Hello from the USA

[SoCal92057]

I enjoy looking at your forum and decided to join for the different perspectives I will receive. I'm a retired professional military man having been a member of the U.S. Marines for over 20 years. I am skilled at woodcraft / bushcraft in a wide range of climatic conditions. I am well versed in tactics, both defensive and offensive and the use and functioning of weapons. I know how to hunt and fish, am a competitive handgun and rifle shooter and I love my country but I am disgusted with most of the members of the current national government. I live remotely in the mountains of the USA where I continue my preps that I began about 30 years ago. My belief is that you are never prepared, but always working towards being prepared. Prepping is a sane and reasonable thing to do. Our ancestors always set food and supplies aside to get them past lean times. During the 20th century and now the 21st century, we have forgotten that lesson due to the false promise by government that they will take care of us. I consider that promise to be a lie in an effort to get votes in an election. I am a prepper who loves freedom, but what is freedom? I think freedom is the lack of coercion. What is coercion you ask? Coercion is the threat that if you do or fail to do something you will receive a consequence. The more coercion the less freedom. Governments cannot exist without the threat of coercion. Laws, all laws, have behind them coercion based upon a consequence. Some consequences may be a money fine, others may be going to prison. The most serious consequence is being put to death at the hands of the government.

Some laws serve the purpose of protecting your health and safety from the careless or criminal actions of others. Laws against driving too fast are an example of this type of law. So are laws against assaulting or murdering another person. There is a delicate balance between needed laws and laws that are not needed and may not even serve the greater good.

When the government raises your taxes to pay for the widening of a road that may be good for some drivers, but bad for the property owners along the road who have their land taken away to allow for the road to be widened. Government cannot give anything to anyone without first taking it away from another. That is not right. What you have earned through your intelligence and labor is yours. To widen the road, they will take away your money in the form of increased taxes to pay for a road you may not even use, and they took away the land of property owners along the road to allow for the widening. The greater good argument may seem to apply here, but wait until your land is taken and your taxes raised for a road improvement that you do not approve of.

Remember, at its best, government is a monopoly and an inefficient provider of services. Government has no reason to improve efficiency as there is no competition and after all, your failure to cooperate will lead to coercion by the government against you. Just try not paying your taxes and see what happens.

Remember, each time you vote for a new law or ordinance you are eroding your liberty, no matter how small the amount. Freedom is seldom lost all at once. Instead it is slowly eroded with the passage of just one more “good” law followed by the passage of another “good” law. After all, a blizzard falls one snow flake at a time and your freedoms are being lost in the same way.

I welcome all to respond and look forward to a lively exchange of ideas about freedom, liberty, government and prepping.

Semper Fidelis

[pseudonym]

Hello and welcome to the Forum.

Great introduction.

Thankyou for your Service.

[soutie]

welcome , great post , very thought provoking

[DundeePrepper]

Hi and Welcome