This may inflame some folks, but for others I hope it jogs our brain cells to ask, how did we get to this spot, and why are we of this prepper mindset?
Think back to the early sixties (if you can), 6th grade in sunny California, and unlike my folks who suffered through the Great Depression, life was good. NY Yankees’ Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were hitting away, trying to break the Babe’s home run record. Every kid in my school played ball, at every opportunity, and you carried your glove with you, everywhere…it was a mark of boyhood. The school janitor was our ump, and recess went by all to fast. Girls did their own thing, and to be honest I don’t remember what it was. Even the teachers were “betting” on Mantle, but the principal held out for Maris. America invented baseball, along with the Colt .45 peacemaker and 1911, flying saucers, the muscle car, the movies, Rock and Roll, NASA, the transistor radio, drive-in theaters, cowboys and the wild west, and countless scores of other things. We were a nation of heroes and legends who won the World War against fascism and evil. We even won at the Alamo even when we lost, because of men like Crockett and Bowie and Travis. Sports figures were heroes, not thugs, they were paid well but not rich, and they spent time with kids, not like today’s sports celebrities, who spend more time using performance enhancers to cheat. Kids played outside, with no fear.
Eisenhower, the commanding General of “the Allies” in WWII, was President. Kennedy and Nixon were running for President, and the girls all wanted Kennedy because he was the better looking and younger of the two. We all felt a sense of strength in Kennedy, whether or not that was true. He was perceived as a just man who would not be slapped around, who knew right from wrong, and had proven himself in battle. John and Jackie Kennedy were the darlings of the era. Nobody disliked them. When we look back at those times, now-liberal agendas were simply not on the table and not debated as today. And Kennedy was not mocked for his frequent mentions of the Almighty. BHO would have never been elected during this time, regardless of skin color or attitudes then, but because of his socialist views, his associates, and his lack of proven leadership qualities.
Most boys were in Scouts, and most went through hunter safety. I still remember that nobody caught any flak for walking down the street with your .22. We all had a warrior mindset, but not a mindset of violence or evil to our fellow Americans, but rather, respect. The NRA was not involved in politics like today, because there was no need to protect peoples’ 2nd Amendment rights…everyone just had them – this was America!. Kids could go into Joe Agueda’s gas station and buy .22 rounds for very little money. There were no background checks of course.
Most things were based on horse sense. There were not a lot of “WSM’s” (whining, sniveling malcontents) who showed themselves back then. Men married women. Homosexual people did not join up in the military and if found out they were booted out. Women did not serve on board ships in the Navy with men. Duh. People refrained from certain locker-room talk in front of women and kids, flipped the bird only to your worst enemy, and the “F” bomb was not dropped in public, especially by young people, and never on the silver screen. People helped others who were in need or in trouble. People who acted like jerks were shunned, and those who were honorable were respected.
Certain things were never done. Nobody, not even nuts, not even suicidal nuts, walked into a school full of children or into a movie theater or a military installation or a church, and opened fire. There was always a general, overall sense that this country was one of real manhood, whose people were warriors, who would protect us all from harmful people, from mentally deranged people. There were far less threats because those of that bent were not allowed to just go about in society doing as they wished. There were consequences, not like today. There was far more respectful treatment among us. Life was sometimes harsh, sometimes “unfair”, and sometimes folks’ “rights” were violated…but we were far, far safer than today, and without “political correctness”. There were winners and losers, and that was not considered a detriment to our society. People just dealt with it. Like Clint Eastwood’s character in “Heartbreak Ridge” said, “Adapt, improvise, overcome”.
While people were different in many ways, and there were always the criminal types (“hoodlums” Granny called them) …it seemed like most Americans were on the same page. Yes there was still problems with segregation in those days, especially in the South – a scar, a blight, and a curse on our country ever since the inclusion of slavery on our shores. Native Americans and Japanese citizens were also treated poorly in our history. In spite of our weaknesses and failures and differences, we seemed to be more of a nation of patriots, even black men (called “negroes” then) rose above the racial inequalities and fought their hearts out or competed their hearts out when called; As did our Native Americans, as did our Japanese people…persecuted and oft times ridiculed, but fought anyway, because we were a nation of patriots. Adults were also hard working patriots, with a sense of dignity and loathing for handouts. We all come from pioneers and fighters, most of whom were from foreign shores. Our whole culture is one based on survival in the face of hardships.
The UN was still an infant back then, and heralded by many as a new, ground-breaking way to have peace on Earth (okay so that didn’t work so bueno.) All of us in grade school had to know who Dag Hamerskjold was, the 2nd secretary general of the UN…he died in a plane crash while in office, and President Kennedy called him “the greatest statesman of this century”. At about the same time, Fidel Castro had stormed Cuba and we were all taught that he was a no-good, a “red” (communist) who murdered his own people and enslaved many, like Stalin or Hitler. In spite of the celeb’s today who want us to believe Cuba is wrongfully persecuted by the USA, talk to those who risked their lives to get out of there, to be here.
The 50’s and early 60’s were lazy, blissful days. Saturday matinees, and Little League. Weekly ball games on TV called by legends Pee Wee Reese and Dizzy Dean, and heavyweight boxing matches on “the boob tube” as my Dad called it (to him there would never be another Rocky Marciano – and Cassius Clay was no Marciano, he would say). Push manual lawn mowers, record stores, rotary dial phones and party lines, hot cars, cheap gas, “Bonanza” (yay!) and Lawrence Welk (yech!) It seemed like everybody smoked cigarettes except a few of the old timers who stuck with their pipes. There were no microwaves, bottled water, smart phones, the internet, video games, iPods or pads, Kindles, methamphetamine labs or crack houses (although there were “dope fiends”), rock concerts, gyms, espresso coffee, pizza or fast food joints. There was also no Super Bowl much less “tailgate parties”, nor were there any “R” rated movies or any other rating for that matter…”Ben Hur” and “Ol’ Yeller” were the hit movies. And there were definitely no terrorists. Still, there were lots of mistakes made in those days, from abusing our lands and wildlife to unwise medical practices to liberal parenting models (thanks to Dr. Benjamin Spock)..we are, after all, fallen, imperfect human beings in constant need of a Savior!
Most importantly, there were no preppers as we know it today. Folks just modestly put away here and there for emergencies, or disasters, not counting the “fall out shelter” craze that went on for awhile during the Cold War. But Mom’s knew more back then about making things, and all Mom’s cooked like crazy back then. Government and/or economic collapse was hardly ever talked about, pandemics and natural disasters were mentioned occasionally, there were no movies about these themes. And climate change was not on the table at all. Catch this: Nobody would have ever dreamed that just owning a gun and ammo would be a big deal, or that .22 LR would ever be in short supply.
When we were stopped and questioned by the local gendarme’s back then, it was always “yes sir” and “no sir”…or you suffered the consequences. Same applied to teachers and neighbors. In those days the male teachers wore coats and ties and were well-groomed, and used those long yellow chalk board erasers on sassy boys, with reckless abandon. The female teachers wore dresses in class, and were equally well known for their lightening fast disciplinary techniques, again, mostly with the boys. Parents used corporal punishment on children as well, with no fear of child abuse charges because somebody’s bottom got a spanking…it was just…common sense! Try that today. Respect.
Little did we realize, but there were hard and confusing times shortly ahead, much different than the challenges of WWII and Korea. There were also insidious forces at work behind the scenes, on the attack from the inside to change our way of life as we knew it. Nothing like Pearl Harbor mind you, but attacks nonetheless. Many of us remember watching little Nikita Khrushchev pound his shoe on the podium at the UN and warning us that communism would take us over…from within!
As just one example, most of us did not realize that the number of attorneys would explode over the next few decades, litigating the USA into a society of fear and loathing where anyone could get sued for anything. The ACLU, founded by a card carrying communist, would become extremely powerful and give birth to many like organizations, such as the National Lawyers Guild. These organizations have put a serious dent in legal fairness, common sense, and Americanism, and continue to do so, unabated. They have warped our judicial system and have made a mockery of criminal justice.
What has taken it’s toll on America? The killing of the Kennedy’s and MLK, Viet Nam, the drug culture, abortion, segregation unrest, bigger and more abusive government, taxes, crime, liberal prison reforms, powerful labor unions, the growth of gangs, “alternative” lifestyles, Hollywood, the MTV culture, environmental hazards and disasters, the entitlement lifestyle, porous borders, ill health and obesity, and most importantly, the rejection of our Christian heritage. We are a nation divided. There are now many Americans who have zero respect for parents, teachers or elders, for our laws and our Constitution, our heritage, or for our military protectors.
Like the frog in the hot water, we are now close to the boiling point, and we are complacent, choosing to boil to death rather than jump out of the cauldron. This is very dangerous for our society.
An example: Who would have thought years ago that it is “normal” to hear a Hollywood talking head on the radio, advertising tax specialist assistance in order to keep the IRS from seizing our bank accounts and homes because of “back taxes”?. Why are we standing for this nonsense? We are taxed to death already, and nobody’s homes or paychecks should be seized by anyone in this country much less our own government!. Yet we ignore the advertisement and think about getting a latte instead.
So we prepare for the worst because we can’t rely on our leaders in Washington to do right by us. Instead, we fear our own government, and with good reason. With each passing year, the government shows itself to be a heartless and really dumb entity that exists to victimize it’s own citizens. To add insult to injury, our government and the Central Bank are bedfellows, and between the two, have managed to drive us to financial Armageddon. The American dream is a little hard to come by when everyone ends up broke.
We prep because we can’t trust the rest of the world to leave us in peace and worry about their own countries.
We prep because we want to take care of our families and give our little ones a fighting chance.
We prep because we don’t want to be boiled frogs.
Those who take the necessary precautions, those who are the willing, will be able to take our heritage back from those who are stealing it and destroying it. Because we have respect for our country. But if we continue to thumb our noses at the Creator of the universe and all mankind, it won’t matter. Time to realize that Jesus is coming back, and now is not the time to be goofing off!
