Letter Re: How to Bug Out to Montana

Mr. Rawles:  
As a prepper living in the Redoubt, allow me to respectfully enlighten Professor Prepper from Montana with my own nickel’s worth on the topic:

I think you are a little high on the horse, pard.  I detected the hint of a threat towards those not already living in Montana, even though you lightly qualified with a disclaimer that “we Montanans” are American, and “we” do not want to take up arms against other Americans. I will concede, however, that you believe your intentions to be honorable, and you sure can’t be accused of not being proud of your state of residence, Big Sky Country.  I have hunted a few parts of it and concur that it is a magnificent piece of our country.

I am a veteran from the Viet Nam era, having served my country both here and abroad.  I am also a retired peace officer.  You might have heard that a lot of us have retired to the Redoubt, and for good reason.  That is a plus for you, believe me.  More importantly, what I am not is a whining, sniveling, malcontent…in fact, I am (no surprise) an armed, self-reliant, Christian, conservative, carnivore.  When I moved here after retirement, I remember being yelled and cursed at by a passing local motorist because I didn’t yet have my new state’s license plate; I guess he ASSumed that my old plate meant that I was a visitor, no doubt looking for some prime real estate to snatch up from under him.  Quite unnecessary and a testament that you really can’t fix stupid, no matter where you choose to live.  People like this brain-dead bozo breed like rats, and can be found anywhere, in numbers.  To be honest, WTSHTF, it is a guy like me, and my colleagues,  that you would want around to help out, not alienate by screaming obscenities from the highway.

I have a legitimate right to live within the borders of the USA, anywhere I please, Montana included, at least for now.  As you said, “Capisce?”  This is America, professor, not some fascist Third World lash-up that dictates where citizens can or can not live, or that they all live in the same manner and have the same beliefs, and contribute equally to society (that sounds vaguely communistic, no?).  And BTW, I will not tolerate being interrogated by self-appointed vigilante’s blocking my way to a place I have a right to travel to.  There are some people out here, professor, that will take that sort of behavior as a threat to life, and have a plan for that.

My friend,  there are many others, my own sons included, who are like-minded with us, but they are still fighting the fight from within the slave states they live in.  Those states were not always so.  These guys won’t be wearing a sign when they arrive, and it’s real hard to tell if they are or are not “the good guys”…you certainly won’t be able to tell by their shoes, either, trust me.  Many want to get to a redoubt state but can’t just yet.  Many good people are not on board yet, but are listening and learning.  Some are even making plans, but haven’t yet been able to pull the trigger for whatever reason.  And please don’t forget about the older folks, the young people, the single moms, the uncles and aunts and cousins, who may well end up to be refugee’s, fleeing for their lives to their loved ones in the Redoubt…if they can make it.  Many many people will simply abandon their old homes all over the US in order to live with relatives in a Redoubt state, “doubling up” for the sake of survival and practicality.

Keeping a watchful eye over natural resources and abuses by those who would take advantage is one thing…to be openly vigilante, before that becomes appropriate, is quite another.

Let me ask you this:  If heaven forbid your state, specifically your city, suddenly gets nailed with a nuke (you do have a few targets), or a pandemic,  or let’s not forget Yellowstone blowing up, or some other problem, and you had to bug out to say N. Idaho, how would you feel if you encountered a roadblock at the border.  You encounter hostiles (“we Idahoans”) who would not let you pass, perhaps because they think the state would become overcrowded with out-of-staters who would want to change things.  Some of those refugee’s would undoubtedly be liberals (yes even from Montana), some would be enviro-whackos, some would be felons.  And some would simply be worthless leeches, and none of those types are a welcome sight to the average middle class Idahoan.   Only a proper interrogation could tell, yes?  Sorry, that just isn’t a free country by definition.

I agree that in some parts of the country, celebrities and other pushy people have bought up real estate and have tried to push their weight around and in general be a pain in the rear.  They won’t last when the SHTF.  They are not relevant.  The tougher it gets, the quicker they will disappear to be in the company of their own kind.  They certainly won’t stick around to help out.

Having spent a little computer time on ancestry.com as a hobby, I can tell you this:  None of us are originals, no matter what state you may claim as your home base.  My ancestors are from Scotland and Ireland, and it was fascinating to find out how far and wide they migrated within the borders of America, after just a few generations from the time they hit the beach in the New World, and who they mixed with along the way.  What we can’t forget is that they left a place they used to call home,  because it became unlivable for them, and oppressive.

We shouldn’t be closing our state borders to fellow Americans, but rather building our population and industries and educating newcomers.. (like the weapons industry being forced out of the East Coast slave states).  Like the free-thinking people who would like to come here, in the same way the folks who are nanny-state residents by choice want nothing to do with the Redoubt mindset.   They are too deeply entrenched in their own brand of America.  But until the government dissolves, and restrictions are in place,  all have a right to move about within the borders of the USA. 

 Let’s face it, liberal folks in general aren’t exactly the types who are into self-reliance of any kind, being fans of big government taking care of all, or defending themselves with the use of force, especially the dreaded firearm.  In short they think we are nuts.  In short we think they are sissies.  Just like Redoubters would not live in Massachusetts because of the liberal mindset, those folks in turn would not live in the Redoubt because of … us.    Recently, Fox news analyst Juan Williams declared that in Idaho, there is “a machine-gun behind every tree”!   If it were only so!

But lest I forget, let us all be reminded that John Q. is not the problem.  Big, oppressive government is the problem.  History reminds us of that when we study other civilizations that are no longer on the scene.  Let us keep the enemy on the radar screen, and not ourselves.

None of what I’m saying means that you can’t “keep your eyes peeled” when strangers move in to the area.  We should all be vigilant to danger.  We should all be well acquainted with our neighbors…OPSEC.

I am sadly positive that yes, the time will eventually come when we will be confronted with the unpleasant tasks that a collapse brings with it.  That will include roadblocks, detentions, interrogations, and worse.  There will be many who will be out to invade and conquer, or become a burden to society either as cons or sluggards.  But we aren’t there yet, not by a long shot.  Better to practice OPSEC and for now be small, and gray, than to be confrontational and make enemies of the wrong people.

You mentioned all of the wide open space.  Same here.  There is plenty of room, and the Redoubt as a whole is lightly populated.  The reputation of the Redoubt is growing, and those who want to be part of it will come, and those who despise us now will avoid us like the plague in the future.

God Bless, – L.R.