A Statement of the Obvious – And a Call For Comments

Wow.  I’ve found it very hard to simply blog about prepping lately.  This is, of course, not news to the followers of this prepping blog and to you, I can only apologize and offer this meager explanation.

I started this blog as a Prepping blog and, as such, I feel I have achieved some measure of success and am quite happy with the quality and originality of its content.  Writing this blog was my way of sharing my prepping experiences with a growing number of like-minded people who were journeying down the same road of self sufficiency and preparedness.  Except for a few dalliances, I have succeeded in my efforts to avoid being overtly political and overbearingly pessimistic – and therein lies the problem.  In recent weeks and months, whenever I sat down to write about my new Ruger LC9 or the incredible mods I’ve made to my Kel-Tec Sub-2000, I instead,  start writing dire warnings about how the Department of Homeland Security has ordered nearly 2 Billion rounds of small arms ammo in the past year. Why?  Who are they anticipating doing battle with?

Or how that same department has ordered over seven thousand armored, mine-resistant vehicles – not for the Iraq or Afghanistan theater, but for deployment here in the CONUS. Why?

Or how the local police are becoming more and more militarized, through ‘fusion centers’ (Google that one…and YES, the NSA will be watching as you do it) funded by, you guessed it, the DHS.  Why?

Or how a whole panoply of government agencies are capturing everything we write, say, and read from our digital phones and computers and storing it without a warrant (google the PRISM program).  Why?

Or how Free Speech, the bedrock of a free society, is being stifled by political correctness, the US Justice Department, and the IRS.  Why?

Or how we are openly supplying arms to an group of Islamist rebels in Syria who share the same goals as al Qaeda, our alleged sworn enemy.  (Anyone read 1984?)  Why?

Or how the US debt is about to reach $17,000,000,000,000 – a sum that is impossible to pay back.

Or…  Well, you get the picture.  And it’s NOT a rosy one.  I wish I could just ignore all this stuff, but, as preppers, we MUST be aware of these happenings and act in our best interests to shield our families form their possible effects.  We haven’t invested our time and money prepping merely for hurricanes or floods or tornadoes.  We all know that something is going to ‘go-south’ here in America.  We can feel it.  We all dread it and pray that it never occurs, but.  Well…. We know better, don’t we?

I wish I had a more positive, uplifting message, but I don’t.  I heard Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless The USA’ the other day and instead of tears welling up in my eyes as was once the case, I just sadly shook my head when he said:  “I’m proud to live in America, where at least I know I’m free.”  A libertarian, constitution-loving, gun owning, liberty loving Tea-Party Christian, free?  I’m not so sure anymore.

Are you?

Share your thoughts with me and others in comments.  I really want to know how you all feel about what I’ve written here tonight.  Do you agree?  Or do you want me to shut up and post pics of my souped up Kel-Tec Sub2000?

Be Safe.  Be Prepared

Practical Prepper 2013