Recapturing Our Pioneering Spirit

In this Blog Post, I’m going to venture a little off the beaten path and discuss what I believe is a mindset of vital importance and that is “Recapturing Our Pioneering Spirit”.

“Recapturing Our Pioneering Spirit”, is about a return to the kind of thinking that not only made us great as a nation. That gave courage to the men who fought the revolution against the most powerful empire in the world at the time; that saved the world from Nazi tyranny; but also created the freest nation in the history of mankind.

Until there was an America, a Representative Republic with a Constitution where men are governed by laws and not the dictates of a monarch. There were no nations on the Earth in which the people were ruled by a form of government in which the guiding documents were based on the rights of the individual and not that of the state or better yet those the state granted.

You Were Born Free - But it Must Be Guarded Everyday

You see even if there were no Constitution these rights are still ours as given by God, for the Constitution does not grant us our rights but “reaffirms” the rights we were already born with. That these inalienable rights were natural rights given by the Creator God and could only be revoked by God Almighty Himself. The sad part is because of the miseducation of so many most people do not know nor understand this which is why so many are “so quick” to give these rights over to the state for the illusion of safety and security. For some their surrender of freedom is worth the “thirty pieces of silver” Caesar is willing to give.

True the Israelites had the Levitical Law based on the Ten Commandments but they rebelled against God and demanded a king in order to be like all of the other nations in the land. Not long after God gave them what they wanted their kings would eventually bring the hammer down.

Even to this day outside of the Western world most of the world lives under some form of tyranny. And no matter what a country calls themselves they are no America.

Does anyone really believe that the Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) is a democracy?

Is our nation perfect?

Of course not because we are not perfect but if you think you can get a better deal in Zimbabwe knock yourself out.

Getting back to our Pioneering Spirit is also about getting back to a mindset of self-reliance. It’s about reestablishing in our minds that we have the God-given right to self-defense and that this right cannot be taken from us no matter what. That we have a "duty" to our families and our communities to protect and look out for one another.

It’s about understanding that there are things in this life that are more important than even life itself. That there is a higher calling, the protection of your family, loved ones your nation.

What man would not give his life for his family?

I’m sure there are some who choose dishonor but I’ll bet they are far and few between.

It’s about developing the mindset that it’s not about waiting for some government agency to come to our aid to do for us what we should be able to already do for ourselves especially in times of duress. It’s also about getting back to a mindset of common sense, back to a time when people weren’t hyper-sensitive to every utterance that didn’t agree with their point of view or view one group of Americans as a threat simply because they have a love for our great nation.

Right now there are a number of things going on in our nation that are disturbing however they are beyond the scope of this post. Suffice to say that there is a lot of fear being stoked by a number of people who have a vested interest in the divide and conquer strategy. We must resist this temptation to fall for this “Hegelian Trick” lest we become a balkanized nation of little fiefdoms where any petty would be dictator with a gun can claim himself a king. This is exactly what happened when the Soviet Empire collapsed and no one if they’re honest, saw that one coming.

I’m retired now from the Marine Corps and for 28 years I had a good run. I’ve been to combat in three theaters of war for multiple tours over my 28 years of military service and I’ve seen more than my fair share of failed states. I also know what history has shown and I can assure you when a state fails it happens fast.

Think of it like the rollercoaster ride at “Six Flags”. The trip to the top of the ride is long and slow, but once you crest the top and reach the tipping point the descent is fast. When nations collapse that’s exactly how it happens there is a slow buildup of tension and if not resolved they eventually reach a tipping point and when they do the descent into anarchy and destruction is fast.

For They Know Not What They Say

Every now and then when talking with some friends and relatives of mine after hearing all of their complaints about our great nation there is always one person who makes the statement that 

“Well empires rise and fall and so we’re no different…”

This is actually a stupid and uninformed thing to say. True empires do rise and fall and if you consider America an empire then so be it but what I also tell them is, 

“You know, many of my Marine buddies and I’ve been to a lot of failed war-torn nations and I can tell you if you ever saw what a failed nation state looks like you’d be very careful with that statement and wouldn’t make it so carelessly. I can assure you when the ‘would be warlords’, ‘rape gangs’ and ‘slavers’ show up you’ll really understand what the Hell that means but by that time it’s too late for you and your family...”

Their response? Silence…

Hell, we have that now in many gang-infested communities throughout the country.

No New Thing...

Think of the number of riots or natural disasters that have taken place over the last decade and how quickly government resources were overwhelmed by the mobs? By nature? Those who had placed their hope in the government coming to their aid to provide safety and security were “shit out of luck”. Those who were armed, prepared to protect their families and knew how to do for themselves pulled themselves together and became an asset within their communities aiding others.

The late great comedian George Carlin used to have a saying,

“It’s not ‘Déjà vu’ but ‘Vu Jade’. With Deja Vu you’ve experienced it before where with Vu Jade you’re saying to yourself like, I’ve never done any of this before…”

People think what is going on is new. They think this is “Vu Jade” like we’ve never experienced this sort of thing before, like this “negative pall” over the nation. While for the most part what is going on in the world is not new per se what is new are the number of people who have no idea of how to fend for themselves in a crisis.

Also what is different is the ability of the average person to have access to information and be informed as to what is happening in many cases in real time.

The problem is there is so much information that if one does not know how to separate the wheat from the chaff one can be overwhelmed when drinking from the firehose of information.

Whatever your views or beliefs are the most important thing you must possess is a “strong sense of self” and “self-reliance”. In times of duress, you have to be able to think for yourself, you have to become for you and your family your own hero. Discernment is key. 

You see I can teach anyone how to fight or how to use a weapon but the “real weapon” is the one between your ears called your brain.  You have to be able to make quick decisions independent of what some government agency tells you.

Understand that in times of crisis the “government” any government at any level for them the first order of business is continuity of government (i.e., the security of the government and its agents, because the government is not a thing but a collection of people), who will protect themselves first, that’s just a fact of life. As for the rest of us? We better have a plan because if you are hoping someone else will help you in those first 48 to 72 hours of a crisis I have bad news for you, hope is not a plan…

You have to do the work beforehand you can’t just show up the day of the test and think you’re going to pass if you haven’t prepped for it. The time to know how to use your hands in battle, a gun or have a plan of how you’re going to move your family to a more secure location is not when the situation goes down. I remember a long time ago some friends of mine were in a foreign country and the name escapes me but anyway there was an earthquake.

Now they didn’t know what was going on but they knew they were getting out of the hotel they were staying in. After getting out of the hotel there were actually authorities who were going around telling people to clear the streets and go back inside, they refused. Well, when the next tremor hit all those who went back inside the hotel perished when the building collapsed. Had they listened to advise that didn’t at the time make sense to them and had gone back inside they would not have lived to tell the tale.

The same thing happened on 9/11 where there were people in the second tower that were told to stay put most of them ignored the advice and left their offices, some stayed and we know the rest of the story. Granted this is all Monday Morning Quarterbacking after all who thought at the time we were under attack. The point is like anything it’s a judgment call you have to do what you think is best and be prepared to challenge the wisdom of our so-called betters that’s all. 

Do the Right Thing

“All of Greece knows what right thing is to do but only the Spartans are willing to do anything about it…”

--Plato

                                 106 – Year Old Armenian Woman Protects Her Home 

Now, I truly don’t know if Plato made this statement above it’s just a quote that’s been attributed to him but the quote is apropos for what we are experiencing today and the point is just as valid. Like the photo above, I'm so all about this picture above because it really sums up the mindset I'm talking about. This old woman sees her world with  "perfect clarity" and was prepared to deal with the situation she faced and "go there". 

Damn straight!

People know on an emotional level what the right thing is to do but most just do not have the wherewithal to do anything about it. To stand their ground to do what is right because as stated in previous Blog Posts courage is difficult because it almost always comes at a price. As you recapture the spirit of our forefathers you have to figure out for yourself what things are worth fighting for and what things you can let go of. What things are important and what things are just superfluous nonsense.

This is not some anti-government screed just as simple statement of fact that the government is not omniscient and omnipresent. That our elected and appointed officials are not any smarter than you or I. That the government is not God. This is a wakeup call to get back to the way people understood the world they lived in and accepted that there were things and skills people had to possess just to survive in the world.

Dangerous Freedom

 I close with letting Thomas Jefferson have the last word on this matter.