that all these beepers collectively are a nuisance was never a consideration.

Harley Davidson Motorcycles

After WWII, thousands of traumatized and disaffected soldiers were dumped back onto the US soil. Many of these men were in need of psychological treatment, job training and assistance finding their way back into society while thousands of surplus military Harley Davidson Motorcycles were affordable to purchase. Many of these men fell through the cracks and formed gangs around the surplus bikes and developed a lifestyle of nihilism and rebelliousness that has since grown into a national crisis. These motorcycle gangs and the lifestyle they espouse are deeply rooted across the country.

Vast hordes of bikers can now be seen and heard in every corner of the country acting out on their profound lack of self actualization - existing in a subculture predicated on hedonism and a disdain of anything that might suggest authority - which could include any civic entity. The culture takes the notion of "individualism" to an extreme and has invented a set of rationalizations to explain away why they don't need to be held responsible to the community at large. In fact, they go out of their way to adopt elements of intimidation through their clothing and behavior so that no one objects to their egocentric way living. Some may engage in high profile charitable behavior so they can continue to keep their neighbors up at night - that's a good way of deflecting criticism when you know you are doing something wrong.

One of the prime ways that these bikers intimidate the public is through noise. Harley bikes are not sold loud, the owners illegally alter their bikes with after market exhaust pipes. The loud pipes provide no benefit to anyone except to falsely feed the ego of the self indulgent rider. Many policemen actually own these bikes so they won't ticket them as they should. An automobile missing a muffler can get a fine, but the Harley gets away scott free. They rationalize that the pipes are for safety, yet other brand bikers see no need to do this.

However, all this may be changing. In the last decade, there has been a 4 fold increase in the incidence of negative media coverage, opposition to motorcycle events and some communities have enacted motorcycle bans.

Harley Davidson and other associations have been increasingly discouraging loud exhaust. This is not something that goes against their legacy. In the early days of the sport, loud bikes were a problem and Harley Davidson had a model line called "The Silent Grey Fellow". They realize now that if they do not do something to stem hog noise, the public will. Jim McCaslin, President and COO of Harley Davidson has written an article on this subject "Something We Never Want To Lose"