Economy in the tank
- Thread starter Yankee Doodle
- Start date
Kinda between the haves & have nots! Solid house and some guns, and some ammo. 2 big dogs, good deterrents/alarms. Need more food and ammo. Got a load of firewood coming this weekend. Like to have the CCTV but not yet.
Carry at home or one within reach, always. Rural setting, not much problems, but neighbor, 2nd house up, 1/4 mile, has been broken into a few times. Inside job, IMHO.
Stay safe.
Bob
Carry at home or one within reach, always. Rural setting, not much problems, but neighbor, 2nd house up, 1/4 mile, has been broken into a few times. Inside job, IMHO.
Stay safe.
Bob
Well, our country is sliding toward the "have nots" end. Simple math. How many items that you normally buy say, "Made in the U.S.A."?
When I purchase a gun, ammo, reloading components these days I try to keep my money with in this country; buying American made goods by American companies. The same goes for other goods. First supporting locally and then State and then Country.
I am not as concerned about being overrun by the homeless mobs, as I am in doing what I can to keep American workers from becoming homeless in the first place.
We have not made any major changes in our home defense strategy. I do not believe that the recession will cause the crime rate to increase.
With a small number of tragic exceptions, good people continue to be good people despite adversity. My family has dealt with unemployment, the depletion of savings, and the threat of losing a home. However, at no point have I considered turning to crime to make ends meet.
Conversely, I do not see how a bad economy could affect a career criminal. You can't get fired from being a burglar, mugger, or rapist (barring a prison sentence, of course). I doubt that most outlaws have a 401K, a mortgage, or health insurance to lose. Criminals are opportunistic and will always have victims to exploit. Therefore, a robber is a robber despite the Dow Jones industrial average.
As others have stated: if you already consider self-defense a priority, just keep doing what you're doing.
-T
With a small number of tragic exceptions, good people continue to be good people despite adversity. My family has dealt with unemployment, the depletion of savings, and the threat of losing a home. However, at no point have I considered turning to crime to make ends meet.
Conversely, I do not see how a bad economy could affect a career criminal. You can't get fired from being a burglar, mugger, or rapist (barring a prison sentence, of course). I doubt that most outlaws have a 401K, a mortgage, or health insurance to lose. Criminals are opportunistic and will always have victims to exploit. Therefore, a robber is a robber despite the Dow Jones industrial average.
As others have stated: if you already consider self-defense a priority, just keep doing what you're doing.
-T
Good for you...
Many otherwise "good" folks have turned to crime when faced with financial or economic ruin.
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=1558814
I had read the article in its entirety well before this thread started. Here's another one for you, from my hometown. Are you going to make any valid arguments, or continue to try and taunt me?
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon.../stories/010608dnmetdallascrime.3f66bb1c.html
I never denied that some people will resort to crime when faced with economic hardship. On the other hand, I highly doubt that the 1300 people recently laid off from Nortel are set to descend upon my house in the form of an angry mob. Let's get real.
-T
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon.../stories/010608dnmetdallascrime.3f66bb1c.html
I never denied that some people will resort to crime when faced with economic hardship. On the other hand, I highly doubt that the 1300 people recently laid off from Nortel are set to descend upon my house in the form of an angry mob. Let's get real.
-T
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grymster2007
New member
Most yeah, but some only until they get hungry.
I decided to do a little more digging after the friendly exchange between Creature and me.
A simple Google search reveals that college enrollment is up in several states. Call me an optimist, but I believe that this helps to affirm my original premise. A great many people deal with hardship in a positive way. I have two small children and only enough savings left to pay the bills for one more month. My wife and I are both struggling to find employment. We would never consider harming another human being to make ends meet. My wife currently attends night school to gain a medical billing and coding certificate. Good for us? You bet.
From now on I will leave this debate to the economists and criminologists. My feelings on the matter stand. If you are already sufficiently armed and ready to defend yourself and your home, there is no need to ramp up your efforts. Some of the increased crimes consist of scams and frauds anyway, a matter that no amount of stockpiled ammo will solve. Plus, it proves my original point that career criminals seek opportunity. Unfortunately the opportunities have increased. If you weren't an easy mark to begin, however, you have no reason to increase you level of preparedness.
-T
A simple Google search reveals that college enrollment is up in several states. Call me an optimist, but I believe that this helps to affirm my original premise. A great many people deal with hardship in a positive way. I have two small children and only enough savings left to pay the bills for one more month. My wife and I are both struggling to find employment. We would never consider harming another human being to make ends meet. My wife currently attends night school to gain a medical billing and coding certificate. Good for us? You bet.
From now on I will leave this debate to the economists and criminologists. My feelings on the matter stand. If you are already sufficiently armed and ready to defend yourself and your home, there is no need to ramp up your efforts. Some of the increased crimes consist of scams and frauds anyway, a matter that no amount of stockpiled ammo will solve. Plus, it proves my original point that career criminals seek opportunity. Unfortunately the opportunities have increased. If you weren't an easy mark to begin, however, you have no reason to increase you level of preparedness.
-T
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According to this report, the FBI doesnt agree with your assessment: http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=316653238215116
To put it into perspective, answer these questions: has your state and local government met their financial goals this year? Does your state and local government expect to reach their goals next year as the economy continues to slide?
"Why?" one might ask. Well, more and more we see reports of economic short falls in which state and local communities have to cut back on police and other budgets. Will that not have an impact on crime?
How about the mortgage debacle? Will that have an effect on how crime will rise or fall as the poor become homeless?
Pushed hard enough in hard times, the bottom rung will do what it perceives it has to do to survive. It might be apparent on your street or even your neighborhood, but based on FBI reports going back to 1972 and the business cycle chart compiled by the National Bureau of Economic Research, it looks as if violent crime trends upward at the beginning of a contraction and generally stays up through the initial phases of a recovery. The same pattern emerges when you overlay historical statistics for robbery alone from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Holdups increased noticeably in 1973, 1980, 1981, 1990, and 2001, years in which recessions began.
So what? Explain to me how college enrollment numbers has anything to do with crime statistics?
Is it not a fact that more and more jobs require a college degree now more than they have in the past? And has the college-aged population continued to grow since the tracking started?
I'm not going to argue with you any further. I will recommend that if you quote me in the future, please do not chop my paragraphs into little pieces. I have elucidated my points thoroughly, and I refuse to gratify you by explaining one sentence taken out of context.
-T
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Corpsman, unless the Military has significantly changed its policies from when I served for 20 plus years, you may have had break-ins on the post, but I doubt there are any individuals openly packing heat of any sort on post/base. I don't believe you meant it the way it came across.
I live in a rural area in the west. And I see more movement by some to buy ARs and others high capacity clip weapons. But I do not see any more individuals carrying weapons. And after talking with the sheriff's office, the CWs haven't increased that much either. Seems those who had in the past, still do in the future. But there are a lot of newbees clamoring to get an AR. And that scares the bajeebies out of me.
I am enjoying the back and forth. But the web site articles are getting harder to follow. A healthy debate is worth more than a good movie. So in the words of the UCF, "Let's get it on!"
But I am not so sure you are as far apart as you may think.
We live in a "have-not's" neighborhood.
The local PD has an on-line map with the crimes shown by type, and flagged by date. Linked to the flagged event is a breif description. You all might want to check for this kind of resource, it would help you better prepare for what most happens in your area. It has sure helped us. We found on this site that the area we were renting in, had a lot of problems, and where we bought did not. This is the exact opposite of what we may have thought. We personally had 2 break-ins in the "better" area, and there are almost none at all in the "slum". I believe that "have-nots" tend to not rob from other "have-nots".
I have begun preperations for the coming of zombies. I know we are not supposed to talk on zombies; but have you been listening to the anti-gun party on the hill in the last few days?:barf: believe me, the zombies are comming! They're after your guns, not your brains, but if you have any brains, they'll be after those when they're done with the guns.
The local PD has an on-line map with the crimes shown by type, and flagged by date. Linked to the flagged event is a breif description. You all might want to check for this kind of resource, it would help you better prepare for what most happens in your area. It has sure helped us. We found on this site that the area we were renting in, had a lot of problems, and where we bought did not. This is the exact opposite of what we may have thought. We personally had 2 break-ins in the "better" area, and there are almost none at all in the "slum". I believe that "have-nots" tend to not rob from other "have-nots".
I have begun preperations for the coming of zombies.
I know we are not supposed to talk on zombies; but have you been listening to the anti-gun party on the hill in the last few days?:barf: believe me, the zombies are comming! They're after your guns, not your brains, but if you have any brains, they'll be after those when they're done with the guns.Changes made...Added more firearms and more ammunition. Still adding more of each when I can.
Food stockpile has been going on for months and is at about 2 months, maybe more. Bottled water on hand, probably should add more.
My girlfriend wants us to be more self sufficient. We are talking about adding an outdoor woodboiler for heat. I have 5 or 6 cords of wood on hand and access to much more I can cut. She wants to increase the garden size and add chickens and a cow or 2. Also she wants to stock our pond so we have our own fisheree.
Everything we are doing will benefit us whethe or not the SHTF or not so to me it all makes perfect sense.
Food stockpile has been going on for months and is at about 2 months, maybe more. Bottled water on hand, probably should add more.
My girlfriend wants us to be more self sufficient. We are talking about adding an outdoor woodboiler for heat. I have 5 or 6 cords of wood on hand and access to much more I can cut. She wants to increase the garden size and add chickens and a cow or 2. Also she wants to stock our pond so we have our own fisheree.
Everything we are doing will benefit us whethe or not the SHTF or not so to me it all makes perfect sense.
People should get prepared if they aren't.
The chances of criminal activity may or may not be more likely in our communities as a result of the world economic crisis.
In any event, why would the preparation be any different? I can name 15 gun forums that have, for some time now, been discussing the subject of defending ourselves from the criminal activity we have already.
The chances of criminal activity may or may not be more likely in our communities as a result of the world economic crisis.
In any event, why would the preparation be any different? I can name 15 gun forums that have, for some time now, been discussing the subject of defending ourselves from the criminal activity we have already.