by Comrade X

Here’s the deal folks, we all can see the black cloud(s) on the horizon, that is why most if not all of us are here reading this blog in the first place, so the question we all are asking ourselves what can we do when EVERYTHING is so screwed up and I mean EVERYTHING btw

Well it’s sure is depressing and I have friends and family who have just about given up; but me being the Stoic as I am finds me always trying to look at reality as reality and accept what I can do or not. First; all things will come to an end (unless of course you believe in life after death that is) and the Republic or Empire called the US of A is getting there, IMHO the only question in my mind is how & how fast. If you accept that reality as I have than also IMHO it will make it easier to plan your next step and what to do, being that for myself I ain’t one to just take things lying down, that is.

I’m reading a very good book right now that I recommend for everyone; “Forging the Hero: A Tribal Strategy for Building Resilient Communities for Surviving the Decline of Empire” ($45 for print & ebook) by John Mosby.

From his website:

The premise of the book is the same premise that I teach in my Auxiliary and Support Operations Course: surviving the Decline of Empire is not about “saving” the empire, nor is it about “restoring” the empire. It’s about ensuring the survival of those cultural values that made the empire worthwhile in the first place, and the best people to surround yourself with, in order to ensure that, is by looking at the people who you already know share your values. Who is that? Your family, friends, and neighbors.

The problem that often arises, within the preparedness and survivalist communities however, is that everyone wants to create a “group,” whole cloth, out of the thin air of “like-minded” people that they probably don’t even know. Who do you know better, and who, should you trust? The dude you met at the Oathkeepers Rally, who showed up wearing a Multi-Cam soft shell parka, with lots of III% and Gadsden Flag velcro patches, or the cousins and siblings you grew up with, and their offspring?

“But, John, my family is full of sxx%heads that don’t care about the Constitution, or the Bill-of-Rights, or Capitalism. They all support Bernie Sanders, for crying out loud!”

Really? So, you were just a fluke of nature, and nobody in your family shares your values, at all? Where did your values come from? Granted, it CAN happen. I’ve met people who developed values in college or the military that seemed to be diametrically opposite of what their families believed. It’s pretty fxx%ing rare though. Even then, you—presumably—have friends that you’ve had for some time. THOSE people share your values, at least on some level, or they would not be your friends, right?

So what if your family and friends don’t share your concerns about the Decline, right now? If you’re willing to do the hard work, and think introspectively, you CAN find a way to approach them, through your shared values, in such a way to help them understand the importance of preparedness. You can, to borrow a quote, “instruct, especially in fundamentals or rudiments;” in fact, doing so, is “to imbue with a usually partisan or sectarian opinion, point-of-view, or principle.” See, recruiting and indoctrination is THE most important task the auxiliary fulfills in the UW doctrinal model. It doesn’t matter if the auxiliary is providing food, if there’s nobody to eat the dx%ned slop. It doesn’t matter if they’re procuring weapons and medical equipment on the black market, if there’s nobody to shoot the weapons, or that will need to be patched up.

The idea of “winning hearts and minds” is often derided today as unrealistic political bullsx%t, conceived by feel-good politicians with their heads in the clouds, and a total lack of understanding about how to win wars. While it HAS often been misused, and IS often misused, the old meme of “grab ’em by the balls, and their hearts and minds will follow,” is just as foolhardy. While it’s demonstrably not true that “you can’t kill your way to victory,” as the bleeding hearts like to whine, it IS demonstrably true that if you start killing people who are not yet dedicated to killing you, you WILL create MORE enemies, in their families and friends.

The fact is, committed foes, who have voiced or proven their willingness to use violence to achieve their aims, are not—generally—going to be convinced by anything outside of overwhelming violence-of-action, to alter their behavior. Those people can only be “fixed” by chopping off their heads, and sticking them on spikes to scare their compatriots. The greater mass of people however, who may hold some egregious views on things, that can be educated as to the error of their ways, absent chopping off heads.

Interesting reading folks (if you can handle the cussing), even with the heads on spike thing there is a time and place for everything IMHO, I hope that time is not in my lifetime but methinks it will be in the lifetime of some of my descendants so the very least of what I can do today is start laying the groundwork to better help their survival when that day comes (& if it comes in my day well at least I will have a leg up on that too & maybe not let my Kilt or Kin find my head on the bad guys spike who ever they may be, you know they have to be bad if your head is on their spike, don’t you).

Well that is where my focus is today and you know something it does make me feel better that I am doing something IMHO constructive and not just being depressed about how EVERYTHING is so screwed up around me and there is nothing much that I can do about that.

It is my plan to attend some of John’s upcoming classes too, which you can find more information about on his website.

Onward and upwards!

Ed. note: This commentary appeared first on TZP’s weekly email alert. If you would like to be among the first to see new commentary (as well as to get notice of new polls and recaps of recent posts), please sign up for our alert list. (See sidebar or, if you’re on a mobile device, scroll down). Be sure to respond when you receive your activation email!