133 replies to this topic

[TVCasualty]

 

I can't imagine what this country will look like in 5 years, even without any more trouble.

 

 

I bet that you can if you really want to.

 

And that so can everyone else, more or less.

 

It's just that we prefer not to imagine such things because we can also imagine what we'd probably imagine.

[Oneyedraven]

Kinda gives a whole new meaning to the phrase hindsight is 2020

[Sidestreet]

 

 

I can't imagine what this country will look like in 5 years, even without any more trouble.

 

 

I bet that you can if you really want to.

 

And that so can everyone else, more or less.

 

It's just that we prefer not to imagine such things because we can also imagine what we'd probably imagine.

 

 

I don't want to inch us any closer to breaking into a John Lennon song, but I think it's important to think about the future in positive terms.  We all have some power to shape our reality.  Even if we don't all make a difference on a societal scale, we all influence our little sphere quite a bit.  Hope and intentionality require us to "think ahead" and act with purpose.  What is our country but the cumulative effect of all of our little spheres?

Edited by Sidestreet, 14 May 2020 - 04:21 AM.

[TVCasualty]

I don't want to inch us any closer to breaking into a John Lennon song, but I think it's important to think about the future in positive terms.  We all have some power to shape our reality.  Even if we don't all make a difference on a societal scale, we all influence our little sphere quite a bit.  Hope and intentionality require us to "think ahead" and act with purpose.  What is our country but the cumulative effect of all of our little spheres?

I agree, to a point.

 

The trick is knowing when it's time to accept that a trend has become unstoppable and it's time to get the hell out of Dodge, or to stop beating a dead horse before we end up dead too.

 

Hope untethered from physical reality is delusion, which IMO can be more dangerous than pessimism as it can blind us to genuine threats. That was the lesson I got from the cautionary tale of my friend's grandfather, who barely escaped the Nazis with his family. The rest of the family didn't believe things could get as bad as the crazy little man with the stupid little mustache was promising to make them until it was absolutely undeniable by anyone that he actually meant it (and the moment something gets so bad that no one can deny it tends to also be the moment when it's too late to do anything about whatever it is).

 

Grandpa and his family would have had a much easier time of it (and not lost nearly everything) had the rest of them been as willing as grandpa was to give up any hope of salvaging the nice lifestyle they'd grown accustomed to in Germany back when he did. Imagine if you have a popular and powerful neighbor and he writes a book titled I'm Going To Burn My Neighbor's House Down! It's like the difference between deciding to pack up and move your family to another state with the help of a big truck and some friends vs. being forced to flee outside in the middle of the night with only the clothes you and your family are wearing as your house goes up in flames a few years after your neighbor's book comes out.

 

 

Plan A ought to be to do whatever we can while we can to keep industrial civilization from imploding until we can render it sustainable since almost all of us will die within a month or so of an unrecoverable grid collapse, but history is full of examples where people were forced to go with Plan B if they wanted to survive. Which of course means that only those who had a "Plan B" and acted upon it actually survived (for the most part; sometimes a few individuals get really lucky). The catch there is that any such backup plans must be made and prepared for in advance of the disaster they are intended to address.

 

Hope and positivity are also relative. At some point "positive thinking" will shift from trying to save and protect what we have to trying to ensure that our species is not rendered extinct. And depending on what we end up facing in that regard, our survival could end up requiring a whole lot of thinking ahead and acting with purpose since it seems patently obvious to me that avoiding extinction among the few who survive a collapse will require a completely different approach to life and living than what's needed to prevent such a collapse in the first place.

 

So to learn and practice "Plan B" skills before they're needed is in my mind an example of thinking ahead and is motivated by hope, it just has a different focus (avoiding extinction) than hoping to keep what we currently have, which in any case is not really possible because a civilization based upon slave labor and over-exploitation of finite, nonrenewable resources is inherently unsustainable, and would be even if global warming didn't exist.

[FLASHINGROOSTER]

I am not looking to save the world but I think we can make it a better place for the people around us. Like you said our little sphere's. That's the stuff that we want to carry on into the future, especially if it's on plan B. Our sense of community and togetherness

It's all written down out there, they have been saying it for thousands of years. Love thy neighbour and shit.

The best leaders are the one's that stay positive about future outcomes while staying within the realm of possible. Skip the censorship for the good of the people and not be afraid to dish the hard facts that nobody want's to hear.

Like that planet of the humans documentary. The feeling you should get from that is that it's good thing, even if the sky's a little bit darker than some people thought. Now you can see the stakes a little clearer and think about realistic solutions. I got the feeling people were against that documentary because it crushes dreams. It would make people want to give up or something. Well if they are going to be shattered anyway why not sooner than later, get it over with and move on to accepting hard changes are what is needed to meet those goals. I think there is a dishonesty in the green community that has intent to do good, but actually causes harm. Kind of like that Therano's documentary. Just keep pushing that it works so you continue getting the funding and eventually the technology will catch up..

As soon as we can figure out how to make solar panels work without the sun, or store electrical energy in the earths core. Then all we have to do is learn to control the weather, and we will have totally nailed the wind and solar energy shortcomings

Guess I am a rip the band aid right off kind of person

Edited by flashingrooster, 15 May 2020 - 02:03 PM.

[ilikethings]

In the US assault rifles are highly regulated under the National Firearms Act first enacted in 1934 and amended in 1968 and 1986, respectively.  It is illegal for any private citizen to own one manufactured after 1986. 

 

It is legal to own an AR15, however.  AR=ArmaLite, not assault rifle.  It was Arma Lite's model number. These guns function the same as other semi-automatic rifles, but with "cosmetic" upgrades. 

 

It becomes a slippery slope when one group of people decides who can and cannot own guns. 

[I think you mean fully automatic firearms when you reference the 1986 ban.  Anyone under federal law can purchase a fully automatic machine gun if it was manufactured prior to 1986.  But they tend to be very expensive.  The fully automatic "AR-15s/M-16 style rifles that were manufactured and sold prior to 1986 are trading for around $22,000USD these days.  You simply need to pay the ATF's $200 transfer tax.]  The cheapest legal full autos are the little stamped "mac-10s" but even them guys trading for ~ $8,000.

 

https://www.gunbroke.../item/879332870  --  legal full auto mac 10 for ONLY $10,000!

 

https://www.atf.gov/...-53204/download (ATF Form 4 - $200 transfer tax form)
 

Edited by ilikethings, 28 September 2020 - 02:49 AM.

[makinbones69]

Bumpstocks... if u ain't got connections. Call it a day.

[Arathu]

Assuming people are arming themselves for protection (not simply a gun lover or collector)....Cover, concealment, marksmanship, and a 12 gauge shotgun with 000 buckshot and rifled slugs...... 

 

Learn proper tactics, DIPLOMACY, and for what it's worth MAKE FRIENDS NOT ENEMIES.......

 

Physical fitness and conditioning are an absolute MUST......

 

I'm an experienced vet and a lifetime outdoorsman, I do know a bit of what I'm talking about.......

 

I highly suggest the average gun owner NOT engage in combat...... 

 

Well placed shots from a semi automatic weapon, even a manually operated weapon, will by far have better results than maniacs with fully auto options......

 

A properly trained machine gunner will deny live movement through an area....

 

But this ain't the movies .....and personally I'm not concerned about their flatulence.....you're going to have change the constitution for me to even consider it....

 

I wish you all well..........

 

A 

Edited by Arathu, 30 September 2020 - 05:20 PM.

[bezevo]

i need to buy clp more guns

Edited by bezevo, 02 October 2020 - 07:51 PM.

[Wimzers]

i need to buy clp more guns

What you afraid of Bez?

[Arathu]

i need to buy clp more guns

Get a couple of good 12 ga shotguns and a new/used loader with powder, primers, wads, and shot......learn to load specialty rounds too....

 

Semi-auto .22 AND a good bolt action .22 with as much ammo as you can find....

 

A good crossbow with bolts and broad-heads.........

 

If I had the room I'd be loading .308 and 8mm....

 

I predict that trapping and snaring is a bonus skill set that will prove itself useful in the not so distant future.....

 

Mindless Red CULT and Blue CULT mobs are things to pay attention too........ 

 

I love it when people ask me what I'm afraid of......So my answer is: "jackasses on cellphones that try to kill me on the bike and wildfires"

 

A

[makinbones69]

https://ryancleckner...oting-handbook/

I just started with this book to hone my skills at the range. Is an awesome resource if anyone is interested

[bezevo]

I fear ignorant lefty douches that don't understand that the 2nd amendment is in place to protect us from an over controlling government  .like the lefty douche bag politicians and there ignorant Sheeple minions who want micro manage me ...POWER and Control . 

 

As i pointed out earlier  the first thing Hitler , Stalin and Castro did was confiscate all the citizens guns  .Burn The Books  then seize there other property , then ship the meek by the millions off to  forced labor camps , then murder tens of millions of their own citizens that might object ..

 

Again why the 2nd amendment is in place ..to protect me from Ignorant Gun Control B.S. and the Evil it leads to . 

now go ahead and poo poo that History   lesson..

Wake The Fuck Up  Lefty Sheeple  Pawns ,Shake off the Propaganda

.If you read  Hitler and Stalin they both said  the easiest to control and most vulnerable to  propaganda and control are the Intellectuals .

Lefty's your leaders Are Using You . to gain Power and Control .

 

i need to buy clp more guns

What you afraid of Bez?

Edited by bezevo, 03 October 2020 - 06:23 PM.

[FLASHINGROOSTER]

Thankfully there are rights to bare arms even if they are slowly being dismantled up here. Like Arathu said you can still accomplish much in the name of self protection with a shotgun and a .22 rifle. If the folk who have never seen a gun in their lifetime had it their way we would be restricted to safety scissors.

 

You mentioned book burning above bezevo, instead of the negative connotation attached with burning, today books are simply banned and shunned out of existence. That squeaky clean corporate approach is so 2020