Check out 0:23 to 1:20.
“Granddad loved people…but he didn’t trust them very much.”
Funny thing is, people say “Oh, it’s the world we live in today. It wasn’t like this when I was a kid.” or “It wasn’t like this when my grandparents were alive”. You’re right, it wasn’t. It was actually worse. The world has never been a pleasant or safe place. What’s changed is that we’ve gotten so good atinsulating ourselves from it, and keeping it’s ugliness at a distance, that when we really do get a glimpse of what the real world is like, we can’t believe that it’s really been that way all along. It must be a recent thing. Nope, it’s not. It’s the real world…it’s here every day.
There have always been people willing to crack your head open for whats in your pockets, there have always been people starving, there has always been someone who wants to control you, and there have always been people who want what you have and are willing to take it when the opportunity arises. Just because you don’t see it, or even recognize it, doesn’t diminish that this is an objective truth.
So, yes, love your neighbors, be nice to people, help when you can, and try not to be a dick, But…don’t forget that you can only trust your fellow man so far. Trust, but verify.
True wisdom.
“Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.”
St. Mattis of Quantico,
Patron Saint Of Chaos
“you can only trust your fellow man so far”
When I’m asked why I carry, I’m soooo tempted to say “Because I might want to kill you.” But I never say that, dammit. Besides, anything can be a weapon.
“everything is a weapon if you hold it right”
You could always say “in case you try to kill me”. Puts the responsibility back on them to keep things civil (knowing that they’ll lose if things turn uncivil).
This is all true. What we have never had before is a populace being consumed by moral decay and corruption. It’s been said that “nature abhors a vacuum” . People have such a disconnect with “love you neighbors… try not to be a dick…” that our societal Hoover has been set to deep shag with the filter bag removed. All of these miscreants and ne’er-do-wells that have always been among us, now essentially have permission to do their worst. This ain’t gonna end well.
Do not worry though, it will be law bidding gun owners fault!!!!
My personal wake-up call was when a guy tried to run me down with a car, while biking home from school, around age ten. Rather oddly, I was held late at school, until most all the kids were gone. He was waiting on the other side of the road, so he could face toward the school direction. I had a somewhat distinctive looking bike, which probably help identify me from far enough away that he could get up to speed before crossing to the other side. I had to ride into a deep ditch to avoid him.
Fifty years later, I put it together, and decided that it was a dispute my father was having with someone, probably business related. Wish I had realized this early enough to talk to him about it. Curious about the details.