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Carpoolers by @halecar2 has become one of my favorite @punk6529 memes
- Seizing the MEANS of Production
- Seizing a negative Mexican meme
- Are we Carpoolers in a Digital walled gardens
- Seizing the MEANS of Production
- Seizing a negative Mexican meme
- Are we Carpoolers in a Digital walled gardens
My initial reaction to this card was muted. I had seen some of @halecar2 work, but didn’t know much about it. @punk6529 alluded to there being a lot of discussion with this card, but didn't elaborate on the details. On the surface it seemed simple.
I did some research to try to understand this meme better. I found a great thread by @exlawyernft that helped me understand the basics for Carpoolers. Take some time to read it.
At that point I appreciated @halecar2 work, but how did this fit with the memes? Why was it a pixelated version of the original work? Why was it animated? There was purpose in these choices. Let's dig deeper. 
This card could have been a WAGMI meme. It would fit with other WAGMI memes in terms of not being entirely positive. They highlight the struggle to reach success. @Kaejunni
In fact, rekt6529 could have been @halecar2 himself. Carpoolers was taken in 2010 and 2011. He tried to turn them into NFT's twice before finally succeeding the third time. It was a decade before he finally made it.
He embodied #rektguy in his NFT journey. Down, but never out.
However, this is not a WAGMI card. I was on the 6529 website when I realized that this was a SMP meme. That’s when the lightbulb turned on for me and I started to love this meme. Let me illuminate some of the ideas that I see in this work of meme art. 
As @exlawyernft alludes to, these people are literally Seizing the MEANS of Production...as in the original sense of the meme. They are working hard for their family with manual labor. What about memes though? 
I see The Carpooler series as a perfectly executed Seizing of a meme. It's Seizing the Stereotype Memes of Production. What do I mean? @exlawyernft post hints at some underlying racism, but a post by @halecar2 highlights the issues more explicitly clear
You can look at Carpoolers and see three things
- Lazy men hiding in the back of the truck, sleeping, avoiding work.
- Hard working men tired from long hours of hard work that sleep whenever/wherever they can because they are so tired
- Something in between these view
- Lazy men hiding in the back of the truck, sleeping, avoiding work.
- Hard working men tired from long hours of hard work that sleep whenever/wherever they can because they are so tired
- Something in between these view
How can 2 people have polar opposite views of the same image? Unconscious bias, the social stereotypes about groups of people that you have, outside of your own conscious awareness. We all have them. You need to be aware of yours. diversity.ucsf.edu/programs-resources/training/unconscious-bias-training
As a photo in time, Carpoolers can play on the Unconscious Bias (or explicit racism). This is how @halecar2 Seizes the Memes of Production. It flips a negative meme about Mexican's being lazy with photos that highlight the fatigue from their hard work. 🫡
Carpoolers is a great meme on its own. Why change it? Why not use a photo like the originals instead of a pixelated animated version? That's where we get into how it applies to the @6529Collection.
These changes imply that the narrative has shifted from manual labor in the original series to digital labor, or the metaverse, in The Memes. We are back to the fight for OM. @neonglitch86
In the digital context, WE are the Carpoolers. Every time we log into Web 2, we are a Carpooler. In social media, you are traveling to a Walled Garden to labor and create content that you do not own. Searching and shopping online creates data for a company to use or sell.
You are constantly traveling to different Walled Gardens. We are tired of it. We want an OM. @tylekki 
For me, the message of this meme seems to be Seize the Means of Production for an Open Metaverse. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe others have a different view. For me, the layers of this meme are great. I love it.
Thank you @halecar2 for hitting this one out of the ballpark. Brilliant
Thank you @halecar2 for hitting this one out of the ballpark. Brilliant
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6529 @punk6529
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Nov 28, 2022
great thread. nailed it.