right side

RIGHT SIDE

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note: okay, this is the last night time article.  I'm going back to once a day posting, as per minion requests ( almost 4 to 1 preference ).  And per a minions very helpful suggestion, one I hadn't considered ( I was thinking of all kinds of different solutions for getting rid of my surplus writing, from monthly magazines to weekly book posts ), I'm going to double or triple up in one day the article length ( as long as the articles are a continuation of the same subject.  I used to publish part 1 today, part 2 tomorrow, now it is 1&2 in one day ), when appropriate.  I had the next two weeks articles already written, so if you come across references suggesting the old two a day, just ignore.  Thank you everyone, for the feedback and other assistance.
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note: a $325 AR kit.  I believe a weekend only special click here
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Idaho Yuppie Scum Survivalist Guru’s are a rather easy target as a week rarely goes by without some pearl of wisdom from their sites having a hint of odor not usually associated with jewelry.  They are too easy, and if I were a better man I’d feel bad about picking on their data points.  But, I don’t.  Hell, one was an officer, for goodness sakes.  Why not just become a lawyer or politician while you’re at it ( oh, wait, another one was )?  But my point is not to kick a dog when he’s down, rather to come to his defense.  Nothing preached is too original.  Not that I’m claiming that mantel.  Nuke bread and the Jim Washer are it for me unless my memory loss is worse than I can remember ( get it? I can’t remember if I’m losing my mind.  Anything?  This is why I’m not doing stand-up ).  Most of the ideas, flawed or otherwise, originated in the mists of time.  The Redoubt idea?  A combination of the Strategic Relocation book and the ‘80’s pulp survival fiction series Tri-State creation.  Nothing wrong with that, as a good idea is good regardless of its origins.  My issue is when you don’t understand WHY it was a good idea, and hence apply it inappropriately.

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Strategic Relocation is one of those books that sounds better talking about than reading.  Once you get into the meat of it you realize how weak the actual data is.  Not only from being out of date, despite new editions, but for using the wrong indicators to even get those.  I wouldn’t suggest anyone actually spend the $30 to compare their areas perceived problems or attributes with the reality it is now, but it is pretty bad.  Their target relocation guide in western Nevada, full of ranchland, has for a very long time ( far more than the twenty years I’ve been around it ) been California implant suburbia, the land now so expensive not even the 10% top earners ( workers, not the rich ) could afford to use it as grazing cattle.  It is a well watered ( for Nevada ), mild weather spot.  And it is butt holes to elbows chock-a-block full of Yuppie Scum crammed into quarter million dollar houses that can’t be sold due to zero jobs in the area above minimum wage ( and the local county is great adding extra fees to the property tax to jack it above the already high state percentage ).  Then, just reading on other states I’ve never been to, I find it doesn’t answer my questions that are rather pertinent.  Like that employment picture and total property tax issue.

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It is all well and good to have a map showing the largest taxes, but that doesn’t really help me all that much.  What kind of taxes are important.  If I don’t drink or smoke, and I own a piece of raw land rather than a house, Texas wouldn’t be the worst place to live ( liberal zoning outside city limits is a big help ).  But if I was zapped by all three taxes, my burden would be far higher than what the chart indicated.  I lived in Texas for a short while and worked at a convenience store, plus did a lot of reading online while buying land.  These are the kinds of stats that are helpful but not really covered in detail.  Really, Strategic Relocation isn’t too much better at deciding your U-Hauls direction than you are with your spotty grade school knowledge of the place you hope to move to.  The book did one thing well, and that was protecting yourself from the projected fallout from Soviet nuclear strikes.  And that was pretty much it.  Any other information you hope to gleam from it is incomplete to the point of uselessness.

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I’m not saying that the book isn’t worth the money, if that is the treat you are protecting yourself against.  It definitely is.  I don’t think we’ve moved our ICBM bases in the interim so that information, along with the earthquake zones, should be spot on.  But going on and on about the dangers of nuclear fallout after the Soviet Union crashed and burned almost smells of desperation to me, a One Trick Pony insistent that his book sales continue.  Hey, more power to ya, brother.  I bought a copy when I was flush with book money.  I might actually make use of it one day other than a quick review, who knows.  It has some nostalgic value, also.  I just don’t think much of the threat.  It is a possibility rather than a probability.  Anything can happen.  But, really?  All the Russians need to do is contain the US forces from advancing any further, really not anything they didn’t do in the Cold War, and have little need to act offensively.

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In case you missed the newsflash, too busy spooning the beloved memories of your precious darling FDR, the Soviets were allowed to advance into Eastern Europe, by our Dear Leaders.  We got ours, Germany occupation and most of the British naval bases, so they can have the Slavs.  So they stuck their noses into Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan.  So did we and on equally flimsy excuses.  The Cold War boiled down to keeping our military production up to the point we nationalized the factories almost as much as the Nazi’s did ( we just controlled them with defense contracts rather than bureaucracy, and allowed them the same profits ) so as to avoid a repeat of the Great Depression.  And profited the Federal Reserve as much as during that downturn.  In hindsight, the Cold War was never going to turn Hot, both countries more concerned with controlling their populations and keeping the power structure than with dominating the globe.

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So, with that hindsight, why are we still worried about another theoretical nuclear exchange?  The only thing we must fear is our own people launching the nukes and then a Russian retaliation.  While possible I wonder how likely that is.  Not because looking at it rationally it makes no sense to do so ( our leaders are the furthest thing from rational ) but from seeing few scenarios where we would think we needed to ( using the convoluted “logic” of our elite ).  Continued tomorrow.

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