The NRA is a sick cult run by a psychopath. Wayne is I promise you complete bastard. Successful (semi)psychopaths like him can fool almost anyone who meets them into thinking they are right minded level clear thinkers. The NRA prey on the weak minded with jingoistic nonsense like guns don't kill people and bullshit stats. Some other ploys that seem fair but it is all lobbying. By supporting them, a cargo cult, Americans have failed as a men and as actual patriots. On the other hand there are Scientologists so hey, what can you do. You don't need to be in a club of fools, my advice cancel.
Your comment above is a cornucopia of ad hominum attacks. You are an exceptionally intelligent and well travelled man who has strong research capabilities. This is why I give your posts great weight. However, your assertions about the NRA and its large numbers of members need support. Specific facts that you can think of top of mind is sufficient. No need to cite sources here.
My joining the NRA and supporting Trump have common denominators: The Left is going too far Left and the media is promoting a reduction in several of our civil rights 24/7. As a registered Democrat for ten plus years, my support Trump and the NRA is reactionary and out of alarm.
That said..
Large countries with low population densities like the US, Australia and Brazil do seems to have a phenomenon where criminals & psychopaths can move on easily and blend in, the extreme cases are 1% of all male populations but they can act out more safely if they can move. Big countries are an advantage to them. Churches are also heavy with them in the US as it is a perfect mask for a psychopath looking for a social cover.
Colt made men equal but he created cowards of many as well. Conflict between men is a skill, something you learn by doing it in person growing up. When everyone is afraid of lethal force from everyone else there is no competition. Guns lead to more guns, lead to more lawlessness. There is a balance to be struck. When everyone is equal with guns, nobody is. (makes only part sense but hey, if Wayne can do it)..
I agree with you on conflict between men being a skill, and will talk about specific examples in a differnt paragraph below. By the way, I’m suprised to hear you regurgitating the NRA like quote of “Colt made men equal”, especially considering you first paragraph.
It is cool living in almost lawless places, very libertarian, however it is a tough gig when everyone tries to fuck everyone else over.
Randomly picking one of scores of violent incidents from my years as an AP ranger. A bigger black guy (I was maybe 250, he 320+) pulled a gun on me at a bar outside Livingstone Zambia, he was the aggressor but drunk and emboldened by a nice little Glock some rich hunter had given him and had done this to a few people. I was cool, I waited and later got a leverage position, grabbed the gun, fired it a few times till it was good and hot then literally shoved it into his asshole. Not far or actually burned but he screamed a lot, nobody died, imagine that? *It could have been worse for him.
I have been in several conflicts where I was always at physical disadvantage, but always at a mental advantage. My choice of action has always been exceptional and included standing my ground, de-escalating the situation, and lightly striking my hopelessly larger and stronger opponent while he charged me. The outcome of most situations is determined by one’s emotional and mental state and not their physicality or what weapons they have.
I was hoping to see you address the issue of women vulnerabilities in our “Almost lawless place”. Many women have confided with me very personal things including molestation and rape. The chances of a woman being attacked in her lifetime is way too high. The impact on a women after an attack, assuming she survives, is life long. Women feel things emotionally many times more than than a typical man does. A woman should have a variety of self defense options available to her.
The US needs a better society, not a more militaristic and brutal one. The it is already too late argument signals the end of everything America if allowed to propagate.
Agree with you on US needing a better society. It is natural for a person or society to get lazy and sloppy when most things come easily. The proverbial trust fund brat comes to mind. The media, possibly seeking higher viewership seems to feed into this. A couple of ways to deal with this is to stop enabling disfunctional behaviour by giving these people a large platform and to stop giving people an unearned living.
Gangs like MS-13 and whatever can be handled by special laws and an effective policy with locals. Try and try again, the failure is in political eye gouging, not the FBI or other. But you need to know your enemy and Trump is not helping. I spoke to a Salvadorian and that made me find this
https://www.snopes.com/news/2018/02/11/what-is-ms-13/ If clever about it such extreme things can be handled, time and pressure. For example I used to work as a civilian contractor for a UK police force. Their best friend was social welfare, they picked up half their on-the-run suspects at the dole office. The entrapment prize stuff in the US is cute but having to be at a specific place at a specific time works better.
Anyway, I still a cold so rambling. The NRA is a private organisation with dodgy board election processes, financing and an agenda that is duplicitous. It is the perfect next for Wayne, the psychopath and cult leader who is pushing a white nationalist message, "European style" they say, I'd say similar to South African program and America away from harmony.
As mentioned earlier, please support your statements.
Dangerous fools like AAA and Tsing Tao on one hand may make an argument for how things SHOULD be done, training over marketing & aggressive selling but ignore that the NRA is the effing exact opposite.
AAA and Tsing Tao fairly consistently support their statements and many times provide their sources. I have not checked their sources, so I cannot vouch for that.
I have found that directly facing one’s fears in an issue (or a situation) leads to clarity on the best way to proceed. You have not addressed the idea of guns being a viable method of self protection for vulnerable people. Do you fear this point? You sound like you got a pair, so how about addressing it here, point-blank?
* We would joke about another ranger who had a well fed family of hyena, just all HIV positive now from the quartered bodies of guys who had pissed him off. Obviously you don't want to feed one a whole body as they might start hunting human. This is where 'freedom' gets to eventually.
