Sump says...

So we stand to p!$$ off half the Sump readership if we publish our views about the upcoming EU/EC referendum? [See here for that story] Well that’s both encouraging and interesting. It’s encouraging because it suggests that at least half the Sump readership is actually listening to what we have to say (as opposed to merely looking at the pictures and/or falling asleep behind their handlebars), and it’s interesting because of what this email is implying. And that implication is that at least half the biking population can’t handle disagreement. And we disagree with that notion (we’d suggest that it’s more like 5 or 10 percent).

But firstly, Sump is NOT a motorcycle ezine, and never was. Sump is a magazine (or ezine) for motorcyclists. And there’s a fundamental difference there.

Sump is not just about bikes. It’s also about politics, religion, social issues, travel, legal news and cultural affairs, etc. There are no no-go areas. There’s nothing that can’t be said or discussed. There are no red lines. Everything is fair game. Sump is free to air. It’s not compulsory. It’s not addictive. And there are no log-in fields. We don’t collect visitor data. We don’t bombard Sump’s customers with advertising offers. We don’t engage in anything sly or underhand. We simply present what we have to present, and visitors come and go as they see fit.

But the day we give up saying what we think, we might as well pack the tent and move on to other pastures. And if Sump visitors don’t like what we say, or can’t handle our opinions, or can't accept a challenge to their own views, they can stop visiting and look elsewhere for whatever agreement they’re seeking. That’s the bottom line. The internet is a big country. And note that this isn't the Royal Navy which absolutely relies upon good crew morale (and at Sump, we don't have weapons stowed on board).

We don’t set out to please everyone. Actually, we don't set out to please anyone, except ourselves. We don’t pander to popular opinion. And we’ve got no fence to sit on. Life is all about politics, be it social politics, or legislative politics, or sexual politics, or politics that directly affects motorcycling in the UK.

The fact is, everything affects everything else, and if we feel that remaining in the EU has a negative impact on life in the UK, not least motorcycle life, we’ll say so. And we did say so. We wouldn’t go as far as to say we feel duty bound to voice our grievances. That would be too arrogant and grandiose. We simply had a king sized itch, and we went ahead and scratched it in public. And if Sump visitors can’t stand to see a fella tearing off a little flesh, they can look the other way for a moment. There’s plenty of less controversial stuff in this magazine (but watch the politics because it’s pretty much everywhere).

But is it really true that it’s of no concern to Sump readership how we plan to vote in the EU referendum? Well, currently the pollsters are suggesting that around 49% will be agreeing with us, which perhaps suggests that they’ll be glad we hung our colours on the mast and are trying to persuade others.

And if we’ve upset the remaining 43 percent (which according to the latest polls is the current average level of REMAIN IN THE EU support), it simply underlines the fact that this group is unable to take a challenge, and that’s a personal issue they’ll have to deal with. Or not.

But Sump isn’t for idiots. We like to think that we’re attracting at least reasonably intelligent people who share our interest in motorcycles and, broadly speaking, see the world the way we see it—or, at least, are interested in exploring the views of others.

And we’ll take whatever intelligent viewpoint Sump visitors want to hit us with. That's because our own opinions ain’t set in stone. Our views are flexible. Changeable. Challengeable. Debatable. And, in the widest sense of the word, questionable. We ain’t necessarily right. We ain’t necessarily wrong. At any given point, we just have a fairly well reasoned perspective. So do you.

At Sump, we absolutely disagree with continued membership in the EU (oops, looks like we’ve expressed a political opinion once again), and we disagree with the notion that we ought to keep quiet about it. As with everything else in life, we’re fighting our own corner, and this is way too big an issue for Queensberry Rules. The EU, one way or the other, is affecting the quality of our lives, and we’d be stupid and irresponsible not to do whatever we reasonably (and legally) can do to try and improve that quality.

On the other hand, if we receive well crafted (or even badly crafted) emails that persuade us to change our views, we’ll go ahead and will publish another news item headed: VOTE REMAIN.

But as of today, that ain’t the position. We have a website. We have an audience (well, after this news story we perhaps have at least 50 percent of an audience). And we have a viewpoint. So share that view, or don’t share it. See it our way, or see it your way. Get over it, or don’t get over it.

Either way, we’re expressing an opinion, and we’re still voting to LEAVE.