Survival and Emergency Preparedness

Bmyers wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 8:26 am We have a moron in charge in our State.

Illinois? You have a CITY in charge of your state...and yes, and idiot is working for them running the state.

Of course, you choose to live there, don't you?

You make it sound so easy Bob to just pack up and leave.

So, yes, we choose to live here and not throw away the wife's career or mine that we have worked to build over the last 30 years or leave our families that live here.

I also choose to be active in politics and work on changing things and not just commenting and complaining about things on the forums. I have spent hours talking to to local leaders and State leaders. Writing letters, phone calls, and meeting in person to work on changing a broken and corrupt system. I have and do participate in various appointed positions to work on changing and making the State a better place.

As we are approaching retirement age (next 6-7 years) we have already been looking to see what our path forward will be. My wife says we won't ever move because I don't like walking away from a fight. I told her I'm starting to get old and it is getting time to pass the torch on to someone else to fight the battles. We have gone from a State with no right to carry to now we are fighting the battles in court and through the legislative process to remove the FOID system.

As you pointed out, we have to fight one of the most corrupt cities in our nation, yet for all our bumps and bruises we take along the way, we are making progress. Still along ways to go, but we are still fighting.

So yes Bob, I choose to live here and it doesn't change the fact that our State is ran by a moron.

Bmyers wrote: ↑Thu Jul 01, 2021 8:07 am You make it sound so easy Bob to just pack up and leave.

Actually - it really IS easy to just pack up and move. Everything you have/need/do exists an pretty much every other state in the US. Excepts could be Ice Road Trucker or Surf instructor.

Sell the house, move to the place, small little hut to live in/rent, put "stuff" in sotarge and re-establish, re-imagine, whatever you need to do.

So, yes, we choose to live here and not throw away the wife's career or mine that we have worked to build over the last 30 years or leave our families that live here.

I get that there are a lot of people who do that. And the Illinois of today is certainly not the Illinois of 30 years ago. And in the grand scheme of things, that's cool with three or four exceptions. CA, NY, and IL.

I also choose to be active in politics and work on changing things and not just commenting and complaining about things on the forums. I have spent hours talking to to local leaders and State leaders. Writing letters, phone calls, and meeting in person to work on changing a broken and corrupt system. I have and do participate in various appointed positions to work on changing and making the State a better place.

Noted that things come and go. But do tell: How have all of those conversations, emails, and phone called worked out? Did you get an in, and then a foot and can see a yard now? Or did you move an inch up hill while moving down a mile on a landslide?

As we are approaching retirement age (next 6-7 years) we have already been looking to see what our path forward will be. My wife says we won't ever move because I don't like walking away from a fight. I told her I'm starting to get old and it is getting time to pass the torch on to someone else to fight the battles. We have gone from a State with no right to carry to now we are fighting the battles in court and through the legislative process to remove the FOID system.

Illinois is an interesting state as Guns go. I see it listed anywhere from the bottom 20% to the middle, to above FL even....I don't live there, so don't really know.

As you pointed out, we have to fight one of the most corrupt cities in our nation, yet for all our bumps and bruises we take along the way, we are making progress. Still along ways to go, but we are still fighting.

See - my concern there is not Gun Laws. It's that the State is a financial mess. Financial collapse of the economy is the number one thing that will make you need to use your gun! Again - good to be fighting a problem. Any problem. But when you are treating a cut, and there is a heart attack about to happen.

So yes Bob, I choose to live here and it doesn't change the fact that our State is ran by a moron.

Good luck to staying there. Hope it works out for you. But there is a lot of grace in knowing when the fight is lost!

It's really easy to tell someone else that it's easy to pick up and move.

1. thank you David.

2. the video illustrates 2 things that we should keep in mind:
a. it is dangerous to ride a motorcycle in traffic, whether doing so legally or illegally;
b. a number of people go around on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

3. telling someone else to just move.
a. many years ago, I read a real estate broker's article on when to make the move to a retirement home. The broker said not to start looking until 18 months before an intended retirement. If it were a couple and there were relatives near the current home or a favorite doctor near the current home, the couple was not going to move.
b. when you reach an age that you have cleaned out the possessions of relatives a few times, you realize that people would rather staying living in the same abode than clean up and move. I have a relative who is married and had 4 daughters. The couple have serious medical problems, one not being able to climb stairs. The last of the 4 girls moved out 10 years ago and they never threw away anything from their bedrooms. No relatives live in the area near the couple. They would be better off selling and moving into an apartment or condo with an elevator.

Yes, the conversations with local officials have been beneficial. What has helped most, is that our previous State's Attorney for our county was very pro-2nd and so was the one before him. Our current one appears to be pro-2nd, but time will tell It is one thing to say you are, but your actions will be more telling.

The previous SA would come to events we hosted and speak to groups consisting of local leaders both government and private. This allowed individuals to become educated on the topic hearing straight from the person that is responsible for the prosecution of crimes. What this has done is help many understand that the problem isn't the legal gun owners and signs don't protect you.

As far as legislators go, the success has been good. Yet, as you have pointed out Chicago being so large is hard to beat. So an approach that local government has taken and the SAs are onboard is not to prosecute gun laws that they feel is unconstitutional. Even though this is nice, it only functions as long as you keep pro-2nd SA. The better solution is changing the laws. Even though we have had multiple bills proposed, Chicago politicians never let them move forward. So, the Illinois courts have been a favorable path to go, but it takes a long time. With that, the courts are the reason we have conceal carry.

Overall, Illinois is a good State to live in, yet the ability of Chicago and the State to blow threw money is going to come to a head. Currently, Illinois has no income tax on retirement, but is suspect in the next 10 years that will change. Living right across the river for MO, you are able to take advantage of the lower prices in MO, so the taxes in Illinois can be partially offset for those living on the border.

I think if we move out of the State, it won't be because of the gun laws, but because the taxes end up becoming unbearable. All indications are if the State doesn't make major changes (cutting programs, cutting handouts, cutting everything) that money won't be there. The State has reached the point that they can't tax their way out of the mess, yet they aren't willing to make cuts. So, most likely, it will implode on itself. Illinois it losing population and it is people that have money and business that have money that are leaving. So revenue keeps going down.

The one thing everyone needs to be concerned with is when Illinois starts to collapse all the Chicago liberals will be jumping ship fast and heading to more lucrative locations. At that point this State might become a much nicer State when others get our liberals.

David wrote: ↑Sat Jul 03, 2021 11:11 am It's really easy to tell someone else that it's easy to pick up and move.

It is also easy to choose to suffer because of other people's insecurities and emotional manipulation due to their own fear and selfishness (AKA: Family - the people who will sit around and complain about how you "left" them. Then 5-10 years later turn around say Wow - they totally had it right. we should have left too!!! But would prefer that you stay and go down with the ship with them.)

It is even easier to complain indefinitely about a gradually declining environment until it is too late to do anything.

The EASY thing to do is to be pro-active and not wait. The longer you wait, the harder it becomes. Desperate people will do desperate things. By then, it is too late.

I fully acknowledge his choice to stay. Just remember - it isn't one idiot that runs your state. As pointed out, it is a whole pack of them, that are bent on financial destruction. We'll see how that works out in the end.

bdcochran wrote: ↑Sat Jul 03, 2021 11:45 am 2. the video illustrates 2 things that we should keep in mind:
a. it is dangerous to ride a motorcycle in traffic, whether doing so legally or illegally;
b. a number of people go around on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

As a long time motorcyclist (although not recently), I have no sympathy for the rider. He got what he deserved.

1. He was recklessly endangering other peoples lives period. If he thinks he was only risking his life driving like that, he is either selfish, and idiot or both. A motorcycle driving like can harm other in a wreck, and cause others to wreck. If he blocked traffic like that I would have absolutely destroyed that bike. And if I saw him get out and pull a gun he'd have never made it to the other car.

I saw two bikers do a similar (although unarmed) thing regarding a little old lady and was getting out of the car to cause them great bodily harm when they retuned to the bikes and left.

2. The fact that he chose to pull a gun for his bad/risky driving is clearly evidence that he a) Does not need to be on the road period, and b) Doesn't need to be in society. Since I am not about storing people in cages indefinitely, well, you know my solution. Not glad anyone dies, but don't feel bad either. Would not have rendered aid.

This is still not evidence of anything more than standard situational awareness though. Road range happens. Always has, always will (until robo-cars). Are incidents reliably any higher than they have been in the past.

Basic situational awareness was, is, and always will be in style. remember - this whole thread is about the escalating/higher than usual incidents out there. I grew near a Pagan's Motorcycle Gang hotspot outside of Philly. This is nothing new.