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Guest Post: Insights Into Cultural Shifts From A Visit To A Hardware Store
Submitted by Pete Kofod of Casey Research
Insights Into Cultural Shifts From A Visit To A Hardware Store
"So this is what it looks like when a society is starting to collapse," the man standing behind the counter at the hardware store said matter-of-factly. The remark had been directed at no one in particular, but generally at anyone standing nearby. As I was among that audience, I looked at him inquisitively, eliciting in return a look indicating that his observation should be intuitively obvious to even the casual observer.
"We should not be this busy," he continued. "People are normally out Christmas shopping for the latest tech gadgets for their kids, but instead they are spending their hard-earned money here." I had to agree with his observation, because the place was packed, and it was obvious that his inventory was disappearing from the glass showcases and from the wall behind the counter quicker than the store could replenish it.
"We have manufacturers that aren't taking any more orders. We even have a manufacturer that has shut down production and furloughed the entire workforce. I guess when we run out, we run out." He excused himself and joined his staff to help restock the shelves as well as operate the register.
As I surveyed the store, I noticed no discernible demographic pattern among the customers. They included elderly ladies, young couples, construction workers, police officers and hipster techies as well as people from virtually every ethnic and socio-economic background. They would have made the perfect tapestry for a politician's campaign stop.
"So this is what it looks like when a society starts to collapse," I reflected on what the man behind the counter had said. As melodramatic as his words were, they would be understood by any student of human history.
But it raised questions in my mind: "Does social decline precede economic decline? Does the decay of social graces, the protocols that define civilized interaction, the written and unwritten laws of the land, precipitate the ruin of a nation, or is it the other way around? Is it a vicious cycle where one feeds the other, and if so, can the destructive feedback loop be reversed?"
Based on what I observed in the store, I'm inclined to believe that people are concerned about social collapse, in whatever form that may take. Publications such as The Casey Report implore its readership to hedge against inflation (as well as deflation) by dividing their portfolio into balanced thirds spread across asset classes and political jurisdictions, but what does the erosion of a fiat currency really mean?
I would suggest that very much depends on where you live. In more resilient communities, in which economic actors all create value, the impact may in fact be little more than a moderate nuisance. Various South American countries have shown that, despite their governments' penchant for destroying the nation's currency at predictable intervals, life can go on. As a result, while people in those countries know that things can periodically get tougher, they also have become resolved to soldiering through the hardships, knowing that the latest challenging period will pass.
By contrast, with their advanced – and leveraged – economies and large urban centers that are highly dependent on government subsidies as well as consumer supply chains that are extended, the social impact of a fiat currency collapse in the US and Europe could be far more profound.
Such an event would likely be even further exacerbated, and significantly so, by the absence of such experiences to most Western nations in recent memory. In the United States, a small but emerging subculture known as "preppers" focus their resources and attention on developing personal resiliency in response to the perceived deterioration of both financial and social infrastructure. While the theories and actions of "preppers" range from the sublime to the ridiculous, it is undeniable that the financial, social and logistical fabric of the United States has been stretched very thin.
This tenuous position in turn manifests itself as a palpable level of stress readily observed in many people. There is no longer a sense that "everything will be OK." In conversations with people, I get the sense that people feel very uncertain about the future, and not in a hopeful way. They see their prospects as having limited upside with virtually unlimited downward risk. There is a prevailing belief that this is as good as it is going to be for a long time. It is this subsurface tension that was palpable among shoppers in the hardware store.
You see, the hardware store I was in was a gun store. What on earth would compel me to visit a gun store so close to the horrible tragedy in Connecticut? As some readers know, firearms played a significant role in my former professional life in the military. The truth is I wanted to get a sense for what's actually going on in the gun industry, as opposed to the manufactured "reality" presented by the mainstream media.
Having returned from serving a customer, the owner of the gun store continued his observations.
"It's different this time. The last time, with the Clinton gun ban, people knew that it would be temporary. The economy was good and people didn't really care. This time… well, it's different." He then elaborated on the reason that one manufacturer had shut down its fabrication facility: Apparently it was unwilling to be stuck with inventory that at a stroke of a pen will become contraband.
In reply to my follow-on question as to what he meant when he said society was starting to collapse, he answered, "People talk about debt, a recession that won't go away and how we are on track to bankrupting the country. This is all true. But they are all part of a bigger problem."
"What problem is that?" I asked.
"Respect," he said, with just a hint of bitterness. "Treating people with disrespect has become a way of doing business, a way of life. When a culture ceases to demand respect for life or livelihood, anything and everything is fair game."
At this point another gentleman joined the conversation, adding, "You know, these tragedies are a politician's best friend. It allows them to take the public's eye off issues like financial woes and cutbacks in benefits."
In my view, the spectacle in the gun store, which apparently has played out nationwide, is a clear indication that people are doing the equivalent of "shorting" social stability. This is clearly concerning, because the extent to which we can plan our future is directly related to the faith we can reasonably place in social stability.
It may be presumptive, but in my view, people who rush out to purchase firearms in anticipation of gun-control measures are not part of the "gun culture." The "gun culture" already has its arsenal stocked up. The "last-minute shoppers" are people who believe that one day they may need a gun and may not be able to buy one. These are the same people who clean out the grocery store before the first big winter storm hits.
As for the logistics of controlling access to firearms, I suspect that in short order, it will prove to be an academic point anyway, perhaps even more futile than the War on Drugs.
The relevant agents include: crypto currency, open-source hardware, 3D printing, and Dark Net exchanges like The Silk Road.
On the topic of technical limitations to keeping guns out of the hands of the citizenry, let me direct your attention to the following article on a gunsmith who "printed" a gun. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? I don't know, but I do know that it is inevitable. The first group that will make a go at it will likely be people who are legally prohibited from owning firearms, yet their livelihood depends on access to weapons; in other words, members of criminal organizations. Shortly behind them will be technically gifted people who, one can only hope, are imbued with decency and respect for human life.
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Not familiar with that. I prefer oldies with more character development and less gore than the newer films have. Just received the complete Kolchak:The Night Stalker series from Amazon. While the original Night Stalker and Night Strangler Movies of the Week are no longer in print I was able to watch them on YouTube. YouTube also has a couple other movies from that era which are unavailable but worth watching such as When Michael Calls and The Reincarnation of Peter Proud.
Now I'm off to do some plumbing with hardware that doesn't go bang. At least I hope it doesn't.
Hammers don't drive nails they smash skulls. Why would anyone need a hammer?
The UK Hammer Murders
Forget the UK, the #1 weapon of choice for homicides in 2011 was HAMMERS.
FBI Stats
if i had a hammer, i'd hammer in the morning, in the evening.....all over OBAMAS ass!!
They were very popular in the thirteenth century also. As in the battle of Agincourt; when the Knights fell off their horses, which had turned out to not be "arrow proof", (who could have guessed?), it turned out the English Archers had a sideline in helmet hammering; with lead hammers; (dead blow, so to speak). Apparently this is true story. It was a very, very, bad day for French Knights all the way around.
That's actually not true -- but it is true that both blunt object weapons (hammers, baseball bats, etc) were used for more murders than rifles. It's also true that fists and feet were used to murder more people in the US than rifles too. (With the dreaded "assault weapon" being some smaller subset of all rifles.)
The actual FBI stats are here: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-...
Oooo. Doesn't that give you a headache? ...hammering the nails with it, I mean.
That's got to be Excedrin headache #1.
Actually, I think that has potential as a bumper sticker; to encourage thinking, eh? I found it amuzing.
As an american citizen, fully versed in american citizenism, I, of course, have a nail gun.
Is it semi-automatic or fully automatic?
I'll stick with the hammer I got from a guy named Maxwell. It's silver, so it does double duty as part of my PM stack.
I believe this story?
'Hardware store'...he must have been in a Home Depot because those are the only 'hardware stores' left around.
Not true. We have four different hardware stores here in town, plus Lowes and Menards. All four store are owned by local families.
I had similar conversations in my friend's shop last week. Helped him sell a gun to a newbie with helpful over the shoulder suggestions to the customer. Fellow was about mid-thirties, owned a used car lot and wanted a gun to protect himself at night. Never owned a gun before. The owner pointed him to revolvers as being easier for a beginner. I pointed out a nice little hammerless SW .38 with a laser grip. "If you're unfamiliar with guns you can just put the dot on your target and shoot," I told him. I also demonstrated how a revolver's hammer can snag coming out of one's pocket but the hammerless does not. He bought the revolver and seemed quite pleased. I told him to go out and try the gun so that when he needed it he would feel comfortable with it. The owner set him up with a box of practice ammo and a box of defense ammo. I'm sure that when he left he was not only happy with his purchase but had seen for the first time just how friendly and helpful the gun shop coffee klatch can be.
One seldom mentioned benefit of a revolver over a semi-auto is that the revolver doesn't eject spent casings - less evidence for police to recover.
I see, less expenses for the government, lower taxes for the people!
He'll shoot it once, it will make his hand hurt with anything but standard pressure .38 and he'll throw it in a drawer and forget about it. Five years later, a burglar will steal it and it will make its way into the criminal world. Some drug thug will pop some other drug thug with it and it will be entered into evidence, where it will sit for another couple of years. After that, it might get sold back into private hands, or meet its fate with a crusher or smelter.
He seemed man enough. Your personal experience wouldn't likely apply.
And may God have mercy on the spear chucker who trys to rob him using a tire iron. Amen.
The harder they grasp at DRUGS, GUNS, PUSSY ET. AL. the bigger the problem becomes.
The 'war on drugs' is what turns up the heat....
BFD.....if the Govt would say....BFD.....it eliminates the pressure
Great story. I like the character of the wise old "hardware" store proprietor. My local gun pimps are all grouchy old, know-nothing bastards.
I liked it, up to the point of the 'printed' gun. Print me a barrel that can handle .308 as well as a box of primers and I'll change my mind.
Your comment highlights a very good point. We have come to regard high tech as a solution to everything. Guess what? Low tech can still crank out that .308 barrel. The fascination with gadgetry made people forget that they can make real shit with simple tools. By choice or by force will re-learn that lesson.
Got drill press/mill/lathe?
Legend has it that JM Browning made his 1911 prototypes in a shed without electricity.
Wow, man. I'm trying to wrap my brain around that; running a vertical mill, a drill press and a machine lathe on water power........cool.
Wtih hand tools. I.e., treadle lathe, etc.
Wrap your head around this- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxPjAJA7NGg
Respect.
Something like that wouldn't work for precision metal work.
I was thinking something more like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AHW_Kammgarnspinnerei_Pfaffendorf_Leip...
But on a smaller scale, for a small shop.
I think you could apply the concept. Pedal power, gear ratios and very light
passes with the right cutting tools.
Same applies to bench top grinder for sharpening.
Old bridgeports are belt driven. Could be modified /retrofitted.
Fan belts are another useful item at the "hardware" store.
Until then, the juice is still flowing.
I did not know that, but I'm not suprised by it. Prime example of American work ethic and innovation. Now we get an extra row of fuckin icons on our Chinese phones and we're expected to greet it as the Second Coming.
The good ole 1911, still my sidearm of choice...
Aye me too. Still keep handy my first one, a variant my father threw together from spare parts: Colt Mk IV Series 80 slide, Series 70 barrel, and Para Ordnance P13 frame.
Yeah, the 3D printed bs is really reaching. But building home-made bolt-action or even semi-auto rifles is quite do-able with typical machine tools. The gun was mainstream in the 1600s, it is not new technology by any means.
Damn it. I lost all of the guns I purchased on SilkRoad in a tragic boating accident, along with all of my gold.
Yes, if there is a large gun ban, I expect an astronomical rash of burglary reports from folks who will have had all their guns taken from them before they have the chance to turn them in.
Just imagine all that police paperwork.
Mi Naem,
You are a careless individual: there are laws against that.
There are laws against killing people too.
"You see, the hardware store I was in was a gun store."
Yes. Comments like the one below made Chuck Baldwin’s column last week his most widely supported column ever:
“I am prepared to become an outlaw over this issue…make no mistake about it: to take away an Americans’ right to a semi-automatic rifle is to FULLY DISARM HIM. There is no Second Amendment; there is no right to keep and bear arms; there is no citizen militia; there is no liberty without the semi-automatic rifle!”
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/baldwin/130105
Baldwin in today’s column, Revolution, said his Line in the Sand column "produced more response than any column I have ever written — maybe more than any two or three columns combined. And what is even more noteworthy: unlike most columns, the responses to this column were at least 90% favorable.”
Baldwin is a prominent columnist and commentator and the founder of Crossroads Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. In 1985, the church was recognized by President Ronald Reagan for its unusual growth and influence…
This is a point you rarely, if ever, hear in the MSM - even from pro Second Amendment commentators.
The citizenry should have access to the standard issue rifle and sidearm of the armed forces. The point of a citizen militia is to defend the rights of individuals and the Constitution against external AND internal threats (tyranny).
No, I don't need an AR15 or M9 Beretta to go hunting, but I should be able to own and carry them to defend myself and my rights from an out of control Police State "...the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" is as clear as can be unless you are a brain dead toady.
You make a very good distinction, ebworthen. When you have the military with the standard issue, then citizens should have access to a comparable weapon. As for those people who want to ban this semi-automatic rifle, they have drawn the distinction between a citizen government and a military government.
The Founders intended for America to be a citizen government, not a European-style military government.
A major turning point in the Revolutionary War came when the sizable British force under General Burgoyne, coming down from Canada to relieve forces in New York, was desperately running out of supplies. Burgoyne sent a raiding force into Vermont for beef, cereals, and rumored Loyalist help. But it was intercepted at Bennington by the Vermont militia (August 16, 1777) and every one of Burgoyne’s 800-man raiding party was killed or captured.
Burgoyne’s force of 7,000 men eventually surrendered to the Americans and was transported back to England.
The turning point here was the arms in the hands of the Vermont farmers.
The turning point was the Battle of Saratoga. Daniel Morgan and his Green mt boys participated. (first sniper shot on a general).
http://www.nps.gov/sara/index.htm
See what I mean?... They should have 'banned farming' first... The British didn't have 'expert' minds [like Feinstein] at their disposal, so they failed to imagine such scenarios...
See. I told ya you were a smart guy. I see what you sneaked in there. You sly dog.
blind squirrel & nut eventually collide... It's all advanced mathematics, dontcha know?
Thanks for that little reminiscence of history. Made me wonder, where the hell their decendants are, surely they are not the commie deans and sanders people?
I too, am sick of all this talk of the 2nd Amend. having anything to do with hunting:
From Wiki
1992 Los Angeles Riots:
53 people killed
More than two thousand injured.
After three days of arson and looting, 3,767 buildings were burned amounting to over $1 billion in property damage.
"One of the most iconic and controversial television images of the violence was a scene of two Korean merchants firing pistols repeatedly at roving looters. The New York Times said "that the image seemed to speak of race war, and of vigilantes taking the law into their own hands."[48] The merchants, jewelry store and gun shop owner Richard Park and his gun store manager, David Joo, were reacting to the shooting of Mr. Park's wife and her sister by looters who converged on the shopping center where the shops were located."
"Due to their low social status and language barrier, Korean Americans received very little if any aid or protection from police authorities. David Joo, a manager of the gun store, said, "I want to make it clear that we didn't open fire first. At that time, four police cars were there. Somebody started to shoot at us. The LAPD ran away in half a second. I never saw such a fast escape. I was pretty disappointed." Carl Rhyu, a participant in the Korean immigrants' armed response to the rioting, said, "If it was your own business and your own property, would you be willing to trust it to someone else? We are glad the National Guard is here. They're good backup. But when our shops were burning we called the police every five minutes; no response. At a shopping center several miles north of Koreatown, Jay Rhee, who estimated that he and others fired five hundred shots into the ground and air, said, "We have lost our faith in the police. Where were you when we needed you?" Korean Americans were ignored."
"I was pretty disappointed"
Understatement of the day.
Anybody who watched that poor truck driver pulled from his truck and almost killed understands why it is immoral to limit an individual's right to defend one's self.
Also see: Katrina, Nanking, Pol Pot, Cultural Revolution, Stalin, etc. etc. . . )
Reginald Denny
Bill O'Reilly used to host "INSIDE EDITION" and while Dan Rather and that bunch would show clips of Denny getting it, they always cut away at a certain point, that is when O'Reilly showed the entire piece, one of the blacks pulled out a SAWED-OFF SHOTGUN from a brown paper shopping bag and fired at Denny as he lay on the street. In slow-motion you could see the shot charge just miss Denny's head. The shotgun was CLEARLY illegal length, the barrel no longer than 10 inches. Now recall that Randy Weaver, in Idaho, had a Federal informant have him cut a barrel to 1/10 of an inch less than 18" the legal length, and you know what happened there, the full weight of the Feds fell on him and his family. Yet the ATF, the ones who started Waco, did NOTHING to this black man who wielded the illegal by Federal law, shotgun. HMMMMMM
Want to know how far we've come? I grew up in a family with a step father who was a gun collector, reloader, and target shooter. The Federal government sold us surplus 30-06 military rifles for like $15, or something; (I don't actually remember); and get this; free ammunitiion. All you had to do was sign up with a gun club. My Step-father bought our house in Oakland because you could walk to the Oakland Rifle and Pistol Club from there! This took place under a government program to train American Citizens to be competent military rifle shooters. We had to show up at the range and fire the prescribed course of fire, prone, sitting, kneeling, and off-hand, once a month. and as I say; Free Amunition. Military Ammunition. try imagining that today. I owned my own 30-06 which I had gun-smithed and accurized, and it lived in my close closet in my bedroom when I was 16. by the time I was 18 I was winning medals at big bore rifle matches. One time a Highway Patrolman stopped me walking across US50, which was called MacArthur Blvd. there in town, and asked what I was dong with a canvs rifle case over my shoulder and a bandolier of ammo. I told him I was just on my way to the rifle range, and he said, oh, okay. I was 17 at the time and I looked like I was 15-1/2; skinny kid with a big rifle bag and a bandolier of military ammo; how would that play out today?
In the early to mid 1950s every young boy on my block dressed like Hopalong Cassidy or Roy Rogers and walked around with one or two very realistic Colt .45s in holsters. We know how that would play out today. Dead kids.
Apparently Judge Napolitano agrees with you, EBW:
"...The historical reality of the Second Amendment’s protection of the right to keep and bear arms is not that it protects the right to shoot deer. It protects the right to shoot tyrants, and it protects the right to shoot at them effectively, thus, with the same instruments they would use upon us. If the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto had had the firepower and ammunition that the Nazis did, some of Poland might have stayed free and more persons would have survived the Holocaust. ..."
Our forefathers left their run down countries to find a better life in the US. Their forefathers left other run down regions to create those countries. The do-ers in this country will move on too. Maybe work a deal with the Mexican government to buy some land there to start a new country.
I don't think there is anywhere left to go. This is where the do-ers will have to make humanity's last stand.
You are 100% right on. The other places touted in "newsletters" don't even sell ammunition. This is it. I've been reading a lot of pundits lately telling us not to be so depressed over the last election. They all have it wrong also. We're not despondent because the RINO's lost the election, we're "sad" because we know what it's going to take to "set things right" and it's not going to be pleasant.
This is what the next gold rush will look like. One minute gold is plentiful , then when the last minute shoppers come storming in there won't be any left for them.
Next is here doc. Been to the ammo section of a Walmart in the last week or so? It's all gone.
Oh I'm aware of the fact there is no ammo. Fortunately I have been sitting on thousands of rounds. I'm talking about precious metals. They are next and the ammo shelves are what the rush will look like.
So dumb people are buying up all the ammo? Tulip mania, anyone? Since when was following the herd a good idea?
Sounds to me like Dr. E frontran the herd and so did I along with thousands of other ZHers. The question will become: How many rounds of ammo, say 7.62x51 or 7.62x39 or 5.56x45, can one ounce of silver buy?
Wise men topped off when the election results came in. :)
the author got it wrong: " When a culture ceases to demand respect for life or livelihood, anything and everything is fair game." He got it bassackwards. It's not the culture of "We the People" that is causing this run on "Hardware" stores. It's them.
Damn right; it;s not the fucking culture; it's the godddam government; thieves, murderers and assholes.
The thing I hate is that their arguments hold no water, but you can't get the point across because they won't listen. They're so sure they're right. Unfortunately they never consider the consequences of their actions, it's all about some immediate preceived threat. That and they have to be seen as 'doing something' rather than recognizing that some things are outside their control.
Besides, they never deal with the real problem, they tinker with the symptoms and by doing so put many people in harms way.
Like forest fires, suppression is not the best choice of responses, it only creates more destructive consequences in the long run, but they won't accept the logic of it, and when it does happen they sweep it under the rug.
For all those keeping tabs on who dies by a gun perhaps there ought to be someone figuring out how many people were saved because they had a firearm handy.
This movie has played itself out many times before.
The facts are irrelevant. It's about power; that's all.
I'm finishing up on a good book, "The Devils of Loudun". It's the story about a 17th century priest who got on the wrong side of TPTB including one named, Cardinal Richelieu. The Inquisition was called in to do a job. They did their job. The first thing they sent to Hell were the facts. Then they burned the wayward priest.
Oh, dude, you can look it up on google. it;s amazing how much crime is stopped by armed citizens. A lot. big numbers. I mean how much serious crime is stopped by Cops? they get there after wards, right?
Hence the saying "when seconds count, the police are only minutes away."
Is this guy Plosser a freakin A-Hole or what..... talk about the pot calling the kettle black ! He's suggesting that it may not be wise for countries to slip into a currency war - aka Japan and 10T in new stimulus.... Like the US hasn't been guilty of this shit for 15 years. Where do they find these F-Tards
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/11/us-usa-fed-plosser-exit-idUSBR...
I think the term Fed official and freakin A-hole are redundant.
Posted here just because this is the latest story.
From Seeking Alpha:
Close to 200 people died - and close to 500, by some accounts, wounded in terrorist attacks in Pakistan yesterday, close to the toll in the well-remember Benazir Bhutto assassination. Pakistan and India are withdrawing ambassadors etc. etc. - and remember, both are active nuclear states.
Plus renewed tensions in the Eastern South China Sea, as Everybody and His Brother and Sister steps up drills and patrols.
Plus a serious incident at the same ole pipeline in Egypt.
Plus Palestinians officially declaring themselves The State of Palestine - I guess they got new stationery.
Plus . . . Well, the point is, before Gold and Oil were declared Non-Beneficiaries of Anything Whatsoever Involving Geopolitics - by Whom, we are still not sure - all of the above would have caused a spike in the Gold and Oil prices, rather than once again burying them under several tons of Yen and Platinum.
The Ninnies don't even have the poor excuse of Dollah! Dollah! Dollah! anymore, since Dollah! Dollah! Dollah! isn't doing anywhere near as well as Euro! Euro! Euro! or even Loonie! Loonie! Loonie!
BTW, how are the Exclusivity Programs working in your New Big Tent?
Irrelevant and more importantly off-topic crap.
No ~ I frequently pause [while I'm shopping for ammo], to check my Twitter account to see if any pipelines in Egypt were being attacked by rebels... I usually have to wade through the Kim Kardashian latest antics to get there... so it eats up a lot of my time...
The trend is your friend. Any stocks out there with exposure to hammers and nails.
Sure, SWHC, but it's very volatile cause some of the PC pensions and hedgies are divesting.
just got what i fear will be my last box of bulk 7.62x39 from the brown truck- the driver said he was jealous. molon labe bitchez
hey i just read this & wanted to drop it on ya'll ZH mfers 'cause i love ya'll (bitchez!)
William Blake lived in Westminister Abby, a rebellious poet of great genius locked up by the Queen (in a golden cage, as Blake himself put it)
pg 138- dedicated to the Queen, upon her death in 1808
Since all the Riches of This World
May be gifts from the Devil & Earthly Kings,
I should suspect that I worship'd the Devil
If I thank'd my God for Worldly things.
The Caverns of the Grave I've seen,
And these I shew'd to England's Queen,
But now the Caves of Hell I view:
Who shall I dare to shew them to?
What mighty Soul in Beauty's form
Shall dauntless View the Infernal Storm?
Egremont's Countess can controll
The flames of Hell that round me roll.
If she refuse, I still go on
Till the Heavens & Earth are gone,
Still admir'd by Noble minds,
Follow'd by Envy on the winds,
Re-engrav'd Time after Time, (he means he knows he will be read by youths in the future bc like Shakespeare this guy knew how good he was so did the Queen he was imprisoned in Westminister Abby)
Ever in their youthful prime,
My designs unchang'd remain.
Time may rage but rage in vain.
Far above Time's troubled Fountains
On the Great Atlantic Mountains,
In my Golden House on high,
There they Shine Eternally.
The Door of Death is made of Gold,
That Mortal Eyes cannot behold;
But, when the Mortal Eyes are clos'd, And cold and pale the Limbs repos'd,
The Soul awakes; and wond'ring, sees,
In her mild Hand the golden Keys:
The Grave is Heaven's Golden Gate,
And rich and poor around it wait;
O Shepherdess of England's Fold,
Behold this Gate of Pearl and Gold!
To dedicate to England's Queen
The Visions that my Soul has seen,
And, by Her kind permission, bring
What I have borne on solemn Wing
From the vast regions of the Grave,
Before Her Throne my Wings I wave;
Bowing before my Sov'reign's Feet,
"The Grave produc'd these Blossoms sweet
"In mild repose from Earthly strife;
"The Blossoms of Eternal Life!"
see how he compares the sun (Christianity is sun worship just like Egypt Rome jews & ancient Greece) in this poem to a jewish moneylender? (pg 141)
I rose up at the dawn of day-
get thee away! get thee away!
Pray'st thou for Riches? away! away!
This is the Throne of Mammon grey.
Said I, "this sure is very odd.
"I took it to be the Throne of God.
"For every Thing besides I have:
'It is only for Riches that I can crave.
"I have Mental Joy & Mental Health
"And Mental Friends & Mental Wealth;
"I've a Wife I love & that loves me;
"I've all but Riches Bodily.
"I am in God's presence night & day,
"And he never turns his face away.
"The Accuser of Sins by my side does Stand
"And he holds my money bag in his Hand.
"For my worldly things God makes him pay,
"And he'd pay more if to him I would pray;
"And so you may do the worst that you can do:
"Be assur'd Mr. devil I won't pray to you.
"Then If for Riches I must not Pray,
"God knows I little of Prayers need say.
"So as a Church is known by its Steeple,
"If I pray it must be for other People.
"He says, if I do not worship him for a God,
"I shall eat coarser food & go worse shod;
"So as I don't value such things as these,
"You must do, Mr. devil, just as God please.
from a scanned copy 917 pages long of William Blake's life work, first edition 1913
Copy, paste, save.
Thank you!
Uhhh, rather than read your lengthy missive, I think I'll go listen to the youtube of "The Wall", with my granddaughter. Neither one of us do poems, without music.
Challenge Biden to a knife fight....but bring a gun.....see how he reacts!
fucking imbecile
> see how he reacts!
The Biden smile?
Very good chance you will get felt up or kissed taking all of the fight out of you.
This is a test to see if this comment gets posted. Why are my only options "Save" and "Preview", not "Submit" or "Post"?
Help! Are there any ZHers out there who are interested in creative writing with a purpose? For years now, I've been thinking about trying to write a book/movie script that would open at least some sheeple's eyes to the catastrophic path we are on. Important themes for me are: the evils of the Fed and exponential debt creation; the idiocy of the red/blue paradigm and how it distracts the masses from the real issues; how TPTB have been immensely successful at manipulating public opinion to serve their own ends; the image of the military/industrial complex as a $trillion cancerous organism that does everything it can to grow and suck more money.
I have not been able to get beyond the 100s of hours I've spent thinking about this for a few reasons. One reason is that the scope of my thoughts are overwhelming, as you can see from my partial list above. Second, I don't want to be another Michael Moore, i.e., I don't want to just preach to the converted who already believe what I believe and turn away everyone else by telling a story that is too liberal/too conservative/too fringe whacky, if you know what I mean. Finally, I want to figure out how to tell a real story, with real characters in a way that the story itself is compelling and entertaining, rather than some sort of documentary. In other words, I want to use fiction in a way that makes people open their eyes to facts and the real world around them. George Orwell did this very well, but I think a lot of people still view his work as pure fictional fantasy (I don't)
Anyway, I'm fishing here. I'm looking for anyone with whom what I've described resonates strongly. Anyone?
how about a wiki-based scriptwriting experiment?
Oh he did mean a lead dispersement type hardware store. That makes more sense.
Americans are "beyond" collapse, we can fix anything with more Harvaard sauce.
The shopowner is just a tad idealized.
Any gun manufacturer that could shut down in even sixty days without paying a fortune in penalties and scrapping bazillions of work in progress is an idiot to actually do so. He will have 90 days warning for sure. He could also switch to high hanging fruit...revolvers and semiauto varmint rifles would be third pass, not even second.
Good businesspeople don't throw tantrums.
They may not have thrown a tantrum. May have just taken a couple of weeks in Florida or that gulch in Colorado.
Why has the government been stockpiling ammo at every agency?
Scarcity.
If you have the ability to buy up all the raw materials available, you can put your competitor out of business without producing anything. You have then cornered the market and can force everyone to accept your terms. Look how hard it has become to get ammo, and the cost of getting some.
Gun Control won't be directed at the guns, it will be directed at the ammunition. The second amendment, says you have the right to bear arms, it doesn't say anything about the right to put something in the gun.
Imagine outlawing the production of the 9mm cartridge, or the .556 for civilian use. You just made a huge chunk of the civilian aresenal useless. You may have the right to own the gun, but you won't be able to use it.
This is how they think, this is how they work.
My wife called me crazy, but how hard would it have been to fake the past couple shootings. A guy in a theater shooting blanks, and a few staged actors with blood packs could make the scene look very real. You can't discount anything anymore. There is a man in the White House that nobody can actually find true evidence that he existed the way he claims, yet he is there
You know how some people were calling for a national registry of the mentally ill?
Well, looks like we found someone on that list.
Hey, he's doing something to be prepared isn't he. Get off his ass.
and a new Treasury Secretary who is but 58 years old but supposedly helped Tip O'neil with the budget 40 years ago? That would make Lack Jew 18 years old when he was helping Tip w/ the deficit?
An impressive guy who can go to college and get a Law degree and work in the upper echelons of gov't when they are barely adults???? Suspect? You bet ya'!
I had the same thought as you concerning ammo. Why buy the gun when you can stock less expensive ammo! If you have 100,000 rounds I'm sure you could trade a AR 15 for 50 rounds of ammo when the shelves are MT.
I decided to stock up on Vacuum sealed Tuna, stock enough water for a month and keep cash on hand for when the ATM/credit cards stop working.
There will be an interval between the surprise month long bank holiday-401k confiscation and the operational FEMA camps. I will stock for that period. The parental units have a farm and all I have to do is travel 150 mile west and I'll be in a very remote location where they don't even have cell service. I'm Scot-Irish, orange, and the whiskey making is in my genes as well as my education. If I can reach the hills I'll be safe in an, already, autonomous and clandestine community of hillbillies. They have lent me guns before to shoot ground hogs and I'm sure they will hook me up again. Their is only two ways out between Shaw ridge and Jack Mountain and it will be an easily defendable position with less than a couple hundred people spread out over 10 square miles. You can lock down the valley to and road traffic, twenty miles in either direction with six checkpoints.
Glad to hear you are prepared. Good luck with all that. Salud.
"Gun Control won't be directed at the guns, it will be directed at the ammunition. The second amendment, says you have the right to bear arms, it doesn't say anything about the right to put something in the gun."
Actually, the Supreme Court settled that question, and the answer is a resounding YES, you do have the right to bear ammunition as well.
Meh, then regulate the powder and primers, or tax the crap out of it. I'm all in favor of the $5000 bullet idea.
In reality however, there's a reason why machine guns are basically never used in crime. The penalties are much higher than if you use a normal gun. So... just make gun crime of any kind a one way ticket to a life sentence of hard labor.
Go stick your $5k bullet were the sun don't shine, asswipe. Us poor people have a right and duty to protect ours, too.
They did that in Jamaica in 1974, Michael Manley, Prime Minister, light-skinned Obama type, a little less african looking, but still black, like Eric Holder's color. They made it LIFE IN PRISON, NO PAROLE for possession of a single .22 short rimfire cartridge, now that is pretty tough wouldn't you say? And today incest is very common in Kingston because there is so much violence that the people can't leave the house so they have to, by their drives, screw their own children.
It allows them to take the public's eye off issues like financial woes and cutbacks in benefits.
Another one who wants to make himself believe that the issue is not the unsustainability of the promised benefits, but the unavoidable cutbacks. Fail.
Why did gold take a huge dump this morning?
because some retail were lured back in by the increase yesterday and the banksters had to kick their ass one more time to show them the error of their ways so they could then go out for the weekend. Or, Ben is playing golf with Obummer and one of his syncophants wanted to show his mommy how he could shake the world. OR does it really matter? Life goes on, taking a break from digging a stash for my hammer and nails, drinking tea and pondering a trip to the LCS and hardware stores.
bc w/ the market being flooded with liquidity for qe4 makes the smart money more for the forseeable time being in the market rather than gold. Gold goes up when the market goes down. Inflation is a prob but the gains outweighs inflation so long as the mrkt keeps going up. In a liquid market, tho, that can change in a moment.
You are one of the few who gets it. Good solid short explanation of reality. For humour's sake go back to 1999 the dot com bubble and read all of the negative commentary - never stopped no matter how much or how loud the stock market from going up. Only Fuckface Greenspan did it with large interest rate raises. Same will occur here and now - when rates go up a lot. Cause then the public pulls back, business suffers and the market goes down. Both ways - up and down - always overshoots. Keep up the good commentary.
I don't know, but the French and the British will soon have troops on the ground in the 8th largest producer of Gold according to a list compiled in 2006 by the British Geological Survey accessed in July 2008. Volumes and world percentage share have changed dramatically over the last twenty years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_gold_production
Britain backs French decision to give military support to Mali government, UK Foreign Secretary Hague says - @Reuters
Mali is located in western Africa, southwest of Algeria. Mali is today the third largest gold producer in Africa with several new mines being developed by Anglogold and Randgold Resources. The majority of this production is sourced from 3 large scale open cast operations.
http://www.investcom.com/moneyshow/gold_mali.htm
More importantly, these mines are among the lowest cost gold producers in the world.
So does the U.S., besides gold there is an Islamic insurgency building steam over there. There is a major world chess game going on for control of tangible and productive resources right now. Expect to see all the major players getting involved some way, shape or form where these are concerned. How the whole game plays out is anyone's guess at this point but whose role as what piece on the board is going to be redefined at the end of it.
Margin calls cause gold liquidations to cover losses?
Hit the nail on the head with this one.
I've been going to the hardware store a lot lately. Installing a security system and building benches in the garage for my open hardware PCB factory.
The author forgot to mention the background music is IRON MADIEN.....
"RUN TO THE HILLS........RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysGdhiyjMNg
(classic)
About two months ago, I had stopped by a local gun store that specializes in ugly rifles. On my way to the counter in back, I walked past several large selections of AR magazines, all for less than $15. I dropped by there yesterday. The salesman told me that when the rush started, they sold out in four hours.
Proverbs 22:3 A prudent one foresees the evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.
1 Timothy 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.
We are seeing prudent people perparing for something very serious, and if they are wrong and the crisis passes, the enemy has shown his ugly face and his honest intentions in a way that will leave a lasting impression for the good part of a generation. My take? It will largely pass, but there will be a next time.
I've never seen too many prudent panic gun buyers. What's prudent about spending $2000 for a rifle that's worth maybe $800 used?
Better to have and not need than to need and not have....
Its like buying facebook at $44. Smart money traded it back and forth before the retail money eer got involved.
If you were not buying guns and ammo hand over fist last year, then I dont know what to tell you. All of the signs were there and you could still get what you needed.
I've always personally believed that in the urban areas if the SHTF there is no need to buy a gun as long as you can keep a low profile in the beginning. If you can think on your feet and make use of the environment you won't need a gun in an urban area. Besides you stay off the radar and frankly anyone worth their weight in salt in any urban area (real urban people not the imports calling themselves such) should know how to get goods through the local "parallel markets" when necessary. There will be plenty to be had for free as darwinism weeds out the panic people who don't know how to use their weapons they stockpiled. The gun culture people well that will be a different story.
WASHINGTON, GEORGE, in Maxims of George Washington by A. A. Appleton & Co.
This prophecy, by Benjamin Franklin, was made in a "CHIT CHAT AROUND THE TABLE DURING INTERMISSION," at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention of 1787. This statement was recorded in the dairy of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, a delegate from South Carolina.
Newbies have been flooding the hardware stores long before the staged-for-TV Sandy Hook false flag event.
I sold most of my .223 Remington this morning and doubled my money. I expect to sell my Mini-14 later today for double as well. If the shit were to really hit the fan, there will be plenty of once-dropped black rifles to go around.
Good, it looks like there's someone here not stupid. Sell your stuff to these idiots and make a nice profit from their stupidity. In a few months it'll all die down and prices will crash back to earth.
Maybe. If not, the grandkids will have some insurance.
"In a few months it'll all die down and prices will crash back to earth."
Really? Shit get's crazier every single day and is going to continue to head south. Get ready friend, you ain't seen nothing yet...
<deleted - Replied to wrong post>
I have been thinking about that, too. It's something of a calculated risk, but...
...during the last scare I was selling crates of 7,62 x 39 for north of $400, which I thought was just forggin NUTS. Yet, people paid it.
I may do the same with some of my older 5,56. Rotate stocks and take profits and all that...
Wait until the SHTF and you'll sell the same 7.62 for $4,000....
All the good stuff is already backordered for more than a year. Hell, it took more than a year to even get primers after the last scare - and this is a 10x worse situation.
It's all the about the risk/reward making prices. The risk is "no more soup for us." If you want to profit off all of the folks who are this late to the party, that's fine, but I highly recommend keeping a core stash of goods for yourself just in case this one isn't a drill.
Completely off topic.
I was sending money internationally back home at HSBC, and was demanded to give the reason for the transfer.
I was soo pissed off by the arrogant SOB I said 'Given your firms record, does that really matter; or do you give drug dealers a discount?
Since Jan. ! the TIN is also required on a new Treasury reporting form
for overseas transfers, of any amount ,from US banks.
The noose is tightening.
What, it takes 12 paragraphs to drop the info..
Paid by the word..??
Hold the reader captive..
Feed the ego ?
About something which most of us probably know...
Oh well..Have a nice day..
That's what I was saying to CROC before... Apparently this author has never heard of the term "BURY THE LEAD"...
Having grown up in a place rife with handguns, where I heard daily shootings (not targets or hunting, but violent shootings), I struggle to understand what so many posters here think they will achieve by arming themselves. Your best weapon...take this from someone who almost got caught in crossfire in primary school (and was asked to identify a weapon by the cops)...is caution. Avoid flashing cash. Do not come off as rich. Drive a beater. Triple-lock everything. If all else fails, leave the US entirely.
What sort of scenarios do you imagine when you think of your guns? Do the criminals announce their robbery in advance so that you can prepare? Do they never take hostages? Do you never miss when you shoot? Is the loaded gun always strapped on your hip, even when you shower? I know you have these little movies playing in your head, because American culture is entirely cinematographic, but do you ever imagine unhappy endings?
Or perhaps the mere psychological feeling of security trumps reality. However irrational it might be, buying a gun, or ten, or a thousand, gives you a feeling of false security and control over your own destiny as powerful and convincing as the promise of Heaven for the religious.
Leave it for where? Johannesburg? Get real.
It is *definitely* not a feeling of false security. How is being personally responsible and capable at all false? What is false is the idea that government is there to protect us and our property.
The real truth of the matter is that each and every responsible adult citizen may need to help maintain order against the crazies. Imagine neighborhood watches but much better armed. The idea is not to directly confront criminal gangs, but rather to convince them to do their bullshit someplace else.
The schools need armed guards NOW, and every other damn thing we care about will need the same thing when/if the EBT cards stop working.
Whites who defended their neighborhoods during Katrina were looked at with an eye to prosecution by Eric FAST & FURIOUS Holder's US InJustice Dept. Oddly when the Beverly Hills types did the same during the Rodney King riots nothing was said, there they were with their AR-15s and blocking roads, nothing was said, gee I wonder why.
Only in the (poorer) 9th Ward. The weathier sections of N.O. were free to defend themselves. (And that was GW Bush's AG, btw...still Injustice Dept though)
"...leave the US."
And go where?
How to obtain citizenship there?
And do what for a job?
Please advise...
Canada, Australia and New Zealand come to mind.
Those three countries confiscate your guns. You'll be safe there. So take off and don't let the door hit you in the a$$.
Spot on Tortuga, youtube the confiscation of guns in Austrailia then let's talk...
You can still own, and buy, suppressed full-auto in New Zealand; you do need a permit, though.
http://www.guncity.co.nz/all-c-category-guns-xidg28589.html
"Do what for a job" is too broad of a question to be usefully answered. If, however, you think the US is descending into armed chaos and bankruptcy, then janitorial work in Toronto would beat out civil war in Phoenix.
Nah. Janitorial work in Toronto? This is your idea of work? Are you serious?
Interesting. I didn't get a single coherent, logical answer to the shooting scenario. Maybe people are too embarrassed to admit that they have little action-movie fantasties playing in their minds. Real life ain't Hollywood, gun fucks: you're going to get a gun pulled on you and you won't have time to react. End of story. Better yet, somebody takes your spouse or kid as a hostage and cleans out your house.
Here are some more likely scenarios:
1. You unload the gun and lock up the ammo to keep it safe from the wife and kids. Intruder has his way with you and other occupants.
2. You have a loaded gun somewhere within easy reach. Unfortunately, this means your kids can also get this and accidentally shoot themselves. Or you and your spouse could get into a drunken argument and shoot each other. Alternatively, you might accidentally discharge the weapon and wound yourself severely. Lastly, suicidal feelings are much easier to act on when you've got your own personal cranial ventilator. It happens to even the best of guys, you know.
3. You have a loaded gun handy, but you're asleep, so the intruder makes it into your bedroom before you can get it. End of story. This is also true for guns hidden in the car or at work.
Want security? Get a pit bull. He'll be taking down the attacker while you're still struggling to get out of bed. They rarely go after the kids and are impossible to commit suicide wit.
True that!
1) My pesky wife is always gettin in my ammo stash.
2) Your post has made me feel depressed and suicidal.
3) Yes! Yes! Its true that I sleep like a anesthetized alcoholic!
4) My pit bull refuses to suicide wit me.
My kids will be raised knowing how a gun works. Pitbull? Really?
Come invade my home at night. If you have the balls to stick around after setting my alarm, you will most likely end up in several black bags than me calling the cops (black bags are quicker and I dont deal with your family or a prosecutor)
The funny thing with home invasion is no one knew you went there
1. Shoot 2. Shovel 3. Shut Up
Nobody uses a pit bull to invade a home, you fucking idiot. They use it for defense.
Now go to sleep so you can wake up refreshed and ready to work on your low reading comprehension skills. That's what junior high is all about.
Helvetico, the US isn't purely cinematographic. You're thinking of Italy. We make CPU's, Boeing aircraft, audit most of the world including the corrupt Swiss banks, and grow more food (real work there, eh?) than we eat. The guns? I live in what safely can be called an upscale neighborhood. I''ve had to bring out a gun three times in 32 years to convince three different types of punks (two types were rich coke heads) to go home and sleep it off. I haven't had to pull the trigger on a person since the war. Only if you've fallen for the "gun fetish" via Hollywood, French Film, or video games, would you see guns as anything but a practical device to harvest deer, deter a burglar, or shoot clays with friends. If you never shoot guns, but they have become a fetish for you, then you think that is their only existence...inside minds. You're clearly there, dude. Your little scenarious are the quick thoughts of someone who clearly hasn't learned to carry and hasn't raised any children well. My sympathy to your ghetto upbringing. There are practical books than can teach you how to avoid the foolish results you mention (including suicide). As for the bit bull, burglars don't bring them. If you have one, don't let it rip the face off your girlfriend's kid.
Practical books sound good, but Americans are largely functionally illiterate. If you can't explain it in a 3-minute YouTube video, it won't work as safety advice.
By the way, ever had a gun pulled on you?
It sounds like you are not from the US.
If not, butt out, this ain't your concern/fight.
Secondly, your scenarios and suggestion are civilian on civilian fighting/crime. This ain't what it's about jack.
Yeah, but I buy hammers.
**Prepare for the Worst: Celente on 2013
Video
http://www.homment.com/jHTBQnDGS4
I am so sick of Celente. I mean really, in what year has he NOT said "people who lose everything, lose it"..? Same buzzing sounds, different day.
Personally, I stopped listening to his schtick when he lost his gold. The man doesn't walk his own talk.
That story is bs--the gun manufacturing biz has been on the ropes for decades. Shutting down any gun-related business right now is just using recent events as a convenient excuse and nothing more.
Cerberus has been trying to dump Bushmaster and Remington before Newtown.
Remember, Cerberus were the geniuses that bought Chrysler from Benz.