I’m getting heartily sick of people yammering on about America’s “gun culture” (usually spoken in terms of horror and disparagement).
It’s not a “gun” culture; it’s a culture of self-reliance . For the same reason, we’re also a “car” culture, because while guns give us freedom (in general), cars give us freedom of movement. Just as we’re not wholly dependent on the State to protect us thanks to our guns, with our cars we’re also free to move around freely, not dependent on Government to supply us with transport.
Some time ago, I laughed at the way that liberal “intellectuals” (who are neither) and European weenies used “cowboys” as an epithet — little realizing that the cowboy embodies everything we true Americans love about our society: he’s on a horse (independent transport), and being armed, he doesn’t need the sheriff to look after him. Cowboys, by the way, were and are largely self-employed, moving from one ranch to another as need for the cattle roundups and drives changes — and we all know that the above-mentioned bastards would prefer that we all work a.) for the State, or at least b.) for companies and institutions (like colleges) that are under the control of the State. (The first system is Communism and the second is Fascism, just so we’re all clear on this topic.)
So when misguided children and malevolent gun-confiscators talk about doing away with the “gun culture”, please be aware that what they’re really talking about is making us all dependent on, and subservient to the State for our protection. For the kids, that’s an unintended outcome because, duh, they’re kids and can’t think past the next hour; and for the confiscators and their ilk, that’s the intended outcome, as per Marx and Mussolini.
The same, by the way, is also true of people who want to do away with cars and make us all use public transport, thus taking away our freedom of movement and subjecting it to government diktat. (It’s another reason why I think “driverless” cars are going to prove to be an abomination — giving up driving means giving up control of your own movements, eventually. Just watch.)
I once wrote that I don’t just want the freedom to bear arms, I want everything that goes along with it: responsibility, personal safety, freedom from government control, the whole damn thing. But what that really means is that I want to be part of a culture of self-reliance. And in the spirit of that culture, allow me to post the following pics:
…or if others feel exactly as I do, but would prefer to be All-American:
That’s my dream, and a pox on those who would deny me that dream, whatever their oh-so noble intentions.
Dramatis personae, from top:
- AK WASR-10 in 7.62x39mm, with a 30-round magazine
- 2018 Maserati GT 4.7-liter V8 (454 hp)
- AR-10 in 7.62x51mm equipped with, yes, a modifier
- 1969 Stingray L79, 327 cu. in. V8 (350 hp)
All four are, if you’ll pardon the expression, loin-stirrers for us self-reliant types — and objects of horror and loathing to the weenies (who would go with *911 and an auto-drive Prius).
I’m pretty sure I can guess which option my Loyal Readers would choose.
Just so, transportation and toilets are wonderful things, and both degrade when you put “public” in front of them (and I speak as someone who’s ridden some part of the NYC public transportation system every weekday for over 30 years).
The attitude of self-reliance goes beyond just cars and guns, it affects every aspect of people’s lives (whether they have or lack that attitude). For instance, a year or so ago my car burned out a tail light, and my wife’s co-workers were shocked to find out that I replaced it myself. They all said they bring the car to the dealer for things like that. Really, you can’t remove the four screws that hold the lens on, unplug a bulb, plug a new one in, and put it all back together? Not to mention that a trip to the dealer takes all frikkin’ day and costs WAY more than the cost of the bulb (at $200 an hour labor costs even a ten-minute job gets pricey).
I’ve also worked with computers for way too many years, and seen too many things go wrong that couldn’t POSSIBLY go wrong, to be comfortable with the idea of self-driving cars. And that’s before we even get into the idea of hacking, or of government control of movement, or whether the computer might decide that my life is worth less than that of the person in the other car who just blew a tire and came at me.
I am reminded of the car insurance ad of a woman proudly exclaiming that her son got home due to the insurance company coming to fix his flat tire late at night. Evidently kids today don’t know how to change a tire, which should be a requirement of being able to drive. Just another sign of pussification, IMO.
As for the anti-gun walkout protests, the dumbass kids are being used. Who’s financing this crap? I’ve heard Bloomberg is in on it, some say Soros. And the media are happy to join in, of course.
That commercial makes me want to throw something thru the TV every time I see it…..
Hell, the car I’m currently driving didn’t come with a spare tire.
I remedied that, but I doubt they’re teaching kids how to do that either. >:-[
Mine didn’t, either. It came with run-flat tires.
The head-hurter being that there’s not much room in the trunk…a spare, jack, and lug wrench would pretty well kill what’s left.
An anecdote from the past about the “space saver spare” supplied in a well known exotic:
The owner and his wife were on their way to a society event in “The Car” when a flat resulted. He got out and changed the wheel, but then discovered that there was no space large enough for the “flat”, which had to be held by his wife on her couture-clad lap.
I have a teen daughter who is about to start learning to drive. While the car on which she will be learning has an automatic transmission, I am of the belief that all new drivers should learn to drive a manual shift. They should also know how to change a flat tire, check the spark plug wires, change the air filters (engine & cabin), check engine, transmission, brake, power steering, etc., fluid levels, patch a leaky radiator hose with duct tape, etc., etc. It is all well and good that roadside assistance is available, but that service won’t be available at all places all the time. Maybe this kind of thinking brands me a Olde Skool Dinosaur. I don’t care. I’ll happily wear that moniker.
Even a check engine light isn’t that hard- they make adapters which turn a smart phone into a code reader.
And most sensors aren’t that hard to replace.
Don’t get me started on autonomous cars. I’ve been testing unmanned aircraft for over twenty years. Autonomous is hard. Autonomous done by a software company accustomed to using paying customers to do their beta testing…the butcher’s bill for this folly will be high.
I was really hoping for an AK and Trabant pairing, for cultural reasons. 😉
German made AK’s were not all that good, compared to the Polish and Czech versions – but, you have to admit that the Trabant set a standard that was hard to beat……to the bottom.
The worlds first compostable car! There is a great song by a German band (whose name escapes me at the moment) titled “A Goat Ate My Trabant.”
I want 911…the Porsche variety. Convertible, of course. One has standards to maintain.
Car #1 Gun #2.
Maserati is all you need to say. not dependable but noticeable.
As to the AR and AK wars, I have shot them both and I get more hits with an AR over an AK. YMMV.
If you look at the selective-fire versions, the intended purpose is obvious immediately:
The AR selector goes from SAFE, to FIRE (semi), To AUTO;
The AK selector goes from SAFE, to AUTO, to FIRE.
Between the two I’d also choose the American pair but given a choice and the fact that I’m an individualistic American who can buy my own damn car and gun, an M14 pattern rifle (which can be suppressed, though it is a little tricky) and a Mopar.
I was listening to a radio talk show this past week and heard the host ranting about John Dewey and his ‘progressive’ educational philosophy and writings, and how they are still widely taught in education classes for teachers, and prevalent today. Something about it being the purpose of public education to overcome the individualistic tendencies coming from outside sources (like family, church, life experience) and mold a social collectivist outlook that eschews self reliance.
Not having read said works I’m taking the host’s word for it, but it certainly explains a great deal of the herd behavior being exhibited now.