Are We Already in a Collapse?

Boy, has it been a rough ten days, or what?

We’ve had two mass shootings, a murder on video in Washington DC, and several violent protests.  We’re going to discuss what that means for us, as people into preparedness, and what we can do to further prepare for the situation we are in.

First, we, as preparedness-minded people, need to understand that we are no longer preparing for some event in the future, we are in indeed in slow-moving collapse.  Nearly every day, we have less law & order, and more shortages.  The Chauvin Trial will only make things worse.

Some cities in America, because of the one-two punch of COVID lockdowns and the George Floyd incident, have seen massive increases in violent crimes, such as homicide and armed robbery, while at the same time we are seeing police officers across the nation disengage.  There are thousands of troops in Washington DC for some unclear reasons.  There are indicators that the economy teeters on the edge, while we have a single ship that has brought a complete stop to our global supply chain, apparently.

At the same time, international bad actors are increasing their aggressiveness in the face of apparent American weakness and withdrawal.

The first thing we want to discuss is our social media society and the problems it causes.

We saw in Boulder a man live-streaming an active shooter on his phone, while asking his viewers to call 911, rather than hanging up his own phone.  While he was not being shot at himself, we see on his video that he comes across three different victims, yet he never once stopped to check on them or offer aid.  I guarantee you that some of them died of exsanguination (blood loss) because no one tried to help.

Later in the week, in Washington DC, we see a man who is apparently able bodied enough to run several blocks, live-stream a carjacking.  When the video begins, the victim is alive and fighting with the suspects for his car.  Rather than help, the man makes a video as the fight goes on, eventually ending in a crash, wherein the victim died.  

We have to learn from this.  We prepare, I would hope, not just for own survival, but in all honesty for the survival of civilization.  Standing by while others die, or worse, are MURDERED in front of us, is NOT what we should encourage.

I made some comments about this on Twitter and many people argued, “But I don’t want to get involved” or “I might get sued”.  We’ve already lost if this is indeed our attitude.

But, what can we do?  The Ultimate Tactical Handbook offers some help:

Rescue those being led away to death;

Hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

Proverbs 24:11

We must, when we encounter these situations, help whenever we can.  I’m not saying run in and engage the attacker (although, being honest, I would), I’m saying in the shooting example, go to the victims and attempt to help, if you can.  Even being with someone who is obviously dying, and letting them know the they are not alone is preferable to just filming it.  Have some humanity.

In the robbery situation, I certainly think that the intervention of other people would have caused the 13 & 15 year old suspects to at least leave the scene.  In the end, after the crash, you see everyone rushing to help the suspects, but no one even gave a second look to the man dying on the sidewalk.  Again, even holding his hand and telling him you are there would have been the human thing to do.  Videotaping his death is NOT.

So, lesson one, when we encounter a situation in which we can help, we should.  Stay within our abilities, but take action.  Every state has Good Samaritan laws which shield you from liability when rendering first aid, and you should understand your state’s self-defense and citizen’s arrest laws.  I’m not advocate trying to arrest people, I’m saying that those laws, however, protect you from liability if you use force to intervene and restrain someone committing a felony in your presence.  

You may be surprised about how much the law authorizes you to do, since citizen’s arrest laws were generally written in a time when all men in society would have intervened and crime wasn’t excused as it is now.  In Michigan, for example, you can pursue a felony suspect, and break into private property and drag them out, even as a private citizen.  

Lesson two is to be prepared, not for some future event, but EVERY SINGLE DAY.  Whenever I am in public, I have my backpack with it’s bulletproof panel available.  I have at least a personal first aid kit on my person, and a larger first aid kit in my car to help others.  Really, if you carry a firearm for personal defense, you should have a first aid kit available.  Tourniquets are lifesavers.

In keeping with lesson two as well, you should have your family or group communication plan in place at all times. You should have some type of emergency check-in system in place that goes into effect immediately and without needing additional preparation when an event happens.  For example, if radios are your emergency plan, it does you no good to leave them at home because “I’m not planning on having an emergency”.

Our next vignette to illustrate a lesson comes from Salem, Oregon last night.  There was a Pro-America car cruise past the Capitol, and ANTIFA showed up to counter-protest.  The Salem Police and Oregon State Police were all present for this entire episode.

A man was driving by, when ANTIFA smashed the window on his truck.  He stopped, got out, and began to inspect the damage.  ANTIFA began to crowd him, ordering him to get back in his vehicle.  When he persisted in inspecting the damage to his car, one ANTIFA subject, in clear view of the Salem police, sprayed the man with bear spray.  

Knowing that a violent and aggressive crowd was closing in on him, having just been the victim of a felony assault, and now unable to see clearly, he drew his personal defense firearm, charged it, and pointed it at the ground, loudly ordering the crowd to STAY BACK.  

At this point, the Salem Police apparently recovered from their temporary blindness and rushed into action, ordering the man to the ground at gunpoint and taking him into custody.  For defending himself from ANTIFA.

Based on this story, lesson three is that no one else is coming to help you, and authorities may in fact oppose you.  In this case, we know that the Pacific Northwest has surrendered to the violent Socialist Revolution.  However, in the Boulder situation, and in every active shooter, the police will NOT be stopping to aid you, they’ll be rushing directly to engage the shooter, so you will be responsible for your own treatment or the treatment of loved ones.

In the DC carjacking, there were a number of National Guard troops, all of whom are trained in first aid in US Army boot camp, who offered NO AID to the man dying on the ground.  NO citizen came to his aid either during the robbery or subsequent accident.  You are on your own.

We need to build our own communities of mutual aid groups to help each other and be prepared to defend ourselves and resolve our own emergencies.  If a major event were to happen, no help would be coming.

As I said a few weeks ago, we prepare to be self-sufficient.  These situations illustrate it all the more. 

As international tensions increase, and domestic tensions increase as we approach the George Floyd trial and anniversary, we need to prepared for communications disruption, supply chain disruptions, and mass civil disorder. 

We are indeed already in a collapse, and it’s only going to get worse.

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