Episode-1180- How Preppers Can Save the Ideals of America
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When people follow blind patriotism the worst deeds and ills of mankind become common place. There is an old saying, “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel” made famous by Samuel Johnson and today such patriotism is rampant.
War, poverty, fascism and more are all fine if you wrap it in the American flag. So please don’t expect such flag waving drum beating in today’s show. I don’t want to tell you what America is or even was but what it was promised to be. I won’t lie to you and say that America will last forever, likely it won’t at least in its current form.
Yet there is an America that has tried to exist since she was founded, an America that lives up to the promises our founders made, and even they didn’t keep. An America we can create if we choose to. It is also possibly an America we might have to keep alive some day under another name. We don’t know the future but we know that we alone are responsible to fulfill the promises of the past.
Join Me Today As I Discuss…
- How exactly are all men created equal and how are they not
- What are natural rights and why must they be recognized for liberty to exist
- What might the future of our nation hold, will we be here in 100 years
- Why is the promise of America, only a promise
- Why is it important to know our failures and our faults
- Why only preparedness can fulfill the promise of America
- Why we must believe that the promise is possible
Resources for Today’s Show…
- Members Support Brigade
- 13Skills.com
- Join Our Forum
- TSP Mint
- TSP Gear
- WalkingToFreedom
- The Berkey Guy – (sponsor of the day)
- Harvest Eating – (sponsor of the day)
Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can
un·al·ien·a·ble ( n- l y -n -b l, – l – -). adj. Not to be separated, given away, or taken away.
The word is so old no one even pronounces it right it’s not alien it’s un- a-lienable meaning no lein can be put on them.
Great show as always Jack!
You took the words right of my mouth.
NOTHING in the founding documents should be changed…if that ever happened once, then the entire thing would become minced meat.
I haven’t listened yet but I have a hunch that what I’m about to say will relate. Last week you asked us what we have done for our liberty lately. In the spirit of that, I would like to share a…..
Sentinel Report:
A couple weeks ago my family (4 kids, my wife and I) loaded up the Suburban and headed up to Lake City MI to stand in defiance of tyranny at the County Courthouse. The judge was hearing arguments on the Feral Swine issue first reported on episode 866 of TSP.
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/feedback-for-4-23-12
There were just over 300 sentinels who filled the tiny courtroom and overflowed out into the hallway and also out on to the front lawn of the courthouse. As the person standing next to me told me that he counted 300 I remembered Jacks words “If 300 can stand…” and it put a smile on my face.
The judge heard the arguments and decided to take his time and give a written decision which has not been given yet, but you can be sure that 300 people standing in support of Mark Bakers efforts and food freedom made an impact for sure.
Afterword a bunch of us went back to the Bakers farm and hung out, I got to meet the president of The Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund plus a few other food freedom people. It was a pleasure to meet Mark in person and shake his hand. He is on the front lines of the “food revolution” and I was humbled to stand with him if only for a day. He and his family have to fight this fight everyday…. I can’t imagine how hard that has to be.
I made sure to wear my Sentinel T Shirt at the courthouse. 😉
My kids got involved by helping to build a chicken tractor which was donated and sold in the silent auction, I’m proud to be raising little sentinels.
Yesterday I stopped by Sweet Pea’s farm and picked up some kiefer grains and some scoby. I got to speak with Jessica Hudson and she is so thankful to the TSP community for the outpouring of support she has received. The battle goes on but I could see a confidence in her that told me she was in it for the long haul, and wouldn’t stop until she won.
Every win is important to all of us, every one of these cases that can be won is just that much more liberty we gain and that much smaller the Tyrants become. I am proud to be a part of this community and everything it stands for.
Thank You Jack for continuing to inspire us to follow your lead keep watch for tyranny wherever it may raise it’s ugly head.
Hey BG, thanks for that post. I live in Detroit and have been following the Baker and Sweet Pea stories (Actually managed to get Sweet Pea a mention in the HuffPo). I wasn’t able to go to the court day, but was there in spirit. Thanks for making it a priority to get there and letting us know what your experience was like. A LOT of these issues are coming up in Michigan right now, and I’m really hoping that as a state, we decide to come down on the side of being more food secure instead of being bogged down by bureaucratic nonsense.
Yes, your right it seams that Michigan is the front-line in the Food Freedom fight. If we can beat back the tyrants here maybe the tyrants in other states will not be so eager to challenge a persons right to grow their own food!
Hey brother it was Prescot Bush not George
You are correct I said Oh Shit in my head when I said it but it doesn’t change reality so I didn’t edited it out.
Jack, this is one of my all-time favorite episodes!
I am one of those ultra-rare liberty-minded college history professors, and I felt like I was listening to the exact message I try to relay to my students regarding the tragedy of the squandering of America’s true potential. Obviously you expressed the same ideas a little differently than I would have, which made it wonderful for me to listen to. Nothing like hearing somebody saying things you’ve been thinking for years (in slightly different terms) to make you feel like you’re not insane! (BTW, I caught the Prescott Bush error while listening, too. 😉
Great job!
Not bad, but I don’t think it quite obtained the level of some other shows.
As far as anarchist being great to regulate a community, that is completely stupid. By definition, and you said yourself during this episode, that in our current or anarchy environment, humans are after their own self-interest. It is the nature of the beast. They would not recognize any type of persuasion or authority even if it is neighbors acting ‘civil’ towards each other. The minute that you have a person succumb to the realizations or desires of an outside force (person or group), you effectively don’t have an anarchy anymore, you have a society, you have a government, even if it merely a whiff.
The problem is you don’t know what anarchism really is. Anarchism isn’t the absence of government it is the absence of a state.
I think the premise behind anarchy as you explain it is correct. I think where the sticking point preventing that state of society from being attained lies in the nature of man itself. According to my faith (I know, not necessarily yours), man is corrupted and sinful. That’s why self-interest has become a bad thing. People as a whole tend to not realize that self-interest is best served by serving society as a whole. Anarchy is a good thing, as long as man is capable of looking beyond perceived short-term gain through immoral means to ensure his own, and thus his society’s long-term gain through fair dealings.
I certainly would never base a political system on religion, that is called a theocracy and you can see the results in the Middle East of that that creates.
Anarchy’s relies on the morality of men. There must be a moral standard that men adhere to and are expected to adhere to.
Example:
The “Wild West” or frontier before lawmen. There was a moral code, although it was a violent one. There was also a fear of consequences if you crossed the line, which is necessary.
So in a society like that with a Moral Code and a healthy fear of consequences for violating that code you could hypothetically have a system that functions, much like the old west. Now I realize that the old west was very violent, I think that a lot of that violence can be attributed to an overstep of authority. In other words violence erupted because some people just couldn’t leave other people alone. Of course there was the violence between boys blowing off steam at the local Saloon but that again is because they would violate that moral code.
So what governments do is write down the “moral code” and call it Law then they appoint people to enforce it. What if we ALL took the responsibility to enforce the moral code? Then we wouldn’t need the government to do it for us. We also wouldn’t have stupid laws because people wouldn’t enforce them.
Hmm, sounds a bit like a government for and by the people….
Or maybe a society full of Sentinels!
I think the ‘old west’ cycle is something like..
– People move into an ‘uninhabited’ area (anarchism)
– Town’s begin to form around trading and socialization (minarchism)
– People get fed up with ‘lawlessness’ (crime) and setup a criminal justice system.. they like the results and decide they want some more rules to ‘clean things up’, so you get a ‘town council’ and a ‘mayor’ (government)
– Parasites, busybodies and those with a will to rule see the government and think ‘beats working..!’ With regular people to busy/distracted with their productive lives .. the parasites take over (captured government)
Then you go one of two ways..
– The ‘powerful’ move in and purchase the services/complicity of the little parasites in whatever schemes they’re interested in (facism)
or
– The ‘powerful’ move in and take over completely (dicatorship or oligarchy)
In both cases, the issue is that ‘the people’ created a ‘protector’ (law/police/military) that was more powerful than any of them individually to protect them.. this mechanism was then ‘captured’ and used for oppression/exploitation.
So the cycle is:
1. The people are being exploited/oppressed (by the powerful)
2. So they create a government to protect/free them
3. Which is then captured (by the powerful)
4. That is then used to exploit and oppress them
5. Then they destroy it (collapse or revolution)
6. In the power vacuum a new set of little dictators is formed..
7. So the people are exploited/oppressed and they.. (go to 1)
@ Insidious, That may be true but it’s depressing as hell!
The thing I’m trying to figure out is how you break this cycle.. in a way that is sustainable/stable.
‘Society’ contains all sorts of persons, from the criminal, to the enlightened. So the cycle is a ‘natural’ outcome of human ‘being’.
I actually have a theory that we MIGHT be able to beat the cycle with technology.. because it gives us a new and unique opportunity to learn, first hand, from those who ‘went through it’.
(The 4 turnings theory is kind of based on the idea that the cycle happens because the children’s – children of the last ‘heroic’ generation forget/are never taught the lessons of the crisis.. so they repeat them.)
Not sure. But its been something I’ve been wondering about. Its that age old question of ‘why do people choose to be slaves? over and over again.’
@ Insidious,
Yes, it seams that as far back as is recorded people have chosen slavery. I’m going to quote the Bible as a historical text, I know that some folks shut off their ears when you start quoting the Bible but it is the most accurate historical text in existance, when it comes to the ancient world.
This passage is in the old testiment right before the first King of Isreal is annointed. It is a warning from God through the prophet Samuel to Isreal. The people desired a King and this was Gods warning.
1 Samuel 8:11-20
“This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.
15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use.
17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
It seams that our creator never intended for us to be the slaves of a King.
You totally misunderstood what I said Jack. If we all shared the same morality, anarchy would work, but until people understand what anarchy really is, we’ll never get there. I never said anything about making religion part of my politics.
No I didn’t you brought up religion and used it to make your argument. I actually agree but would NEVER use religion to justify a political system.
Can anarchy work? Yes.
Can it work right now everywhere? No.
Will it ever work everywhere? I don’t know.
Could it now work along side a very small state that ONLY intervenes when natural rights are violated (minarchism)? Absolutely.
Just don’t use the bible to make your case about 70% of the world is either of another faith or doesn’t believe any organized faith. It makes an otherwise strong argument weak. Note I am not telling you what to believe or even to not make your decisions based on faith, just not to base your arguments on it.
@ Modern Survival,
I know it seams nit picky but this is actually an important distinction. The governments you describe in the Middle East are not Theocracies.
“theocracy means rule by God or gods and refers primarily to an internal “rule of the heart”, especially in its biblical application. The common, generic use of the term, as defined above in terms of rule by a church or analogous religious leadership, would be more accurately described as an ecclesiocracy”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theocracy
Now let me propose a way that a Theocracy could work. If in fact, a Theocracy is a “rule of the heart” because you derive your morality from your God then your morality or “heart” would direct your actions and in the end you have something with all the benefits of an Anarchy but none of the risks as long as your follow your God and the morality you derive from God.
You might think it wouldn’t work because people would tend to slip into evil….but technically that would no longer be a Theocracy and would become an Anarchy.
So, from this point of view a Theocracy would always work and an Anarchy never would.
The whole tone of that was a real downer………had to turn it off……can only stand to listen to someone yelling at me for a very short period of time.
Interesting that you heard yelling. I heard passion.
Jack, what sports or activities were you participating in that you felt you had to stop because you had too much to lose?
That one statement alone caught my attention into Who is Jack Spirko?
That doesn’t seem like the persona you project when much of the discussion of freedom and liberty can be fatal in there own right.
their own right; not there
That is cool. One of the guys I sent to school with was big into skydiving.
I have been rock climbing since college (going on 20 years). I always saw it as a way to keep myself challenged and physically in shape. You will not find another sport that requires so much strength across your entire body.
It has been my experience that being able to participate with my kids in these kind of sports and activities is a huge outlet for the kids being able to relate to me and the wife. Camping and climbing with them, they actually get to see me doing something beyond domestic life, and see some other passions and motivations beyond the common money, property, things, etc. I have always thought many of the problems with parents today is that they live almost completely vicariously through their children, and don’t really bring anything to the table that their kids can see, and want to learn from mom and dad. They get to see that mom and dad have friends just like them; I think many parent lose friendships as they let domestic life overrun them, and kids start to think the parents are weird.
I guess I don’t see these type of activities as too risky for the payoff of the camaraderie they create with others and the kids. Not to mention the fact that you keep getting spit of a rock over and over and trying again and again, the kids definitely start to understand what patience and perseverance mean.
Dirt bikes, no way, I don’t even trust myself on 2 wheels on pavement. I would end-up in a body bag doing that.
I used to jump out of planes a lot, like a LOT, like every chance I got. Did a ton of repelling, rock climbing, stuff like that. I just don’t see the point any more. I am sure being fat for a period of my life didn’t help and slowed me down but now I feel very much in shape and don’t think the risk is worth it for ME any longer.
I could also tell you some stories about off road motorcycles that would curl your hair.
Same here Jack. Before I got married and had kids, I did every adventure sport I could. Sky diving, white water rafting, extreme mountain biking, mountain climbing, backpacking solo across Europe, you name it. I call those my Lost Years, because I lost the prepper candle flame that I always had as a kid roaming the Mississippi River Hills with my .22 in hand. Coincidentally, I found TSP around the same time I found my wife and have regained that prepper mentality. Living on the edge just isn’t worth it.
Good show. I belong to “a group” . I don’t think that there is more that 4 or 5 of us that isn’t a small business man of one type or another. Over half of us have been in uniform. The advantage of this group is its skill sets. We have transmission rebuilders,mechanics ,starter/ alternator rebuilders,gunsmiths ,farmers ,tool and die makers ,a doctors , herbalist,and the list goes on. If one of us needs a tool be it a table saw,lathe ( wood or metal), drill press , backhoe, bulldozer, or man power the help is there to me that is what build a community and gives it the ability to last. Each respecting the rights and abilities of the others.
Wow Jack, your text above is the best writing I have seen you do. Beautifully and concisely written.
Can’t wait to hear the episode, clearly you are taking the right vitamins or something. Had some trouble with my mp3 player so I am about 100 episodes behind. Hopefully the prepper gods will forgive me while I get caught up.
Dang, that means I have to wash the dishes 😉
I haven’t listened to this podcast yet. {It downloaded kind of late} But I did have a strange experience today. I was in the feed store to buy some wire for rabbit cages. A World War Two vet came in and everyone was thanking him for his service. Then a guy said something about this being the day we bombed Hiroshima. He was just all happy about it and saying it was a great day. He seemed like a decent guy before that. Man it broke my heart. And come to think of it, I would have had that “patriotism” myself a few years ago, I had to bite my tongue not to say “What if you were an innocent Japanese citizen and got hit with an Atomic Bomb? Just sayin, This country has done a lot of evil, unecesary things. I love this country, but things like this break my heart.
Great episode. I knew it was going to be a great one when you said it all came out in 15 minutes. It had been building up and today it came to life.
WOW!! that was incredible. You have such an amazing insite.
Having been privy to many of the underhanded, sell your own mother if the price is right dealings by those in power, I must confess that I joined the ranks of the disenfranchised a long time ago. By disassociating myself from the blatant lies of our leaders, I felt that I was reacting in the only way open to me. I have long since given up on voting in high elections, long harboring the suspicion that both sides were in cahoots and simply shared different sides of the same spurious coin. Since my eyes were opens a bit wider, I realize that my suspicions were justified, and I confess that this reality saddens me. The last presidential election nailed the civic minded coffin shut. Despite this, I understand that there is something I can do, that there exists a way to make a difference… and that’s on a more personal level. I thank you for that insight, Jack. While this ‘cast dredged up painful memories of disillusionment, I think it was also moving and greatly needed to ‘trim the sails’ of my personal responsibility.
I can’t stop elections from being rigged, both sides being groomed for insertion into this destructive paradigm the nation is on, or correct the evil of a military/industrial entity gone rogue. But… I can take a personal stand, speak out, help one person in distress and be vocal about it. Our nation has been led so far astray by those who plot and have plotted our downfall, that I fear no amount of effort will change the tide on a national front, so we are left with making survivalist preparations for the storm ahead. So many soft headed people will fall when our nation hits the rocks, not from unrest or disease or war, but from their inability to cope with a new reality.
Thank you Jack, for doing your best to awaken the sleeper. The waking nightmare will soon be upon us.
On the U.S military. I think the risk is overstretch. Much like WWII, the Germans co-operated with the Japanese to keep Britain and the U.S busy. The risk, perhaps is if North Korea, and the middle east heat up. Throw in a few terrorist attacks and resources may be spread thin.
Excellent! It was tough to listen to though.
About the hot water on the ant hill technique,an electric kettle works great for that,this method worked really well on an in- ground bee hive next to our parking spot in the driveway as well.
Good show, Jack.
If you wanted to talk about awful things our country did, why did you only discuss things done by individuals or individual companies? To me, to say, “your country” did this is to say that either your government did it, or large numbers of your citizens did. “America” did Jim Crow. “America” took the Indians’ land. But nobody would say that “America” did the BP oil spill in the Gulf a couple years back.
Oh hell no, America doesn’t get a get out of jail free card for Prescot Bush and Standard Oil or for what Shell did in Vietnam.
Neither of these companies could have done what they did without the government enabling them. Do you really think the US Government didn’t know that we were selling oil to the North Vietnamese or fuel additives to the Nazis. We have congressional records of investigations into Standard Oil and WWII, showing clearly that the government did know. What came of the investigations?
What came from said Criminal Behavior. Prescot remained one of the wealthiest men on the planet, bought into Saudi Oil, became great friends with the BIN LADEN FAMILY, set up his son and grand sons, one became CIA Director, Vice President then president. One grandson became Florida’s governor, the other became Governor of Texas and then President of the United States.
That isn’t an “evil republican plot” plenty of shit like this was done by democrats. It is just which costume they put on when they climb in the ring!
Yea we get the blame! This stuff isn’t hidden, and Shell is still one of the most powerful corporations on the planet and the Bush family one of the most powerful and connected. No one lost a thing except the soldiers that lost life limb and mind while these pricks profited on their backs and WE MADE THEM STRONGER FOR IT.
So you tell me how these hell these are not America’s failures?
RE: Bush and what happened during WWII, it was an ugly scandal but I think it wise to also mention that four of his ventures were seized by the US Govt using the “Trading with the Enemy Act” late in ’42…almost a year after we declared war. I bring this up because it was public knowledge at the time that these men were traitors and yet they still we able to hide their assets and continue to prosper, eventually leading this country. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. How quickly we forget our past and repeat the same mistakes.
Great points.
We never seem to get the real history, makes me wonder what else is not told .. but I did hear this on the Bush family. The role of bankers and corporations seems to not be told either
You reminded me deeply of my dear, precious friend CSM Fred Marshall II who passed a few years ago. Fred believed all of the lies. He thought he was fighting for freedom, for his country. When he figured it all out and was retired and able to speak to the public, HE DID. Fred lost his leg to agent orange in the false flag war of Viet Nam. I miss Fred so much. He was unafraid to tell those who were intelligent enough to listen what is really going on and how it got this way. He was often a guest on Freedom Radio and more.
When I first heard you ranting away in your vehicle, you reminded of me of Fred and I was hooked. Always be proud of how far you’ve come and I can’t wait to see how far you go.
Jack, the reason shows like this one are so hard to do is that it is painful for folks to realize the insidious, evil betrayal not just to the American people but to the world. The truth is never an easy pill to swallow.
I read the (free) book “Tortured for Christ” which is the story of Rev. Wurmbrand who was in prison and horribly tortured for preaching the word of God in Romania when the Communists took it over. He was freed after over a decade of his imprisoned life and came to America where he said he had the worst torture …..torture which far exceeded that of what any of the prison guards had done to him. He saw people who had the freedom to be any religion they wish, could go to church any time they wish and don’t. He saw people who simply shrugged at a freedom he was hideously tortured for. He saw an arrogant, uneducated populous of spoiled, greedy consumers who are self consumed and think they ‘deserve’ these all of the freedoms they have without doing anything to fight to keep them. Religious or not, his book is worth the read. It’s free. Even the postage is free. That’s in everyone’s budget. Wurmbrand died in 2001 but if he were still alive, he would still be doing exactly what you are doing now. He would be shouting from the rooftops not to take what you have for granted and to prepare. He would continue his tireless quest to warn people of what is coming.
What you do is why you are on this earth. Don’t ever stop.
Holy shit Jack! This one brought me to tears. I felt your passion as this is the exact same way I feel. I have always believed in the dream even though it has never been fully realized. Even in the days just after the revolution (1776). I know it’s possible and the solutions are simple. Awesome show man, seriously! Good choice with Josiah. Ask him if he remembers me. I worked with him in Southern Utah for a short time. Take care Jack and keep on with the mission. Shawn in Utah
Jack, great show buddy. When you said that changing a document to say you don’t have a right to defend yourself doesn’t change the fact that you have a right to change yourself I was shouting “Amen, brother!” in my cube in the office. I was just reading some of our Founders’ writings over the weekend and they argued that a document such as the Bill of Rights gets power by reflecting our Natural Rights. The Constitution doesn’t get power because we as a people give it power, nor does it grant power to our government. It has power because the things written in it reflect Nature, and the Founders wrote that a Constitution that doesn’t reflect our Natural Rights is powerless. Let us not forget that.
Mitch
http://realitybloger.wordpress.com/2013/08/05/cracking-the-cult-of-the-constitution-part-i/?blogsub=confirming#blog_subscription-3
Interesting link.
Great job, Jack. Truth is a hard pill to swallow sometimes but we need to hear it all the time. This one message could be the foundation for an entire lifetime of study and reflection. Keep it up. We need you.
Jack,
Your comments about World War II remind me of one of the best books I’ve read, “Flyboys” by James Bradley. It is an incredibly riveting and thoughtful book written about the roots of WWII in the pacific, including money and geopolitics, some truly awful things done by both sides, and the heroism of some individuals. A stark contrast between American individuals and our government in some cases.
Interestingly, a minor player in the drama is George H. W. Bush (not the reason I’m recommending it, but an interesting coincidence). The author’s dad was on Iwo Jima (“Flags of Our Fathers”).
It’s a good reminder that you can be a patriot and still call your country on things like rounding up and shooting children in the Philippines…
David
dk1138
Interesting show. Had just watched Nicholas and Alexandra movie the night before about Russia’s last czar and how he ignored the needs of his country until it was too late. Even though a fragile monarchy at the time, shows what can happen when a people and country lose their way.
Jack,
Have you done a show about The Fourth Turning or maybe interviewed the authors, Howe & Strauss?
When you talk about this being a multi-generational event, you don’t make clear that you’re aware of the previous “turnings” in American history.
If anyone is interested, Christ Martenson did a great interview with Neil Howe recently:
http://www.peakprosperity.com/podcast/82232/neil-howe-fourth-turning-has-arrived
Wow, there are some really interesting comments on here. Just goes to show that not all preppers think alike. Jack, this is (IMHO) the best show you have done yet. The truth is sometimes hard to hear. That doesn’t make it less true or less necessary to prepare for. Keep up the good work.
Solid Gold! Loved this episode. I laughed really hard at “i will yell at you for free”