Wes Siler shares his journey from being a popular outdoor lifestyle journalist to running for Montana state senate, discussing the challenges of modern journalism under tech ownership and the clash between good journalism and business interests. He reflects on the blurred lines between politics, journalism, and advocacy, emphasizing how politics inevitably intersects with passions like cars and public lands. Wes also touches on the realities of public service, the importance of public lands, and the frustrations of navigating political and media landscapes today.
Wes Siler is a journalist who spent 20 years writing about adventure, vehicles, gear, and the great outdoors, most notably being one of the most popular writers for Outside Magazine. On this episode Matt Farah talks to Wes about why tech isn't rewarding journalism, how both parties are effecting our public lands, towing, hunting, climate change, and so much more.
Wes is a well of knowledge and worth paying attention to.
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""Also, they thought the cyber truck was a good idea, which one could argue is not political, but is incredibly misguided.""
The Tesla Cybertruck is a new electric truck that looks very different from regular trucks. Some people like it, and some think it was a bad idea.
The Tesla Cybertruck is an all-electric pickup truck with a distinctive angular design and stainless steel body. It represents Tesla's entry into the pickup truck market and has been both praised and criticized for its unconventional styling.
"That's National Forest. So it's a set aside for all of us."
National Forests are big areas of land owned by the government where people can go to enjoy nature, camp, and drive off-road vehicles. They are protected so everyone can use them.
National Forests are federally managed lands designated for multiple uses including recreation, conservation, and resource extraction. They provide public access to natural areas for activities like hiking, camping, and off-roading.
"If you're just in the cars and you just want Matt to sit in the cars, that's where you go off-roading."
Off-roading means driving cars on rough, bumpy ground instead of smooth roads. People do it for fun or to explore places regular cars can't go.
Off-roading refers to driving vehicles on unpaved surfaces like dirt, mud, sand, or rocks. It requires specialized vehicles or modifications to handle rough terrain.
""...like a car on 35 inch tires with a winch and electric chainsaw on the back""
A winch is a tool on some trucks that helps pull the truck out if it gets stuck in mud or snow by using a strong cable.
A winch is a mechanical device used to pull in or let out heavy loads, often used on off-road vehicles to recover the vehicle if it gets stuck by pulling it out with a strong cable.
"...you need solar panels to run your battery pack to charger, you know, your chainsaw. And then, well, you pr..."
The Dodge Charger is a big car that looks sporty and can go really fast. People like it because it’s both good for daily driving and fun to drive fast.
The Dodge Charger is a full-size sedan known for its muscle car heritage and powerful engine options, often associated with American performance and aggressive styling. It's frequently discussed for its blend of practicality and performance, making it a popular choice among enthusiasts and everyday drivers alike.
""You know, your Ford Ranger gets 10 miles per gallon. I did read your article on how to buy a truck and actually it's incredibly well thought out""
The Ford Ranger is a type of truck that people use for carrying things and driving on rough roads. It can use more gas than smaller cars.
The Ford Ranger is a midsize pickup truck known for its utility and off-road capability. It is often used for work and recreational purposes, and fuel economy can vary depending on the model and engine.
"I think they just they're like, oh, that fucking Tacoma. Tacoma, right? Tacomas are sick, bro. The internet says they're reliable. Up at 7,000 pounds of shit on my Tacoma and go to Alaska."
The Toyota Tacoma is a type of truck that many people trust because it doesn't break down easily. It's good for carrying lots of stuff and driving on rough roads.
The Toyota Tacoma is a midsize pickup truck known for its reliability and off-road capability. It's popular for carrying heavy loads and tackling rugged terrain, such as trips to Alaska.
"... Would you get like a Cayenne turbo GT or like a Bentley Flying Spur? And I'm like, what?"
The Bentley Flying Spur is a very fancy and comfortable car that can go fast. People buy it because it feels very special inside and looks great.
The Bentley Flying Spur is a luxury sedan that combines opulent comfort with powerful performance, often compared to high-end SUVs like the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT. It’s a symbol of prestige and craftsmanship.
"...hing to do with each other. Would you get like a Cayenne turbo GT or like a Bentley Flying Spur? And I'm ..."
The Porsche Cayenne is a fancy, fast SUV that can carry people and stuff but still feels sporty to drive. It’s like a sports car that’s bigger and taller.
The Porsche Cayenne is a luxury SUV that combines Porsche's sports car performance with the practicality of an SUV. It's significant for helping Porsche expand its market and is often compared to other high-end SUVs like the Bentley Flying Spur.
""It was a three liter diesel car. Or the diesel one. Everyone loved the diesel for a minute there.""
A 3.0 liter diesel engine is a type of engine that uses diesel fuel and has a size of 3 liters. It usually helps the car get better mileage and power for heavy vehicles.
The 3.0 liter diesel engine refers to a diesel-powered engine with a displacement of 3.0 liters, often used in SUVs like the Porsche Cayenne for better fuel efficiency and torque compared to gasoline engines.
"...er reason, just to flaunt your credit score, buy Range Rover Sport. They drive so much better."
The Range Rover is a fancy big car that can drive on rough roads and feels very comfortable inside. People buy it to show off and because it drives nicely.
The Range Rover is a luxury SUV known for its off-road capability combined with high-end comfort and style. It’s often seen as a status symbol but is also praised for its driving dynamics, especially in the Sport variant.
"Why don't you just get a super duty? Fuck out of here."
The Ford Super Duty is a big, strong truck that can pull heavy things like trailers or boats. It's often used for work because it can handle tough jobs.
The Ford Super Duty is a series of heavy-duty pickup trucks designed for towing and hauling heavy loads. They are popular for work purposes and known for their powerful engines and rugged build.
"... race car are you going to tow? Can you tow your Countach? We've talked about this in the show a lot."
The Lamborghini Countach is a very fast and cool-looking sports car from a long time ago. It’s famous for its sharp shape and doors that open up like scissors.
The Lamborghini Countach is a legendary supercar from the 1970s and 1980s known for its radical wedge shape and scissor doors. It’s often discussed for its iconic design and raw driving experience, though it’s not practical for everyday use or towing.
"So what's the towing capacity on a Cayenne hybrid, 7,000? 7,800."
The Porsche Cayenne Hybrid is a big SUV that uses both gas and electricity to drive. It can pull heavy trailers or loads, usually up to about 7,000 pounds or more.
The Porsche Cayenne Hybrid is a luxury midsize SUV that combines a gasoline engine with an electric motor to improve fuel efficiency and performance. It has a towing capacity that varies by model year and configuration, often around 7,000 to 7,800 pounds.
""I tow. I would rather have a slightly less optimized tow vehicle... Towing is so sketchy when the car is not behind its head. I tow all the time and it's a nightmare in a car that can't do it.","
Towing means using your car or truck to pull something heavy behind it, like a trailer or boat. You need a strong vehicle that can handle the weight safely.
Towing refers to the act of pulling a trailer or another vehicle using a car or truck. It requires a vehicle with sufficient power, proper hitch equipment, and stability to safely handle the extra load.
""20 years ago I towed with a 3,500 diesel. Dodge, 3,500 diesel. Smart.""
The Dodge 3500 diesel is a big truck with a special engine that uses diesel fuel. People use it to pull heavy trailers or loads because it's strong and safe.
The Dodge 3500 diesel is a heavy-duty pickup truck known for its towing capability and diesel engine, popular for hauling heavy loads safely.
"I towed my Manx to Pebble Beach with a Bentayga and it was chill. Well, Bentaygas are sick cars. It was extremely chill."
The Bentayga is a fancy and powerful SUV made by Bentley. It has a really nice inside and can drive fast, but it's also big and useful for carrying stuff or people.
The Bentley Bentayga is a luxury SUV known for its high performance, opulent interior, and advanced technology. It combines Bentley's signature craftsmanship with the practicality of an SUV.
"The fact that ICE is like terrorizing people for content is like real crazy."
ICE means the kind of engine in most cars that uses gas or diesel to make the car go.
ICE stands for Internal Combustion Engine, which is the traditional type of engine that burns fuel like gasoline or diesel to create power for vehicles.
""I've done a bunch of the back country discovery routes. Yes, those are rad.""
These are special trails or roads in the countryside that people use for fun off-road riding or driving, often in nature.
Back Country Discovery Routes are mapped off-road routes designed for adventure motorcyclists and off-road enthusiasts, often featuring scenic and challenging terrain.
"...e most breaking force you've ever felt in a car? Mustang GT3 Le Mans car for me. Did you ever do some cra..."
The Ford Mustang is a famous fast car from America that looks cool and goes really fast. The special GT3 race version stops really well and is made for racing.
The Ford Mustang is an iconic American muscle car known for its powerful engines and sporty design. The GT3 Le Mans version is a race-focused variant that delivers exceptional braking and performance, making it a favorite among enthusiasts.
The Corvette ZR1 is a very fast sports car made by Chevrolet. It has a strong engine and is designed to go very fast and handle well on race tracks.
The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is a high-performance variant of the Corvette sports car, known for its powerful engine and track-capable features. It represents the top-tier performance model in the Corvette lineup.
""I mean Corvette ZR1, Lexus LFA. Yeah, that was like 2011.""
The Lexus LFA is a special, very fast car made by Lexus. It has a unique engine that makes a cool sound and is built to be very fun to drive.
The Lexus LFA is a limited-production Japanese supercar known for its advanced engineering, naturally aspirated V10 engine, and high-revving performance. It is highly regarded for its sound and driving dynamics.
""Yeah. C6 ZR1. Yeah. It was a pretty good time to bow out.""
The Chevrolet C6 ZR1 is a fast sports car with a powerful engine and special features that make it stand out from regular Corvettes.
The Chevrolet C6 ZR1 is a high-performance variant of the sixth generation Corvette, known for its supercharged V8 engine and advanced technology for its time.
"Eric Cool Testicles says Doug Demuro recently made a video about the most important cars the last 30 years. His top three were Tesla Model S, Toyota Prius, and Mercedes ML 320. Agri or disagree?"
The ML-Class is a nice, comfortable SUV made by Mercedes. It’s good for families and looks fancy.
The Mercedes-Benz ML-Class (now known as the GLE) is a midsize luxury SUV that has been influential in popularizing premium SUVs. It’s often recognized for blending luxury, performance, and utility.
"...rtant cars the last 30 years. His top three were Tesla Model S, Toyota Prius, and Mercedes ML 320. Agri or di..."
The Tesla Model Y is a small SUV that runs only on electricity, so it doesn’t use gas. It’s popular because it can go far on a charge and has lots of cool tech inside.
The Tesla Model Y is a compact all-electric SUV that has become one of the most important vehicles in the last few decades due to its impact on electric vehicle adoption. It offers impressive range, technology, and performance, making it a popular choice in the EV market.
""His top three were Tesla Model S, Toyota Prius, and Mercedes ML 320. Agri or disagree? Interesting choices. I fully agree on Tesla Model S.""
The Tesla Model S is a fancy electric car that can go far on a single charge and has lots of cool features.
The Tesla Model S is an all-electric luxury sedan that revolutionized the electric vehicle market with its long range, high performance, and advanced technology.
"Modern electronic traction aids are super effective and I'm a huge advocate for them. I think most people don't realize they're on their cars and they don't use them."
Electronic traction aids help your car not slip or slide by controlling the wheels when the road is slippery. They make driving safer by keeping the car steady.
Electronic traction aids are systems in modern vehicles that help maintain grip by controlling wheel spin, especially in slippery conditions. They often work by applying brakes to spinning wheels or adjusting engine power to improve traction.
"By 2011, my mother owned five RX300s at the same time. I bet all five are still running. I don't have the whereabouts of three of them. Two of them absolutely are. But she had a 97 the first year, a 99, an 03, an 05, and an 09."
The Lexus RX300 is a fancy SUV that is comfortable and lasts a long time. People like it because it feels nice inside and doesn't break down easily.
The Lexus RX300 is a luxury mid-size crossover SUV introduced in the late 1990s. It is known for its reliability, comfort, and premium interior features, making it a popular choice for affordable luxury SUVs.
"...nto English sports cars. My first car was a 1969 Morris Minor 1000. It was the biggest piece of shit ever."
The Morris Minor is an old small car from England that lots of people used to drive. It’s not very fast or fancy but has a special place in car history.
The Morris Minor is a classic British compact car produced from the late 1940s to the early 1970s, known for its simple design and historical significance. It’s often remembered fondly despite its modest performance and reliability.
"The simple answer to getting a lot of heavy cars off the road in America and a lot of fuel-efficient cars is to eliminate section 179. I actually am pro that. Readers or watchers, if you're not familiar with section 179 is a tax incentive from the IRS that encourages you if you have business income to offset it."
Section 179 is a tax rule that helps businesses save money when they buy big equipment or vehicles. It lets them subtract the full cost from their taxes right away instead of slowly over years.
Section 179 is a U.S. tax code provision that allows businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment, including certain vehicles, in the year they are bought, rather than depreciating them over time. It encourages businesses to invest in equipment by reducing taxable income.
"...and the reason why every general contractor has a Ford Super Duty on and on and on is section 179. If we elim..."
The Ford Super Duty Lariat Tremor is a big, strong truck that can carry heavy stuff and drive off-road. Many workers buy it because it helps them save money on taxes.
The Ford Super Duty Lariat Tremor is a heavy-duty pickup truck variant designed for tough work and off-road capability, popular among contractors and professionals. Its eligibility for Section 179 tax deductions makes it a practical choice for business owners.
An SUV is a type of car that is bigger and can go on rough roads or off-road. It usually sits higher off the ground than regular cars.
SUV stands for Sport Utility Vehicle, a type of vehicle designed for both on-road and off-road use, typically featuring higher ground clearance and available all-wheel or four-wheel drive.
"So the problem is like UTVs are essentially like a motocross bike that appears safer because four wheels and a really shitty roll bar."
A UTV is a small vehicle you can drive off-road that has four wheels and seats more than one person. It's like a safer, bigger version of a dirt bike.
UTV stands for Utility Task Vehicle, a small off-road vehicle with four wheels designed for rough terrain, often used for recreation or work. They resemble motocross bikes but have a roll cage and seating for two or more people.
"The mantra for off-road driving that's just out there universally is as slow as possible as fast as necessary."
When driving off-road, it's best to go slow to stay safe, but speed up only when you really need to.
This mantra advises drivers to prioritize safety by driving slowly when possible, only increasing speed when conditions require it, especially in challenging off-road environments.
"...considering removing my steering wheel on my 1993 300ZX and getting a smaller one to get a quick bit of ..."
The Nissan 300ZX is a sporty car from Japan that’s fun to drive and looks cool. Some people change parts like the steering wheel to make it easier to handle.
The Nissan 300ZX is a Japanese sports car from the 1990s known for its balanced handling and distinctive styling. Enthusiasts often modify it, including steering wheel swaps, to enhance driving feel.
"...iconic, you know, like you have like Mammy Vise, Ferrari Daytona, absolutely. Knight Rider and like early transam..."
The Ferrari Daytona SP3 is a very special and expensive sports car made to look like old race cars. It’s super fast and looks amazing.
The Ferrari Daytona SP3 is a limited-edition hypercar that pays homage to Ferrari’s racing heritage with advanced aerodynamics and a naturally aspirated V12 engine. It’s celebrated for its stunning design and extreme performance.
""but I grew up attending Formula One races with my dad. It's everything, it's all the above. I do not wear earplugs enough.""
Formula One is a type of car racing with very fast and special cars that race on tracks around the world. It's like the top level of car racing.
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of international single-seater auto racing sanctioned by the FIA. It features the fastest and most technologically advanced racing cars competing on circuits worldwide.
"I remember the hair. I brought an Audi R8 home. I felt like a fucking asshole."
The Audi R8 is a very fast and fancy car that you can also drive every day. It has a loud engine and looks really cool.
The Audi R8 is a high-performance sports car known for its powerful V10 engine and everyday usability. It’s often discussed for its blend of supercar performance with relative comfort and refinement.
Select text to request an explanation
Ie, fy modd yw'r llun.
Ie, fy modd yw'r llun.
Ac oedd gwaith o'r Ysbryd.
Rydw i mwybrae'r bwysig wrth agel ar draws.
Rydw i39, gyddi'r bwysig a'r bwysig a'r gael ar draws.
Rydw i gener ddweud y crofio ar Gwель u'r panffredd yn y 2000.
Bydd y gallwn ychydig y gallwn.
Mae'r mwysig i'r llwyddoio ar y barwch..
Golw'n hynny yn deillad yr oed.
Rydw i ddim yn ystod yn ddigon i,
ac ymlaen gyd yw'r rai pa'r ddarparu.
I knew, I read your newsletter. I just became a paid subscriber by the way.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
I don't know if they alerted you, annual prepaid.
Westcyler.substack.com.
I mean honestly the best, not just on literal sub-stack, but like the best writing that I'm reading today is like pretty much full indies.
Like yourself, like Garbage Day, Hamilton Nolan, I read, A.R. Moxin.
Hamilton's great.
Do you read Moxin?
I don't.
I recommend A.R. Moxin.
Okay.
But like they're all just like they moved to the newsletter format effectively.
You can't be a journalist working for most mainstream outlets today.
There's a few that still do it right.
There's The Atlantic.
Like Road Tracker.
I know, like Road Track.
Yeah.
But you know, it's just impossible to be a journalist and so I was fired.
It's a timber for being a journalist.
I read this and this was crazy because so you, but so that's a well-crafted sentence.
So you weren't fired for writing about the wrong thing.
You were fired because you decided to run for office here in Montana.
This is according to your newsletter.
And the outlet said for perhaps the first time ever that you cannot write for us and run for office.
Yeah.
So it's a decent summary.
I mean, but you wrote 5,000 words on this and I just did it 50.
Yeah.
You just did it quick.
I just did it in 50.
So more or less the story is I was at outside as the outdoor lifestyle columnist for a decade.
I was by far the most popular writer.
You know, I was responsible for something like any given day a quarter to a half of all the web traffic.
And you write about cars.
You write it like dogs, dogs, outdoor gear.
More and more.
It's a land conservation type issues, but for most of your career, it's just been general outdoor lifestyle stuff.
Yeah.
I tried to tackle important issues.
So what matters if you're an outside magazine reader, if you care about the outdoors, you know what matters.
And so that changes in a given year.
You know, right now we can talk about climate change because it's almost March and there's no snow in Montana.
It's 50 degrees outside.
You know, I always took that charge really seriously and I think I was good at it.
And the problem with being good at journalism is that often being good at journalism is bad for business if it is a business that is oppositional to journalism.
And so what we've seen recently is a lot of publications have been acquired by, for lack of a better word, tech bros.
Yeah.
And they're in it not to...
You could also say assholes.
Assholes?
You could say like people that are like actively bad for humanity.
So they're not in it for the cause of journalism or the cause of informing the American public.
No, they're usually in it to the exact opposite thing of that.
Yeah, they're using it for their short term buck.
And so they get that short term buck at an app sale or something like that.
And so they only look at the journalism as the opening of their engagement funnel.
And they want the smoothest path from, you know, backwards up that asshole right into the app sale.
Right?
They don't want good stuff that challenges people.
They want unchallenging content.
Well, if you're talking about Bezos and the poster.
Bezos and the poster.
Bezos explicitly has said he wants...
We're going full bore pro capitalism all the way.
Yeah.
So just bullshit, right?
And so what happened with outside was it was acquired in 2021 by tech bros.
You know, some dude who had made like a Strava clone, you know, the height of like app acquisitions.
We only fuck with the real.
Got hundreds of millions of dollars for like a bad Strava clone and thought he was a genius.
And, you know, I was sitting there doing good journalism and he was seeing that as a barrier to him selling apps.
And so he wanted to fire me for a while.
I had an ironclad contract.
He couldn't really fire me.
You know, interviewed Tim Walls during the campaign, interviewed John Kerry.
I was supposed to interview Joe Biden.
You know, I was doing important work.
And, you know, he was just, this is not what we're trying to do.
Just, just, you know, go review a fucking Tim, bro.
Did he stick to cars to you?
Yes, stick to cars.
Yes, exactly.
Exactly.
I get the occasional stick to cars.
And so I got recruited to run for office here in Montana for state senate, which he does 1.1 billion people in Montana.
I hate to phrase it this way, but running for state senate here is kind of like running for town council in Santa Monica.
My assembly person, I think represents like the same number.
Yes, exactly.
But I do have to pause because I have to actually, because I, I want to talk about it because the way you ended up running is interesting.
And I want to talk about that.
And it circles back to the stuff.
But I, you know, Mallory McMarrow.
Of course, you're a good friend.
Michigan State's senator Mallory McMarrow.
Yes, yes.
I support her.
I support everything she does.
Yes.
Her team asked if she could come on the podcast.
Okay.
And I said, although I support everything she does, I don't think having politicians on the podcast, even if I support them, is what I want to do.
And so like when I invited you to come on the podcast, I didn't know you were running for office.
Like literally I did not know.
And then for the record, for the record, I did not ask to come on the podcast.
Matt asked me.
No, I did, but I didn't know you were running for office.
And then I was like, oh, shit.
That's hilarious.
And I told no to Mallory.
Yeah.
And so I was like, all right, the way I'm going to navigate this is like me and Wes have like a lot of other things to talk about other than like, what's your website?
Plug your campaign website.
WestforMontana.com.
WestforMontana.com.
If you're interested in Wes's like literal campaign positions, go check out West for Montana.
I don't even like talking about that stuff.
But I just like, I feel really bad because I really like and support what Mallory's doing.
I said I didn't do politicians and you're kind of a politician right now.
But Mallory is a much more serious politician than I am.
I'm not the most serious politician.
So it's funny because people label you with that.
They label you with like, oh, you're a politician now.
Or have you win?
In your set, I'm just exactly, if I win, I'm just still Wes.
You know, I'm just some guy who's like, is fed up with like the status quo and wants to create some change because I think I can.
It's essentially like the compensation for this position is $5,000 a year.
I will lose more money in like the hours I spend on it that I will receive from this.
Is that really the compensation?
$5,000 a year.
$5,000 a year.
There's some change on top of that.
It's like $5,300 or something.
Is it but like you get like, you know, like a bear skin rug or something?
I think I have to revive my own bear skin rug.
All right.
They don't pay you, but you get to be like first in line for like deer hunting license.
I don't even think that's the case.
It works.
There's really no perks.
It's all downside.
I have to say, don't run for office.
It's all crazy people yelling at you.
It's a miserable experience.
It's all crazy people yelling at you.
Everybody treats me like I'm on a like embarked on some corrupt endeavor where I spit like my entire life and what's more or less public service as a journalist.
Yeah.
And I'm just sort of doing the same thing just like I've written about policy.
I know how to do policy now after writing about it for 20 years.
Surely I can go like apply that directly rather than writing around it.
That was my idea.
And then all of a sudden, yeah, I'm a politician now and I'm different and it's that's strange.
Right.
Yeah.
I mean, because it is particularly in particularly in this country, your job title so defines you.
Yes.
You know, and if you change job titles, you're like a different person now.
In a lot of ways.
Yes.
You know, so and especially in journalist and politician aren't like necessarily opposed, but they kind of are.
I mean, you know what I mean?
They traditionally aren't always good journalists cover politicians.
Yeah, yeah.
But it's also there's also a lot of like there's a lot of like shared common grounds because both both are like truth.
Yeah.
Ideally truth.
Ideally.
You know, like both both are vastly under compensated, like service oriented, cause oriented career paths.
Yeah.
I don't even see politician as a career path.
I just see it as like, you know, shit's fucked.
Yeah.
I'm fed up with it.
I want to do something to help.
And that's what we're being told to do something just mean positive.
And I've run charities in the past.
I've helped people out.
You know, I've tried to do the right thing always and it just sounded kind of this time.
Like, you know, maybe we're right thing is going to Helena, the state capital and helping craft some legislation to make the lightest Montanans a little better.
I always sort of found that like when people tell me to like stick to cars or whatever.
Right.
Like whatever your kind of area of expertise, if you're looking at something that is out in the world in public for me, it's more cars than anything else for you.
It's more the outdoors and than anything else.
But like politics comes for you.
Like you don't like, I don't like go seeking that.
No.
Like that shit.
Like, dude, why is like Porsche super fucked?
Like literally right now, like politics.
Like they said, you have to go full electric.
And they like good fucking smart Germans were like, OK.
And they went and then it was like a fucking handbrake turn.
And now they're in like that's politics.
You can't care about something like cars and not at some point intersect politics and be forced to care about politics.
Good effects, everything.
You know, look at Ford and the pivot they're trying to do right now and what their stock prices have been like.
You know, look at Tesla and the headwinds they're facing and that's inherently political, right?
Yeah.
Also, they thought the cyber truck was a good idea, which one could argue is not political, but is incredibly misguided.
It's indicative of a certain political belief, I think.
It does.
It does.
One who sniffs their own fards too much will inevitably design a car that looks like that.
It's to make trucks great again of trucks.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But so that's for me, you know, cars run headfirst into politics frequently.
And the outdoors even more so.
Right.
So that's where I was going because we have 648 million acres of public land in this country.
Can you real quick just for those who don't like what is a public land?
Like this sounds like a fucking dumb question.
Yeah.
Like what is a public land that's different from a national park or state park?
So yeah, a quick history lesson.
Yeah.
Guys, taking a quick break because DeleteMe is supporting us today.
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When we were creating America and trying to ratify the Constitution, we had some problems.
We were trying to bring together 13 very diverse colonies and find a way for them to exist together in the same country under the same governance.
One of the problems was the real charters that created those countries.
They only knew the 1600s. They were like, I don't know, here's a river on a coast.
Virginia, you have everything from this river to that river and then wherever that goes.
What that looked like on maps after the revolution was just fast overlapping lines as they went west of the Appalachians.
The only way to settle that was to define some common ground.
That was established as, at the time, everything west of the Appalachians basically went to the American people for the furtherance of our country.
As we created states, that land was granted to create states.
What we were left over after a few different wars with Spain and Mexico and various other things, the Louisiana Purchase,
and the establishment of these western states was a whole bunch of land that nobody wanted.
We tried to give it away to homesteaders and the Homestead Act in various other ways, but a lot of it just was no good.
It just ended up being owned by the American people and managed in our very half by the federal government.
Which is BLM for most of the time.
It's not just BLM, it's BLM National Forests, National Parks.
So it's all under the same.
It's all public lands.
That right there, if you guys can see, that hill is public land.
That's National Forest.
So it's a set aside for all of us.
It gives us a really unique, really democratic access to the outdoors.
If you're just in the cars and you just want Matt to sit in the cars, that's where you go off-roading.
That's where you go car camping.
But we all benefit from it because that's our reservoir of biodiversity and clean environment that creates the air we breathe and the water we drink and the animals we like to see.
I won't dive into too many details, but the way it's managed was created by big thinkers like Teddy Roosevelt at the turn of the 19th to 20th century.
It's exceptionally good and it's exceptional and that it's unique to America.
So you and I have traveled the world.
Do you see animals anywhere in the world, including in Africa, like you see here?
Outside of a national park.
When I was literally on safari in Africa.
Driving home tonight.
We're a big sky right now.
The animals that I might hit on the way home.
Maybe New Zealand, but it's an amazingly natural country.
Right here in Montana, the animals that I have a pretty good chance of hitting on the way home are wolves, moose, bighorn sheep, elk, two kinds of deer.
You know, black bear, brown bear, you name it.
They will all be on the road tonight as I drive home.
And that biodiversity and that healthy wildlife that then tourism thrives on, that establishes our unique identity as Americans of going camping and being outdoorsy and wearing fleece fest over our flannel shirts.
You know, all that is from public lands.
And it's a really unique sense that we all benefit from.
It pays billions, hundreds of billions into the treasure every year.
It offsets the taxes you and I pay.
In terms of what national park entry fees?
No, it's in terms of like energy extraction.
Oh, energy extraction.
Yes, it's managed under multiple use.
And so basically like the public lands, I need to consider multiple use and sustained yield.
So the idea is that like, you know, oh, we want to go post some coal out of that hill.
Well, we can.
So long as like, you know, we create a plan that balances that with people that want to hike on that hill.
People want to extract timber from that hill.
People that want wildlife on that hill.
Clean air, clean water, right?
And so hundreds of billions a year.
Public lands aren't necessarily all free from extraction.
No, no, no.
There's vast, there's vast commercial activities on the land.
That's what they're there for.
Again, they're there for multiple use.
And when managed properly, they balance that industrial use with the other concerns,
with wildlife conservation, with a natural environment, with recreation.
And so what we're seeing right now is an unprecedented attack that's trying to undo that balance
and tip it entirely in favor of extraction.
And extraction is not bad, but it has to be managed correctly.
Are we surprised?
I mean, we're in the short term money government.
We're in the get it wall against the good government.
It's so short term.
Again, one of the principles in addition to multiple use is sustained yield.
So the whole idea in public lands is that they will serve the national purse into perpetuity into the future.
As long as America is here, we will have reservoir of minerals and timber and energy to draw on if managed correctly.
But what's happening right now is trying to break that system in favor of just really, really short term profit.
So you manage that hill correctly and that'll produce timber for the death of the universe.
But you don't understand.
They could get more now.
Now, but not tomorrow.
But tomorrow may never come.
So they're just going to get it now.
You might as well just get it now.
It's why wait until tomorrow.
It's crazy.
Is this the...
Because a lot of shit, we're the same age.
Give or take a year.
I'm 45, how old are you?
I'm 44.
So we're the same age, basically.
And I was shocked into reality, perhaps from a cocooned existence.
But really when Trump got elected the first time and I went, hang on, what the fuck?
And I have been, and again, perhaps because of my age or I'm sheltered fucking white guy from Greenwich,
I have witnessed across the board backsliding, of course, in human rights and everything.
And should I never thought, you know, you go, these people won rights and now they have them.
Like these lands were protected and now they're protected.
Like I've never seen a backsliding and an unprotecting.
No, it's nuts, right?
So much of it's just so stupid is the problem of it.
And you see that stupidity again on public lands where it's just like you were identifying short-term profit at the expense of long-term sustainability.
And I'm not talking about like Kumbaya and fucking rainbows and unicorns and shit.
I'm talking about logging.
And if you do it right and it's managed correctly, we can log that forever.
There is a way to actually.
Yes, there is a way to do that.
That's what we've been doing for 100 years.
And right now what I'm trying to do is break that and do logging tomorrow really big.
And then no logging two days from now because it'll just be like a pile of mud that'll be like, you know, go in the dark radioactive.
Is this from a public lands perspective?
I'm not educated enough to say whether from a human rights perspective,
I would suspect that maybe the implementation of Jim Crow might have been more of a backslide at that time than what we're seeing now.
But that being said, in terms of public lands, has this been the biggest backslide ever?
100%
They were established.
Remember that like, you know, it wasn't that long ago that we had like Richard Nixon.
You know, Republican guy, not the most not corrupt politician.
No, he got a couple of things right actually.
Wasn't Nixon EPA?
Yeah, he was EPA, he was Clean Water Act, he was the Dangerous Species Act, Clean Air, you know, and like Ronald Reagan was pro that stuff.
And all he did was be super racist and bug some people.
All he did was crime.
Nixon is like real charming crime by comparison.
Nixon crime?
Nixon crime.
Nixon crime is so charming by comparison.
A little light breaking injury.
Nixon would be like, world liberty financial.
What's a Bitcoin?
You know what I mean?
Imagine Nixon at Bitcoin?
Send a telex or whatever the fuck they were doing.
I know.
Nixon crime was so charming compared to the naked grift of these people.
Other than if you factor in Kissinger, I suppose, there was probably more war crimes.
We are about to do much of war crimes.
Let's circle back on this.
We'll have to, you know, hey Siri, fact check my war crimes in six spots.
We'll see where we're at.
We're doing war crimes in Minneapolis right now.
No, well that actually...
Crime ridden hellhole of Minneapolis.
Dude, the piece that you wrote, you wrote a piece about, I think it was called or about preparing for tyranny.
Right.
And that essentially kind of got me thinking because you started with the premise that some of these protesters,
I mean the ones who weren't being murdered in the street, were being followed home by ICE.
And started from the premise of, well what if home, typically your safe space and maybe even your like prepper space
is no longer available to you as a safe space?
Being in the outdoors and being arrested and things like hunting and guns and, you know, survival shit, you know, manly man shit.
It's like, at some point you kind of intersect prepping and it starts to make sense.
You know, I've written articles that like most traditional prepping where you're just stockpiling like ten years of like cream with tomato soup
is kind of stupid and silly because, you know, any fixed location is subject to siege.
But that's why you put the tomato soup all over the hillside.
I've buried soup over the mountain.
But you're going to be finding it for years.
You do it, you at some point in all this become something of a prepper.
You look at what's going on, you look at the trends, climate change, right?
Weather's getting weird and unpredictable and like we're not really taking care of our roads anymore
and there's a lot of dead trees falling down with the bark beetles.
And so that never really leads to like, well, I need to own like a car on 35 inch tires with a winch and electric chainsaw on the back
and you need solar panels to run your battery pack to charger, you know, your chainsaw.
And then, well, you probably also need some recovery equipment and, you know,
pretty soon you're literally driving like a tow truck.
Pretty soon you're me in your car.
You know, your Ford Ranger gets 10 miles per gallon.
I did read your article on how to buy a truck and actually it's incredibly well thought out
and I could easily write a similar article on how to buy a sports car.
You think people listen to you?
No.
I think they just they're like, oh, that fucking Tacoma.
Tacoma, right?
Tacomas are sick, bro.
The internet says they're reliable.
Up at 7,000 pounds of shit on my Tacoma and go to Alaska.
That's going to work great.
I did actually like that article.
I thought it does what I did.
It's a funnel of sort of yes, nos and limits of what you need.
You're not trying to tell people what decisions they make.
You're trying to help them understand the information they need to make smarter decisions.
Yeah, because they're always like, dude, would you get like, you know,
they're asking me to compare two things that have nothing to do with each other.
Would you get like a Cayenne turbo GT or like a Bentley Flying Spur?
And I'm like, what?
Why do people buy Cayenne's?
It's easily the worst car I've ever owned.
They drive terribly.
They're impossible to maintain.
They're ugly.
You can't see out of them.
They're just literally the worst car I've ever owned as a Cayenne.
What year was it?
It's like an old one.
It was a three liter diesel car.
Or the diesel one.
Everyone loved the diesel for a minute there.
So it was my wife's car and she was really on it.
This was when we lived in California.
She was the first person in California to go get the repair.
There's a three liter car.
It was a repair, not a buy back.
Porsche of downtown LA lost her paperwork.
We spent like three years trying to get that ironed out.
I won't say anything negative about that dealership.
It was so bad.
Such a fundamentally bad experience.
At some point Porsche squirt her on the phone.
She was just calling trying to figure out where her paperwork was.
She could sell the car.
We parked it for three years.
We didn't drive it.
Then the battery died.
Luckily I went on the owner's forum.
I realized that before I moved the driver's seat,
cut a hole in the carpet and removed the proprietary battery
that you can't get anywhere in Montana,
I went on the owner's forum.
It reminded me that I had to connect it to 12 volt power.
Otherwise the whole car would be bricked and totaled.
I did not total the car and change the battery.
The fact that I ran that risk is just obscene.
It's not great.
It's the same.
The car drove bad.
It didn't work for three years.
Porsche were jerks.
For me, vision out of a car is really important
because you can't see.
You can't drive what you can't see.
You can't see out of them.
I don't know if anybody buys a Cayenne.
I don't have the vision.
If you want an SUV, a fast one,
for whatever reason, just to flaunt your credit score,
buy Range Rover Sport.
They drive so much better.
They're cool. They look better.
You see out of them.
The visual thing,
seeing out of them is not a problem.
I may get a hybrid Cayenne
with a warranty.
I need to tow something.
Why don't you just get a super duty?
Fuck out of here.
I live in Los Angeles, dude.
I don't live in fucking green acres.
Don't you own a car storage facility?
Dude, you don't parking for a super duty?
No.
Really?
No.
I have very little surface level outside parking.
How much weight are you going to tow?
What kind of race car are you going to tow?
Can you tow your Countach?
We've talked about this in the show a lot.
We don't need to have this debate on the show.
But I've got a relatively light weight
enclosed trailer for Brian James' trailers.
It's 2,500 pounds.
It's aerodynamic.
It's 2,500 pounds.
How much weight are you putting in it?
Almost never more than 3,500 pounds.
So you're totaling 6,000 pounds?
6,500.
So what's the towing capacity on a Cayenne hybrid, 7,000?
7,800.
That's way too close to the limit.
That's going to be like going for the grapevine,
like doing all that stuff like the Royal Springs.
It's going to be sketchy as hell.
I disagree.
Get a diesel truck.
I do not want.
Get some of the tows 40,000 pounds.
I absolutely do not want that.
You don't want to even notice it's back there.
I don't want that.
I do not want that.
I tow.
I would rather have a slightly less optimized tow vehicle
that's much better for the 95% of the time it's not towing anything.
I do not want to drive a fucking giant ass pickup truck around LA.
So why don't you just buy a 10-year-old Super Duty
and park it somewhere and only use it for towing?
Towing is so sketchy when the car is not behind its head.
I tow all the time and it's a nightmare in a car that can't do it.
I don't have to do this.
All I have to do is get seven different press cars and try towing with them.
Great.
From the SUVs I want.
Chris, you're just going to afford a Super Duty press car
because of how you need to tow a wheel.
Today I just got an email asking with a list of the new Super Duties.
I can borrow one.
Great.
Look, I understand the argument.
It's just I don't necessarily subscribe to the more is more.
For towing more is more.
I know, but it's not that much weight.
I think for a dear reader, the best advice I can possibly give to you
is to try to double the weight of your tow vehicle
with your capacity.
You're going to have such a dear time.
I understand.
Your car is going to be more stable.
You're going to get better fuel economy.
I used to tow.
It's going to be way safer.
20 years ago I towed with a 3,500 diesel.
Yeah.
Dodge, 3,500 diesel.
Smart.
The Cayenne Hybrid makes more horsepower and torque.
Great.
It's wheelbase is this long.
That's not a big deal.
It's not that big of a trailer.
It's wheelbase.
It's not that big of a trailer.
Wheelbase creates stability.
It also has a big fucking battery pack.
Weight helps.
More weight over the rear axle.
The weight is in between.
It's in front of the rear axle.
What's the weight balance in that car?
I mean, I don't know exactly.
Is it 50-50 like they're supposed to be or something close thereof?
I do not know.
What's your tongue weight on the Cayenne Hybrid?
750 pounds?
I don't know offhand.
But I know I can tow this trailer.
But like, I don't know.
It's going to be sketchy.
I'm going to try it before I buy it.
It's going to suck.
I'm not going to throw $75,000, $80,000.
You're doing this going down the green line.
I towed my Manx to Pebble Beach with a Bentayga and it was chill.
Well, Bentaygas are sick cars.
It was extremely chill.
It was extremely chill.
I also, man, I read your, you and a couple of people that I read, particularly Garbage Day,
have talked about the sort of the stupidity and malice of the social media government.
The fact that ICE is like terrorizing people for content is like real crazy.
The purpose of ICE has nothing to do with immigration.
That's just like the cover story.
The purpose of ICE, like today, not originally.
The ICE was created during the George Bush administration.
It was like to give money to Dick Cheney and Donald Roosevelt.
It's a great cause.
No notes there.
Dick Cheney's got to eat man.
Dick Cheney needs a third heart.
I just never had anything to do with immigration, but today it has even less to do with immigration than ever before.
The entire purpose of ICE is to manufacture a violent insurgency against the American government
so that Trump can be justified in invoking the Insurrection Acts.
Which he's tried to do so many times.
Yeah, he's tried to do so many times.
He's tried to invoke the Insurrection Acts to declare martial law and then use that to shut down the elections and stay in power for a third term.
Like there's a lot of people who I read that say that basically that that was what January 6 was like supposed to be.
Like basically they wanted all those lunatics to fight quote Antifa.
Yes, exactly.
Antifa's not real.
Antifa's not real and these people are such fucking morons.
So those guys, our collective memory of January 6 is now about a bunch of fucking morons invading the capitol.
They were never supposed to invade the capitol.
They were there to create a street war with the millions of Antifa blue-haired liberals that were descending upon Washington D.C. and Donald Trump's imagination.
They were real.
And then because of that street violence he could have again invoked the Insurrection Act, the current martial law and prevented the election from being certified.
Right.
And so we saw a test run for it then.
It didn't work.
He didn't go to prison somehow.
And so he's trying that again now.
And so the big takeaway here is that as we resist ICE deployments, as we protest, as we do that stuff, we have to resist the urge to do any sort of violence, which believe me that urge is there because that will give him the excuse to deploy the military.
Because that's the whole point is just poking the bear.
Yes.
And then creating this, you know, turning whatever like tiny little nothing arrest into some piece of content.
Yes.
Remember that Nazism wasn't about persecuting Jews or sending them to gas chambers.
Nazism was about, you know, collecting power.
Yeah.
And it did that and, you know, fascist regimes collect power by villainizing the weakest members of society that are least able to defend themselves.
And so right now who are the weakest members of society least able to defend themselves?
Immigrants and trans people.
Yeah.
Right.
And so by villainizing those people and by inspiring violence against them, what they're trying to do is have normal people like you and I go, wait a second, that person can't defend themselves.
I should stand up for them and then go out and beat up a cop.
Yeah.
And then that video of like you beating up a cop to defend, you know, some immigrant family on their way to church being rounded up.
It goes on Tucker Carlson.
And then the 82nd Airborne is, you know, stealing your Bentley and, you know.
Well, there's multiple shows.
I mean, John Oliver just did it and fucking some more news just did it with that Nick Shirley guy who made this bullshit video about the childcare centers in Minneapolis and like the chain of events that led directly from that to like sending in the fucking truth.
Yeah.
I mean, it's wild how stupid that is.
You take some little like incel pervert who can't get laid.
And for some reason, a childcare doesn't want some little incel pervert in their childcare.
And that's suddenly evidence of like, you know, Somali corruption.
Like where does that make sense?
Where does that make sense at any level?
It's all so stupid.
And just it's just Hamilton Nolan writes about this really well.
But it's just these fucking morons.
How are they in charge?
Yeah, because we're all too busy to run for office by having great careers.
And we sold our, you know, we sold our our convenient, you know, we sold our privacy and we sold everything for convenience.
And now they and now they've now they've got us.
Let's go to the people.
Hang on.
Read your questions.
Patreon.com slash the Smogntire podcast is how you support the show, how you catch the show when it's live.
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How you ask questions for the show, how you get the show early, how you get extra show and how you get exclusive access to all kinds of cool fun collabs and things that we do.
And by the way, shout out to this Montana bourbon, whatever it's called Montana 1889.
Everything here is called the same thing.
It's all trying to play until like the fucking family bullshit.
It's just like, come on.
We're a little more dynamic than just like a bad image of a rancher.
Yeah, right.
The swinging tire says, can West recommend a place in the Northeast good for outdoor activities, hunting and camping?
Yeah, I mean, the Northeast is wonderful.
I would head to, I would head to Maine and just get on X off road, the app and it'll it'll it'll lead you.
On X is good on X off road.
It's just it's like $19 a year.
It's great and head up to like Northern Maine.
It's just it's just tons of logging roads with little patches of public in there.
And you can just find your own little slice of heaven really easy in there using again on X offer or show exactly where that is.
I've done a bunch of the back country discovery routes.
Yes, those are rad.
Yeah, those are good.
How do you like your tour eggs in the morning says what's the most breaking force you've ever felt in a car?
Mustang GT3 Le Mans car for me.
Did you ever do some crazy shit?
It's been so long.
I've done the car.
You don't do sports cars.
I used to.
I mean, like, I don't know.
The last sports car you reviewed.
That's been so long.
I mean Corvette ZR1, Lexus LFA.
Yeah, that was like 2011.
Yeah.
C6 ZR1.
Yeah.
It was a pretty good time to bow out.
Yeah.
Eric Cool Testicles says Doug Demuro recently made a video about the most important cars the last 30 years.
His top three were Tesla Model S, Toyota Prius, and Mercedes ML 320.
Agri or disagree?
Interesting choices.
I fully agree on Tesla Model S.
I agree on Prius also.
I love the Prius.
The new Prius is dope.
Dude, it's sick.
But honestly, the Prius forever has been up here, there's a lot of income inequality.
So we talk about stealth wealth a lot and you don't want to flex here.
You want a car that gets you across socioeconomic divides.
And if you want that anywhere in the country, doesn't matter if you're in Carmel, if you're on Long Island, wherever you are.
If you show up in a Prius, you're welcome.
At a dive bar at Ralph Lauren's house, whatever it is, you're fucking dope.
The ML 320, the reason he's listing that is it was the first car to use brake-based traction aids.
Is that why he did use it?
Yes, instead of locking differences.
I didn't see Doug's video.
Love Doug didn't see that video.
I guarantee you that's why he's listing it.
I don't know if that was because it maybe was considered the first luxury crossover.
It's not a really crossover.
It's a luxury SUV.
It was the pioneer of modern electronic traction aids.
Modern electronic traction aids are super effective and I'm a huge advocate for them.
I think most people don't realize they're on their cars and they don't use them.
So if you're in any sort of truck or anything like that that's off-roading, make sure you use your modes.
Put it in snow mode, put it in rock mode, then you'll get the replicate the function of lockers by slowing down the wheel on the axle.
Then it's spinning the fastest to match your wheel speeds and give you traction off-road.
I don't really disagree with the list.
In my personal opinion, I would put the Lexus RX300 as number three because it literally did that started the crossover.
Those were such unique cars because they were on that unique platform.
They were wonderful.
You know that my mother from the years of 19, well, she amassed them.
By 2011, my mother owned five RX300s at the same time.
I bet all five are still running.
I don't have the whereabouts of three of them. Two of them absolutely are.
But she had a 97 the first year, a 99, an 03, an 05, and an 09.
If you're shopping for just like a relatively affordable car that kind of does everything and it's kind of nice inside.
They're super cheap.
They'll never die.
The best year by far of all the RXs we had was the 05.
The 05 had the best quality leather, the best quality wood, it held up the best.
It was a new thing for them then and they wanted to try something really different and hard.
They put everything they had into it.
These days, a luxury crossover is just the most bullshit, cheapest components you can possibly get in a car.
Sold to consumers that don't know anything.
They're all terrible. They're all exactly the same.
They're all terrible.
But those first generation luxury crossovers.
They had a pointer to me.
The first generation R4 was super fucking cool.
The first generation on how to CRV, super fucking cool.
That first generation RX had the weight of everything Toyota could put into a vehicle.
That means something.
Yama Habibi, what is the first car Wes fell in love with and why?
That's a good question.
I grew up in England. My dad was a diplomat.
He and I were really into English sports cars.
My first car was a 1969 Morris Minor 1000.
It was the biggest piece of shit ever.
I think it had 30 horsepower, maybe 48 miles an hour.
That's rough dude.
I loved that car.
I learned how to work on cars because it broke down like twice.
Every time I went back and forth to school, it was just great car.
That's awesome.
This one you probably can weigh in on Mustang Geek says.
I have to show back story.
People have asked regularly like, I talked about a weight tax for cars.
I felt like, is that someone's dog?
Yes it is.
Because they've talked about increasing registration fees for EVs to offset the fact that they don't use gas.
I've been of the opinion and it's not the most educated but it's somewhat educated that heavy cars disproportionately damage roads.
100%.
I was even further clarified by Ali from Range Energy who said,
the transporters that are shipping heavy cars really fuck up roads.
A hauler carrying a bunch of EVs is really fucking up roads.
The question, that's the back story.
You've discussed a weight tax but what about higher fuel taxes instead?
History shows that when gas prices are high, consumers buy more fuel-efficient cars, lighter vehicles, etc.
It works in Europe.
Café becomes unnecessary.
Could higher fuel taxes be a market driving solution to this environmental and societal problem?
I have a simpler solution.
I think most public policy should be simpler or should be written easier to understand.
It can be really broadly effective if we don't make it so complicated.
Limiting tax loopholes of limiting the complicated tax code.
People like you and I benefit from but that hurts the working man.
The simple answer to getting a lot of heavy cars off the road in America and a lot of fuel-efficient cars is to eliminate section 179.
I actually am pro that.
Readers or watchers, if you're not familiar with section 179 is a tax incentive from the IRS that encourages you if you have business income to offset it.
To buy a car weighs more than 6,000 lb.
6,000 lb gross vehicle weight, not car weight.
How much can you ride off?
They've reduced the amount you can ride off over the past few years.
Used to be all of it.
It's less now.
I support getting rid of it.
The reason why every housewife in Dallas drives a G-wag and the reason why every general contractor has a Ford Super Duty on and on and on is section 179.
If we eliminate that and it's just fair market that you need to buy their own car instead of having a tax payer subsidize their car, they'll buy something more fuel-efficient or buy something lighter.
I am against incentivizing the purchase of heavier vehicles.
Specifically where people are seeking out a heavier vehicle for a purpose that they don't need.
If you've ever been in traffic behind a Ford Super Duty Platinum that costs $180,000, why does this truck exist?
It exists because somebody had a whole lot of income to ride off and they had to force to buy a really heavy, stupid vehicle.
So you eliminate section 179 and you eliminate any incentive there is to buy that.
I'm buying an SUV.
Do you fuck with UTVs very often?
I do.
OK, we've got a UTV question.
Listen and sometimes watch says I'm going to rent UTVs for a bachelor party in Gatlinburg in a week.
There will be nine of us.
I know, right?
Someone's losing an arm.
Someone's absolutely losing an arm.
I'm going to ask the second part first, the two-parter.
Tips for a bunch of amateurs.
And then part two is any particular brand or model we should aim for.
Brand or model won't matter.
So the problem is like UTVs are essentially like a motocross bike that appears safer because four wheels and a really shitty roll bar.
The mantra for off-road driving that's just out there universally is as slow as possible as fast as necessary.
But the problem is the UTVs are so capable and so they have so much performance.
It's flipped.
It's flipped.
It's as fast as possible as slow as necessary.
And so they essentially exist to kill bachelor party members.
I would just advise you not to consume alcohol until afterwards.
For sure.
And then just like realize that you're driving off-road in an unfamiliar thing.
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