It should come as no surprise that two young men destroy their top-of-the-line cars in “pique”, an illegal ultra-short acceleration race, driven on flat sections of any type of road. What is strange, unusual, was that there were no seriously injured or killed when the cars crashed into a dozen vehicles. Besides, everyone knows where they take place. So, it is not big news, despite the fact that it spread like wildfire on social networks, that it happened on the path, excuse me, on Shyris Avenue in Quito, at a time when it is known that the officers of the order will have already cleared the road. Stages used on other occasions are Granados Avenue and the so-called “Via Collas”, also known for being built at a cost that could have included a fully developed race track and still have enough for friends.

Young people have always sought activities that produce stimulating chemical agitation, which makes them feel the fiery flow of life. These are extreme sports, bullfighting and other practices that bring them to the edge of danger. There is nothing wrong with that unless, as in the case we discussed, they pose a threat to third parties not involved in the game. The possibility of a “collateral victim” is unacceptable. A young man can destroy his one hundred thousand dollar toy in a safe space, if he wants to, he’ll just have to make peace with his dad… Okay, but here we come across another dimension and face other kinds of concepts.

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Big topics in 2024

We live in a society where the fetishism of motorized land vehicles is undoubtedly the most passionate devotion and perhaps the only belief. The variety of brands, models, characteristics, colors and prices deceives us. In reality, the car god, car god, car god and more people is one true deity, it is the most universal and accepted modern deity. Huge areas of roads and parking lots are dedicated to him. In order to please this god, sacrifices are made to forests, parks, monuments, which are destroyed or moved to maintain the flow of vehicles. It is like the Babylonian dragon, an idol that needs to be fed, and its main food is hydrocarbons… the fact that the electric motor has been imposed lately does not change the essence of history at all… This is true all over the world, but in Ecuador a new cult is emerging in a rough, cruel and undeniable way. The insecurity of our public transportation makes it indispensable; in millions of homes there are chapels dedicated to him called garages, where one or more incarnations of the great god are worshipped. It will be said that the practical factor, i.e. solving the need for transportation, is the basis of the new religion. This is the case all over the world, but the Ecuadorian practice occurs in a society that has lost all values, where religion is fading, civic values ​​have already died out, and public ethics have never been inaugurated. That is why a ritual was invented in which a valuable image of the car god, valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, is sacrificed in an orgy of speed and adrenaline. (OR)