Does anybody share my feeling that throwing around phrases like “when the shit hits the fan” generates a level of paranoid anxiety that is unwarranted and perhaps unhealthy? The shit isn’t going to hit the fan. And if it does, the last thing you need is a weapon. I was in New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina’s immediate aftermath, when the media and city officials were talking about “mayhem,” and “marauders” and “babies being raped in the Superdome.” The exact opposite was true. People were looking out for each other, helping each other, keeping each other safe. That — not Mad Max chaos — is what happens in disasters. Read Rebecca Solnit’s “A Paradise Built in Hell,” which documents eight disasters and how in each case, the people reacted to one another with kindness, but the authorities, convinced that “chaos” was breaking out, overreacted and made things immeasurably worse. As I saw in New Orleans.
Point is, firearms are fine things. They are fun to shoot, fun to compete with, fun to hunt with, and they make excellent home and self defense weapons. Restrictions on buying, owning, and carrying them should be far looser. But when we casually throw around phrases like “bug out gun” and “shit hits the fan gun,” we are contributing to unreasonable and unhealthy expectations.
I cut Farago some slack on this one. I’ve been to the SHOT Show, and it’s pretty overwhelming. Still. Bob. Tighten the laces a notch.
Dan, I think that the s is unlikely to htf, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible or that people should be unprepared. And it’s not paranoid or unhealthy to plan for the worst case while working and hoping for the best.
Actually, Dan, I don’t think it “generates” anything that wasn’t already there: I think a lot of it is borne from a kind of Walter-Mittyesque fantasizing. There’s a reason that end-of-the-world scenarios are among the most popular genre of popular fiction, because they tap into a deep seated discomfort with our modern, complex world. I’m not surprised that people can take comfort in the thoughts of a world where elemental survival is the only important skill, and where all the annoying little paper cuts of modern life are a distant memory.
No getting stuck in traffic, no nagging wife or bratty kids, no meetings with the people from HR, no traffic tickets, no cover sheets for the TPS reports. It’s all just me and my gun against the endless Zombie hordes, and the most pressing question is one of “which caliber?”
It’s all (mostly) harmless fantasy and you can’t blame the manufacturers for wanting to cash in on it.
And yet, in the wake of Hurricane Andrew, “You Loot, We Shoot” signs went up in areas where authorities had no access for days (or weeks). I have it on good authority that the bodies of a number of looters were never found.
While the general reaction to disaster among people is to help one another (we are, after all, social animals), there is no denying that it also creates opportunities for predators.
One SHTF scenario that seems increasingly probable is the complete economic collapse of the dollar. The average large city today only has enough food on hand for about 2 weeks. Imagine a dollar collapse that leaves no tender to purchase fuel for trucks to cart food into the cities – and no source of fuel for people to get out. You can SAY that it’s fantasy – but the day it becomes reality is not the day you want to start thinking about the possibility.
In such a scenario, you have food, the guy trying to kick down your door does not, and your family is behind you, hungry and afraid… what do you do?
Nope, can’t say that I agree with you at all. The shit isn’t going to hit the fan? I am glad you are 100% sure. And then in your next sentence you talk about the Katrina aftermath LOL. No looting or marauding or lawlessness? Hmm…lot’s of LEO’s shipped in would disagree, possibly including the N.O. cops recently convicted.
@Dan – “The shit isn’t going to hit the fan. And if it does, the last thing you need is a weapon.”
You can’t be serious. I had to doublecheck the URL to make sure I hadn’t accidently gone to Huffpo.
It’s nice that some are able to go through things like Katrina and only see the good side of people. That doesn’t mean there are no bad things happening the next block or two over. I have been in way too many situations like that. Depending on what the area was like prior to whatever emergency comes up, I’ve seen people helping each other about 60-95% of the time. Not bad, but as it gets towards the 60% side of things, I’ll have one of my weapons with me.
Does anybody share my feeling that throwing around phrases like “when the shit hits the fan” generates a level of paranoid anxiety that is unwarranted and perhaps unhealthy? The shit isn’t going to hit the fan. And if it does, the last thing you need is a weapon. I was in New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina’s immediate aftermath, when the media and city officials were talking about “mayhem,” and “marauders” and “babies being raped in the Superdome.” The exact opposite was true. People were looking out for each other, helping each other, keeping each other safe. That — not Mad Max chaos — is what happens in disasters. Read Rebecca Solnit’s “A Paradise Built in Hell,” which documents eight disasters and how in each case, the people reacted to one another with kindness, but the authorities, convinced that “chaos” was breaking out, overreacted and made things immeasurably worse. As I saw in New Orleans.
Point is, firearms are fine things. They are fun to shoot, fun to compete with, fun to hunt with, and they make excellent home and self defense weapons. Restrictions on buying, owning, and carrying them should be far looser. But when we casually throw around phrases like “bug out gun” and “shit hits the fan gun,” we are contributing to unreasonable and unhealthy expectations.
I cut Farago some slack on this one. I’ve been to the SHOT Show, and it’s pretty overwhelming. Still. Bob. Tighten the laces a notch.
Dan, I think that the s is unlikely to htf, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible or that people should be unprepared. And it’s not paranoid or unhealthy to plan for the worst case while working and hoping for the best.
Actually, Dan, I don’t think it “generates” anything that wasn’t already there: I think a lot of it is borne from a kind of Walter-Mittyesque fantasizing. There’s a reason that end-of-the-world scenarios are among the most popular genre of popular fiction, because they tap into a deep seated discomfort with our modern, complex world. I’m not surprised that people can take comfort in the thoughts of a world where elemental survival is the only important skill, and where all the annoying little paper cuts of modern life are a distant memory.
No getting stuck in traffic, no nagging wife or bratty kids, no meetings with the people from HR, no traffic tickets, no cover sheets for the TPS reports. It’s all just me and my gun against the endless Zombie hordes, and the most pressing question is one of “which caliber?”
It’s all (mostly) harmless fantasy and you can’t blame the manufacturers for wanting to cash in on it.
Martin, you had me at “no getting stuck in traffic.”
And yet, in the wake of Hurricane Andrew, “You Loot, We Shoot” signs went up in areas where authorities had no access for days (or weeks). I have it on good authority that the bodies of a number of looters were never found.
While the general reaction to disaster among people is to help one another (we are, after all, social animals), there is no denying that it also creates opportunities for predators.
One SHTF scenario that seems increasingly probable is the complete economic collapse of the dollar. The average large city today only has enough food on hand for about 2 weeks. Imagine a dollar collapse that leaves no tender to purchase fuel for trucks to cart food into the cities – and no source of fuel for people to get out. You can SAY that it’s fantasy – but the day it becomes reality is not the day you want to start thinking about the possibility.
In such a scenario, you have food, the guy trying to kick down your door does not, and your family is behind you, hungry and afraid… what do you do?
Nope, can’t say that I agree with you at all. The shit isn’t going to hit the fan? I am glad you are 100% sure. And then in your next sentence you talk about the Katrina aftermath LOL. No looting or marauding or lawlessness? Hmm…lot’s of LEO’s shipped in would disagree, possibly including the N.O. cops recently convicted.
To answer your first question, NO! And, I don’t agree with much else you had to say either.
Hey, you ask!
@Dan – “The shit isn’t going to hit the fan. And if it does, the last thing you need is a weapon.”
You can’t be serious. I had to doublecheck the URL to make sure I hadn’t accidently gone to Huffpo.
It’s nice that some are able to go through things like Katrina and only see the good side of people. That doesn’t mean there are no bad things happening the next block or two over. I have been in way too many situations like that. Depending on what the area was like prior to whatever emergency comes up, I’ve seen people helping each other about 60-95% of the time. Not bad, but as it gets towards the 60% side of things, I’ll have one of my weapons with me.