Tuesday, April 28, 2015

"Room To Destroy…"

Here is the first and most important lesson from the Baltimore riots:

YOUAREONYOUROWN!

Believe it. Internalize it. Make it part of your thinking and planning every day. Those elements of the State, especially those elected and appointed progressive bureaucrats, who are so good at taking things from you — your money, your property, your Constitutional rights, occasionally your life — are not so good after the first brick is thrown.

Would, a man wonders, the Mayor of Baltimore been so cavalier about that "room to destroy" if the destroyers were destroying her neighborhood? If it was her neighbors' houses going up in flames? If it was a business she had spent her life's work to build? If it was her children under threat? And those politicians, including the President and his outgoing Attorney General, who have spent the past 6 years fueling the fires of racial division and hatred, I ask the same question I did after Ferguson, after the New York riots...are you happy now?
"Because the finance man's gonna be at your house on Saturday, right? That's exactly what the company wants - to keep you on their line. They'll do anything to keep you on their line. They pit the lifers against the new boys, the old against the young, the black against the white - EVERYBODY to keep us in our place.
Blue Collar, 1978
Do the politicians and the race hustlers look at the flames with the sense of satisfaction that comes with a job well done? Do they see the destruction of people's lives and livelihoods and think, "Yeah baby…the streets belong to the People!"

I'm not letting the police administrators off the hook, either. There is a fundamental cultural problem when we use the armed agents of State, the police, for literally nickel-and-dime tax collection (in NYC, Eric Garner was approached by police for selling "loosies," individual cigarettes from a pack, thus not letting the State get it's quarter per ciggie tax...two bits) or antiquated, literally ridiculous laws (in Baltimore, Freddie Gray apparently ran because he was carrying not a "switchblade," but a gravity-assited spring open knife like the one I carry every day). What does that tell us about the things we as a culture value? That a guy in Baltimore ended up dead because of  "West Side Story?" Those are issues we need to address, but not while we're in the middle of the soup.

To bring it back to our "doctrine" from THE BEST DEFENSE, what do you need to do? First, if you DVR'ed our episode on the couple trapped in a parking garage, watch it again. Here are the learning points:

Be aware of the situation in your own community. Remember, violence is like the ebola virus...it spreads, not easily, but steadily. It is incumbent on you to be aware of what's going on around you. Ostrich, remove head from sand.

Get beyond your and other's paradigms. The politics, the "narrative," the "optics" of the situation, none of those things matter once you step "through the gate" into a tactical responses. Clear your mind of the clutter and work through the steps you need to protect you and your family.

Take responsibility for your own actions, including those actions that are part of your routine. What route do you use driving to and from work? To take the kids to the mall? To drive to Grand Ma's House? Do those routes take you into areas with which you're not familiar? See Point #1 above!

If you find yourself in such a situation, remember the lessons from TDB — stay in the big steel box with the doors locked. Drive your way out quickly. Be prepared to respond with force, if there is an attempt to, say, launch a concrete block through your car window as I saw on TV last night.

When in doubt, go to ground. Stay home. It's better to miss a day of work or a trip to the Gap than to end up in the middle of an urban riot. I say this as someone who made a journalistic career by being in the middle of urban riots. I have seen riots from the inside, and believe me, you don't want to!

Don't do stupid stuff. I can't emphasize this enough. Riot tourism is not a good idea! Being in Condition White while your city experiences paroxysms of violence is a recipe for disaster. As we have said since the beginning of TBD, awareness and avoidance are your primary tools in situations like these.

Okay, enough for now. Pay attention, and stay safe out there.

UPDATE: With a Presidential run eminent, remember Martin O'Malley's vicious attack on the Second Amendment for the people in Baltimore:
After Baltimore descended into chaos, remember that Gov. Martin O’Malley was so proud of the anti-gun law he got enacted into 2013. We have seen that Baltimore police did not or could not defend people – and O’Malley’s law makes it far more difficult for citizens to acquire the means to defend themselves.


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Village Voice has a blog on the knife aspect. Nice to see an unexpected source questioning laws like this. Also refers back to their article on NYC.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2015/04/freddie_grays_death_in_police.php

nj larry said...

"Go to ground"...?????

Oh dear lordy. How do I convince folks to break out of that loop? Go to ground is the response, the genetically programmed response of the primitive animal. PLEASE replace that with the mantra "KEEP ON THE MOVE". It is the cougar that heads up a tree. It is the woodchuck or prairie dog who heads for his burrow. Ask Patton what he did. KEEP MOVING.

I don't care if it is a hurricane or an urban riot. Rid yourself of the idea that somehow you are tied to that 75 foot by 100 plot of land with a house. Or the 500 sq ft apartment. That the precious flat screen TV and well worn leather chair are worth defending. When the flames are licking at your 10 little toes, get in your car and drive away. Your automobile is THE MOST IMPORTANT SURVIVAL TOOL IN THE BAG. There is NO KNOWN EVENT which has affected more than a few 10's of square miles at most. 2 hours drive time and you are safe at Motel 6 or Grandma's house.

If your body is found in the smoldering ruins of that lovely cul de sac ranch house you bought last year, or the 4th floor walk up in some urban area, then I have no respect for you. You are on your own. And that means you have to use your HUMAN MIND. Realize that you against a mob of gasoline bomb throwing thugs doesn't end well. No matter how many Thunder Ranch or Gunsite classes you have taken.

I fully understand that 98% of the people who might see this will never grok or carry out what I said. But maybe 1 or 2 will, when the time comes. I have done my good deed for the day.

Anonymous said...

nj larry,

I know that this is slightly off the perspective that you're looking at here, but I have to ask: How far do you have to drive to be safe from New Jersey?

You're already taxed up the a**. Your Constitutional freedoms are eroded (Do YOU have a CPL?). Your cities are as close to Baltimore in risk (Newark is a good example) and so on.

Are you ready to go? And to where?

We fled Detroit, for our lives. We avoid going there like we avoid the plague. Now, our progressive RINO state governor is catering to Detroit (for votes)and we're looking to leave the state. We too are being taxed up our a**es by him, but at least we have some freedoms left that you don't have.

Just askin',
Life Member

nj larry said...

@Life

I know you get my point here. Of course I have a Utah non-res license but won't spend the money required for a local one. I have always been more of a classic OConnor rifle guy LOL. But yes you are absolutely right about these states run by leftist authoritarian slime. The wife just retired from her job last month. We are now talking for real about getting the hell out of the NE. The mental pressure of living here, no less the financial burden, has been driving me nuts for years. In the classic turn of fate, now I have multiple health problems and I told the kids that I will be dammed if they have to bury me in this hell hole. Hopefully we can get out this year. All I want to take with me is my underwear and guns. For now we are looking at the SW, Texas, NM or AZ. LOL I can see myself now hitching up the Conestoga wagon to the oxen. LOL

Michael Bane said...

That's good news, Larry! NM and AZ are wonderful places. Look at Prescott, AZ…practically my second home!

I realize I have a different situation than many people. The Secret Hidden Bunker is pretty remote, although still within reach of the Golden Horde out of Denver. Still, the Bunker is pretty self-sufficient, and getting more self-sufficient every day

It would take a lot to make me bug out, although it's not out of the question.

I'm having some serious talks with FN on their semi-auto SAW. Lot to be said for SAWs, semi or not.

mb

Don Davis said...

MB: Thanks for getting people to think about what "might/could/can" happen through TBD and the blog. Most people in Ferguson probably thought: "Nothing can happen here".... Baltimoreans probably thought: "Ferguson was an anomaly"..... My neighbors probably think: "Well,, Baltimore is a cesspit!". The fact is, "it" CAN happen to you, in one form or another, in one place or another.
Thanks again for a real heads up for living.

Anonymous said...

What you see in Baltimore is democracy in action.This is typical of the democratic party's appeal to the mob, inspired by the ideas of the French revolution, through the civil war draft riots, 1968 Chicago convention, and Rodney King riots.
This is why the founders created the Republic we didn't keep.
Thomas C. Bogan
Laconia NH

Anonymous said...

nj larry,

Sorry to hear about the health problems. We wish you many years!

Life Member

Unknown said...

Another reason why I subscribe to your Blog! Excellent job, Mr. Bane.

nj larry said...

Can I add two very troubling stories that are coming across the wire tonite? The problems in Baltimore seem to have cut deeper with these articles.
First is that the entire police force was ordered to "stand down " the other nite. That the Mayor is quoted as saying the rioters would be given a space to destroy. That it was "only "property. We all know of the court case that says police are not obligated to protect an individual. But this takes the concept to a whole new level.
Second is that one of America 's largest sellers of guns and ammo Walmart removed all guns and ammonfrom its storesnin the city. Thereby denying lawful citizens of the tools of self defense. While you ca criticse those who would wait until a crisis to arm themselves it is typical human behavior. It is morally reprehensible to deny anyone a defense.
These two acts in combination are an unbelievable perfecf storm in a troublsome urban area the size of Baltimore.

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