Advancing the Art

19 Mar 08

Safe gun-handling in the midst of active fighting: This from a friend (contractor) currently working in Afghanistan:

"We carry mostly Kalashnikovs (7.62X39) and H&K MP5s here. All are old and badly worn. We do our best to keep them running. Our teams are composed of Nepalese Ghurkas. These folks are diligent and dedicated to the job. Good guys!

However, gun effectiveness and gun-handling skills are abysmal. When I arrived, muzzles were thoughtlessly, obliviously pointed in every unsafe direction imaginable. Accuracy and overall effectiveness were poor. No one ever seemed to know, nor care, whether their guns were loaded or not. NDs were common and were not regarded as "a problem."

The first thing we did was get trigger-fingers in register! Then, we started educating our guys in the concept of "muzzle-consciousness." Next came correct use/integration of sights and triggers in order to achieve an effective/acceptable level of accuracy. Finally, we're enlightening them about weapons maintenance and the importance of keeping individual weapons clean and appropriately lubricated. Ultimately, we're integrating all weapons skills into a comprehensive modus-operandi that will serve them well for the rest of their lives, and that they can pass on after they've separated fromour direct influence. We've made good progress, at least in our little corner of the Theater!

What strikes me is that these folks, who have been warriors from birth, knew so precious little about the rifles and pistols that have surrounded them since childhood. There could not reliably put bullets on target, even at modest ranges. And, like primitive tribesmen who are unable to make the connection between sexual intercourse and pregnancy, they seemed unable to see the connection between careless gun-handling and gun-accidents. Like a child sitting in front of a piano, they could not fully appreciate what they had, nor could they distinguish between noise and music, nor could they, on demand, produce anything except the former.

Of course gun-ignorance is hardly confined to this group of people, but I have now come to realize how important to the continuance of Western Civilization is the monumental body of accumulated gun skills that, every day, serve us so well, and that we take for granted. When I saw the pitiable level of ignorance here, and its appalling consequences, I began to fully appreciate these skills, and the need to teach at every opportunity!"

Comment: The "secrets" of correct gun-handling and use thatwe, nearly every day, try our best to keep from being "secrets," have been garnered at great cost! Countless deaths and injuries, over many centuries, have been necessary in order to establish our current repertoire of weapons skills and confirm to us that they are correct. It is our sacred duty to the Civilization to continue to teach, indeed to continue to refine and advance this Art.

When we fail therein, a whole new generation of Americans will have to die all over again, re-learning what we already know!

Some worry about "dangerous knowledge." I worry far more about "dangerous ignorance!"

/John

Trouble in SA

19 Mar 08

SA infrastructure continues to deteriorate. This from a friend in Capetown.

"We have been warned that 'load shedding' (euphemism for long power outages that have now become a daily occurrence) will increase as we go into winter, and daylight diminishes. Since Saturday, our power has been off more than twelve hours. It comes and goes without warning. While all this is goingon, ESCOM (Energy Supply Commission) has asked the government to approve a 53% rate increase, and this on top of an already-approved 14% increase in January.

We're seeing chaos on our roads, with typically impatient SA drivers not wanting to give way at intersections, where traffic lights are now out muchof the time.

Fuel prices here are up sharply, as they are in your Country, and, like you, we're experiencing another harsh round of inflation. Our Rand has, once more, been aggressively devalued against just about all other currencies.

The ongoing, permanent departure from our country of a virtual army of educated, skilled technicians is crippling our infrastructure. The power grid is only part of the problem. Everything, from bridges to sewers, is falling apart, and there is no one left who is qualified to fix them.

Anarchy is never far from any 'civilized' society, but we're really flirting with it here!"

Lesson (for them and us): "Democracy can never exist as a permanentform of government. It will only last until the electorate discovers that they can help themselves to the public treasury. From that moment, the indolent and willfully unproductive will vote themselves all manner of unearned benefits, at the expense of the diminishing few who actually generate wealth. The nonproductive, gradually becoming a majority, will invariably vote in candidates promising the most freebies. These elected frauds, in order to fulfill blatantly impossible promises, naturally institute loose fiscal policy. That unfailingly makes a dictatorship necessary, in order to keep swindled citizens at bay. Thus, the sequence is: from bondage, to faith, to courage, to liberty; to abundance, to complacency; to apathy, to dependence, to anarchy, and finally back into bondage."

Never fails!

/John