On this day in 1994 the 6.7 magnitude Northridge Earthquake struck Los Angeles. It caused about $20 billion in damage and killed 61 people.
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On Jan. 17, 1920 the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect, establishing Prohibition. By one account, 286 distilleries, 992 breweries, and more than 300,000 bars and saloons were closed.
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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest
Today we present another entry for Round 86 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
- A $3,000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from veteran-owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
- A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
- A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
- DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
- Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
- A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
- American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
Second Prize:
- A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
- A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
- A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
- A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
- A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
- Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
- An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).
Third Prize:
- Good2GoCo.com is providing a $400 purchase credit at regular prices for the prize winner’s choice of either Wise Foods or Augason long term storage foods, in stackable buckets.
- Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
- A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
- Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
- Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
- Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.
Round 86 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for surviva
One of my Uncles bragged about all the money he made selling bathtub gin during prohibition. He took those profits an went into real estate. Sadly, he didn’t keep out of the alcohol, and died of liver poisoning.
The overwhelming opinion among virtually everyone I know, is that Prohibition was a massively foolish mistake. I was actually taught that in school. And maybe it was but there is more to the story that is not talked about much.
My understanding of history is that most of the states were dry prior to Prohibition. The reason they were dry, is that around the turn of the century America developed a heavy drinking problem. Many, many men were drinking their paychecks every week and then going home and beating their wife and kids. That is why all those women in funny hats were running around putting axes through whiskey barrels. They were not just a bunch of silly prudes. They were tired of getting beat and their kids going hungry because their husbands were raging alcoholics.
Don’t know when this started because real accounts of the Old West indicate that they did not drink exceptionally heavy despite what all the Hollywood westerns portray and my understanding is the east was the same. I forget which old famous gun fighter I was reading about preferred ice cream to alcohol and he was not uncommon. Partly because much of the liquor tasted horrible. Those who did drink, largely drank mixed drinks with fruit juice. I suspect, like cigarettes (cigarette smoking increased dramatically after the invention of the machine roller), that advances in manufacturing and shipping made liquor cheaper and higher quality and triggered an increase in consumption.
It appears that after Prohibition ended, America did not resume quite the same level of consumption as prior. Seems as if the country dried out a bit and found a level of drinking that did not cause too much chaos. Or at least a tolerable level.
I think this is pertinent because of the current debates on drug legalization. Don’t know what the right answer is and it appears marijuana is pretty close to legalized anyway. But, despite my libertarian leanings, I wonder if society needs to put some brakes on consumption of certain mind altering substances. It is so easy for certain substances to rewire our brains making us addicts.
Or maybe not. I don’t know.
For the record, I am not a teetotaler. I do drink a little less all the time though, partly because I own guns for the protection of my home. I never touch my guns if I am drinking. I started thinking about that and started wondering what I would do if I had a few and needed to respond to something, perhaps out of a dead sleep, with a weapon? Like many people, I keep a weapon next to my bed. I find myself increasingly wanting to be ready to use it (or be generally ready to respond to anything even without a weapon) 24/7. Kind of balancing that out in my own mind. Increasingly, I find I prefer my mind clear, even when I am just relaxing at home or going to sleep.
At least the folks at the time recognized that they had to change the constitution in order to prohibit alcohol. They did things the right way. When they realized the insane, immoral, and unjust war on alcohol was an abject failure, they repealed the 18th amendment and put the regulation of alcohol back into the hands of the states where it belongs.
Today, with the failed war on their fellow citizens who smoke something, inject something, snort something, or otherwise ingest something that the ruling class does not approve of, they never admit failure, they never admit defeat, and they double down on their imposition of tyranny. The so called war on drugs is insane, immoral, unjust, and unconstitutional. Even those who think the constitution should be obeyed by this government, really don’t mind that this failed program is unconstitutional. They see it as a good, regardless of the really bad outcomes for We The People.
The war on drugs is also the war on guns. If you support the insane, immoral, unjust, and unconstitutional war on drugs, and those who use them, you also support the insane, immoral, unjust, and unconstitutional war on guns, and those who own them. It’s not about the drugs or the guns. It is about control of We The People. You can’t declare a war on an inanimate object. You can only declare war on people.
There has been a declaration of war by the government of the United States, and all too many of the individual States, against We The People. It started with the war on the American Indians, expanded with the war on the Confederate States of America, continued with the war on alcohol, radically expanded with the war on drugs, and goes on to this day with the war on guns. The next phase is the war on private property, particularly the war on the individual ownership of land. You don’t need all that land after all, it must be preserved for future generations to visit and stare at. Oh, wait, it must be preserved for the ruling class. They shouldn’t be forced to live among the great unwashed, they’re special, aren’t they?
It won’t end with the war on land, it will continue with a war on individual home ownership. Don’t forget the already ongoing war on privately owned transportation. You don’t need that car or suv or truck. Pollution is all our fault. The war on climate change is also a war on the American people, in fact, all people, everywhere in the world. Welcome to the USSA and the New World Order. I love Big Brother!
Rant over, for now.
I agree with a lot of what you say. I am seeing one logical fallacy develop however.
The progressives who are waging the war on guns, property rights, etc. are backing off the war on drugs. In the major cities where they reign it is easier than it has been for probably 50 or 60 years to distribute and/or consume drugs. Hence the “homeless” problem in all these major cities that is actually a heroin problem.
On a far lesser note and not known to many, the rise in micro distilleries of late has come from a relaxation of distillery regulations in the last 10 or 20 years. It has never been easier, since the end of Prohibition, to open a distillery.
It would appear to me the New World Order is quite happy with drugs and alcohol.
I don’t know why this is so, but I have two theories that could in fact exist easily together.
1. The New World Order wants a weak, drugged population because they are easier to control. Look at all the people practically singing in the streets where they legalize marijuana while at the same time instituting gun control, property control, plastic bag control, carbon taxes, you name it. Put another way, modern bread and circuses without even having to build a colosseum.
2. While many in the prepper movement emphasize the globalists and largely look at bankers, politicians, the intel community, etc. I think another group is being overlooked that IMO are likely running hand in hand with these others. The drug cartels. When I look at what goes on WRT drug enforcement in major blue cities, I am increasingly convinced many of the politicians are on the drug cartel’s pay roll. If they are not, they should be because all their policies enrich the murderous cartels. And we can throw terrorists and the Chinese in that group too.
Is the war on drugs misguided? Should we go a different direction? Maybe? I don’t know. I have a really hard time thinking it should be legal to sell meth or fentanyl to people for consumption, but maybe to stay logical with the constitution we should allow it. I don’t know.
But I do think we live in a time when huge snares are being set to destroy us with substance abuse. I think some of these snares are being set purposely by “The New World Order”. And I think the person who wants to be prepared for whatever may come needs to avoid it like the plague. That is not as easy a task as it seems and there are many victims of alcoholism, illegal drug addiction, prescription drug addiction, and their families to prove this.
I don’t disagree with you. Most drugs are really, really bad. That being said, there has never been a time in history where prohibition has achieved the “stated” desired goal. Prohibition is never about the control of a substance or a product. It’s always about the control of people. It’s the way of the statist.
I believe the federal government should obey the constitution. If the state governments don’t think they can individually handle the drug problems in their individual states, then an amendment to the constitution should be proposed and voted on. That is the right way to do things, one drug at a time. If it’s the right thing to do, and 38 states say yes, the constitution can be changed. If it’s not the right thing to do, there won’t be 38 states who vote for an amendment.
No one should do drugs. But if you do, it should not be a crime. People should be punished for the real tangible harm they do to another person, not because some politician or bureaucrat doesn’t approve of what you do. It is the actual harm that is the problem, not the imagined harm. You can’t punish someone for what they might do or what some politician or bureaucrat thinks they might do. People should only be punished for what they do after they do it, not before. Precrime, a “Minority Report” situation. Not good.
Both of you make excellent points. be aware that the opium poppy trade out of Afghanistan is thriving, despite eighteen years of occupation by our troops.
There are too many players in the drug game for us to keep track of. Some of them are employed by the good old U S of A.
As Rush Limbaugh likes to say, “Follow the money.”
And, the number noted by JWR, 300,000 bars and saloons closed. Humble citizens like you and me. Who got rich from Prohibition? Let’s start with organized crime. You fill in the other blanks.
Carry on
Alcohol kills tens of thousands every year, destroys far more lives. And you think Prohibition was “wrong”. The problem is of course you cannot make people overcome their addictions be it drugs or alcohol. Not that it is wrong to want to, but that it is wrong to think you can.
Prohibition has never, in history, achieved it’s “stated” desired goal, never. It just does not work. It didn’t work on alcohol, it hasn’t worked on drugs. It won’t work on guns. That is just reality. Yes, prohibition was wrong then, it’s wrong now, it will always be wrong, no matter what is prohibited. Now, think about who actually creates the “black market”. At every point in history the “black market” has always been created by the actions of government. If the government, it doesn’t matter which level of government, were to prohibit strawberries or peanut butter, there will rise a “black market” in strawberries or peanut butter. There are basically three actions by government that lead to the rise of the “black market”: excess regulation, excessive taxation, and prohibition. It happens every single time, without fail. That is just reality.
That is a popular opinion when it comes to drugs or alcohol. But yet we continue to have prohibition on murder, rape and bank robbery. And believe it or not prohibition does work. So I think what is really going on is that many/most people do not abuse drugs and alcohol and they simply don’t see the scope of the problem. Almost all crime is related to or caused by drugs and alcohol. Tens of thousands of deaths every year and hundreds of thousands of injuries and other physical and mental harm caused by these two bad habits. I don’t disagree that if we banned peanut butter and strawberries that there would be a black market in peanut butter and strawberries but your example shows how little you care about the actual harm drugs and alcohol cause. I spent my 20 years in the military during the Vietnam war. Knew a lot of people who went to Vietnam and a few who gave there life there. A terrible war with a terrible toll. Even today 44 years or so after it ended we still bemoan the loss of life there and the injuries. And yet every year, year after year drugs and alcohol kill and injure far more people here in our own country and you compare that with peanut butter and strawberries. Should we throw up our hands and do nothing?
You missed the part about real tangible harm. Murder causes direct and violent harm to another person, rape is the same. Bank robbery also does real tangible harm, not just to the bank, but the employees of the bank, and the other customers of the bank. A big part of the problem with drugs and alcohol is that too many people who are on these substances and who do real tangible harm to others, don’t get punished for the harm that they actually do. We are supposed to give them a pass or a lighter sentence because of their drug addiction (it really doesn’t matter which drug), it wan’t their fault, the drugs made it happen. It isn’t the drugs or the alcohol that kills or injures, it’s the actions that people take that causes the deaths and the injuries.
Drugs don’t kill, people kill. Even the person who overdoses on drugs killed him/her self. The drugs were just the tool or the excuse. It isn’t the drugs that ruin lives and families, it’s the weak people who take the drugs that ruin lives and families.
One of the biggest problems in our society is the failure to take responsibility for one’s own actions. It’s always someone else’s fault, or it’s the drugs or the alcohol, or the gun for that matter. This leads to the other big problem, the enablers. These are the folks who won’t place the blame where it actually belongs. Again, it’s always the drugs or the alcohol or the gun, it’s never the person who took the drugs or the alcohol or used the gun.
No sir, prohibition does not work. We prohibit murder, yet there are murders every freaking day. We prohibit rape, yet there are rapes of women and children and now men, every freaking day. We prohibit robbery, yet there are robberies every freaking day. This is real tangible harm to another human being. Yet we are supposed to look the other way and feel sorry for the murderer, the rapist, or the robber. It wasn’t his/her fault, it was the drugs or the alcohol or the gun or even the victims fault. If he didn’t have a nice car, I wouldn’t have stolen it. If the women hadn’t been walking down the street, I wouldn’t have raped her. If that kid I killed hadn’t jumped in front of my bullet or my knife, I wouldn’t have killed that kid. If those people hadn’t been in that house I just shot up, I wouldn’t have killed that family. It’s not my fault, I had the wrong address. Oops!
Yet we want to punish the person who sits in their home, peacefully smoking a marijuana cigarette. The person who has harmed no one except maybe themselves. Please!
I won’t go on, this is enough.
You have it all wrong; I don’t want to punish anyone because they are addicted. I do want to punish those who sell the drugs.
You claim that alcohol and drugs don’t kill; you are exactly wrong. IF the drugs and alcohol put you to sleep until you were back in your right mind THEN it would be true. But it does not and the drunk/drugged go out amongst us and take a terrible toll. It absolutely IS the drugs and alcohol.
I feel very sorry for anyone who has to smoke pot be it in their home or while driving or whenever. I am sad for them and wish the jerk who introduced them to drugs had never done that.
The lack of alcohol will make for many shaky, irritable, irrational people when tshtf. Many of whom are “preppers”.
Agreed. Also all the people on legal or illegal opioids, anxiety medication, and other medication. Even diabetes medication, blood pressure medication, etc.
I think many will die. I also think some who weather the initial effects might actually be saved as their bodies are purged of toxins.
Our bodies should be our number one prep IMO. Those who are fit and are not reliant on medications, legal, illegal, mind altering or other wise will have a significant advantage. And if nothing ever happens they still have an advantage IMO.
My father tells of a late relative we had that made moonshine during prohibition. When he left the farm he traveled 20 miles stopping at every small town spot and having a drink with owner to prove his merchanise was healthy. Many times the horse knew the way home since the drink caught up with him. One time the horse walking into the barn when they got back and his lit cigarette fell into the chaff on the floor and lit the barn on fire. Lucky for him the horse had sensed the danger and walked thru the barn and out the other side. Our late relative used his proceeds to pay for his farm at that time period.
Did the barn burn down or was it saved?
JBH,read “Brave New World”,this plan was invented decades ago but has been put in motion the last few decades. Flouride in tap water to lower IQ was not a mistake.