# Is It Time To Oil The Tumbrel-Cart Axles Yet? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 24, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760 "2015-01-24T15:42:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/21 "2015-01-25T01:19:26Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > I’m a little confused about the rotating ballroom. Do the waltzers start and then it speeds up like an old-time gramophone at ever increasing rpm until they all fall down in a flurry of petticoats and penguin suits to the merry laughter of the manic host ? I’m sure if he was free to roam Delaware County today, Dupont would have one. …with long spikes along the outside wall. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/22 "2015-01-25T05:53:39Z")
I didn’t think you were supposed to _oil_ them. I thought the loud squealing of the axles, along with the general un-cushioned bounciness of the ride (and of course the jeering crowds hurling things at you) were all part of the deal. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/23 "2015-01-25T06:11:09Z")
I see no reason to be vindictive, a limo for that long ride to the Big Short doesn’t seem too lenient. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/24 "2015-01-25T06:12:45Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Maybe he’s feeling a pinch. Of the five houses two are for sale, one was just sold, and the other two I guess he’s decided to keep. > > I guess having just two mansions instead of five is his idea of a smaller lifestyle. But hey, at least this guy knows how many houses he owns. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/25 "2015-01-25T06:19:42Z")
The very least. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/26 "2015-01-25T10:53:38Z")
> [@](#): > > "The rich will never give away their property of their own free will. And if by force of circumstances they have to give up just a little here and there they do it only because they know they’ll soon win it back again. > > Don’t be deceived when our Revolution has been finally stamped out and they tell you things are better now. Even if there’s no poverty to be seen because the poverty’s been hidden, even if you ever got more wages and could afford to buy more of these new and useless goods which these new industries foist on you and even if it seems to you that you never had so much that is only the slogan of those who still have much more than you. Don’t be taken in when they pat you paternally on the shoulder and say that there’s no inequality worth speaking of and no more reason for fighting. > > Because if you believe them they will be completely in charge in their marble homes and granite banks from which they rob the people of the world." > > Peter Weiss - _Marat_, act 1, scene 23 - _The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat As Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade_ I should expect that actually knowing “[The Tumbrel Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=84503534&v=sGM5z-ydQsg&feature=player_detailpage&x-yt-ts=1421914688#t=149)” would instantly promote me from maintenance to driver. 🆒 CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/27 "2015-01-25T16:20:28Z")
What gets me in the mood to ready the tumbrel carts are the Patek Philippe watch ads in the New York Times (typically interspersed with articles about income inequality). Their pitch is not that you need a $40,000 watch to flaunt your wealth - no, you’re really only [holding it in trust for the next squally, spoiled generation](http://www.vc1212.com/2014/07/19/check-knock-heartwarming-advertising-patek-philippe/). I’m not big on yammering about the “1%”, but damn if those ads don’t make me want to unfurl the red flag and march on the Hamptons. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/28 "2015-01-25T18:09:56Z")
Personally, I kind of agree with the premise of that Patek Philippe ad. Modern mass production methods and Chinese production have made manufactured goods cheaper than any previous time in history. So I could own ten mass-produced watches for fifty or so bucks each. And they’ll work fine Or I could spend more and get one high-end watch that’s a masterpiece of mechanical engineering. As I get older and acquire more stuff, I’m leaning towards acquiring less stuff but acquiring higher-quality stuff. And those better goods might be worth leaving to my heirs, or might actually increase in value. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/29 "2015-01-25T18:18:12Z")
Granpa? What’s a “watch”? Oh, it tells you what time it is! Wow. Pretty cool, gramps. Can you get an app for it to access porn? ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/30 "2015-01-26T00:01:08Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Ah, to be Enrst Stavo Blofeld, when Davos is in bloom. > > [🙂](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderball_%28novel%29) > > Similies can be links, too. That was very very clever ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/31 "2015-01-26T00:08:37Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I’m not big on yammering about the “1%”, but damn if those ads don’t make me want to unfurl the red flag and march on the Hamptons. And once you get there, you’ll get a free continental breakfast! the breakfast is cursed ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/32 "2015-01-26T01:04:23Z")
We are really going to have to kill several generations of the 1% to truly get them out of control. The elders are the established ones, but it’s the young ones that need to die first. Painfully and publically. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/33 "2015-01-26T01:10:47Z")
No need for it to be painful. The guillotine was invented to avoid that. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/34 "2015-01-26T02:24:23Z")
Whenever I get tired of flipping through _Architectural Digest_ and hating the rich, I go to the grocery store to judge the contents of poor people’s shopping carts. Or I could go to a museum where a millionaire has donated a masterpiece, and a bunch of poor kids are there learning about it. Nah, too warm & squishy. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/35 "2015-01-26T07:12:59Z")
An injustice does not necessarily require mortal consequences or abject misery to deserve correction. And I see no reason to remain silent about an injustice even if all it does is get on my nerves. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/36 "2015-01-26T07:28:49Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Whenever I get tired of flipping through _Architectural Digest_ and hating the rich, I go to the grocery store to judge the contents of poor people’s shopping carts. > > Or I could go to a museum where a millionaire has donated a masterpiece, and a bunch of poor kids are there learning about it. Nah, too warm & squishy. Art is not didactic. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/37 "2015-01-26T13:58:48Z")
Maybe, but that’s more of a Great Debate than a Pit debate. To the OP, if we look at 100% of our species, not jut the top 1%, there are simply too many of us, draining and trashing our natural environment. So who poses the biggest threat? 1. a few thousand billionaires with their giant houses? 2. tens of millions of Americans who make around $100K/yr with houses and garages jammed with all their consumer junk? 3. Billions of Indians, Chines and Africans who all want refrigerators? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/38 "2015-01-26T14:15:00Z")
It does the 1% good to be forcibly reminded, from time to time, that they can be dragged from their mansions and torn apart by the mob. We are, I think, at one of those junctures where that reminder is needed. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/39 "2015-01-26T14:24:34Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > At this point, no more than six months in the Jane Fonda Self-Criticism and Aerobic Training Camp. Less. I just read a quote today how she sort-of apologized for going to North Viet Nam. Mostly sorry for the impression she gave that she “wasn’t supporting the troops” rather than the “aid and comfort to the enemy” part. Is she running for President or something? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760/40 "2015-01-26T14:26:27Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I’m not big on yammering about the “1%”, but damn if those ads don’t make me want to unfurl the red flag and march on the Hamptons. For me, it was touring Hearst Castle. Man, that place is decadent. Over the top decadent. Almost made me want to turn communist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-time-to-oil-the-tumbrel-cart-axles-yet/710760.md?page=3)