Yesterday’s post about Britishland’s .gov SHTF preparations triggered a response in Comments about a post from the old blog. Here it is:
No Helping Hand
January 6, 2007
5:00 AM CDT
I thought I’d share with you an email exchange I had recently with Reader Jim K. from the Seattle area:
Years ago, I was a FFL firearms dealer. I was Clintoned out of my license (that’s another story), but I still have leftover inventory including an unopened crate of semi-auto AK-47s.
Recently, four young families moved up here to Washington state after making small fortunes in the California real estate boom. These people are all friends of a friend so I run into them frequently. They are all liberal, but not of the raving moonbat type. None of them are anti-gun, but neither are they much interested in fireams.
Last summer I mentioned to several of these Silicon Valley escapees that I had a crate of AKs (I love doing this – the reactions are usually interesting). One guy responded with something like “when things get bad, we’re coming to your house.” He said this as a joke so I did not think much of it.
Partially due to recent events (Katrina, the Indian ocean tidal wave) and following your and Instapundit’s suggestions, I have created an emergency “abandon house” kit and also stored several months worth of unperishable food. I have also urged my friends and family to do the same. Most have, to some degree.
Recently I was at a party with these four families present. I was encouraging them to make their own emergency kits and store food. Also, I described my efforts in this area. Once again someone made the “when things get bad we’re coming to your house” statement. This time it was not a joke.
They seemed to believe that I would feed and protect them in dangerous times; almost as if it was my responsibility to do so.
This pissed me off. I did not slap down the idiot because I really was trying to get these people to become riflemen and prepare for emergencies. I said nothing. Yelling at them would not help, but I don’t know how I should have responded. What would you recommend?
Well, you all can guess my response:
Tell ‘em straight: “You come to my house, you’re going to get chased off. It’s not MY responsibility to look after you; it’s YOUR responsibility to look after yourselves.”
Then offer to show them how to shoot, on the condition that they buy their own guns—NOT your AKs, but other guns—and offer to help them buy their guns.
If they refuse all that, tell them that they’d better pray that disaster doesn’t strike, because you’re NOT going to help them—you have enough on your plate just to look after your own family.
And about a week later, I got this back from him:
On Christmas Eve I went to a party where the four liberal families I previously discussed were present, and followed your advice. After bringing up the emergency kit issue again, lots of people complained and teased me (in a good-natured way) but as expected, the “we’ll just come to your house” meme reared its ugly head. I stated, as you suggested, that I would *NOT* help them in an emergency unless they first took measures to help themselves. This did not go over well. Much argument followed. The net result:
1) I am no longer welcome at any of the four homes (no great loss).
2) I am now morally equivalent to Hitler and George Bush.
3) One woman called me a potential child molester (I’m not sure of the logic, but it had something to do with not helping her starving kiddies when the world goes whacky).
4) Republicans are evil, therefore, I am evil (being a Libertarian, this seemed a bit unfair, but the finer points of political philosophy were lost in the debate).
5) Another woman (a hardcore feminist) screamed: “I’ll call the police!! Hoarding in an emergency is just wrong. You won’t get away with it.”
6) The case of home brew ale I brought to the party was consumed (even some liberals have good taste in beer).
7) It was the females who did most of the ranting about my vile character and lack of moral fiber. They also had the worst potty mouths.
8) As I was leaving (actually, “kicked out” ) one of the guys said, with complete sincerity: “If things get bad, I really hope you’ll help us out.” I said nothing, just shook my head and left.
On the plus side, one guy asked me for help concerning firearms. We will be heading to the local range in a few weeks. Even more spiffy (spiffier? of greater spiffyness?), a city politician at the party told me that the city was also making plans for a disaster situation which included stored food, medicine and fuel, neighborhood leadership organizations, a volunteer emergency police force made up of armed citizens, a “sudden lack of resources to investigate shot looter issues” and a “flying sanitation training squad”, among other things.
For the first time, I feel semi-good about my city government. They are still tax-swilling scum, but at least they have the foresight to prepare for bad times. Furthermore, I am now officially part of the emergency police force. In an emergency I suspect a shovel will be more useful than a revolver, but I plan on carrying both.
Thank you for the advice. Using it was educational and entertaining.
My only comment, after re-reading this prior to posting it, is that I would have suggested, in the friendliest manner possible, that “Anyone attempting to storm my house to get at the supplies will be shot—present company included.”
What a bunch of dicks: but of course, considering the heritage of this bunch, not entirely unexpected. I am also not surprised that the women took the greatest umbrage at our Reader’s position—but I’ll bet that their husbands, if they are men at all, will be making quiet plans to set up a SHTF box or two in the not-too-distant future. Good grief: they’re Californians; one would think, given the earthquake situation in California, that this would be a group quite familiar with the concept of preparing for disaster.
But hey… if they don’t wake up and make preparations, then it’s just a Darwin situation. That would be doubleplus spiffy, considering they’re California liberals.
Incidentally, I had a brief RCOB at the suggestion that SHTF preparedness could be characterized as “hoarding” by the Unprepared. Reader Jim should count himself well rid of them. Socialist pricks.
And one more observation: I just wish I’d been at that party when the fur and feathers flew.
The women’s response isn’t surprising. And yeah, they can be much cruder and nastier than men. Oh, and the lapse of logic is just par for the course. Why did we ever give them the right to vote?
It doesn’t surprise me in the least – we’ve become an entitled ‘me before all else’ culture, and are quite willing to surrender liberty for safety.
But, yeah, have the means to protect what is valuable to you, practice often with it, have a plan (and a backup), plus the means to survive until sanity returns.
I read a while ago, that upwards of 70-80% of the population will perish (higher in the cities and large urban areas), due to the dependence on grocery stores, lack of foresight, and no real plan of survival. 9-11 was a warning, not an outlier.
My family has a general SHTF plan, and local resources (food, medicine, protection, etc), but need to keep refining it. I need to add some more tools (saw, axe, more ammo, etc) and probably a long gun (shotgun is nice up close, lousy beyond two car lengths) and water cleaning.
Regarding urban areas, IIRC Manhattan (which is an island) has, at any given time, a 24 hour supply of just about everything important, food, medicine, etc. They rely HEAVILY upon being able to restock daily. Most of it comes in via one rail line which, being an island, crosses a bridge. Cut that bridge and in two days Manhattanites will be eating their dogs and cats, four days they’ll be eating the rats in the subway, and in a week they’ll be eating each other.
Not to mention that most have no clue about survival, or anything outside NYFC. I worked with a guy who lived in Manhattan (I lived in NJ at the time). I was talking to another guy from NJ about a snowstorm predicted to hit overnight (which would’ve meant getting up at zero-dark-thirty to shovel the driveway before I could even think about leaving for work), Mr NY said something like “It shouldn’t be a problem, the super will take care of the snow.”
Mark D
That’s the one I was thinking of Kim. Thanks.
One more very important observation. Do your preps and keep your mouth shut about it. Don’t tell anyone. They don’t need to know. Why would you be bragging about having a crate of rifles? That’s senseless.
“… a city politician at the party told me that the city was also making plans for a disaster situation which included stored food, medicine and fuel…”
Of course, he was referring to your “stored food, medicine and fuel” that will be “appropriated” and “redistributed” as necessary.
And what ASM826 said about “Save, Store and Shut-Up”.
Because we used to have a reasonable level of trust that our neighbors wouldn’t screw us. Those days are 20+ years gone, but it takes a while for that knowledge to become instinctive. When it does, you’ll have to deal with a “Somalia phase” while we shoot out everyone who isn’t really of the tribe called American.
That, BTW, has not one DAMN thing to do with skin color. Unfortunately, as a quick and nasty id in a firefight, skin color is an immediate feedback.
In Washington State, if that happened now, there is a damned good chance some irate party person would call the cops and get a red flag raid on his house, him locked up for observation, and all his guns confiscated, along with whatever charge they could come up with after tearing his home to pieces-.
Not just Washington State; in any of the 15 states that have those laws.
And I have a sneaking suspicion that red-flag laws or no, in any Democrat run locality anywhere the same thing could be arranged.
A couple points:
a)
We started a PrepGroup at church.
One widow loudly announced she was coming to my house.
I told her she is welcome… as long as she brings a couple years of food meds ammo to share with everybody, plus gardening tools to work the gardens.
Unfortunately, we won’t be there to welcome her.
We’ll be at the ranch a few dozen miles away up in the mountains.
I know, I know. We’re horridly-awful people.
Another example of The Caucasian Burden.
b)
BisonPrepper James M Dakin makes an interesting point:
Caucasian folk are bred for intelligence.
Blacks™ are bred for fighting and breeding.
During the remainder of ThisUnpleasantness©, who will prevail using ruthless brutality?
Sometimes, Caucasian folks can do a little fighting too — Bastogne 1944, anyone?
And that was on foreign soil, fighting for an abstraction. Imagine the Caucasian reaction when defending the home.
Kim,
If you could, would you make a post on the current malaise in South Africa, and some personal insight.
With Zim still in turmoil, and the current avalanche of fail in Johannesburg, it seems SA is ripe for some awful times…
We have had firsthand experience with this due to earthquakes. We’ve not gone completely OTT but do have two weeks supplies for the family in three locations. The right level of prep discussion comes up quite often. I am very direct with people – why the fuck should i help you when youve taken zero steps to help yourself? And yes, people do get outraged, and Ive no doubt they will try and help themselves and feel they have the right to do so. Im now +1 on say nothing
I’ve always said, “sitting in the garage with the car running is a lot less painful than bleeding out on my front lawn.”
Its a tired old saying, but the first rule of Prep Club is to NEVER talk about Prep Club. I qualify that to say you must discuss it at times to recruit members for your tribe. However, you don’t just blurt out that you have food, guns, ammo and meds. You need to vet the folks you are talking with.
Imagine the Caucasian reaction when defending the home.
Here’s a description of a Caucasian reaction on 15 Jul, 1918 along the Marne…
“On the afternoon of July 15… never have I seen so many dead, nor such frightful sights in battle. The Americans … had completely shot to pieces in a close combat two of our companies.
They had lain in the grain, in semicircular formation, had let us approach, and then from 30 to 50 feet had shot almost all of us down. This foe had nerves, one must allow him this boast; but he also showed a bestial brutality.
“The Americans kill everything!” That was the cry of horror of July 15th, which long took hold of our men. At home meanwhile they were sarcastic about the imperfect training of this enemy, about the American “bluff” and the like. The fact that on July 15th more than 60 per cent of our troops led to battle were left dead or wounded upon the battlefield may substantially be charged to his credit.”
– excerpt from Kurt Hesse memoir, Grenadier Regiment No. 5, 36th Infantry Division