5 Must Do’s Before the National Nipple Runs Dry

by Todd Walker

I hate labels. I’ve spent the better part of my adult life dodging bumper sticker nomenclature.

Prepping, survivalism, back to basics, resilience, self-reliance, sustainable, self-sufficient, homesteading, simple living, etc. all have a common philosophy: Taking responsibility for you own life. I wrote about chasing the simple life here. Sherpa Simple is…

Living in a way that is economical, sustainable, individualized, self-sufficient, comfortable, practical, resilient, and in harmony with nature and neighbors. It’s all about helping each other as we chase the simple life.

Weaning ourselves off the National Nipple requires time, energy, self-education, and force in some cases. And here’s the thing – the more we drink, the more we believe that the State udder will never stop flowing. We become addicted. Suckling becomes a basic right.

This is what the National Nipple will do for you

“Once the government becomes the supplier of people’s needs, there is no limit to the needs that will be claimed as a basic right.”

— Lawrence Auster

Even if you’re thumping your chest with pride for never wrapping your proverbial lips around the golden udder, we’re all affected by the overwhelming dependency bred into our culture. The State is the great equalizer dispensing fairness for the collective good. This arrangement is not voluntary. It’s sustained by force. “Legitimate” force.

If you knew the day our National Nipple would run dry, wouldn’t you live differently. It’s not a matter of if, but when. And ‘when’ happens, there will be more than a bit of bawling and screaming. Everyone will fill the pain – your elderly parents on medicare and fixed incomes, your neighbor working in the public sector, all the public school teachers (and there are a lot of us), owners of stocks and bonds, retired veterans, everyone. I’m not even counting those totally dependent government for food, houses, and cell phones. The reset will happen.

How could it not. The truth behind the recovery propaganda should cause some of us to begin self-weaning. The feral Federal Reserve will continue the train wreck by printing more fiat paper. The productive class will continue to shrink. It’s becoming more and more difficult for middle class families to provide basic necessities, much less save for that rainy day.

Retirement looks further away by the minute. The elites keep sending their handlers back to the kitchen to cook more numbers to keep the herd happy. Does this make me vigilant and awake or a conspiracy theorist?

You decide. Search economic collapse for yourself. Here’s a small sampling to get you started:

•             Personal Incomes & The Decline Of The American Saver

•             Comparing the past to predict the future

•             A chart proving that the MSM is lying about unemployment

The picture painted is scary. As people come up for air while nursing on the National Nipple, there may be some that begin to wean themselves. For those of you already standing back from the feeding frenzy, you need to get into high gear with your preparedness plan.

You may think I’m hardnosed or uncaring by my next statement. I prefer a sudden reset over a long, drawn out collapse. I never liked tip-toeing into our cold lake. I found jumping in head-first to best for me. My body adapted to the shock of cold water better with total immersing. Let me clarify. I’d prefer no collapse at all. But that ain’t happening.

You only have power over people so long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no longer in your power – he’s free again.  — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

The list of nations spiraling towards collapse is growing. What steps should Joe and Jane Average take now to build a hedge against financial Armageddon? This is not a step-by-step plan. It requires thought, creativity, and determination – no matter what your financial status. To answer the previous question, do what we know is the right thing to do. Simplify. Less is more. ‘Less’ dependence on the fragile systems of mono-crop corporate farming, fractional reserve banking, and our ‘sick’ care medical establishment.

Building resilience in these areas one step at a time will only increase your chances of survival. And may actually help you thrive.

While this list is not exhaustive, it points us in the right direction.

Food

Grow your own or buy from local farmers. Doing this will accomplish several things:

• Strengthen your local food system. These producers live where you live. Small family owned and operated farms will contribute to your overall health and resilience in return.
• Reconnect with your food and community. Build relationship with food producers that don’t live 2,000 miles from your house. Better to meet them now than after the balloon goes up.
• Save resources. The amount of packaging material and fuel is drastically reduced by purchasing/bartering for groceries you can’t produce for yourself. Find farmers that practice sustainable growing practices.
• Education. Many local farmers/producers are happy to help you learn how to grow your own. Plus, you’ll begin to know where your food comes from.
• Food storage you’ll actually eat. When you preserve the harvest from you garden or local farmer’s market, you’re putting away food that you’ll actually enjoy eating and not some pre-packaged, processed items or MRE resembling food. Dehydrating, canning, and proper storage techniques will go a long way in supplying your family with stores of food for the long run.

Health Vigilante – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

• 90% of what we eat is the cause of our chronic health conditions.
• Be your own health vigilante. Take your health into your own hands. This past year taught DRG and me that modern medicine is run by pharmaceutical companies. There’s a chemical soup in pill form for everything.
• Explore holistic health practices.
• Eat nutrient dense foods. Avoid processed junk foods. I recommend the Primal Lifestyle. Your mileage may vary.
• Regular exercise without being married to the gym. Develop a mindset of functional fitness. Lift heavy things, move slowly every day, and sprint (max capacity) once every 7 to 10 days.

Invest in assets and skills

• By assets, I mean tangible items that hold value. Look up Alpha Strategy. That case of ammo you bought last year was a good investment after all. 
• Focus on your strengths. You’ve got one or two skills that you’re very good at. Develop those even more. But don’t forget to add more resilience-adding skills to your toolbox.
• Barter is becoming more important these days. It may one day be a crucial skill for acquiring basic necessities.
• Learn permaculture. Hiding food in plain sight.

 Build Community

• Most of us don’t live in a rural homestead self-sufficiently. We live mostly in urban and suburban neighborhoods. Your neighbors will play a huge part in your families ability to survive and thrive in coming days. I’ve written some thoughts on the importance of neighboring here. 
• With proper planning and the existence of basic resources, your neighborhood is very defensible and livable in SHTF scenarios. More on this in a later post.

Housing – Living big in small places

• Learning to live big in small places (locally) means re-educating ourselves on what resilience really means.
• Simplifying your life gets rid of all the clutter. If you’re like me, that’s a hard thing to do. Letting go of things I’m going to do something with one day. It forces me to really evaluate what’s important. Prioritizing my stuff allows me more free time to focus on what’s really important.
• Consider downsizing your home. We’ve downsized twice since the housing bubble popped. Talk about freeing up time!

I’m aware there are many more must do’s before the National Nipple runs dry. This is intended to spark a discussion on adding to our list. Please feel free to comment on the list and add your valuable insight. Or email me your thoughts via the contact tab at the top of my blog.

Follow me on Twitter for the latest on our journey to self-reliance, preparedness, and resilient living: @SurvivalSherpa

Related articles

• Time To Plan For The Worst Rather Than Hope For The Best (personalliberty.com)

A Warning for Prepared Parents About Public Schooling

by Todd Walker

“I’m selling my baseball cards.”

English: The famous Honus Wagner T206 card, circa 1910. Français : La célèbre carte de baseball T206 Honus Wagner. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If only I owned this card

Dirt Road Girl was shocked.  She’s witnessed me lugging storage boxes from attic to shop to moving trucks for years.  They were my “precious”.  They ranged from the 1970’s to 2002.

Can’t remember when the hologram cards came out, but I never really liked them much. I bet they would have looked cool in my bicycle spokes growing up.  A hologram is “an image of technically sophisticated refraction purporting to be a solid due to its 3-D appearance.”  Another definition is “a document falsely representing itself as an accurate metaphor.”

English: “Aleph 2 (8X10 in.)” Hologram by Eric Leiser (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What we have in American schools is a hologram of education.  If schools were one of those fancy hologram baseball cards, you could hold it up at the right angle and the light would reflect to make schools appear to be solid institutions of leaning.  Only the slightest twist of the wrist changes the image into a new look.  Kind of like schools today.

This sophisticated refraction we call education, at its roots, is nothing more than the machine of the State to maintain obedience, submission, and supremacy.  The State is concerned about the education of children to the extent that VBCs (victims by choice) of government schooling become useful servants to their government and industry. I’ll be tarred and feathered at the lunch table when I come off Christmas break.

The governing intellectual elite hoodwinked the commoner and forced their will at the expense of the individual.  Taxes on the citizens were levied to maintain public schools as a tool of government whose purpose was to create an atmosphere of respect for America’s institutions.  Government schools eventually became an essential institution for the new experiment called America.  If they couldn’t control the liberty-minded adults that helped forge this republic, Uncle Sugar decided to use the force of government to indoctrinate their children.  Feel the creepiness up your spine yet?

Aristotle said, “All who have meditated on the act of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.”  The State is very concerned about your children.  Children belong to the State.  Parents are guardians to simply provide food, clothing and shelter similar to slave quarters of old.  Don’t believe me?  Try resisting.

Let’s stroll through one case of resisting law.

The idea of the judicial branch of our government balancing justice gives us warm-fuzzy feelings.  Reality, if you’re able to stomach it, paints another picture.  If you resist the State Compulsory Attendance Law on the basis it violates your natural rights as an individual to raise and educate your children in the way you see fit, you’ll be pursued and prosecuted – not for your beliefs, but for contempt of the law or court.  The State has little patience for  contumacious parents.  Just the threat of legal force to arrest is enough to bring compliance. If you’re a hard case and resist enough, the State will kill you.

The story of John Singer can be found here, and here.  Hidden at #1,909,423 on Amazon is “Death of an American: The killing of John Singer” by David Fleisher.  The ranking does not reflect the value of the story.

The Singer’s broke the “law” by refusing to subject their children to collectivist’s ideals and corrupting influence of State mandated schooling.  Charged by the State with “contempt of court” and “criminal neglect”, unsuccessful attempts were made to arrest the bandit Singer.  Singer defended himself from physical assault by the tax-feeders.  The State, hellbent on saving face, issued a “felony warrant” which allowed the hired-guns of the court to use any means necessary to bring fugitives to justice.  Deadly force is preferred.

The State’s death wish came true on the morning of January 18, 1979 when a jack-booted-thug of the State fired a blast of buckshot into the back of Singer, ending the “renegade’s” life.  The benevolent State was only interested in saving the “neglected” children.

A more recent story of State child snatchers illegally kidnapping a child who has been home schooled her entire life.   The mother won this round, but it ain’t over yet.  Child Protection Services and the State prosecutor were knocked down but not out.

Embarrassed, prosecutors are gearing up for another siege on the physically handicapped child and her family.  They used a SWAT team the first try.  Maybe they’ll just burn ’em out next time.

It’s not nice to flaunt individualism in the face of the State mafia.  “Family Court Judge Lynne Pierce told Assistant Attorney General Deborah Carley, who complained it appears the girl has never received anything other than homeschooling her entire life, she is not barred from pursuing criminal truancy charges if she feels the parents are flouting state law that required the education of children.”

How dare this mom.  She believes she has a right to make medical and educational decisions for her own child. This brave mom simply needs to be educated by past educrat elitists.

A big Hat Tip to my friend at Durable Faith for sharing this with me. Below are a few quotes taken  from Sheldon Richman’s book, Separating School & State: How To Liberate American Families.

Chapter 3: Why There Are Public Schools – Read the entire chapter here.

Let our pupil be taught that he does not belong to himself, but that he is public property. Let him be taught to love his family, but let him be taught at the same time that he must forsake and even forget them when the welfare of his country requires it. – Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence

As Horace Mann put it, “We who are engaged in the sacred cause of education are entitled to look upon all parents as having given hostages to our cause.”

For John Dewey, the mission of education was sacred: “The teacher always is the prophet of the true God and the usherer-in of the true Kingdom of God.”

William H. Seawell, professor of education at the University of Virginia, got caught in that position in 1981. He said, “Public schools promote civic rather than individual pursuits” and, “We must focus on creating citizens for the good of society.” But most startlingly, he said, “Each child belongs to the state.”

Any parent wishing to build preparedness, self-reliance, individualism, abstract thinking should take heed of the intended, but unspoken, consequences of government schooling. As John Taylor Gatto states, “the purpose of state schooling was not intellectual training but the conditioning of children “to obedience, subordination, and collective life.”

Proceed with caution my preparedness friends.

Recommended reading for prepared parents:

H/T to Durable: How Psychiatry & Modern Psychology Subvert Education, and Harm Children and Society

Separating School & State: How to Liberate America’s Families. Book: In Separating School & State, Sheldon Richman effectively and comprehensively analyzes the failures of public schooling in America and explains the ideas and ideology behind the case for compulsory education.

Follow me on Twitter for the latest on our journey to self-reliance, preparedness, and resilient living: @SurvivalSherpa

 

8 Warning Signs of Cranial-Rectal Inversion and Little-Known Cures

Many have died from this dreaded condition. Sufferers spend their entire lives in a dark, robotic bliss.

You’ve seen them. People that look like one of the Queen’s Guards standing at attention outside Buckingham Palace thinking about his upcoming fully probing physical. With robot like precision, they carry out their assigned duties.

Being a former Cranial-Rectal Inversion sufferer, it is my duty, as your new friend, to share my little-known self-healing techniques to assist with the labor of prying – saving you from this chronic wasting condition. The truth will set you free – or maybe not.

Photo credit

First, let me explain my short list of symptoms for CRI.

• You believe the talking heads on TV and talk radio are simply reporting the facts – even the “fair and balanced” guys. We report, you decide. You toss logic and emotionally defend your side even if it’s wrong.
• You think your doctor prescribes drugs from Big Pharmaceutical companies because they have a ‘proven’ track record. Follow the money.
• You think your vote counts in our two-party system.
• You think your Government is set up to serve you – even rescue you.
• You believe the Federal Reserve is a government agency and Keynesian economics is enlightened thought and money policy.
• You believe the USDA’s food plate (formerly known as the Food Pyramid) run by the Industrial Food Machine is healthy eating.
• You think public schooling equals education.
• You believe “It could never happen here.”

If you feel you are experience severe discomfort in the cranial or rectal regions by simply reading this short list…

STOP READING NOW! There is no danger ahead. Go back to sleep.

For brave souls seeking relief, let’s continue.

As many of you know, I’m a government school teacher by day and an inconvenient irritant. The truth is very irritating to CRI sufferers – but the only cure. It’s like the small grain of sand in your shoe. You must stop, remove your shoe, and search for the source of irritation if you are to continue your journey in conventional comfort. Most afflicted patients toss the small speck, lace up their shoe, and continue in their delusional race. Tiny irritants happen for a reason. Why not sit with your shoe off for a moment to consider the true source of your discomfort.

I’ll say this up front. Healing won’t happen instantly. In my case, it’s taken gradual steps over a number of years. You’re probably sharper than me, so you may get there faster. With shoe in hand, ponder some truth.

Everything is rigged against you. Government, schools, media, Big Food, Big Pharma, and even our beloved Constitution. Even the one document that this country was established to follow is broken – thanks to Big Government Federalists. These clever puppet masters built-in the needed loopholes in our Constitution for government to do what it does best – coerce. The oppressor will not ever let go of the oppressed. In Patrick Henry’s words, “Will the oppressor let go of the oppressed? Was there ever an instance?” NO.

Henry’s Anti-Federalist speak was proven right when Washington crushed the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. He sent in his standing army on American soil to force its will on the people it supposedly served. The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 made criminals of anyone criticizing the government. What we are shouting about concerning the latest gun grab is nothing more than a continuation of gradualism which began at our nations birth. Never forget: Government equals force.

I don’t write this article with moral superiority or my nose turned up at those trapped in Cranial-Rectal Inversion. Quite the opposite. The system or matrix we live in creates the proper conditions in our Petri dish for this disorder to flourish. A conscious effort to pry cranium from rectum is required to be truly disease free.

My purpose here is to offer little-known cures to put you on the path of freedom, self-ownership, preparedness, and resilient living. These are only a few CRI antidotes that delivered me. I hope they’ll help other CRI sufferers. For those chronic CRI-ers, getting over the denial will be your first hurdle. Don’t give up. Keep following the rabbit hole my friend.

“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”

-Albert Einstein

1.) Recommended CRI cure for believers in the creature called the State. “We’re from the government and here to help” is hummed from CRI bowels world-wide. Spoken often enough, coupled with the bad odor of public schooled ignorance, the masses embrace and believe the lie. If you’re having trouble keeping up with all the things your government is telling you to be afraid of, check out the links below. Stop living in fear of horrible make-believe hobgoblins.

• LewRockwell.com
• Hologram of Liberty
• Strike The Root
• Zero Hedge
• Whiskey & Gunpowder
• Starving the Monkeys

2.) Recommended CRI cure for compulsory government-controlled schooling. If your gut is telling you “something just ain’t right” about these minimum security K-12 facilities, I urge you, as an insider, to follow your gut and withdraw (save) your children from the one-size-fits-all brainwashing factories. I’ve sounded alarms in the past: here, here, and here. The ship of schooled students is sinking. You are the life raft.

I talked to a former student not long ago who’s mom pulled him from the wreckage of government schooling in the 7th grade. He told me he has a new love for learning, discovery, and a sense of direction for his life in his pursuit of independent home education. There are no experts with degrees there to dictate what he is or should be interested in learning. He’s left alone – something the State schooling system simply can’t do – to learn things which interests him.

My oldest daughter talked to me around the fire pit last night about writing computer code. Keep in mind that she didn’t ‘study’ code in her four-year college experience. How could this be? She found it interesting and is teaching herself through open source information online.

This scene is being played out all over America as former CRI patients begin the deliberate process of self-diagnosis and begin taking steps toward freedom.

Still not convinced?  Add these to your reading list:

• Weapons of Mass Instruction
• Dumbing Us Down
• How Children Learn
• Deschooling Society
• National Home Education Research Institute

3.) Recommended CRI cure for Keynesian followers and fiat money changers:

• Ludwig von Mises Institute
• I, Pencil
• Economics in One Lesson
• Tom Woods’s Liberty Classroom

4.) Recommended CRI cure for the History you didn’t learn in school:

• 33 Questions About American History Your Not Suppose To Ask
• The Real Lincoln
• The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History

5.) Recommended CRI cure for doctor-knows-best and Big Pharma’s poisonous pill culture:

• Dr. Mercola has made significant milestones in his mission to bring people practical solutions to their health problems.
• The NaturalNews Network is a non-profit collection of public education websites covering topics that empower individuals to make positive changes in their health, environmental sensitivity, consumer choices and informed skepticism. (Mike Adams – Health Ranger)
• Beyond Meds – This blog documents and shares many natural methods of self-care for finding and sustaining health in body, mind and spirit.

6.) Recommended CRI cure for the “It can’t happen here” crowd:

Really!? It’s already happened here and is happening right in front of us – in broad day light. Our brazen elites aren’t doing a stellar job at hiding their slight of hand. War is peace as long as the drones are bombing innocents “over there.” The State has an insatiable appetite and must “protect” its subjects from terror. The official plan for domestic death by drone was leaked here. Oops.

Our most recent past and present regimes have bypassed and crushed our constitution for our safety. Or is there a more sinister plan? We now have a bogus war on drugs, war on terror, war on guns (and all personal property) – all to keep the individual on the State plantation.

Had enough? This is a very personal question. Each of us have our own personal tolerance threshold. We’re individuals.

The sad part about the “had enough?” question is that Cranial-Rectal Inversion blocks sound waves from reaching ears.

I didn’t cover cures for all 8 of the CRI symptoms. Time is short and I’ve got other things to attend to. Help me out here and leave your cures in the comment section.

Sherpa’s 3 Friday Links: Meat Chickens, Liberty Classroom, and Herbal Honey

by Todd Walker

Here’s what I found interesting this week.

Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens for Meat (H/T to Resilient News I think 🙂 – if not, here’s a link for you) A great article on selecting birds that aren’t chicken coop potatoes. It’s a long article over at Mother Earth News filled with useful advice and practical know-how, Gail Damerow’s trusted “Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens” will steer you through every chicken situation, from hatching chicks to collecting and storing eggs.

Liberty Classroom I’ve signed up for Tom Woods’s Liberty Classroom as a Christmas gift to myself. I’m learning history and economics my teachers never taught me in all my schooling years. For $100 bucks you can get a real education – not the watered down revisionist history taught in government schools. NOTE: The cost of this college level material is cheaper than the price of a quick trip to the supermarket. Learn real history and economics in your car. Ask questions of the experts. Become a ferocious debater.

Herbal Honey, Herbal Syrup and Cough Drops With a name like Susun S. Weed, she can’t help but be an herbal expert. Her article appears over at Nature Skills. Susun S. Weed is a world-renowned herbalist, teacher, wise woman practitioner and author of many books including Healing Wise.

Hope y’all have a great weekend. Keep doing the stuff!

Guns and Obama for Dummies

Here’s a nice guide I found over at Karen De Coster’s website. It’s probably too small for a tee-shirt. Smile and spread some cheer… And keep doing the stuff.

Guns & Obama for Dummies

Sunday, January 20, 2013

A Michael Ramirez cartoon from the Investor’s Business Daily.

Along with that, here is a recent viewpoint as expressed by Ramirez.

To understand why President Obama surrounded himself with a human shield of children last week as he ordered a tightening of our nation’s gun controls, you have to remember this is an administration that never lets a “crisis” go to waste. Nor does it resist the use of a superficial prop to divert attention from serious deliberation.

It also has a history of claiming urgency to pass solutions based on misinformation without careful reflection.

Progressives: Gun-Grabbing Cheerleaders and Their Plan for You!

Source: LewRockwell.com

Be Happy! Progressives Have Wonderful Plans for You!

by William L. Anderson

Recently by William L. Anderson: Progressives and the Phony Gun Debate

As one who does not care much for American Progressives, I do read their sites on a regular basis. Not only does that mean reading Paul Krugman’s columns, blog posts, and occasionally his television appearances. (I cover Krugman and other “economic Progressives” in my website, Krugman-in-Wonderland.)

Another site I visit infrequently is the Daily Kos, which is one of the most influential Democratic Party sites and receives huge amounts of daily traffic. The Daily Kos does not repeat Democratic “talking points;” it generates political talking points that later are found in mainstream publications and from Democratic politicians themselves. Thus, when the Daily Kos not only calls for prohibition on all privately-owned firearms and lays out the political and legal road map on how to accomplish that political goal, Libertarians and others need to pay attention. These people are serious and are willing to use violent means to accomplish their ends.

We should not be surprised that Progressives have this goal, nor should we be surprised when they deny it and call us “paranoid” and “whack jobs” for believing what Progressives always have believed: all individuals should be firmly and absolutely made subservient to the State, and part of subservience is being disarmed and unable to defend oneself from other predators. Only the State is fit to protect us, even if the U.S. Supreme Court already has ruled that police have no legal obligation to protect anyone.

The writer, identified only as “Sporks,” begins with explanations about why an assault weapons ban won’t have any effect upon crime in general or spree shootings in particular:

It’s nice that we’re finally talking about gun control. It’s very sad that it took such a terrible tragedy to talk about it, but I’m glad the conversation is happening. I hear a lot about assault weapon and large magazine bans, and whilst I’m supportive of that, it won’t solve the problem. The vast majority of firearm deaths occur with handguns. Only about 5% of people killed by guns are killed by guns which would be banned in any foreseeable AWB.

Furthermore, there seems to be no talk about high powered rifles. What gun nuts don’t want you to know is many target and hunting rifles are chambered in the same round (.223/5.56mm) that Lanza’s assault weapon was. Even more guns are chambered for more powerful rounds, like the .30-06 or (my personal “favorite”) 7.62x54R. Even a .22, the smallest round manufactured on a large scale, can kill easily. In fact, some say the .22 kills more people than any other round out there.

Again, I like that we’re talking about assault weapons, machine guns, and high capacity clips. But it only takes one bullet out of one gun to kill a person. Remember the beltway sniper back in 2002? The one who killed a dozen odd people? Even though he used a bushmaster assault rifle, he only fired one round at a time before moving. He could have used literally any rifle sold in the US for his attacks.

While one could use the above argument against an assault weapons ban, the Daily Kos continues with what it says will eliminate almost all crime:

The only way we can truly be safe and prevent further gun violence is to ban civilian ownership of all guns. That means everything. No pistols, no revolvers, no semiautomatic or automatic rifles. No bolt action. No breaking actions or falling blocks. Nothing. This is the only thing that we can possibly do to keep our children safe from both mass murder and common street violence. (Emphasis mine)

Although the writer says he believes that banning all civilian gun ownership will make us “truly” safe, it is hard to agree with such a statement, since murders and other violent crime still happen in countries that either ban civilian ownership or restrict it so that individuals effectively are kept from legal ownership of guns, including Great Britain, Australia, and Canada. The purpose, as one finds while reading this political screed, is for people the author hates – legal gun owners – ultimately to be imprisoned or killed violently by the police, as we shall see.

Like so many government actions that start out being “voluntary” and later become mandatory, the author calls for a national registry emphasizing “voluntary” compliance that then turns into something else:

Along with this, make private sales illegal. When a firearm is transferred, make it law that the registration must be updated. Again, make it super easy to do. Perhaps over, the internet. Dealers can log in by their FFLs and update the registration. Additionally, new guns are to be registered by the manufacturer. The object here is to create a clear paper trail from factory to distributor to dealer to owner. We want to encourage as much voluntary compliance as possible.

Now we get down to it. The registration period has passed. Now we have criminals without registered guns running around. Probably kooky types that “lost” them on a boat or something. So remember those ATF form 4473s? Those record every firearm sale, going back twenty years. And those have to be surrendered to the ATF on demand. So, we get those logbooks, and cross reference the names and addresses with the new national registry. Since most NRA types own two or (many) more guns, we can get an idea of who properly registered their guns and who didn’t. For example, if we have a guy who purchased 6 guns over the course of 10 years, but only registered two of them, that raises a red flag.

What happens at this point? Now the police become involved and the Daily Kos advocates the most violent approach to anyone who might technically “violate” the new rules:

Now, maybe he sold them or they got lost or something. But it gives us a good target for investigation. A nice visit by the ATF or state police to find out if he really does still have those guns would be certainly warranted. It’s certainly not perfect. People may have gotten guns from parents or family, and not registered them. Perfect is the enemy of pretty darn good, as they say. This exercise isn’t so much to track down every gun ever sold; the main idea would be to profile and investigate people that may not have registered their guns. As an example, I’m not so concerned with the guy who bought that bolt action Mauser a decade ago and doesn’t have anything registered to his name. It’s a pretty good possibility that he sold it, gave it away, or got rid of it somehow. And even if he didn’t, that guy is not who I’m concerned with. I’m concerned that other guy who bought a half dozen assault weapons, registered two hunting rifles, and belongs to the NRA/GOA. He’s the guy who warrants a raid. (Emphasis mine)

The recommendation here depends upon one thing: all government agents raiding others are armed, and armed to the teeth. The author, then, is saying that indiscriminate raids, which often end in tragedy and the loss of innocent life, are a good thing and should be expanded.

(We should not be surprised that the Daily Kos is a cheerleader for government violence. This is the same political blog that claims that socialism is good for the United States because it has provided war, the CIA, business subsidies, FEMA and…the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. At least we know what they believe in Washington, D.C.)

As for gun control, the author then demands an end to the gun registry, with a government campaign to tax, harass, arrest, and turn on the propaganda:

A national Firearms Owner Identification Card might be good, but I’m not sure if it’s necessary if we have a national database. We should also insist on comprehensive insurance and mandatory gun safes, subject to random, spot checks by local and federal law enforcement.

We must make guns expensive and unpopular, just like cigarettes. A nationwide, antigun campaign paid for by a per gun yearly tax paid by owners, dealers, and manufacturers would work well in this regard.

If that is not enough, then the government will turn on the hunters as well:

We should also segway into an anti-hunting campaign, like those in the UK. By making hunting expensive and unpopular, we can make the transition to a gun free society much less of a headache for us.

I know this seems harsh, but this is the only way we can be truly safe. I don’t want my kids being shot at by a deranged NRA member. I’m sure you don’t either. So lets stop looking for short term solutions and start looking long term. Registration is the first step.

My guess is that very few crimes have been committed by NRA or GOA members, but that is not his point. These people are different than “Spork,” and while they pose no threat to him whatsoever, the very existence of people who might have different outlooks on life is just too intolerable. They must be arrested or killed, but they certainly need to be eliminated. (And to think that the writers for Daily Kos consider themselves to be the Apostles of Tolerance.)

There also is another matter to consider, although I doubt it would bother the Daily Kos people or their fellow Progressives: Since police and other government “law enforcement” officers and departments would not be affected by this gun ban, it is ludicrous to think that many of these weapons and ammunition would not make their way into the hands of civilian criminals (as opposed to government criminals who are permitted to commit robbery, murder, and rape and not have to worry about being punished).

My sense is that the Daily Kos people know exactly what would happen, as armed criminals would go on rampages against unarmed civilians, with the police dutifully drawing the yellow chalk lines around the bodies. One also could expect civilians who did try to defend themselves and their families from armed predators (not police, just regular criminals) quickly and surely would be charged with crimes as they are in Canada, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand, as it effectively is illegal for people to engage in self-defense, even if their lives are in danger.

Progressives really don’t care whether or not individuals are safe in their homes, and if they truly believed that firearms themselves were the cause of violence, then they would demand disarmament of the U.S. Armed Forces and all state, local, and federal police. Furthermore, most of them know that the vast majority of legal gun owners in this country do not commit crimes, nor are they a danger to the public.

However, most Progressives believe that even the mere presence of a lawful gun owner is so odious and so evil that if the government cannot rid the world of those people, at least it can try to take away all of their firearms. My sense is Progressives will not stop there if they have any success at all with the latest gun-control/gun-ban initiative. As they continue to win more political victories, and as they continue to ravage the U.S. economy, they will become even angrier and more paranoid and more oppressive. Their end is a society in which the State makes all decisions for individuals, and their means is violence and more violence.

January 4, 2013

William L. Anderson, Ph.D. [send him mail], teaches economics at Frostburg State University in Maryland, and is an adjunct scholar of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He also is a consultant with American Economic Services. Visit his blog.

Christmas Lessons You Probably Never Learned In Sunday School

Lew Rockwell wrote an article today called “The Economic Lessons of Bethlehem.” He points out some very important lessons you probably missed while learning traditional story of the birth of Jesus – highly recommended.

Dirt Road Girl and I send our best wishes and blessings to all who have prayed for her healing and offered so much encouragement and support! We pray God blesses you with peace and prosperity in the coming year. Merry Christmas!

Still doing the stuff,

Todd

 

Tyranny and Cat Paws

by Todd Walker

Can you guess how many North American school children have died from school fires in the last 50 years? If you guessed a number other than zero, you’d be wrong according to Lt. Col. Dave Grossman.

Yesterday we had our last fire drill of the year -in the rain. In my school, every exterior door has a red, battery-backed, fail-safe emergency exit sign pointing the way to safely. We have state mandated fire drills scheduled to interrupting classroom time. Fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, red curbs, and unannounced fire marshal inspections are standard operating procedure. Fire safety is taught to children from kindergarten until they graduate – if they make it through the grueling 12+ year process of being schooled. Stop, drop, and roll if your pants are on fire. Mandatory laminated signs are in all classrooms mapping our escape route in case of fire. Firewalls and fire retardant building material add to the layers of redundancy. We’ve achieve a high level of safety where fire is concerned. The threat of fire has been reduced by employing a logical action plan that practiced. When the distinctive alarm blares over the school intercom system, everyone knows what to do, where to go, and how to get to safety. It’s automatic. No panic involved.

Just as Grossman described, our school is prepared for fire. How about an active shooter? Hopefully, we’ll never find out. He rightly points out that redundant fire prevention techniques have made our schools safe. Why have we not adopted the same approach to limit, or even stop all school mass murders?

The government schooling complex states that the safety of it’s students is a high priority. Our school has recently beefed up security by adding an additional armed resource officer in the building. The parents, teachers, and students ‘feel’ safe with more police state antics. Dependency on the State is the goal. The police state web grows more sticky by the day – or mass shooting event – or terrorist attack – or new strain of flu.

“For the children”, a hollow phrase uttered by statist politicians and media types. It’s dangerous to liberty. The dark evil visited upon the victims and families of American school children causes cognitive dissonance. Our human mind won’t allow us to connect the dots. What kind of monster kills innocent 6 year old children? Our moral and righteous minds grasps for answers and demands action. Whatever it takes to stop future blood from running in the halls. Looking for a target, collectivists aim at evil black guns. We have to give up our natural right of self-defense since the official story is that a “lone gunman” killed all those children and teachers. The approved media story is sinking from all the holes. They can’t seem to get the facts straight.

Elected officials and do-gooders scurry into action – naïvely pruning leaves and not striking the root. Make no mistake. The government knows exactly what its doing. Tyrants around the world depend on docile, conforming subjects willing to be ruled. Busy-body congress critters from both sides of the isle are anxious to treat another symptom to advance tyranny. Keep in mind that these same “VIPs” championing our next ban on guns are surrounded by armed body guards. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds. If it’s good for them, it can’t be good for mere mortals like us. Our lives, and those poor victims in Newtown, are not as important as theirs.

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

– C.S. Lewis

The three ring circus unfolding in the wake of the Newtown massacre paints self-reliant individuals who arm themselves as cold, dark, mentally ill, and sinister. The collective hasn’t wasted their opportunity to demonize guns. The politically-correct monkeys dance and scream for us to join the collective and conform. Be especially aware of the religious collective calling to disarm liberty minded folk. They’re sleeping with the tyrant. Their tax-exempt status must be protected.

Brace for the boot of tyranny. This time it won’t approach with cat paws. The 2nd Amendment ain’t about hunting. Prepare accordingly.

Related articles

• Shooting Spree: A Scare Tactic to Pass UN Small Arms Treaty (targetfreedom.com)
• CENSORED FACTS: Two Newtown Shooters Were Captured Alive (targetfreedom.com)
• The Tyranny of the Few . . .The Pain of the Many (johnrchildress.com)

 

How Government Schools Destroy Self-Reliance

by Todd Walker

I taught a kid one year that would get upset and start smashing his head against the institutional green walls. I was once guilty of this as well, figuratively. Banging your head against government walls will only give you a head ache and doesn’t even chip the paint. Schools in America are wildly successful in their mission. Before you stop reading, hear me out please. I base my statement on the founding principles of public (government) education. The truth, which slumbering Americans fail to realize, is that our system of forced schooling fosters dependence on the state. The confusion is intentional. Victims students are disoriented from their pre-schooled lives on their first day of schooling. Little Johnny is forced to give up interest led learning and replace it with the corrupting concept that learning only takes place by experts teaching him and 30 of his fellow captives. Some resist and hold true to their nature. We label and drug these non-conformists.

An Act of War

In 1983 the National Commission on Excellence in Education wrote:

“If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves.”

Reforming the system is impossible. It performs perfectly. The circling school drain sucks self-reliance and individualism down the sewer line.

Here’s how…

Tag and Track

There is no expectation of privacy in a surveillance state school. A Texas school district tracks its students every movement with microchips. Security cameras already blanket every move of students and faculty in the school house. Why track the herd with RFID chips? Follow the money. Attendance is tied to federal and state dollars to fatten the district coffers. Now government snoops can know whether your child is home playing hooky, boarding the bus, sitting on the toilet, or at that doctor’s appointment. Sadly, so can any pedophile or tech-savvy predator with a RFID reader. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. All in the name of keeping our children safe and secure.

At least they’re not implanting them … yet. Wouldn’t it be easier to just implant this device under Johnny’s skin? Don’t think for a minute that the-powers-that-be (collectivist control freaks) haven’t already contemplated it. Wearily similar to laboratory animals or livestock, students are conditioned for compliance. Made to be useful, but to whom?

The herd is conditioned to wear straightjackets built to restrict individuals for the good of the group. What if your son or granddaughter isn’t interested in algebra? Doesn’t matter. The collective knows what’s best for your children…and will force feed it to them – in 50 minute segments – on hard seats – while telling them how much they’ll need this in later life. If they’ve been taught the basics of how to read, write, and multiply, they can figure out how to cross that algebra bridge if they ever have to in real life. It’s not that difficult. The State just makes it look hard so only licensed teachers are qualified to dispense knowledge. This is only one dirty little secret in the educrat’s toolbox of lies. You have no choice but to play alone.

With a little digging you’ll also discover these myths promoted as fact…

• Passing a grade level equals education
• Life is supposed to be fair
• Learning can only takes place with State licensed teachers (arrogant monopoly)
• A diploma equals competence
• The government is here to help you
• Schools perform unconstitutional search and seizures to keep your children ‘safe’ (simple conditioning exercises for the real world)
• The pharmaceutical industry wants you healthy (mercury flu vaccines anyone?)
• Eating from the USDA Food Pyramid makes you strong, healthy, and fit
• You’re considered drug free in school if you’re popping ‘approved’ mood altering pills
• Reality TV and professional wrestling are real…and Elvis is alive!
• Individualism marks you as mentally ill
• The individual must be sacrificed for the good of the collective
• Thought I’d throw this one in for free since it’s election time… You vote matters

Resistance is futile. One contumacious student is feeling the Texas heat. “Andrea Hernandez, a sophomore at John Jay, said educators have ignored her pleas to respect her privacy and told her she cannot participate in school elections if she refuses to comply with the tracking program. Hernandez said in an interview with Salon that subjecting herself to constant monitoring through an RFID chip is like being branded with the ‘mark of the beast.'”

Shut up and take the mark! Quit criticizing our scheme. This is the fate of any individual in the collective’s grip.

Collective Sameness vs. Self-Reliant Individuals

Over two million families have made a logical choice to de-school their children. A few families are reading the handwriting on the institutional wall of forced educational tyranny. Our ancestors forged this country without compulsory pubic education. Somewhere on our amazing journey Americans gave our responsibility of educating our offspring to the statist gulags.

Taking responsibility for one’s learning or life is deemed irresponsible. I’ve lost count the number of times I’ve heard fellow teachers, with scowled faces and rolled eyes, disparage parents who yank their students from the grip of institutional schooling to teach at home. At best, they’ll become a greeter at Wally world or ride on the back of a trash truck is the usual tone of their comments. On the other hand, I’ve also heard a few enlightened coworkers declare that their children will never attend public school. They’ve experienced the mind-numbing, creativity-killing, one-size-fits-all school setting first hand.

I work along side with some the best teachers around. I see the hard work, extra hours, and dedication in their attempts to educate. Many burn out and either leave teaching or just go through the motions to preserve some semblance of sanity. Like so many in our society, most teachers have mistakenly assumed it’s our job to educate children. The system isn’t set up to educate. It’s set up to take individuals through a meat grinder to produce homogenized humans useful to the ruling elites. As Nikita Khrushchev said,

“Comrades! We must abolish the cult of the individual decisively, once and for all.”

Mr. Khrushchev, along with every other totalitarian dictator, placed a high value on indoctrinating young minds to create the cult of compliance.

That’s why individualism and self-reliance must be crushed for the collective to thrive. Resistance is futile!

Zero Tolerance Zone

Nanny state schools give us a glimpse into the mind of our elite rulers. Ideas are dangerous. Act on this ‘silly’ ideas of self-defense, self-ownership, healthy living, free speech, and liberty and the boot of tyranny soon stomps on your neck. Schools are no weapon zones (AKA – Victim Zones). School administrators across America must be told to never use common sense by TPTB (The Powers That Be). How else could one explain the enforcement of Zero Tolerance rules?

• A Tennessee elementary school boy was punished for waving a gun at his lunch table. No, not a real gun, wait for it…a deadly pizza gun! Administrators can’t have boys being boys. They’ve got to be melted and poured into the compliant mold. For his crime, he spent the next five days eating alone at the silent lunch table. If he chews another piece of dough into the shape of a gun and starts brandishing the pizza, he’ll get suspended. Whee, I know the parents and fellow students feel safe now!
• When did lunchroom ladies turn into the Food Gestapo? Recently, a 7th grader in California, wishing to eat something other than GMO laden lunches, brought a bottle of tea to drink with his home prepared lunch. One of the brown-shirts spotted it and alerted her superiors. They descended on the child and confiscated the contraband. The FDA label stated that the kombucha contains .5% alcohol and this violates the school Drug and Alcohol Policy. WHAT!? My fermenting homemade sauerkraut probably contains more alcohol than this stuff. Even the FDA says that it’s not an alcoholic beverage and is easily purchased by minors. Ignorance knows no bounds!
• Middle schoolers arrested for protesting dress code.
• Dropped cake leads to broken wrist and arrest of high school student and mother.

If a multitude is to be subjected to a plan, it must be militarized. If individuals are allowed a free choice, the plan is thrown into confusion. Bureaucracy, under an absolute ruler, or rulers, is necessary. – Dean Inge

The schooling scheme designed by intellectual elitist shapes individuals to be dependent on powerful others for all their wants and needs. Showing up to school is all that’s needed. With enough time and pressure, even the most self-reliant student is molded into passive objects.

Public schooling is so good, we’ve made it mandatory. Now, get on that yellow bus and be a good student (a useful consumer of collectivism).

What’s the solution? I don’t fool myself into thinking I have a solution for millions of individuals and their own self-interests. Don’t let politicians and bureaucrats fool you either. Families should do their own research, think for themselves, and come up with their own method of educating their children – and preparing for the uncertain future. Ask what’s best for you, the individual. Do you want your children to have critical thinking skills, voluntary associations, creativity, self-reliance, and self-ownership? These and much more are available to you if you search.

Class dismissed!

Keep Doing the Stuff of Self-Reliance,

Todd

P.S. – You can also keep up with the Stuff we’re Doing on Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook… and over at the Doing the Stuff Network.

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Freedom Outlaw and Hoarder of Light Bulbs

I first discovered Karen De Coster in February 2010. She’s a frequent contributor at LewRockwell.com and is solely responsible for ‘ruining’ my life by turning me on to the Primal lifestyle. Here’s a piece, shared with her permission, in the category of the-government-knows-what’s-best-for-you. Also a great picture of her shooting a BAR!

Keep doing the stuff,

Todd

______________________________________

Gawker Media Piece On Me

by Karen De Coster

Sunday, September 23, 2012

This article from Gawker media, which is centered on my opinions and writings about the incandescent light bulb banishment, appeared on Gizmodo on Thursday, September 20, 2012, complete with compare-and-contrast photos. Gizmodo is one of many weblogs of the parent company, Gawker media. I took no issue with doing the interview with this particular website on why the government’s ban on incandescent light bulbs is totalitarian, even though I had a gut feeling – very early on – that the author and/or editor would attempt to slam dunk me. And the author indeed attempted to do this, and only lightly so, but the straw man argument was not very successful.

In fact, the author and story editor had googled me and they came across what they thought to be an interesting pro-gun photo of me that was in contrast to the photo – me with some light bulbs – that I had supplied to them. I had no problem with them running the other photo, knowing that the slam dunk and photo reveal on their part would actually backfire very much in my favor.

First of all – to correct a few items from the article: the shorts I am wearing are not “daisy dukes,” as several observant folks pointed out on my Facebook page. They are 1970s-style, cut-off Levi shorts. Big difference. Additionally, the rifle I am holding is a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle), not an “assault rifle.” My friend who owns the rifle notes that the BAR would not be considered an assault rifle because it fires a full-size .30-06 cartridge. The “assault rifle” designation, which is always used as a pejorative remark, is merely an old ploy to paint one as a lunatic who is doing something that is in opposition to the uninformed opinions of the compliant masses (gasp!) that prefer following the sheep over the cliff in order to be good little citizens of the state. Since my blog clearly sates, “eccentric in demeanor and opinion,” one can expect that I may have a hobby or two, along with a thought or two, which are not approved by the masses who worship the purveyors of conventional wisdom from their dutiful fiefdoms.

Also, I am not an “unofficial leader” of any movement to hoard incandescent light bulbs. I am a lone writer, with almost no “official” associations, who has stood as an independent writer/blogger/researcher for fourteen years. I write what I see, and that includes both research and facts, and my ensuing opinions and/or conclusions are presented in various formats – serious, critical, humorous, and/or satire.

Read the rest here

Karen De Coster, CPA is an accounting professional in Detroit, MI. She is a writer of libertarian stuff, Primal/Paleo lifestyle, food freedom, Austrian economics, destroyer of conventional wisdom, and is resisting tyranny one word at a time. She has archives at LewRockwell.com and Mises.org. Check her blog out here. You can also follow her on Twitter @karendecoster.