Category Archives: Blogs

We have an annoying shit pot stirrer at the TSP Facebook Forum (located here http://bit.ly/tspfbforum) by the name of Travis. He constantly posts crap in our group about veganism and socialism, clearly he doesn’t get the TSP Ethos, or he does and enjoys trolling.

His latest troll attempt is a meme that says the Non Aggression Principle (NAP) applies to cows, pigs, etc, you get it.

I was going to ban him, because he really adds nothing to the discussion.   

I am going to ask you to do something people seem to have a hard time doing anymore.  That is to understand the facts about something controversial before forming an opinion on it.  While that seems like a reasonable position it has been relegated to obscurity in modern times.  Take for instance the current controversy about Boy Scouts of America letting girls into Boy Scouts.

Ever since Boy Scouts of America announced that they will allow girls to be part of scouts, the internet has been manic with criticisms.  The problem is most of this criticism is totally divorced from reality.  This often posted meme is a perfect example, I must have seen it 50 times in the last week…

Now this meme is stupid on its face, as it infers that if you let boys and girls do things together girls will always get pregnant.  We could continue this line of objection and point out how scouts teach morals, are far more supervised than most other activities boys and girls do together every day, etc. but we don’t even need to.

Why?

This meme is based on a total falsehood, the concept that boys and girls will even be engaged in activities together in scouting.  This at least as it relates to this “big change” it totally false.  To understand that please see this organizational chart below, then we can further discuss this like reasonable and logical people, at least that is my hope.

So let’s start off with something most people seem to not understand.  Those nice young men in their uniforms helping grandma across the street were not members of “Boy Scouts of America” (here after referred to as BSA) but rather “Boy Scouts”.  BSA is the main organization which manages all six scouting organizations under them.  As you can see this change doesn’t even affect four of these groups, those being Venturers, Explorers, Sea Scouts and STEM Scouts.  The first three are engaged in many outdoor activities and they are 100% coed and have been so for over half a century.  I’m going to go out on a limb and say that teen pregnancy in those groups is likely a lot lower than the national average.

However, the bigger issue here is under this new system in Scouts BSA (new name for Boy Scouts) and in Cub Scouts girls and boys won’t even be in the same groups.  They are remaining gender separated and for good reason.  That reason is one big purpose of Boy Scouts is to put young men around adult men and do good stuff together, hence modeling solid male behavior to create a new generation of good young men.

And while some sub groups are fully coed it is good that there be a place where men can be men.  It is also good that there be a place where young women can be young women for the same reasons.

So BSA has LISTENED to is market (primary the tens of thousands of volunteers that work their asses off for free as Scout Masters, etc.) and added an option for girls to pursue the Scouts model fully.  That is all, there is no more.   Again note the chart, for Cub Scouts there are single gender dens and for Scouts BSA single gender troops.

This debate has raged for a few years now and opponents often say, “why don’t the Girl Scouts fix their program”?  Well, I don’t know, you will have to ask them, the Girl Scouts organization isn’t part of this decision, they sure didn’t lobby for it.  This leads us to the next bit of confusion.

Many people seem to believe that this change is driven from outside scouts by a bunch of leftists morons like the ones in the above picture.  That say the government, a court decision, a lobbying group or something like that is behind it.  You know part of the vast progressive, liberal, commie conspiracy to deny any difference exists between the 21 or what ever made up number of genders they have now are.  This is nonsense, said folks are far more concerned about Stormy Daniels then the scouts.

To understand this change you need to understand the men and women that actually are the organization.  These people number in the 10s of thousands and they do all the work they do for free.  Because they love children, scouting and teaching young people how to become solid well rounded adults.  And this runs in many families.

Talk to many scout leaders and you will find they were a scout, their father was, etc.  These people generally have children and shocking as it may be some of them are girls.  Often these girls join “Girl Scouts” which again has NOTHING to do with BSA at all but they are bored.  Now a boy in this family is going for Eagle, and man folks that opens doors.  If you go to a job interview and competition is fierce and you are pretty much an equal to your competitor but you are an Eagle and the guy hiring you is an Eagle, you are likely to win out.  That is but one door.

The accomplishment of Eagle is a big achievement and it isn’t just the doors it opens, those doors open because a young person getting it done has proven something about who they are.  In simple terms, the program works.  Those that achieve Eagle become better people in doing so.  So little Debby naturally wants to know why her brother is doing all the cool stuff and has this great goal to work for and man Dad, Mom, Grandma, etc. are all so proud of him, the family is a scouting family and she wants to do it too.  Now she may do Explorers or Sea Scouts but she really wants to do Scouts.

Now her mom and dad have likely given thousand of hours of free labor to Scouts too and they want a program for her and THEY ARE WILLING TO SUPPORT AND RUN THAT PROGRAM.  Do you get it yet?

BSA is a private organization and they would be out of business tomorrow without all the men and women that do all the real work for free.  If those people were opposed to this, it would not be happening.  The reality is all these objections are coming mostly from people not involved in Scouts, most of them never even were say a Cub Scout as a kid.  To be blunt since they are not part of the organization, it really isn’t even their business.

They don’t have a effing clue as to all of these things, they are just upset by the most recent “outrage de la semaine” and with no comprehension of the facts at all, it just gets lumped in with more lunacy from the left.

In the end these people generally say something like, “why can’t girls just create their own organization”?  My response is why is that your business in the first place?  And regardless of what some other group does essentially that is what BSA has done here.  Basically what they have said is….

Okay we already have a great product, the people who run our organization for no money are willing, ready and able to run one for girls too, and they have told us they want to.  All we have to do is make a few changes that largely won’t affect current scouts and lets girls have their own troops, so since that is easy, since our customers and members want us to, let’s do that.

And even when you explain all this you still get sad and tired objections such as…

• Its a slippery slope!
  ~
  Sorry the slippery slope is a logical fallacy, specifically with zero supporting evidence of the slope.
  ~
• But why don’t the girl scouts get any flack for not letting boys in?
  ~
  Sorry that isn’t relevant to this discussion.  These two things are not connected, at all.  Girl Scouts is a private organization they make their own decisions.  Last I checked no significant demand existed for Girl Scouts to create a program for boys.  Whereas, the market boy scouts serves and the labor force who provide free service wants a program for girls.

In the end this decision is the decision of a private organization, it was made by their board of directors driven by feedback from their members and their market.  They found what appears to be a very good solution, one that gives girls the opportunity they want without ham stringing boys in their own pursuit thereof.

Now actually I have some real problems with a lot of recent decisions by BSA, such as scouts not being able to play paint ball or shoot each other with water guns, etc.  I find this to be utter stupidity!  But I have also had enough discussions to know that the people in the field largely ignore such moronic directives and run their own troops their own way as much as possible anyway.

And in conclusion that is the final point here, unless the people that give their time, money and labor as volunteers will support this change, it won’t work.  It isn’t like cops are going to escort little Susan to Troop 144’s meeting and make the boys let her in, and some of you seem to act as if that is actually what is going on here.

No unpaid, under appreciated adults will have to provide the support for these new female troops and do so of their own free will.  If you have a problem with those people being eager to do so, well, you really have a problem in your own heart.

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P.S. – I am sure some of my regular listeners and readers are thinking, “why isn’t Jack taking his own advice and simply ignoring stuff that doesn’t effect the temperature of the water in his pool”.  To a degree you are right!  But not really.

Here is why, first due to my platform and reach, this issue is in my circle of influence.  While I am sure I will get a lot of flack here, I do know this will actually change a lot of opinions simply by showing the real facts vs. the mythology around the issue.

Next my job is chiefly an educational one, and one thing I am big on is the use of logic and reason.  The objections here being so divorced from logic and reason made this a unique teaching opportunity.  Usually hot button issues are ideological but here, many of the objections exist solely from lacking facts.

I think most reasonable people no mater their political leanings would be fine with this if they simply had the facts about it.

That said for those still upset about it, those asking why I would even bother here have a point, put it in your journal and get with me in about 8 weeks time.

We did this last year and it was a huge hit.  I have hooked up with Grant Shultz to get you this offer once again.  This is a smoking deal if you want to get a forest started this spring.  Here is the email from Grant on what is available.

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1) TSP Food Forest Bundle  80 trees for $297  ($3.71/tree)
Fan favorite, have offered this for several years.
17 bundles available – https://newfarmsupply.com/products/tsp-food-forest-bundle

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2) Chestnuts, Oaks & Apples  50 trees for $197

An assortment of seedling (full size) and semi-dwarfing rootstock apple trees, oaks bred for heavy acorn yields, and chestnut trees. The apple trees will produce unique fruit or can be grafted to a variety of your choice.

9 bundles available –https://newfarmsupply.com/products/oaks-apples

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3) Chestnuts and Chinkapins 50 Trees for $197

Chinese Chestnut and Allegheny Chinkapin trees.  Early yields, perfect for silvopasture

15 Bundles Available https://newfarmsupply.com/products/silvopasture-bundle

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These are available first come first served and no code is needed, they are available to all of you not just MSB, when they are gone for the year they are gone for the year.   Grant expects to have everything shipped by April 21st.

Any and all questions should be sent directly to Grant at his email address which is versaland at gmail.com as I am not Grant I can’t speak for him or make any commitments on his behalf so please don’t ask me product questions, because my answer is going to be, ask Grant.  Hope this helps some of you get your properties off to a great start in 2018.

Guys and Gals last year Justin Rhodes approached me about supporting a kick starter to travel the entire country and document regenerative agricultural practices and permaculture in tons of different properties in every climate in our nation.

Of course I said yes, and I also agreed to have him come to our farm and document our operation.  You can see the video he did about that here.

Thing is he ended up with so much footage it was a challenge paring it down into a single documentary, but he did it and we made the cut.  So he reached out to me about letting you guys know about a free watch party for this documentary, here are the details from Justin himself.

Justin Rhodes here.

You know… the guy that traveled All of America last year to find and showcase the Greatest Farms.

I’m happy to say Jack’s profitable duck operation was so cool it will actually be featured in the documentary.

You can see Jack’s farm (and many others) in the documentary for free for a limited time, April 14th – 16th, HERE: http://bit.ly/JackGAFT

Watch the adventures of my Family:

• Turn an old school bus into a fabulous home on wheels.
• Close down their farm (including ALL their animals).
• Explore the Greatest Farms in ALL 50 states (Alaska and Hawaii too 🙂
• Meet regular folks who are doing extraordinary things.
• Overcome several bus breakdowns
• Uncover the unimaginable beauty of farms and natural landscapes
• Laugh along with the unique humor from their children and their hosts.
• Discover THE Greatest Farm in America (the answer might surprise you 😉
• Premiere Planned to Begin APRIL 14th, 2018

Register to watch the Documentary for FREE (limited time): http://bit.ly/JackGAFT

The one rule we should teach at the core of all ethics in our schools but never will is called the Non-Aggression Principle (or NAP).  The non-aggression principle is simply an ethical stance that asserts that aggression is inherently wrong. In this context, “aggression” is defined as initiating or threatening any forcible interference with an individual or individual’s property.

To put it simply I have no right to use force, violence or coercion on you to make you do what I want you to do or to take your rightful property.  My one true obligation to you as a fellow human being is to leave you alone to peacefully pursue happiness so long as you follow that same rule with myself and others.

I would like you to consider that if we taught that to our children we don’t really have to worry about so many issues others seem worried about constantly.

• But what about gay kids?
  Answer- The NAP applies to all people.
  ~
• But what about people of color?
  Answer- The NAP applies to all people.
  ~
• But what about ____?
  Answer- The NAP applies to all people.

The NAP is the modern golden rule, JUST ONE RULE that if followed would eliminate every single crime (given that any real crime must have a victim) on the planet.

One simple rule that offers perfect and total respect to every person, no matter their color, gender, religion, etc. One simple rule that is at the core of most religions but yet remains universal to all of humanity. From the atheist to the devote theist anyone who is honest with themselves can understand the NAP is how we should treat each other.

One simple rule that allows people to form groups around any idea, theology, concept, etc. yet compels no one to join them or follow along.  Each man, women and child free to pursue their dreams, in their own way, with one and only one requirement, respect this in all other individuals.

Let’s look at dealing with a hot button issue in schools, bullying if we teach the NAP as the core of ethics in school.  Let’s say a teacher catches Johnny and Mike picking on Mark.  The entire corrective action is “Johnny you and Mike are violating Mark’s rights, stop it”.

You think that is an over simplification?  Children generally accept concrete reasons for things a hell of a lot better than something abstract.  Additionally there is power in any social situation, no one wants to be the bad guy, save for the small portion of society that are actual sociopaths.  When you have one sacred rule, “you do not interfere with the property and freedoms of anyone so long as they do the same” and that is taught as a core ethic, everything is abundantly clear to everyone.

So why won’t we teach this in our schools?  We can’t, because the entire institution that is the state and thereby the state run school system is, in and of itself, a constant violation of the NAP.

School itself is compulsory with parents threatened with jail time over truancy and worse.  School itself is paid for taxes that are taken against the will of those paying them, and the state will absolutely use force, violence and coercion to collect said taxes, etc.  Many times a child being bullied (having their right to the NAP violated) will want to change schools but can’t do so because of school district rules.  This is insane but it is the way we have allowed the system to be.

Some of you reading this right now are having the typical reaction and thinking, “but with out taxes how would we build roads and schools”, etc.  There are many answers to such questions, but we are NOT going to have to solve that problem any time soon.  So can I ask you to put these concerns on the shelf just for now, and get though the last bits here today, please?

I simply want to ask you, does the NAP on its own make sense to you?  Does it feel right that I do not have the right to use violence, force or coercion to compel you to make the choices I want you to or to take your property from you?  Great then let me ask you if you also agree with this statement, “all men (people) are created equal”?

Likely that statement is written into the core of your being, it is part of our Declaration of Independence isn’t it?  Democrats, republicans, libertarians, political atheists, etc. all tend to agree with this statement of fact.  And the reason is clear, it is a statement of fact, not opinion.  Equality here of course applying to rights, freedoms and the freedom to pursue happiness, not equality of ability in any particular area.

So if all men are created equal and I do not have the right to use violence, force or cohesion to compel you to make the choices I want you to or to take your property from you, who does?

What you are dealing with right now is some level of cognitive dissonance, looking back at that shelf where we put the “but how can we _____” issues.  Please let it go, just for today, it will still be there tomorrow, I promise you.    I do want to point out that the reason you feel this conflict at this point is due to the fact that in your heart you know that these are fundamental truths.

So what do you do now, accept the truth, speak the truth and teach it to others.  Above all we need to teach this one fundamental set of truths to our children.

Right now with the recent school shooting in Florida all political arguments seem focused on guns.  I however recently looked at this question differently, I simply asked, how many of our children of school age are choosing death over life.  Not just those that harm others but those that simply choose to end their own life.

What I am about to give you are facts with rounded off numbers to avoid arguments over exact numbers.  But again these numbers are facts, not opinions.

In the last ten years for all the claims that “children are being gunned down daily”, less that 220 people have died in school shootings.  This number includes adults and the shooters themselves.

In the same period of time, 54,000+ children chose to take their own lives.

Oh don’t you dare gloss over that number, it hurts, I know, but let it hit you like the hammer of reality it is, read it one more time and really take in in.

In the same period of time, 54,000+ children chose to take their own lives.

I keep hearing words like “political will”, “the time to take action”, “put armed guards in schools” and of course, “think of the children”.  Yet I wonder why no single politician, activist or member of the media has told you what I just did.  That while the death of a few hundred is tragic the death of 10s of thousands in the same period of time is more so.

Do you really think these two groups are unrelated?  Do you really think every school shooter is just an unbalanced sociopath who was sooner or later going to commit acts of murder no matter what anyone did?  Or is it more likely that in most instances these shooters chose a sick and twisted form of suicide by cop?  Given this recent shooting was one of the very few times we ended up with a mass shooter in custody, don’t you think saying these murders are also suicide by cop seems pretty accurate?

So knowing that 54,000 other students took their own lives, it is really shocking that say if you have 500 people pushed to the point of being willing to take their own lives, that one in 500 might try to take others with them, perhaps those they blame for their pain?

Now this is hard to face isn’t it?  Much easier to blame bad parents, video games, guns, drugs, anything but ourselves for these problems isn’t it?  As long as it is a thing, that is apart from us, we can be sad that so many died but we can be comfortable that it is someone else’s or something else’s fault.

Yet if we taught children the principle of non-aggression and enforced that one rule in our schools, how many of those tens of thousands of people might still be alive today?  The principle of non-aggression and the concept that all men are created equal are truths, I simply feel it is time for our nation to grow up and have a conversation about these inherent truths.

It won’t be easy, but the truth is never easy, it is however, always, dramatically simple.