you're the dead one

YOURE THE DEAD ONE

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note: from a caring minion:

Here is a link to The Survivalist movie you were talking about. You might like to pass it on to minions. Word of warning – there are multiple links to different streams & whenever you click any link a window will open. You just gotta bear with it

 http://sockshare.bz/watch/zdK370d1-the-survivalist.html 

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There is a saying that goes something like, “two people can share a secret if one of them is dead”.  The question becomes, do you want to be the one that is dead?  Now, I don’t know about you.  Perhaps you were born with a micro-penis and you embrace the sweet prospect of death.  Me?  I don’t really care if I die-after a certain age it just becomes embarrassing if you don’t acknowledge the Grim Reaper is stalking your ass-but I’m not going to make it easy for the bastard, am I?  Sharing a secret is all about making yourself vulnerable.  And while sometimes that is a perfectly acceptable compromise, sometimes it is anything but.

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Look, I’m all for having a tribe.  But you cannot offer a black and white choice to everyone along the lines of “tribe up or die”.  That is just silly.  Hell, I’ve already lost a quarter of my potential tribe through his inability to adjust to living locally ( a rather social chap who left most of his lifelong friends down south, he couldn’t make good friends here-so he went back to wince he came-and I’m a bit jealous as he is just as isolated but in a much smaller town one tenth as big ), and there is a chance my in-laws might move if a local job doesn’t pan out.  My last “tribe” left much to be desired, the ex-in-laws.

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The advocates for tribal organizations are either anthropologists ( myself, of an obvious hobby amateur variety ), are extroverts that see no other way, or are selling you something that requires a tribe ( Yuppie Scum Survivalist Guru’s selling books, or vendors selling bulk items such as the $2k ghost gun milling machine ).  I might see an inevitability of tribal organization post collapse, but I’m also happy to admit I’m an introvert who sees ALL the bad in people, even if I have to invent some.  I can see the need to go alone until social order is restored and before the Industrial Age surplus stockpiled items are gone.

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The items substituting for people, obviously ( wheat in lieu of a group to raise oxen and tend fields or mechanics and biofuel experts to tend tractors, as an example ).  But there is another component always ignored by advocates of tribalism.  And that is cultural conditioning.  Almost all of us were raised as semi-autonomous individuals trained at solitude ( the TV ) and relying on the nation state for most of our needs ( we’ll see how well these rugged individuals oozing Libertarian principles fare once the oil import valve is shut off ).  There is certainly nothing wrong with attempting to tribe up and change our conditioning.  Folks from cult members to survivalists try it every day.  I only warn of too high of expectations.

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And here is another reason to be leery of a tribe, IF and only IF you have no luck and that ideal just isn’t working for you ( and if you already have a tribe, feel blessed ).  Guerrilla warfare.  This is where we return to the Two Can Keep A Secret.  While having comrades to fight with certainly is a good thing, it can also prove to be a vulnerability.  The autonomous cell does indeed fight well without being vulnerable.  But you also live and die by your cell.  I’m NOT saying this kind of fight is bad.  We are social creatures and we evolved to fight in close knit groups.  You’ve seen this for yourself.  Past your partner alongside you in a cruiser and a couple of buddies also on the force, or past the folks in your immediate squad, there is little fraternity.

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You might wear the same tribal colors, and mouth the same slogans and pinky swear allegiance, but where the rubber meets the road you’ll usually only risk you life for a very select few.  So, while a small band of brothers to fight with is effective and realistic, if you DON’T have that available option, at least you can console yourself with the fact that tactically you are much safer.  A solitary man out and about with mischief on his mind is going to be far harder to find or stop ( setting aside the initial issue of rank amateurism ) than a group.

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I’m not suggesting you fight this way, I only suggest that if you never have time to tribe up you aren’t necessarily at a disadvantage militarily.  Being a loner does have its advantages.  As a survivalist being a loner is the ultimate OpSec.  And as a fighter, it does the same.  And I can almost guarantee that if the waterfall tip over journey lasts too long, there will be prolonged combat ( as opposed to combat until that short time hence when all the supplies are gone ).  And while conventional wisdom preaches strength in numbers, there is also weakness in numbers.

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In time, after acquiring experience assuming you don’t die, a squad of civilians works out a rhythm and can very effectively work together.  Until that time, there is arguments, variable levels of commitment, zero skills posing a danger to others and in general other problems crowds represent.  And yes, training is a solution.  But finding dedicated individuals willing to train at that level is part of what makes finding a decent tribe so problematic.  More likely, your tribe is from family that had zero prior commitment, and hence no training.  Ancient tribes grew up together.  Group dynamics came from a lifetime of “training together”, just from sports and hunting and other real life on the job training.  Even the introvert had enough training to function.  Today?

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Given all the hurdles of both preparing for the future and learning to fight there, going solo might not be the worst solution.  Far too often our Hollywood melted brains confuse what is ideal and what is realistic.  We somehow think we are Tony Robbins wishing success into being.  A less than ideal plan that is realistic is the better plan all along.

END ( today's related link http://amzn.to/2u4l68J )

 

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