Will you riot if your entitlements are cut? Question for Americans.

Originally posted by HomerinNC
reply to post by SaturnFX

 

??? I dont understand

ok
I pay my entire life into something, and then its denied when I need it...

I get angry so I go down to wally world and steal a loaf of bread (make it simple).

Well, on face value, that is stealing on my behalf.
However...scratch a bit.
Government gets into a bind because they spend all the moneys collected for these programs and spend it on something else...meanwhile giving corporations (like walmart) mega tax loopholes to dive through and pay next to nothing. They give bonuses for outsourcing and importing cheap chinese crap...walmart banks on these measures

That is where the money went that should have paid for the "other stuff", but instead politicians decided to remove the corporate taxes due to corruption. You stealing the bread from walmart is stealing a bit of corporate loophole money...its semi-complex, but relevant...using walmart as just an example we all understand though.

reply to post by ManOfGod267


yup, stealing is wrong, someone else worked hard for the things they acquire or merchandise they sell, and because you lost your benefits, youre gonna steal from someone else???Why steal food? you can hunt, fish or grow your subsistence.
Clothing, ever hear of a lending closet? Goodwill? Salvation Army? plenty of places to provide clothing for yourself

Originally posted by ManOfGod267
reply to post by HomerinNC

 

Everyone is a hypocrite when you think about it. What am I supposed to do? Sit idly and wait till everyone rebuilds and wait till the shops open? I think not.

Stealing from a neighbor = wrong
Stealing from a small business = wrong
Stealing from a favored corporation (McDonalds, Wally World, etc) = you could sway me either way

There will only be rioting from the young where citizens refuse to arm themselves or are not allowed to arm themselves. Think you'll loot a mom&pop with them carrying a converted semi-automatic, willing to shoot out their own windows to get at you? Hell no. Kill enough of looters, they'll learn that the cops are the last thing you need to fear in the US. Registered gun owners tend to be united in this behavior. The difference is that the mom&pop gunner is willing to do this coldly and methodically. Cops will be mostly dealing with the aftermath in those areas.

The very armed middle aged want most entitlement programs gone YESTERDAY, although they hope that some of it is still there for the future of this country. There are official and unofficial militias throughout this country waiting to see if they're going to have to break out in civil war over the country NOT cutting entitlement programs and by not doing so, breaking whatever is left of the value of the dollar. And I mean far more organized than plain mob-mentality looting. The fact that there isn't a civil war here yet is because there is still some hope in these groups that we can stabalize this economy. And as of Bill Clinton's era, only half of the military was willing to turn on US citizens--Clinton took a poll. So if it came down to a united Militia vs. Army, the army could easily break down.

There were rumors flying around down here, post Katrina that the rabid looters from New Orleans (the same people who were shooting from their rooftops at choppers) were making their way down 90, looting/pilligning/raping. While there was no proof, and people were going about their everyday lives, people were unpacking their hunting gear, in preparation for what was comming. I mean, we don't really make a big deal out of our very territorial nature, but gangs and mob members stay out of Cajun country when it comes to expanding territory in a forceful manner because there are still roads you can go down with only 1 way out, and we have a history of feeding them to the gators. Game Wardens fear these people-and sometimes are these people.

Now, if the economy fully crashes and all hope goes out the window because there's no way to buy goods, looters and rioting is going to be the least of anyone's worries.

While there is no leagally armed citizens running all over the place shooting at everything living right now, they are preparing. Many have been preparing since before I was born. And these people are not going to aim for stores, although some will be looted, because their main aim is gunning down those who are in control. This is why politicians want to ban guns. They want to be in power and be able to sleep peacefully at night, and militias will never allow them to.

reply to post by SaturnFX


Well I would only still from crooked companies. A big-mac will go along way for me. haha.
Big-mac = good
stealing from your fellow man = wrong!

reply to post by HomerinNC


I can fish and hunt. Someone would have to teach me. But if society did collapse around me. I would most likely steal food and clothes before a new government came into power. I bet it is difficult to survive if you couldn't buy food or anything else and money was worthless.

reply to post by ararisq


probably riots in some big city neighborhoods.

living 40 miles from the city, i doubt anything would happen around here.

in the USA, the police would be the least of a mobs problems, many people have guns and will defend their homes.

in the small towns, we'd probably have soup kitchens, even under worst case scenario, we have our local food supply.

Originally posted by citizen6511
reply to post by ararisq

 

probably riots in some big city neighborhoods.

living 40 miles from the city, i doubt anything would happen around here.

in the USA, the police would be the least of a mobs problems, many people have guns and will defend their homes.

in the small towns, we'd probably have soup kitchens, even under worst case scenario, we have our local food supply.

I'm in a very small city 150miles from nearest large city, here we are basically prepared. It is a very tight nit community. People help each other.

All those who say no I won't riot,no I won't steal.I give you all two week's at best before you do.
I believe in your heart's and the proud gesture's,but I trust your stomach's more.
Those who have prepared,by storing food or have hunting skill's have a chance of forfilling their word given here.
Others full of pride,who have jobs,have saving's and believe they will have retirement fund's are the living dead.You know the zombies that the millitary are being trained for.
If your job goes,your savings lost to the bank folding and entitlement's gone you'll riot or walk straight to the slaughter in one of those camps offering Mc Donalds on the end of a fishing rod.
If the SHTF,even a million under the mattress won't save you.There will be no one producing food and a million won't buy a bread loaf.There won't be any.

Do you feel secure in your career? Will it last forever?
Do you feel safe with your money in the bank?
Do you believe the stock market won't lose your retiement?
Do you think entitlement's won't be cut?

For those of you who think the are safe from the above,I say this.The people on entitlements now all thought the way you do just 2 years ago.

Originally posted by 13th Zodiac
All those who say no I won't riot,no I won't steal.I give you all two week's at best before you do.
I believe in your heart's and the proud gesture's,but I trust your stomach's more.
Those who have prepared,by storing food or have hunting skill's have a chance of forfilling their word given here.
Others full of pride,who have jobs,have saving's and believe they will have retirement fund's are the living dead.You know the zombies that the millitary are being trained for.
If your job goes,your savings lost to the bank folding and entitlement's gone you'll riot or walk straight to the slaughter in one of those camps offering Mc Donalds on the end of a fishing rod.
If the SHTF,even a million under the mattress won't save you.There will be no one producing food and a million won't buy a bread loaf.There won't be any.

Do you feel secure in your career? Will it last forever?
Do you feel safe with your money in the bank?
Do you believe the stock market won't lose your retiement?
Do you think entitlement's won't be cut?

For those of you who think the are safe from the above,I say this.The people on entitlements now all thought the way you do just 2 years ago.

edit on 17-8-2011 by 13th Zodiac because: (no reason given)

edit on 17-8-2011 by 13th Zodiac because: (no reason given)

edit on 17-8-2011 by 13th Zodiac because: (no reason given)

You could not had said this reality any better. An earlier post replied they have all this stock and money. I'm wondering how all his monetary wealth all feed him.

I don't exactly agree with that. While it is true that almost every one has a threshold for what will induce riots and violence, there are those whose threshold is so high that even 2 weeks without what is needed to live is not going to change their behavior. They are willing to die for it.

Besides, that excludes communities that already have what they need with or without the government (like the Amish, many non-city-dwelling Native Americans, and anyone who already hunts/fishes/grows food for themselves--like any proper Cajun ). With no running water, no source of gas to drive into town, not making enough money at a job to make it worth your time to even go in and work, you're down to basic survival. You're lucky at that point if you can get to a grocery store to rob it bone dry.

reply to post by ararisq

Entitlement programs:

Military Industrial Complex
Prison Industrial Complex
War on Drugs, police,courts, complex
Politician Salaries,Congress/State Legislature
FDA
CIA
FBI
NSA
IRS
Corporate Welfare
Pork barrel projects
Federal Reserve
banksters bailouts
The Rich who dont pay taxes
Corporations who dont pay taxes.

They should cut all these entitlement programs.
A tiny minority of people benefit from them.

Originally posted by 13th Zodiac
All those who say no I won't riot,no I won't steal.I give you all two week's at best before you do.
I believe in your heart's and the proud gesture's,but I trust your stomach's more.

I make a distinction between rioting and feeding yourself. In Great Britain recently we saw rioting where young people broke windows, burned down buildings, and stole large screen TVs and Nike shoes. In the US every time the lights go out the animals come out and do the same thing. In Greece, when the government instituted austerity measures, people did the same thing. Understand that in Greece they wanted to RAISE the retirement age to 60. This is a place where you can collect the pensions of your parents after they pass away.

None of this has anything to do with your stomach. Further, the people who get hurt by this are not large corporations everyone hates in knee jerk fashion. Usually they are shopkeepers who own small businesses and are barely getting by themselves. Many times they are immigrants who aren't afraid to work for a living and don't depend on the dole to keep them alive. Rioters tend to trash their own neighborhoods and hurt people who are very close to their own socio-economic status.

If you are really hungry and concerned about your food supply, rioting is counter-productive. It uses up calories you can't afford to expend. I would guess that if entitlements were cut, we'd see rioting in every major city where there was a concentration of people used to having everything handed to them. If you live in such an area, you're in danger. The solution is obvious: Move. The answer will be different depending, but the basic idea is to get yourself into a place that is relatively safe from the kind of violence I've desribed. Now.

We can talk about what to do next, but that may be beyond the remit of this thread.

reply to post by ararisq


I will not riot,I will head out to my bug out place.
I have been preparing for such a scenario for over
three years now!

reply to post by TreadUpon


It's true for those in the UK, but absolutely untrue for at least 9 countries in the EU where the average citizen has more (even up to twice as much) "upward mobility" relative to the United States.

Like most nationalistic sentiments, this idea is rooted in mythology, more then real world facts and figures.