Thursday, October 25, 2012

The Shame of a Nation


I came across a news article that touted the United States as a "Food Stamp Nation".  I know that in recent years food stamp usage has soared, but a food stamp nation?  In America?  It couldn't be true!

I stared in disbelief as I read the article before me.  44 MILLION people in the United States accept food stamps.  Another 9.3 MILLION accept WIC.  What has this nation come to?

When I was growing up, accepting "Food Stamps" was shameful.  Men would rather dig ditches or shovel manure than see their family pay for food with government issued stamps.  And it wasn't just pride that kept these men from accepting charity, it was a matter of freedom and justice.  Free men don't stand in lines waiting for their daily bread, slaves do.  Free men don't depend on someone else's benevolence to provide for their family, slaves do.  Free men don't wait for others to direct their lives, slaves do.

This was once a nation of free men.  In fact, freedom was so coveted that men gave up their lands, their families, and their sacred honor just to secure it.  They fought to be beholden to no man.  They shunned charity and embraced their role as provider.

We are the descendants of nation builders.  The men and women whose blood fertilized this land built cities, traversed continents and founded institutions.  They bled, they fought and they persevered.  They left their nation a better place than they found it.  They were builders.

What is our legacy?  Ours is a legacy of destruction. We take, we plunder, we destroy.  The children of nation builders have become the children of destruction.  Not only can we not build a great nation, we can't even feed our own families.  Rather than caring for our families and those less fortunate, we allow the strong arm of the government to steal money from our neighbors, all the while bemoaning OUR victim status.

Shame on us!  Are we a country of free men or a country of slaves?  Free men get off their duffs and do the hard things.  Free men are willing to suffer in order to build something worth building.  Free men realize that the borrower is always slave to the lender.

The truth of the matter is it is not and never was the responsibility of the federal government to provide charity.  That responsibility rests squarely on the churches and citizens shoulders.  There is no denying that people do need help from time to time, however, they are best served by help administered with accountability.

We need to become a nation of builders once again.  Let's not leave a legacy of destruction for our children's children.

45 comments:

  1. Enola,

    (captaincrunch)

    I live in an area that is plagued by welfare abuse. I have a part-time drug dealer five houses up the street from my house that is collecting Social Security Disability. He also mows lawns for money, climbs ladders and power washes houses, fixes cars etc. This individual is very industrious. Too bad he's a bad guy.

    On the same token I had a neighbor and friend who was very dear to me. He passed away in March of this year. I did not mention him on this blog before. I called him "Power Chair Mike". Mike had polio as a child but he worked through it. Eventually he got real good at electronics, Got a real good job for many years working at a nuclear sterilizing lab (using radiation to clean medical instruments)
    The polio came back later in life and he had "post polio syndrome" He had to quite and go on Social Security Disability.
    Power Chair Mike did the best he could, retired, did the ham radio thing and he had in pockets of his power chair. In his pockets he carried one Smith and Wesson 686 .357 Mag pistol with a laser, two unopened beers, one pack of cigarettes and one cigarette hanging in his lips with beer in his hand. He we buzz around the corner and yell at me "what the BLANK do you want" in a heavy East Texas accent (that was his way of saying Hello) He smoked and drank to help keep the pain down. Mike was also on Loratabs, morphine, and oxyconten.

    In March, the lung cancer got him before the polio could stop his heart.

    Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. As anti-welfare as I am their are some people in our society that I do not have a problem with my tax dollars going to their welfare.
    (one thing I learned from Power Chair Mike, Gang members don't like having red lasers pointed at their hearts, they run away. really, really fast)

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    1. I'm sorry about the loss of your friend. He sounded like an interesting person.

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    2. I have to agree with you, Cap'n Crunch-I have seen people that I didn't mind helping out-either directly or by tax-funded help, but those are rare. it's not unusual for me to get in line at the grocery store I normally go to and be the only one paying cash-some of those with the EBT card look like they could do with a lot less food..
      My family tends to make harsh judgements-it's genetic, I think. If a relative is viewed as being genuinely in distress, they'll help you-if you are judged to be a parasite/freeloader/slacker-sorry 'bout yer luck, Chuck-get your drinkin' money off someone else. Taking in a freeloader is a huge mistake (I've seen others make it-and learned from their mistake).One sort of funny way some of my relatives unload a freeloader is to ask them if they want to go to the mall food court....and leave them there-out of the house, and stayin' out. Their stuff is left by the curb. I got a cal from a alcoholic cousin who had been "evicted" this way. There are people I will help, and those I won't..

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  2. Absolutely spot on. Well said. Well said indeed!

    We've lived off the land for four years solid since I was laid off from my job back in 2008. It was very rough at first, but we're still here, and doing better than ever. And we aren't on the government dole, either. That's one way to get dependent upon something you'll likely never get off of in this economy.

    To wit, no one I know who has gotten on foods tamps in the past 4 years, has gotten OFF of them. And as long as this economy stays the same, or worse, they never will. I refuse to live like that.

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  3. I understand and agree with your post but I would like to point some things out. Our family is small, we only have 1 daughter (not by choice, infertility issues) and we have taken food stamps. We weren't raised on this and we aren't proud about it but let me tell you our situation.

    My husband works full time and goes to college full time, he's gone from 7 a.m. till 6 p.m. and then stays up till midnight studying. I worked a night shift for awhile and trying to stay up during the day with our baby but that didnt' go well. We live on about 1,200 dollars a month, $800 goes to rent/utilities. We have 1 vehicle, no cable, no cell phones or land line and we buy our clothes at thrift stores. I don't spend on make-up, nails or hair do and we don't do vacations, theme parks or any of the other entertainment crud out there. Frankly we don't have the time or money.

    Unlike you we don't live in a free state, we live in TX. This might come as a surprise due to TX reputation but this isn't the state or country I remember as a child. The community we live in has no jobs, rent is high and seems to go up if you have children. We plan on getting out of here once he graduates in May.

    We received only food stamps and they had been cut low due to my husband working, being married and having a child within wedlock. I know this sounds harsh but I never understood how bad the situation is until we took them. Let me say this, if you are responsible and work hard you will be penalized.

    The system is for women who don't marry and have children out of wedlock and won't work. They receive free education, phone service, healthcare, food, gas money and a debit card in which they can purchase tobacco/alcohol and to top that they don't have to be citizens.

    We have no plans of staying on food stamps and are getting off of them now. I do feel ashamed for taking them but what can one do. If we were to go off grid and live with our preschooler in a home without utilities the authorities would take her away. It happened recently in another part of the state, 6 children were removed.

    This isn't Idaho where people mind their own business and are spread out. You have to remember that most of us who are trying to get out of here and move to the redoubt states where we can make it, don't like the situation that we are in. I hear you and understand but not everyone on food stamps are the like the masses of takers who don't understand or care where the money if coming from.

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    1. My hat is off to you! I may not always express myself very well, but I understand that there are times that people need a little extra help, unfortunately your case seems to be the exception and not the rule. My husband and I know what it is to be dirt poor. We understand that things can be nearly impossible, but the fact that you are ashamed of your situation speaks to me of hope! Needing help is uncomfortable. My point is that it is up to neighbors and the church to help people when they need it. We need to band together and care for our own.

      Thank you for doing what you are doing. I pray that things go well with you.

      Enola

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    2. Hi there Anon. Sorry for your difficulties. I truly mean that. I've been there. My monthly food budget is $40. I kid you not.

      I don't have a problem with people on food stamps per-se. I know the economy totally sucks eggs right now. Also, I'm not going to go full into it right now, but our taxes don't pay for food stamps. It's a common misconception. Your bond pays for food stamps. (That bond called your birth certificate that is printed on BOND PAPER, has numbers on it, and is publicly traded. Yea, that one. You are property that is traded on the commodities market. Don't take my word for it... go look it up.) That's a whole other ball of wax, but suffice it to say that you aren't robbing your neighbor by being on foodstamps. It's a great rallying point, especially for the more Conservative folks, that like to point out that you are stealing from your neighbor if you are on government services, but it's simply not the case.

      Your taxes go to pay the interest on the national debt. Nothing more, nothing less. The rest is generated by your bonds, and CAFR accounts. (An idea of how this works can be found here: http://www.dailypaul.com/152633/all-debt-in-america-can-easily-be-paid-off-using-cafr-accounts)

      So that's not why I'm against welfare. It doesn't cost me, or you a dime.

      The problem is that most people who get on them develop an 'entitlement' mindset. Particularly when, and because, that the lazy people are rewarded and the hard working people are punished for being hard working. Under that system, the harder you work, the more you are screwed.

      Whereas the welfare queen with 8 kids, gets everything paid for, and all her gutter rats wear Nike shoes, have all the food they want, and play XBOX 360 all day long, whilst you and yours don't get to choose either the T-bone or the sirloin for dinner, but instead are trying to figure out whether there is going to BE dinner tonight.

      Most folks don't understand how welfare all works, and it's a common misconception, so they aren't to be blamed really. No one's ever taken the time to explain it to them. Maybe I'll do an article on it whenever I get unburied from the half dozen articles that I'm currently behind in writing. :)

      All the best!

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  4. I was going to post a long thing about food stamps but you know,I am glad we get food stamps in this country,I would rather be here getting them than be in a third world country starving.I get food stamps by the way and am disabled.As far as the economy it has to improve first before people can get off them.

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  5. I believe 99% of Americans want to help someone who is down or going through a rough time. Count this Joe Nobody as one of them.

    I also don't like someone gaming the system and living off of the hard work of others.

    Isn't the real issue about how we as a society do one without the other? I think a lot of smart people have pondered that, and so far no good answers. The situation has devolved to where our leadership is willing to let all the cheats get by so as not to disallow one truely needy person. The fact that cheaters vote isn't lost on anyone in Washington or Austin either.

    Joe Nobody

    Joe Nobody

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  6. Thank you Enola Gay for replying, I hope I didn't come off too harsh. I enjoy your blog and it encourages me that there are other like minded folks and I'm not just crazy.

    I wrote out of frustration with how things are now. The economy is so bad my husband's company has a hiring freeze, so they have him on full time but with no benefits or overtime and the company is at a standstill due to Obama's EPA regulations that is fixing to wreak havoc on the fiberglass industry. It just seems that everywhere we turn there is government standing in our way.

    As for churches and neighbors helping...well I hate to say it but most are too busy building mega-churches and paying their pastors 75K plus to worry about helping poor folks or widows and orphans. From what we hear, folks in the redoubt states care about each other and help out...the way it used to be here.

    My family has been in Texas for over 150 years and I never thought I'd be saying this but the time has come to leave and head north to states that provide freedom to live as we see fit, be around like minded folks and a limited government. So, Lord willing, we will find a place and hopefully convince our folks to come with us and prepare for the coming collapse. Take care and thanks for your posts.

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    1. Anon, you spoke of moving north. If you read this, take a look at this. It may be something you'd be interested in: http://iiicitadel.blogspot.com/

      If it interests you go back and read the posts on that site since it started a month or so ago. If not, no harm done. But I hope it helps. :)

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    2. Thank you Wild Cookery, I've just started reading and can't wait to share this with my husband. Take care.

      Delete
  7. What has this nation come to? Really? This has become a nation whose government thinks its a great idea to reward companies that send millions of jobs overseas. I know, I'll go ask my buddies how grateful they are that their former employers outsourced their jobs and they have to use food stamps to feed their families. I cant wait to get on that gravy train, not. Your spewing the typical christian venom let's blame the victim and pining for a time that is long gone. wake up.

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    1. Christian Venom? Really!!!!!!
      One can never go back. But what have we lost? We have lost ourselves in this governmental muck. And that is the problem governmental muck.
      But the question is why have not more done for themselves and family before things happen such as job loss, sickness etc. Now inflation has become a monkey on everyones back.
      No, when they had a job and were well enough off they lived from paycheck to paycheck with a lot of un-needful things.
      And don't say I have no room to talk. I have seen some bad times in my life. I didn't get free lunch at school so I drank water and belched and finished the day out. One instance of poor times Dad was in the hospital, no money coming in and my sister (12 years old) worked in the berries. Mom sent her to the corner store and she got some ballard bisquits and a bag of caramels. The candy was our dinner. The next day we had bisquits and water gravy. Dad got out of the hospital, we lost the house, but he got a job and we went on.
      Everyone needs to wake up and prep now for whenever. Prepping is your insurance against a lot of trouble ahead.
      Here is my Christian Venom:
      1Ti 5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

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    2. Since I have also posted comments here, and have a different perspective from this commenter, just wanted to point out that there are two Ellen's around here.

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  8. I typically enjoy your blog, but posts like these really disappoint me. You call yourself a Christian but I don't think this is a very Christian point-of-view. You simply can't generalize about people who need government assistance. This country would be a better place if more people could feel compassion for others.

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  9. Food Stamps, now SNAP, hides the hunger problem.

    Why is there a hunger problem? Because government at all levels over-regulates, and takes too much from, the people and the economy suffers for it.

    When the economy suffers the people suffer.

    I have been poor, comfortable, upper middle class, poor again and now hand to mouth, but making it. I have never expected somebody else to make my life "work."

    Food Stamps (SNAP) hides the Bread Lines that we had in the Great Depression. It is how the government continues to disguise just how much damage they have done (and continue doing) to the nation and economy.

    "But, what about the poor?"

    Oh, you mean the hungry, the naked, the sick and in prison?

    WE were assigned that task. Jesus was very clear. He wasn't talking about government. He was talking about individuals. He was talking to me. He was talking to you.

    It is not a collective deal. It is individual.

    If you see someone hungry, ill-clothed, sick, rotting in prison - - what are you going to DO about it? What am I going to DO about it?

    We have directly supported folks who need help. We do so now, even while we are hand-to-mouth.

    Jesus was very clear. Peter said, "but what about John? You want me to feed your sheep, but what about him?" Jesus said, "If I want him to live until I return, what is that to you? You, feed my sheep."

    Yes, the poor have the responsibility to WORK. Scripture also makes clear that if you don't work you don't eat (exception widows and orphans).

    Be involved with folks around you.
    Be involved with your church.
    If your church is not helping folks, perhaps you are in the wrong church.

    We were not told to hand off to government the responsiblity to care for those around us.

    Food Stamps (SNAP) simply hides OUR responsibility.

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    1. Thank you! I agree wholeheartedly! I am not uncompassionate - quite the opposite. I just believe that it is OUR job to get our hands dirty - not the government. The government isn't compassionate - they are controlling. And, I believe that God will care for His children - he has a vested interest - the government certainly doesn't. I care that people have their souls ministered to, not just their bodies.

      Enola

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    2. In the very early days of my unemployment 4 years ago, we reached out to our friends, family and neighbors, and even local churches for help.

      The FIRST thing we were asked is, "Have you signed up for food stamps.?"

      When we said we didn't want to do that, almost EVERYONE rejected us out of hand. They said that if we wouldn't sign up for food stamps, then they couldn't help us. That, and I QUOTE, "It's the government's job to help people in need. I don't have the cash to help you, I'm in a rough spot myself."

      All but two of our relatives refused to help us. Those that did helped us enough to barely eke by, but they did to hesitantly and resentfully.

      My sister, who is the most religious of any in my family, and who also has the highest income, refused to help us outright, saying that we'd brought it upon ourselves by refusing to go on welfare.

      We went to the local food banks and the local churches.

      The food bank asked us if we'd applied for welfare. We said, no, we don't want to depend on the .gov. They said it was the govt's job to help people in need, and that if we refused to go on welfare they couldn't help us. They told us that they were sorry, but it was their policy, and they had to refer everyone who came to them for help to the state to get on welfare. They outright refused to help us. We walked out of there with NOTHING. Not even a bag of groceries.

      Then we went to my old family church. The local church I used to go to (Catholic) refused to help us, because, I kid you not, I married a woman who wasn't Catholic. So, according to them, it was ok for us to suffer because we weren't practicing Catholics and because my wife wasn't Catholic. Even though my family had supported that church since 1908. They told us to get on welfare.

      I haven't been back to that church since.

      And we wonder why there is a problem in America.

      It's OUR responsibility. Not the govt's, not the churches, even though they SHOULD do something, most will not.

      It's OUR job to help those in need no matter how much or how little we have.

      We still give to charity and help other people. Often it's our last dollar, but we give it gladly. Because it's OUR job. And somewhere out there, there is someone much less fortunate than we, that needs a bit of a hand.

      Welfare and Food Stamps should immediately cease to exist. Charity needs to go back to where it's always been. In the hearts and the minds of We the People.

      Maybe then, we'd actually get somewhere.

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    3. Your "Catholic" church food banks policy and selfishness is not "Catholic" or wide spread. I"m Catholic and our food bank give to EVERYONE, no one asks if you go to church or what church or even if you are a Christian. Our little mission church in this mountain town collected and gave away carloads of groceries last year and the year before. Not one box went to a Catholic family, we delivered to those we knew had probably fallen through the cracks, even the family with little boys whose mother was at the bar EVERY night (in a town this size you do know) and quite a bit when to a family with one member who while we were there proceeded to tell us how much she doesn't like Catholics. It was okay with all of us, we didn't torment her by telling her that we were Catholic. Feeding the hungry was the objective, not judging or hurting.

      No Catholic church will keep you from entering the doors for Mass and attending council meetings. Register with the parish and go, if you are so inclined. Change is brought about from within. This is the same advice I would give those who experience their Protestant churches building mega churches instead of doing the Lord's work. Or just leave and find a church that exhibits what you think is what the Lord wants.

      You are right, taking care of each other is OUR responsibility. I am very upset though that you were shut our of help from those who are commanded to help you. For those who think their faith alone with get them into heaven, perhaps they should remember faith is more than saying some words. We must LIVE our faith.

      "Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto Me."

      sidetracksusie

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  10. I wrote a response but it is WAY too big to post here as a comment, so I created a new post for it over at my blog. Read it or not as ye will. http://wildcookery.wordpress.com/2012/10/26/welfare-and-the-victim-mentality-and-how-it-relates-to-foraging/

    P.S. Not pimping my blog here or anything. It's just too darn big to fit as a comment, so the options were to either spam this blog with 4 posts in a row, or just provide a link. I chose the more polite, and less messy option.

    I also provided a pingback to this article so all of my readers, will now be able to read the original article here in it's entirely, which also will push some traffic to your blog as well. Win-win.

    All the best.

    ~Janos

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  11. The powers that be (tptb from here on out) have figured out a way to separate many people from God...they decided to become God! People now turn to their golden calf for help, instead of God.

    I've been poor and midde class, back and forth a few times over my 52 years. I grew up poor, had only third and fourth hand clothes (didn't mind one bit), and shoes were glued together many times. Food was minimal and I remember cookies being a special treat that occurred a couple times a year. I only had candy when Halloween came and neighbors that were better off then my parents, put it in our bags. I had a great childhood.

    Today many churches do devote funds to fantastical building projects. Get on the boards and help redirect the efforts to taking care of the poor! Along those lines, I can tell you that the more the government TAKES from me the harder it is for me to do God's bidding and help the poor.

    The poor in this country have nothing in common with the poor in third world nations. They have TV and even if they don't have cable/satellite, they turn it on and burn up electricity. No one is entitled to a hand out from the false god of government. If government would quit interfering with the economy by helping Wall Street and banks, if government would get out of the states businesses, if government would quit telling people that they can't help themselves and it's okay to continue to make poor choices, we'd have fewer poor.

    I'm not judging anyone who finds themselves in difficult times right now. I'm blaming the false god of government for creating this bad economy and for developing a culture of entitlement that buys them votes! I can only fall to my knees and pray that God has mercy on us for our sins and continue to hope and pray that our country turns away from the unconstitutional aspects we have sown and reaped.

    My prayers and blessings to all who are suffering.

    sidetracksusie

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    1. Revelation 18:4 "Come out of her My people." Many, perhaps most of, America's churches today are in an easy-believism stupor. Laodecia comes easily to mind - Revelation 3. There are many good people in this land. Not all attend organized religion but have a deep intimacy with the Shepherd and Guradian of their souls.

      We have to remember, those who are His faithful ones who pray to stay on the narrow path, endure to the end His saints "who keep My commandments and have the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12 that
      we must be imitators of Christ. Not prideful or greedy like the world. Change is only brought about from giving our selves to the Christ who died for our sins, rose again on the 3rd day and defeated death so we could live eternally. Sadly, many who profess Christ live like hell!! But the judgment is God's and His alone.

      America IS the weapon of mass destruction with all her corporate and political corruption at every level, top down. Churches, likewise, are in lock-step with "prosperity pastor's" preying and exploiting this financial upheavel we have - world-wide.

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  12. Enola,

    (captaincrunch)

    You struck a nerve Enola. 23 responses and counting. Evan Joe Nobody chimed in (Im 2/3's into his latest book, and its blowing my mind)

    The really sad part is I have known a couple that are really excellant good hard working people. They had a baby (out of wedlock) and found out after looking into legally getting married that with their limited income, their child would have more formula and better medical help if they did not get married. In fact, they had to declare themselves "seperated" on paper in order to the "WIC" (women, infants, children I think it is) program in Texas.
    Now lets stop and think about this, on paper at least their is "No Father" living at home????

    I think something may be wrong here. If a young family with limited means has a father living at home, I think that family would be much, much better off.

    My mother said this recently in a conversation on this subject I had with her.

    "If we can afford to send $300 million dollars to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and send $3 billion to Pakiston and (fight in endless wars overseas for someone elses oil and minerals too) Then maybe some of that money would be better spent on young, very low income (married familys) with children who need basic assistance"

    Something is terribly, terribly wrong with our system.

    On a side note: on some of the "Reply's" above, their are a few that said they are leaving Texas. I am ashamed of that, I appeal for them to stay. Maybe move to another part of the state. Down here in South Texas. The Eagle Ford shale is still booming, we can not enough hard workers down here. We are similar to the "American Redoubt" in culture.

    I will be attending a Gun Show tomorrow in Robstown, Texas. A good long drive from where I am at. The parking lot of the gunshow will be a "Sea of Pickup Trucks" Every South Texas good ole'boy hunter and redneck will be converging in this mass gathering of testosterone, gun powder and camo. The survivalist and prepper crowds are growing in number every month. There will be lots and lots of oil field workers spending wads of money tomorrow.

    We are blessed in Texas. We have oil, agriculture, ranching, manufacturing, and deep water port facilitys.

    (only problem is we are a hop, skip and a jump from Mexico) Thats a big one, but we can deal with that one)

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  13. No offense to the captaincrunch who wrote the above post but I'm not ashamed of leaving TX. I don't know how long you have lived in this state but like I said before my family ties have been here since the Civil War and it grieves me to say that I'm needing to move.

    South TX is NOT like the redoubt states and just because you have a lot of "good ol' boys" means nothing when the hordes come sweeping through from Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Louisiana...not to mention all the illegals and you don't have the firepower or terrain to hunker down or fight back.

    Check out Joel Skousen's book or try finding a place in Tx that's more than 200 miles from a 100k+ populated city...very hard to find. Unless you want to live in West Tx...maybe but there you have Abilene, San Angelo, Lubbock, Odessa etc.

    The fact is TX is running out of water, being overrun by illegal aliens..oh and that oil, manufacturing, port facilities will dry up fast when the crash comes. So all that wad of money those oil workers are spending will disappear if the SHTF.

    Reports say that in 20 years Texas will be about 60% latino which means the state will go from red to blue and "californication" will creep in.

    Did you know that our military has trained the Mexican army only to have them go AWOL and join the drug cartels...do you have machine guns, grenades, rocket launchers, because they do. Don't fool yourself,that problem you mentioned about Mexico will go from problem to disaster in the coming decades and no you "good ol boys" can't deal with that.

    I love TX and hate to leave but this is NOT the Texas my 75 yr old father or my 98 year old grandmother grew up in. It's become a land of yankees (who want to change the way we do things), illegal immigrants (who are sucking the life blood out of TX and want to reclaim it, La Raza..look it up) and native TX sheeple who refuse to see what's happening.

    I'm tired of it and I'm not ashamed to look somewhere else for prosperity and safety for my family just like my ancestors did when they came to TX on the backs of mules and horses or in wagons from their native states in the south...looking for a better future.

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    1. Anon, I have been thinking along the same lines you have. Texas is my history for many years and generations, but the Texas of today would make my ancestors shriek in horror as to what has happened to it. There is a major change in Texas in my lifetime, and I am in my 60's. I keep looking for the old pioneer fortitude and hospitality, but I am not finding it. It scares me. Where do we go, and what do we do? Perhaps the ones of us that have the old Texican spirit and knowhow need to band together and circle the wagons. I really need to find myself the right answer for me. Time is getting so short. Glad to know I am not alone in this thinking....

      Goldie

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  14. Wow, Anon. Your latest post make my top ten monthly comment list!

    I love your fire, foresight, and courage. Your post is spot on and very inspiring! :)

    I have friends in Abilene. Like you they have deep roots (but not as deep as yours, I think), and they pretty much refuse to leave. I've got the sinking feeling that I'll be mourning them sooner rather than later when the disruptions start. Oh, they'll hold out for a while. They're fierce and all excellent shots. But what can you do against a horde? Nothing, that's what?

    That's one of the reasons my wife and I decided to move to ID. We realized that no matter how good of a shot we were or how well stockpiled we were, it's a simple numbers game.

    My wife asked me what we'd do if a gang of 20 or so people tried to ransack our house in a disturbance. My answer was very simple: "Probably kill half."

    She didn't have to ask what would happen with the OTHER half. It was then that we realized that no matter how much we love our home (and this is my family place where I was born and raised and we love it here), we'll never be safe in a place we can't defend. Without a large group of people to watch your back, and without a safe place to hunker down into... it doesn't look good for some folks.

    The whole 'lone ranger' survivalist thing may be romantic in writing, but I wish those folks the best of luck. They're going to need it. Most likely, they'll be preying on other people once their essentials run out. Some will make it without having to resort to that. Most won't.

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  15. Hey Anon (the one responding above to what I said about Texas,

    (captaincrunch)

    First let me say that If I offened you in any way, I apologize. I did not mean to come off sounding "patronizing" in by any means. The part that what I meant by 'ashamed" is that things were not working out for you and your family (that is happening all over the country) I wish things were different.

    You made some excellant points. The one about lack of water in Texas, hit the nail on the head, thats a tough one to argue.

    I still may evacuate to Idaho one day myself. I never rule anything out.

    We are going to have a collapse of some short, another August, 2008 collaspe, or a great depression. Maybe it will be a full on "Rawlsian Societal Meltdown" (I just coined that phrase)

    How well a society deals severe stress is based on the attitude and history of a people involved. Thats were I think "Texans and Texas" can not be underestimated.

    On the drug gang "Zeta's" most of ones we trained are dead or in jail. Most of the younger ones specailize in killing unarmed migrants. (I have freinds in Law Enforcement down here) I had to point that out.

    We have survived one war of independence, one civil war, several depressions and countless border incursions by Mexican bandits.

    Texas is still here, since 1836.

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  16. captaincrunch

    No offense was given and I being a Texan understand the attitude you are talking about. Your are right, we have survived since 1836 but one must remember that in the 1860's Dallas, TX only had about 1500 residents not the millions the DFW area has now. Plus many of the wealth we have due to companies moving their HQ here would disappear in a collapse or if we secede. Don't think for a second that the US wouldn't fight to get us back due to our electric grid and oil industry.

    That was my point, it's a numbers game and even if there are many folks who still have the Texas spirit they will most likely be overrun by the hordes coming up 35 or across I20...you know what I mean. Imagine all those folks from Houston, Austin and San Antonio not to mention all the suburbs in between spilling out across south and west TX....not a pretty picture.

    As for the gangs, it's not just the Zeta's but others...many others coming from deep in south america. There are literally state parks in TX that have been banned from US citizens because it's too dangerous to go there. The problem is getting worse and I don't see it improving unless the gov't sends troops to defend our borders...when that will happen I'm not sure.

    I'm not saying ID is the perfect sanctuary, I'm just saying that it's worth looking at and seriously considering. Now don't get me wrong, we have thought about how if a lot of liberty minded folks go to the Northwest then will this put a bulls eye on ID and other redoubt states? (Let us not forget Ruby Ridge) I don't know the answer to that but I do know that ID has 1 FEMA camp and TX has 4-5 at least.

    From one Texan to another, I wish you the best of luck and pray God protects you in the coming years. Take care.

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    1. Hey Anon,

      (captaincrunch)

      I have to admit you did give me some things to think about. I listen to "Radio Free Redoubt" every week. I think maybe Northern Idaho for myself, dont know yet? I wonder if they eat Barbacue and steak and do they have any Whataburgers???

      I know they gotta have microwavable TV dinners, everybody does??

      By the way, what state parks in Texas have banned people? I knew that happened in Arizona.

      Now I know the cities in Texas would meltdown in a "Rawlesian Collapse" The citizens of Austin, Texas will woreship "Buddha" or something and starve to death. All the big cities will meltdown. It all depends on how bad things get, how well the Govenor can maintain control or evan if they can contain the border. I do think at least most of the border regions will be held by a mix of forces ranging from state law enforcement, left over unemployed volunteer federal law enforcement (To be paid with MRE's) volunteer citizen milita's and troops from many bases in Texas that quite litteral have been laid off by the federal goverment and are seeking gainful employment (sounds like a nightmare)

      After thousands are shot attempting to cross the "Rio Grande River" I think word will get out to drug gangs etc, and they will stay on thier side of the border. I hope Govenor Perry has some plans somewhere for all this, just in case.

      Delete
  17. Enola,
    You are spot on, once again. I recently read this:

    A Ford Dealer's Report

    From Tom Selkis' (Latham Ford) Facebook.........
    True story yesterday at the dealership.....

    "I'll try to make this as short and to the point as I can

    One of my salesmen here had a woman in his office yesterday wanting to lease a brand new Focus. As he was reviewing her credit app with her he noticed she was on social security disability. He said to her you don't look like your disabled and unable to work. She said well I'm really not, I could work if I wanted to but I make more now than I did when I was working and got hurt (non-disabling injury).
    She said the gov't sends her $1500.00 a month in 1 check, she gets $700.00 a month on an EBT card (food stamps), and $800.00 a month for rent. Oh yeah and 250 minutes free on her phone. That is just south of $3500.00 a month.
    When she was working she was taking home about $330.00 per week. Do the math and then ask yourself why the hell should she go back to work. If you multiply that by millions of people you start to realize the scope of the problem we face as a country. Once the socialist have 51% of the population in that same scenario we are finished.
    The question is when do we cross that threshold if we haven't already, and there are not enough people working to pay enough taxes to support the non-working people? Riots?? Be prepared to protect your homes.
    She didn't lease the Focus here because the dealer down the road beat our deal $by 10.00/month. Glad to know she is so frugal with her (our) hard earned money."

    Your article lines up precisely with the Bible. People who only read the New Testament and throw away the Old Testament do not understand the basic principles that Jesus taught, as they are ALL based on Old Testament teachings, early writings, and the beliefs of various sects of Jews during Jesus time.

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    1. I have an admission to make.

      Hi, my name is Janos. And once upon a time ,I lived with a welfare recipient. :P

      Many years ago now when I lived in another state, I was dating and living with a woman who was on welfare.

      She received something like $535 per month in food stamps for her and her kid.

      That's an outrageous amount, and even with buying top notch and organic food, there was still plenty left over. But it was not possible to buy in bulk, or buy food for storage.

      We were living with other housemates, and had very little storage space. Only a few shelves in the pantry closet we could put food on.

      I did most of the cooking, and went with her when she did the shopping. (She'd always come home with stupid crap like boxed and frozen dinners that we had no space to store, otherwise. She wasn't the brightest thing in the world. That whole relationship revolved around her pretty eyes and huge... *ahem*. You get the idea.) ;)

      There was no way we could spend $535 per month on at the time on food. We had to really, really try to spend over $400. It was simply too much, and there was always a leftover balance on the card. So I had her call the welfare office and ask for a reduction of about $100 a month, naively thinking at the time, that it could be put to better use by a family who actually needed it.

      This is what she was told. That they COULD NOT reduce her monthly allotment. So she then asked what she was supposed to do with the extra balance that she couldn't spend? They told her to get creative. So she said OK, she'd buy some extra food and donate it to the food bank or people in need.

      They told her NO, you can't do that, it's against the law, and you could be put in jail.

      Wait... run that by me again? Yep. It's illegal to SHARE food purchased with food stamps with anyone outside of your 'household' in that state. Or it was at the time. So we could share it with housemates, but we could not donate food bought on food stamps to the local food bank to help people.

      It's the state. It's not SUPPOSED to make sense.

      And 'storing' extra food simply wasn't an option, as our housemates were really seriously anal to the nth degree about their 'space' and our 'space', and we had absolutely no place to put it. They wouldn't even let us store dry goods in the garage.

      So, we ended up having a household T-bone steak BBQ at the end of every month. When those half dozen T-bone steaks were bought with the food stamp card, the looks that she'd get at the checkout were absolutely priceless. Understandably so. But people didn't understand the reason behind it either.

      It was funny. The people we lived with refused to eat most of groceries that were bought on said food stamps, but didn't object to the once a month t-bone BBQ. I guess people's 'beliefs' only go so far, when t-bone steak is involved. ;)

      Delete
  18. See that proves my point. The lady mentioned above was getting 700 a month for food...wow. We are a family of 3 and only got $240 and that's it, we didn't qualify for anything else because my husband and I worked and only pull in about $1200 a month.

    Many say they don't mind helping those that are really in need but the truth is the system isn't there to help young families or abandoned women or even the elderly, it's there for those who can work but don't and for those who can't control their sexual drives or use contraception.

    Sorry if that sounds harsh but I've sat in the EBT office and watched the "I deserve this" attitude, the name brand clothing, $40 nail jobs, $60 hair highlights and $40,000 cars and they get everything because they refuse to marry the baby's daddy or work because why would they mess up their gravy train.

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    1. Yes, this is absolutely it. Staying on the dole is thusly incentivized. And the people that TRULY need help, don't really get it.

      Back in 1999 when I was briefly unemployed, (and before I was dead set against it) I applied for food stamps. I was told my car was 'too new'. It was a 1994 Chevy pickup. I asked, "So wait, my CAR is TOO new?" Yep. I was told I had to sell my car. So I asked for clarification. "You want me to sell the ONLY reliable transportation that I have, that is in good repair, take a several THOUSAND dollar loss, on my vehicle, and then spend probably ALL of what I get for it on some POS beater car instead, so that I can qualify for $130 a month in food stamps?" Yep.

      I told them to shove it. And that's putting it lightly. I won't type what I actually said, but those with imaginations can probably figure it out. ;)

      Delete
  19. captaincrunch

    Your post made me smile...I'm sure someone up there in ID knows how to BBQ, if not then that's just one more skill we can bring with us :).

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    1. Hey Anon

      (captaincrunch)

      What about Whataburgers...Do they have any Whataburgers in the American Redoubt. I need my Whataburger Doublemeat with cheese and Jalepeno's at least once every few weeks.

      Delete
  20. Hi Enola.
    I didn't read the comments but I just wanted to pop in real quick and say that I think there is something to be said for the folks that do spend a lot of years working hard & paying loads of taxes to actually get some of those taxes they paid back in the form of food stamps. We don't received food stamps ourselves but I can imagine not feeling terribly guilty about it if we ever temporarily did, because I would feel it was my husband's own money he'd paid via taxes all those years. I'm absolutely-positively not saying the system the way it is is anywhere near ideal- just sayin' I don't think food stamps are always all bad.

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  21. What is so sad about the creeping welfare state and the attitude it has engendered in the past few generations is that it is like a freight train with no brakes and out of control. There is no government body or any person who will be elected President -or any governor - who can or will stop it. Only complete financial collapse will stop the runaway train. It has to hit an unmovable wall, crumble, and collapse before a return to "people helping themselves" will ever be the philosophy of our land again. It makes me weep and deeply weary in my 62 year old heart.

    We live in Alaska, and I praise God every day for leading me to my life here (I moved here from TX when it was STILL "Don't mess with TX"). We are fortunate to have seen the handwriting on the wall in the mid-1990's, and we moved from Anchorage to 5+ acres in a rural area- but one where we still have neighbors. We are so thankful to live in a faraway "redoubt" of the U.S., but I have to tell you that, even here, and especially in the biggest city of Anchorage, the "can do" spirit we found when we arrived 30 years ago has pretty much dissipated, even here in the last frontier. We have much to fear politically and economically and especially philosophically from all the liberals who have moved here and have convinced the formerly self-sufficient, pioneering types that welfare and food stamps and fraudulently going on "disability" is just fine.

    Even in ND and in ID where the economy is showing some gains due to oilfield jobs, etc., do you know what kind of people will move there? People from the "other" states, the people you are trying to get away from. This horrible, failing Marxism and "taught" slavery and robothood has spread to contagion.

    Don't be fooled by the term "American Redoubt". There are pockets of a redoubt in the Northwest and Far North, but they, too, are surrounded by the kinds of folks who have accepted the godless, Marxist propaganda that ALL public schools teach and are forced to teach by unionized teachers whose unions are Marxist in political philosophy. How I wish there really was a redoubt!

    But we keep going, because that's what is required. The ONLY thing I put any hope and change at all in is GOD and His promises. I cannot imagine living through these devastatingly changing times that so contradict everything I was taught and lived in my childhood without Him.

    God bless and be with all who know the truth of God and are trying your best to instill it in your children.

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  22. Also, just saw an artilce by Marc Slavo who writes for Lewrockwell.com entitled "Food Stamp Nation: What a Modern Day Breadline Looks Like " http://lewrockwell.com/slavo/slavo125.html It ties to what Enola and others are commenting on here.

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  23. Enola,

    (captaincrunch)

    Gun Show report.

    Sales seemed slow. People were more relaxed and less panicky than they were at the last gun show. The feeling is that Obama will lose so people are relaxing a little bit.

    Lots of stripped AR receivers, lots of upper receivers available. lots of 30 round P-Mags.

    One very interesting observation, very little ammo!!!!!

    The big ammo dealers were almost bone dry, I did find PMC 5.56 55 grain, brass cased (1000 rounds) for $389.00. That was a bit pricey.

    lots and lots of stuff available. I almost bought a Ruger 10/22 with a 20 inch barrel for $275.00 . Im a sucker for older Ruger 10/22's (pre-1986)

    I need optics real bad. What I have my eye on is EO Tech 552 sight with a 5X magnifier. The sight was $529.00 and the chinease magnifier was $140.00. Anybody have any opinions. Does Sir Knight have an opinion on the EO Tech 552 for the AR platform???

    As I predicted the gun show was a redneck festival. If there are any single women looking for husbands, go find a gun show and wear camo.

    You will be married in three months.....


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  24. Davy Crockett vs. Welfare

    http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig4/ellis1.html

    May I suggest everyone who is interested read it. It is quite eye opening and revealing. And gives an historical perspective that we do not see much these days.

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  25. I worked with a fellow once, quite a long time ago now, who was an 'underperformer' to say the least. He did the absolute minimal amount of work necessary to avoid being fired. I asked him one time if he was worried about losing his job. He said “I don't care. If I get canned, I'll just go on welfare, and probably make more than I'm making at this crappy job.” Well he got his wish. Two weeks later they fired him for cause.

    When some family visited a few months ago, they were kind enough to take us out to eat (a rare treat for us), and at another table I overheard a conversation between two twenty-somethings pertaining to one of them talking about their job. They said almost the same thing that other guy did, years ago. “Nah, I'm not worried. If I get fired I'll just get on unemployment or food stamps.”

    What would those responses have been, I wonder, if there was no safety net, and starvation was a real possibility? How much more would people, especially the younger generations, strive to actually keep a job and be worth their salt?

    What if the conversation was “OMG, if I slack off, I'll lose my job, and then I won't be able to buy food!” How much more motivated would that jr. slacker be, I wonder?

    I every job I've ever had, I'm always the guy that shows up early, stays late and if on salary, works days and hours I don't have to. That's just the kind of work ethic I have. I don't stop until the job is done RIGHT, however long that may take. Period.

    Ye can ask my wife about this one. Last full time job I had, I was working 16+ hour days and being paid for 8. She hated it. I had almost zero life outside of work. But I did it because it needed done, and we needed to keep that job at the time, as she was pregnant.

    But, I still got canned. Eventually.

    They finally closed the entire branch I was working in, but I did survive FIVE RIFS. (Reductions in Force, aka mass firings.) Had I not been as dedicated, I'd have been canned in the first or second RIF, not the final one. It was my work ethic that allowed me to survive the first four RIFs when people with much more seniority than myself were being fired. In the end, since the whole branch was being closed, and there were no positions available at any of the other branches, I'd have been fired anyway. But it gave me an extra 6 months of employment, in an uber-crappy market that I'd not have had otherwise.

    Granted, the job market is less than ideal right now, but many people are lazy sots even in the best of times.

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