Civil Unrest: An Element of The Change We Didn’t Expect?
Through Buck Says; I have been railing about the ineptitude of the Senate and Congressional leadership, politicians of all stripes, and the economic results of Wall Street greed. I have always been a firm believer in the capabilities of the American public to find solutions when the politicians failed us.
Recently I have been hearing increased fears of violent civil unrest on a large scale.
I have always dismissed those groups that were preparing for revolution as slightly wacky. Conversations in the past week have started to alter that opinion..
I have been involved in conversations with friends, acquaintances, and former business associates who are talking seriously about preparing for civil unrest. They are not advocating revolutionary action but preparing to react to the possibility of rampant lawless crowds threatening their well being These conversations were with folks whom I know to be calm, thinking Americans with lives that have been productive financially with professional accomplishments that are outlined in Google and other sources. These folks each have some level of savings that have recently been trammeled by the market decline but have each started to prepare for events that might trump the problems created by the market.
I had a call from an acquaintance to ask about farming areas in several western states and the suitability for establishing a compound that would support his family and perhaps a few of their friends. He is financially at the top of those acquaintances that have been expressing concern. I know he is serious since he has a jet chartered for several days in two weeks to visit farms for sale in several states. He and some buddies are going to consider a purchase. This is no nutty guy. He has enough money and figures that this is an investment he should make for as a provision to provide future means to keep his family safe.
I’ve also been in several weapon conversations with people who are upgrading their arsenal. I had no idea that recent gun sales were being spurred by the kind of people that have been asking me for comments about their guns. These are thinking people who are arming themselves quietly and taking lessons for effective safe use and spending an hour or two on the range each week until they are proficient.
These folks are friends but not neighbors. I live in a mountain area in which every neighbor has been armed for years. My household is probably the only one in my canyon that has no firearms. Because of my experience at one period of my life many of my friends think I am armed and ready. I’m not armed and am not totally sure “for what” I should be ready.
I understand unrest and know that there are various levels of unrest. I have not been completely at rest for a long time but never thought I should once again establish my qualifications as an expert shot to assuage some unclear threat. My unrest has been a little greater than the RLS problem (restless leg syndrome) I hear about on TV but not to the level that I felt the need to have a family mobilization plan. I’m a pretty old warrior and before I try to crank up I need to know who is the enemy, for whom I am cranking.
That is the part that my worried friends have not covered. Who is going to be shooting at whom? I am not going to ignore the concern of those that have been arming themselves and neither should the administration. There is a real need to calm the growing unrest and it does not involve trying to disarm the restless. There are some history lessons that should be reviewed.
It is not a good thing to have an armed population angry at the government. I think that is what happened in 1776. Thinking about that history lesson, maybe I should hit the range for a bit with the friend who wants me to give him advice. I may squeeze off a few rounds myself for old time’s sake.
If Obama recognizes what is now worrying me as a serious consideration, I do not think that Eric Holder should be involved in any population calming strategy structured by the administration. If my memory is correct while an assistant to Janet Reno during the Clinton years. he was involved in preparing the Waco and Ruby Ridge strategies, the kidnapping of Elian Gonzalez at gunpoint by federal agents and was an advocate of disarming the American population
While writing, I’m now getting really restless thinking about this situation. Have I been missing something that my friends have figured out? Maybe I need to be worried about more than my portfolio.
We are engaged in a massive global crisis. The world is rapidly changing. Everyone is uncertain and unsettled about the future.
We desperately need a way to marshal Humanity to solve our fundamental problem: how to regeneratively maintain our ecosystem including our own species. Frankly, nothing else matters: if the food supply fails, your friends are right to acquire the tools and skills of surviving in a dog eat dog nightmare scenario. But there is an option for global ecological (and consequently economic) success: we can invest in the technologies to ensure that the tools necessary to support a planet of 7 billion individual human beings can enduringly meet all of the basic life support requirements. If we fail, it will be oblivion. If we succeed, Humanity may acquire so much wealth that each us could be multi-millionaires. Since the choice is so stark, I am focused on imagining how to make the world work. Because the oblivion of rapidly drawing down the human population by any significant amount is so terrifying that I can’t imagine how to survive it: I only see how to toil to ensure Humanity’s success as an on-going concern on a little spaceship called “Earth”.
Do not look for the answer in Washington! Politics is always a backward-looking phenomena. Politics in a democracy requires compromise and caution because if you are wrong, you get thrown out of office. So it is necessary that individuals lead the government, not the other way around. So what do you see as the biggest problem that no one else is attending to? How do you propose we go about addressing that problem?
All hands on deck!
We can always count on Chris to do more than comment. I appreciate the thoughtful time he is giving to our dilemma.
I think that the comment that individuals must lead the government is dead on the mark. I am addressing the problem in the best fashion I know how to do and that is writing a blog. Hopefully it will stimulate individual action. Perhaps a gathering of thousands of thinking readers will start to influence positive movement in areas of our governing bodies. How did that old song go–Give me ten men who are stout hearted men and I’ll soon give you ten thousand more. Doubtful result, maybe, but it’s a start.I will keep plugging. America is worth the effort
I am one of those heavily armed chaps who is really just a collector and avid target shooter. I am always ready for home protection because a single thief is more likely than a hoarde of people with pitchforks and torches.
While I am worried about the direction of our country (i.e. our stock markets have had only two good days since Obama was sworn in), I am also optimistic that Americans will ultimately rebound. Think about this…Americans were fed up with Vietnam and voted out the Democrats. Then Nixon ticked them off, and here came Carter. Four years was enough of that and in came Reagan. Eight great years of prosperity brought in George H.W. Bush, but he didn’t keep the faith and was gone in 4. Clinton’s issues were more erotic than economic, and in came George W. Bush. Eight years later, the back and forth continues with Democrats at the helm again. They have already passed massive spending bills in just over a month and they are not stopping. In 4 years, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Republicans back in power of the House, Senate, and White House. It may happen in 4 years, it may not, but I still believe in the American people to catch on and correct course.
Anyone who is stocking up food and arsenals is paranoid. Anyone listening to that paranoia is feeding into self destructive ideas which may become action.
United States has almost 40 percent of the WORLD’s prime agricultural land. United States has the largest military in the world. United States is essentially a Democracy. Thank you Heath for having faith in our history and future.