IF you think that 56 is "old and tired" wait till you hit 72 or higher. When I was 56 I could squat on my haunches and rise up again without effort. If I do that now I'd tear the fascia out of my knees going down and there is no way I could ever rise to a standing position if I ever made it to my haunches. Getting off the floor from my hands and knees is a task. I'm overjoyed to be able to climb and descend the 19 stairs from my front door to my 2nd floor living room without much trouble.
As a man of Faith I believe that the powers that be are ordained by God for his purposes. Even President Obama. I do not know with certainty what God's plans for America are, or if America is in his plans at all. Personally, I do not believe, since we authorized the sin of Manasseh 40 years ago and destroy the unborn at the rate of 1 million per year since then, that he would withhold retribution after giving us 40 years to repent. And God is certainly not going to repent for destroying Sodom.
Those who would trash ALL of the Constitution, not just the 2nd Amendment, do not believe in God or freedom. Those very same people who held "free speech" demonstrations in Berkeley in the 60's, or bombed various buildings on the East coast in the 70s, did their "Long March" through the educational, journalistic and political paradigms, and arrived at leadership positions in those institutions. Under their administration the 1st Amendment is not tolerated unless the speaker's expressions are aligned with the Party doctrine. I use "Party" deliberately because if you don't think we are dealing with Marxists you've been asleep for the last 40 years. Maxine Waters and others told us their goals. They are to "control the people" and "socialize" businesses so that the government can run them. They don't "worry about the Constitution". China is the model.
They now have 47% of the people voting to sustain them in power in a quid quo pro for food stamps and other unearned benefits and entitlements. Their need for food stamps were created by the government, which was responsible for outsourcing our factories and the high paying jobs that they required. We now know that a "service industry", i.e., flipping burgers at McDonalds, cannot sustain the tax base required for a government that insists on spending $1 Trillion more each year than tax revenues bring in. That is prima facia proof that the Left is trying their best to collapse the economy of this country in order to overthrow rule of law via the Constitution.
We, as a nation of people, are better armed individually (at least 88 million of us are) than any citizens of any other country except Israel or the some of the Scandinavian countries. If our government tries to suspend the Constitution for any excuse I suspect at least 8 million of us would resist, and that would probably include elements of the National Guard and the Military, which would bring with them the aircraft, helicopters, heavy weapons and "light armored trucks" necessary to fight those elements which agreed to kill Americans if told to do so. The Left would, of course, invite the United Nations "Peace Keepers" into the country, as Tony's "Union Creek" novella depicted. They would be mainly Russian and Chinese soldiers, but that would galvanize even more of the 88 million militia.
What do we have to lose if our freedoms are already taken away? To not be able to resist would require that we do not have ammo to enable our resistance. Does that cause alarms to go off in your head? It should, IMO. That the DHS has ordered almost 2 BILLION rounds of 9mm and .40mm, with more orders coming, enough to sustain a shooting war equal to Iraq for 15 to 30 years, suggests that if the government can't get a legal consensus to outlaw gun ownership they can use a "back door": they can render the guns useless due to lack of ammo. Therefore, do NOT shoot up your ammo, hoping there will be some available later on. Keep a good supply on hand, as much as you can. Keep at least a 1,000 round, preferably a 10K supply, and shoot the old stuff as you replace it with the new stuff. Some people think that people trying to stock up on ammo is the reason for the current shortage, and given enough time ammo makers will catch up, but I do not think so. Do find a good hiding place for your weapons and ammo. You'll know when the time is ripe to store them there, which will probably be when the Dollar collapses sometime this year or next. That depends on exactly when the other nations of the world ostracize the Dollar as a World Reserve Currency, leaving its value to plummet in accord with the printing presses OUR government has been running since the last days of the Bush administration.
Are things totally hopeless?
Consider how people in the Mid-East, with fewer arms at their disposal have done. They have created shaped charged weapons that can penetrate armored vehicles out of urine, copper and kitchen chemicals. Strikers or "light armored trucks" are nothing to these weapons. Even in Syria. which is being helped by the Russians and Chinese, the people are on the verge of overthrowing their dictator. Do we have less faith and fortitude than them?
BTW, I am not a prepper. I don't think that leaving where you are now living to hide in some rural area is a good idea. Even now, in a time of relative peace and sufficiency, living 50 miles from a population center is a decided disadvantage for all but the young and healthy. In the 1930s the depression didn't hurt the rural folk as much because they could raise chickens for eggs and meat and grow crops on their 80 acres using their farm animals and animal powered implements. Today, the modern farmer eats off of the same grocery shelves that the city folks graze. Very few folks farm enough land to supply their own food. If your chosen prepper location is NOT plentiful in fresh water with fish, tillable land, trees for firewood and building then you won't have a prayer of surviving there. And, what do you think the people already there will do about your arrival? Each are can sustain a maximum population. They will fight to protect what they have. What will you do when your food runs out in a month, 3 months, 6 months, a year? Do you have seeds to plant a crop? Tools to cultivate and harvest it? Think 1800s pre-electricity. Meanwhile, as you go about your activity in your new location, you will be watched and targeted by Drones that are armed.
As I wrote, 47% of the population won't care as long as Uncle sends them a check each month, or gives them food. They'll continue to party and do drugs. Uncle won't mind at all. They are the sheep that legitimize the dictatorship as a "democracy".
Have you ever wondered why the government built 600 FEMA camps and then let them set idle, but staffed? You may not like Ventura or Jones, but there is no denying the camp they filmed in Texas and other places. Some even have playground equipment because they were designed to house entire families. Think of the concentration camps of WWII, where WE put the Americans of Japanese ancestry. My suspicion is that those are "re-location centers" which will house the people the government rounds up when martial law is declared and gun ownership is made a capital offense, for the "safety of the people", of course. Those rounded up will be the ones the government considers "most dangerous", i.e., potentially armed and sufficiently trained or connected to be a threat to their Socialist rule. You and I. EDIT: I forgot to mention why the FEMA camps are called "re-location centers" instead of "detention centers" or "concentration camps". One technique used by the Left when it takes over is to move populations around and mix them up so people are in unfamiliar territory among strangers. You don't know what is where, or if you can't trust who you are talking to because you don't know them. That's what those re-location centers will be used for ... temporary housing until they move you to someone else's house. They already know how many people can live in each house, that's why they had that question on the last census. You'll be given a crowded place to live, food coupons that will barely keep you alive, and a "job" you must report to for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. The "job" will be to re-educate you into Socialist thinking. They have plastic tubs waiting for those who fail that job.
So, since I am not a prepper what do I suggest? That we learn the lesson that the Taliban are teaching us about an occupying force in Afghanistan, sans the suicide missions. Go along. Sign up. Be their "friend". Be a source of information. And when the time is right strike hard.
Hopefully, none of this "freedom fighter" stuff will be needed. Regardless, the best weapon, IMO, is prayer. No one gets out of this life alive, and if the word of God is true, this place will be burnt up in the end. We are the bullet. This life is the barrel. Which target we hit and where, depends on our aim.
