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The Annoyed Man wrote:What Ruark said. I think it is a very good idea to be as trained as you can be, within the context of your individual season of life. As an out of shape 63 year old, I'm not capable of training at the same level as someone younger and in better condition. But I do think that it is the responsible thing to do to be as trained up as you can be, and not just as a shooter, and then to most sincerely hope that you'll never need to apply the skills you've learned. That's the reason my wife and I took the Medic 1 class over this past weekend. All of these things, in addition to preparing you better for survival, also make you a valuable resource even in normal times to your local community, neighborhood, friends, and of course, family.

I don't think we need to wait for an oppressive government. I think we already have one. I don't think it is a good idea to 'rise up' against it. But there is something to be said for being prepared for the day that it rises up against you. To that end, I don't think that militias are the way to go. I think it is much better to simply know who your like-minded friends are, and then to establish agreements of mutual support with them now, so that you won't have to figure it all out after a social catastrophe has already happened. One way to do that is to informally train together, take classes together, take advantage of group buys to save money, etc.

All of that is just part and parcel of practical (i.e. realistic) prepping. But, I also think it is important to vote, to stay involved in your community, to ride herd on your elected representatives and hold them accountable to their campaign promises, to be charitable to your neighbors, etc., etc., so that you will be known as a person of integrity, wisdom, and influence in your community. Your life will be better for it; and heaven forbid society should collapse, you'll be in a better position to a) survive it, b) restore it at least locally, and c) guide it to a better future.

Ruark wrote:Some of these guys have their hearts in the right place, but their methods can vary. Some are really out in left field - watching the sky for black helicopters and drones and acting like U.S. Army tanks will be rolling across their front lawns at any moment. Some of them are pretty much "playing soldier," while others actually get into some pretty serious military-based training, e.g. escape and avoidance, ambush responses, fire teams, navigation, etc.

I can't say it's all that bad for somebody to get at least a basic grounding in these kinds of skills. In a real a problem arises scenario such as economic collapse, national power grid failure, wide-scale civil unrest (i.e. Katrina or Rodney King riots X 1,000), I can personally guarantee that you will NOT be able to sit back and wait for the "Texas State Guard" to come to your aid. In 2008, the congressional EMP Commission reported that in the event of a nationwide power grid failure, 90% of the population would be dead within 2 years, which is probably true, and there are a number of events that could throw us back to the 1700s in a few seconds. People who don't have the right skills and the right resources are destined to be in that 90%.

Far be it from me to be a foil-hat alarmist, but I find virtually none of these "militias" being concerned about such events. Instead, their focus is almost entirely on rising up and fighting an oppressive government, which in my opinion is the least of our worries. That being said, I have no interest in them.