You asked for them, a reader made them, and a friend is selling them.  (I don’t make any money on these.)  You can get them here.

These stickers are the best conversations starters ever.  Let people know how you feel – you miss America.  So do I.  And about 100 million of us.

 

“Jim,” who I know to be a Patriot and extremely knowledgable LEO and soldier, wrote me the following thoughtful response to my piece on E&WROL.  He makes a good point about the South; I am up here in lib-ville (Seattle area) and things seem different to me.  I noted in my piece that the “vast majority” of police do not want to abuse people.  Jim and I agree on that.  Here’s what he said:

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I agree with most of that blog/posting. Well-written and straight to the point. I believe that things will get excessive on the side of law enforcement and the bad guys will get more daring. A FOB [forward operating base] mentality will cause entire zones of an urban environment in America to become as dangerous as Sadr City in 05′ or East Kabul today.

I do believe there is a bit too much assumption of what the police will do though. If anything, the recent gun control polarization is causing counties and even some states to issue proclamations about not enforcing perceived Federal 2nd Amendment laws and promising punishment for the same. (TN made this state law in 09′) This is testing the State v. Federal relationship like Civil Rights did when I was in diapers. It will either be partially settled in the Supreme Court or completely settled on the streets. So, I refuse to assume that ” You won’t want to have a ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ sticker on your vehicle during a traffic stop.” So many cops (a majority in the Deep South) think exactly like I do. Cops don’t really feel loyalty to a city like that, maybe a neighborhood in a big city, or an entire small town, but definitely most cops feel little love for their mayors and city councils and view them as politicians. They will take care of their families and an outbreak of “blue flu” will keep many officers from reporting to duty. The Police Chiefs that Pelosi gets to speak against guns are appointed by their liberal mayors and have a job as a puppet at best. I will venture to say that the average street cop does NOT want any new gun laws and just wishes current laws were enforced properly through the court system. Glen, I assure you that I NEVER disarmed a person that was legally carrying a weapon.

The statement “(You know what happens when someone kills a cop; the killer is rarely taken alive.)” isn’t fair when it is well-known that by the time a killer reaches the point where he’s killing a cop, he is already suicidal and won’t be taken alive. FBI stats are available on cop killers.

All I’m saying is that you give sound advice; lay low, don’t advertise (Doomsday Preppers makes me cringe with their stupidity), don’t target anyone unless immediate safety is endangered. But you do risk alienating a potential large group of trained allies who think like you and not like Feinstein. Be wary of everybody, but that deputy down the street could be your best friend when SHTF. Please remember that, post-Katrina, the majority of NOPD officers ignored the illegal “shoot the looters” orders given by high-ranking supervisors, both by verbally saying “no” and by not doing so. Many refused to return to work after those orders were issued. 11 civilians were killed by officers during the crisis, 20 former and current officers are pending charges for the same. It was not Warsaw in 39′ or Hue City in 68′.

Having said that, I believe that Federal Law Enforcement Agencies feel no community loyalty and, if sent to do questionable seizures and other martial law type activities, may very well act against the Constitution…they already have. They do not have “armies” though, they rely on local LEO for task force manning, and you already know my thoughts on what local LEO may do when pushed to do what is clearly wrong, against their own neighborhoods no less.

Thanks for letting me read that. I mean to hurt no feelings and it’s okay to disagree with me, you may get a different “vibe” than I do. One thing I do believe; we are going to find out fairly soon.

Jim

How many times do things turn out exactly like you think they will?  For me, not often.  Often something that I think will happen partially happens, while something else I didn’t foresee partially happens too.  Reality is a blend of what I foresee and what I didn’t see coming.  A blend.

I think the collapse will be a blend of EROL (“excessive rule of law”) and WROL (“without rule of law”).  I call it “E&WROL.”

Some in the prepping community talk about getting ready for EROL.  They (correctly) are worried about an oppressive government cracking down after a collapse.

Many in the prepping community are getting ready for WROL.  You know, looting and gangs running wild.  This is a very likely scenario.

How can we simultaneously have two things that contradict each other: too much rule of law and total lawlessness?

It happens all the time, actually.  A friend of mine has seen it.  He is a special operations soldier.  He’s seen E&WROL in Baghdad and Kabul.

Let’s look at what E&WROL would look like in America.  It starts with things like the recently passed gun laws in New York state, which make it a felony to possess most of the guns people have.  Some citizens will shoot back when the police try to take their guns.  As one New York mayor put it, there will be some “Waco-style standoffs.”  Expect lots of bloody firefights.  They will be on the news every night.

Assume that during these firefights some innocent civilians get killed, as they will.  What if some people start targeting the police as retribution?  This has already happened: Oklahoma City was retribution for Waco.  My spec ops friend has seen this retribution happen.  Houses burned.  Families of police officers killed.  Horrific things.

The police won’t take it lying down.  They will react, and react hard. (You know what happens when someone kills a cop; the killer is rarely taken alive.)  There will be some bad police who want to abuse people.  But, in my experience, the vast majority of police aren’t like that.  Instead, when confronted with retributionists trying to kill them and their families, the police will go into survival mode – like any human beings would.  They will band together.  They will “take care of business.”  You won’t want to have a “Don’t Tread on Me” sticker on your vehicle during a traffic stop.  There will be police road blocks and warrantless vehicle searches.  This is EROL.

While EROL is going on, WROL will explode.  Why?  Because the criminals know that the police are hunkered down behind barricades and trying to find retributionists.  This leaves the streets free for criminals to steal, rape, burn, and kill.  And they will.  Big time.

So I foresee simultaneous EROL and WROL.  This happens all over the world.  In fact, it’s going on right now, as you read this, in some part of the world.

What can you do?

Lay low.  Be strictly defensive.  Expect both criminals and the police to be potential problems for you, and avoid both.  Don’t go looking for fights.

Stay the hell away from everyone, except your family and the people you trust.  For the first few days or maybe weeks of the collapse, while E&WROL is unfolding, be invisible.  Don’t show off your AR-15 to the neighbor lady.  Don’t give the police a reason to suspect you.  Repel the criminals but don’t go hunting for them.  Be strictly defensive.

There will be a time for you to band together with like-minded people who want to fix things – but don’t assume that will happen on day one.  You have to live past the first few days or weeks of the collapse before you can go on to eventually fix things.  Live to fight another day.

The best way to live through the initial period is to not assume things will be exactly like you’ve planned.  If you’ve spent hours thinking about how you would go after the police, don’t do it.  If you’ve spent hours thinking about how you’ll hunt down criminals, don’t do it.

Instead, take things as they come with your primary goal being your survival.  Don’t get locked into one scenario.  Adapt.  Survive.

 

You need to visualize stuff that’s coming.  You need to look at this now so it’s not a surprise when you’re reacting to it.

This is footage of the 1992 LA Riots.  Look at how people act, how the authorities act (or don’t act), and at how out of control things get.

This is raw footage.  No commentary, no spin.  Just film of what happened and will be happening.  Get your head in the game.  Seriously.

PS: Here is a great music video by Sublime about the riots.  Very good treatment of what happened.