While we work to rebuild from the recent storms here in Texas, a lesson: just like dealing with a historic storm, you can’t wait until the last-minute to prepare for a violent encounter and expect to fare well. Stockpiling supplies is all well and good, but are you prepared for the civil unrest that follows these natural disasters?

Most people are capable of dealing with the physical deprivation that follow a natural disaster. But the indifference and cruelty they may encounter can come as something of a shock. It shouldn’t. There will always be people who take advantage of a dire situation to rob, loot and generally exploit the disintegration of social structures.

I abide by a simple life theory: give people the benefit of the doubt. But I also operate under the assumption that unfettered violence is restrained by a short, fragile leash. Good people must stand ready to defeat the amoral, destructive, base instincts that are unleashed by circumstance.

I don’t care what your personal beliefs are. When the rule of law is no longer respected you’re on your own. There is no 911 to call, no police car rolling up/floating to your rescue. You need to be able to defend yourself and your family. They are your number one priority. So ask yourself now, how would you make that happen?

How are you going to repel a gang of criminals robbing and looting at will?

A duty grade pistol and duty grade rifle/shotgun are the bare minimum. Ammunition, maintenance equipment and medical supplies are equally critical. But mindset is your most important weapon. You must be ready to use violence to prevent or end violence against you, your loved ones, your community and, perhaps, your property.

You can and should train hard enough to be able to run your gun(s) smoothly, efficiently and instinctively. But you should also train your mind to be mindful of what you have — and what you’re prepared to do to protect it. Before it’s in danger.

As you watch the TV images of hurricane Harvey survivors, as reports arrive of looters and armed protectors, resolve to be the man or woman you and your loves ones can depend on. Keep your powder dry, your guns clean, your skills fresh and your mind clear.

This isn’t all doom and gloom. I also want to draw your attention to how our nation has come together in the wake of Harvey. How strangers and neighbors have pitched in to lend a hand where they can. Everything from food drives, to medical supplies to opening their homes to those in need.

I am so damned proud of all my fellow Texans who stepped up, assisted in rescues or who, in some cases, stood between those very volunteers and those who would try to do them harm. Without much thought, they left their families behind so they could help those in need. Take a moment to appreciate that generosity and support; it’s good for our soul as a nation.

These events bring out the worst in some, but the best in others. To be your best, don’t be a victim. Be friendly, generous, caring, armed and (if necessary) dangerous.

Jeff Gonzales is a former US. Navy SEAL and preeminent weapons and tactics instructor. He brings his Naval Special Warfare mindset, operational success and lessons learned unapologetically to the world at large. Currently he is the Director of Training at The Range at Austin. Learn more about his passion and what he does at therangeuastin.com.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

69 COMMENTS

  2. There are those who buy gold, for when the SHTF times. I buy more ammo. If you have ammo you can get the food and water you need or protect what you have.

    Used to keep C-Rats around. Then MRE’s but I always liked the C’s better. Came back from leave in the Army one day and first field trip, was handed a Brown plastic bag. The chocolate “brownie” went into a mud bank deeper than a rock I threw also.

    But now there are companies that have freeze dried food all over the place so being prepared has come down to guns and ammo and a plan.

    • If you can shelter in place, you don’t even need freeze-dried foods. Just purchase canned goods and dry goods.

      Dry goods:
      Rice and beans (plus the right spices) can be quite tasty and provide all the proteins we need to survive. Best of all, dry rice and beans are really inexpensive! Of course raisins are already dried, readily available, affordable, and last a LONG time in a cool, dry place.

      Note that drying your own foods can be fairly easy — especially for apples. Just slice your apples, dip them in lemon juice for a few seconds, and then spread them on metal grates in your oven at 200 degrees until dry and crispy. And there are plenty of exceedingly simple recipes and techniques for making your own beef jerky and even dried chicken or turkey.

      Canned goods:
      Canned tuna fish, sardines, and kipper snacks are an outstanding source of protein and other vital nutrients. Tuna fish is easily affordable, especially if you purchase it on sale. Canned chicken is also quite tasty, provides a lot of protein, and is also easily affordable (especially on sale). Of course canned vegetables are inexpensive and available everywhere.

      Consider some other canned meat options that can be fairly inexpensive. Spam now has a canned turkey that looks to provide a lot of protein with relatively little fat at a reasonable price. Canned roast beef and pork are also available for decent pricing. And corned beef hash (especially reduced fat versions if you can find them) is an excellent and affordable option.

      Remember, canned and dry goods last for several years if you store them in a relatively cool, dry place. While some vitamin levels diminish over time in canned goods (especially vitamin C), protein, fat, and carbohydrates do not diminish (as far as I know). And vitamin levels should be very good for several years in dry goods. Speaking of vitamins, why not stock a couple large jars of multi-vitamins as well!

      My point is, with a tiny bit of thought, planning, and purchasing at your local grocery store, you can have decent food on hand that can last you a LONG time if another disaster disrupts your ability to acquire more food at your local grocery store.

      Okay, last one: you can purchase eggs at your grocery store and store them for several months in a cool, dry location (without refrigeration) if you coat them liberally with mineral oil before storing them. Look up the exact details at reputable sources.

      • I’d add medications to this.

        Assuming your meds don’t need refrigeration you should talk to your family doc (if you have one) and get to a position where you have a few months supply on hand at any one time. Not all docs will do this, especially with pain meds, but for other meds it’s usually not a big deal if you have a doc that knows you.

        Looking at this situation in Texas, things might start to return to normal within a few weeks but it’s always nice to know that you’re good to go for longer than that. Especially when it comes to things like Dad’s heart pills or something of that nature.

      • be aware that you can get SICK of eating whatever it is that you have stockpiled. try eating nothing but canned food, stale crackers and old bottled water for a month and see for yourself how it goes. I would bet 2 weeks is enough to change your mind about that.

        make some way to put variety in your diet whenever the opportunity presents itself. (i.e. fishing rod, squirrel snares, materials for fresh-baked goods, etc)

        on top of that, have a freezer full of food to start things off with. if the power goes out, oh well eat what you can before it’s gone. as long as you still have power, there you go. every refugee of the Bosnian war that has come here will tell you they have at least 2 weeks of frozen food stockpiled.

        I remember back during the Cold War my grandma had 3 large cabinets in the basement full of canned food. every 6 months the parents would drop me off and we would spend the evening tossing out old/bulged/leaking cans and filling the space with new cans.

        good times.

      • “Rice and beans (plus the right spices) can be quite tasty and provide all the proteins we need to survive.”

        Yep. You can survive quite well, and amazingly cheaply, on beans and tortillas. Poor people in Mexico and places further south have done it for centuries. Season your beans with peppers and you can have a mighty tasty dish that’s also good for you.

  3. Good article. One of the better that Gonzales has written. It would seem that Texans even in Houston were better able to deal with the BS of a hurricane much better than those in New Orleans some years back. Why is that? I know a lot of Cajuns are damned independent and can take care of themselves but why is New Orleans so broken?
    On a side note, how long does store bought water last unopened in the jug? I have read different things.

      • “Forever. A million years from now, it will still be water.”

        I wouldn’t bank on that.

        The problem is the plastic it’s stored in may begin to break down – degrade and start leaching nasties into the water.

        You have probably heard of some folks that collect vintage sports shoes, like Nike.

        Some folks have paid some *serious* money for those vintage shoes, and they are *literally* falling apart, the urethane just crumbling.

        Some pics of the issue here:

        https://www.wired.com/2015/05/sneakers/

        There’s no way to accurately predict how plastics break down in the long haul, especially since the plastic companies are constantly tweaking the chemistry of the plastic itself.

        Does “PBA Free!” ring a bell?

        Were it me, I’d rotate water every few years. It’s not gonna break you, it’s dirt-cheap to begin with…

      • Have a good water filter but if the SHTF I want to lay low for awhile and then go if needed to get water. River is 300 yards away but there are houses with a couple of creeps in them. God willing it will not get to that point.

    • Joseph Quixote,

      By and large, water in a plastic gallon jug should be good forever. Certainly, if you need water to survive, drink the water from an unopened jug no matter how long it has been there.

      The concern with thin plastic jugs is that certain solvents/gases can slowly migrate through the plastic and eventually contaminate your water. My answer is to store them in a location where there are no known solvents or gases around. In other words, do not store your water jugs next to gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, acetone, paint cans, household chemicals, etc.

      Worst case, purchase all the plastic jugs of water that you want: simply empty them and refill them with clean tap water every year and you will be fine.

    • If you research the amount of government assistance spent per capita over the last 4 generations, it’s clear that welfare leads to a cultural laziness. Also, if the poorest among you live on land reclaimed from below sea level pretected by a levee system designed for a CAT 2 hurricane, it’s easy to see how most of your 4th generation welfare queens are on top of their roof when the levee breaks under a CAT 4/5.

      • Civil servants are also held to much greater accountability in Texas as opposed to Louisiana. They got the money from the Federal Government to bolster the weak levees, and somehow it all disappeared. If the reservoirs in Houston had been that dilapidated and the state and local governments had stolen all the money to fix them, Texans would be having a recall election of the rope variety.

      • It’s also interesting to note that the examples of bad behavior (the looting and other crime that occurred en masse in New Orleans) we’ve seen out of Houston seems like it’s being committed by “non-Cajuns” as well.

  4. The lesson of Harvey (and Katrina) is don’t live in a swamp, or in a city that sits below sea level, or an island that acts as a breakwater (Galveston).

    “Piss Poor Planning on your part does not constitute an emergency or my part.”

    But bravo to the Cajun Navy, and all the people who did not stand around waiting for a government program to come save them. Kinda embarrassed the coastal elites, didn’t they?

    • And don’t live where tornadoes, blizzards, earthquakes, lightning,mudslides, sinkholes,drought, heatwave, typhoons, monsoons, sandstorms,epidemics, wars and packs of rabid pomeranians wearing hillary masks can get you.

      And jehova’s witnesses. It’s just poor planning on your part and you should expect no help for your lack of judgement.

      • That still leaves you vulnerable to EMP, cyber attack, solar flares, meteor strikes, civil war, nuclear fallout, chemical attack, drones and marauders. If you’re sure you are invulnerable to all that I suppose Lex Luthor could get ahold of some Kryptonite to deal with you.

      • “And don’t live where tornadoes, blizzards, earthquakes, lightning,mudslides, sinkholes,drought, heatwave, typhoons, monsoons, sandstorms,epidemics,…can get you.”

        Glad we agree on something.

      • Jwm, I reject your sarcasm for the foolishness that it is.

        Common sense should tell us that certain places have a higher probability of falling victim to catastrophic natural disasters on a massive scale. Comparing a tornado or mudslide to a hurricane is simply asinine. Tornadoes create terrible damage to a very small area. Small communities routinely recover from tornado damage with little help from the rest of the world.

        If you want to live in a city built below sea level, right next to the sea, in a hurricane prone area, I won’t stop you. I also won’t show up to drag your sorry ass out when the inevitable happens. Want to build your house on the San Andreas fault? God bless ya. Pay your money and take your chances.

        • You live in Illinois and criticize others for their choice of zip code? Man, that’s rich.

          Karma, dude. It’s a thing.

        • What’s your point?
          I’m not criticizing anyone’s zip code. I’m saying bear the risks and don’t come running to me (via the federal government) for help when the inevitable happens.

    • We should all become Wyoming cattle ranchers? But a pastoral life is not how our society has developed.

      • “We should all become Wyoming cattle ranchers?”

        Are there no cities in the country that are not sitting on the proverbial ant mound? Are we doomed to having to live where the likelihood of natural disaster is well established? Why do we persist in building castles upon the sand?

        And why do we throw responsibility for our poor decisions onto the rest of society?

        • Most of the cities on earth were established long before modern infrastructure and city planning. I agree that we should modernize and make advancements as recovery but that doesn’t stop the fact of what happened. Also realize that Houston’s access to gulf shipping and oil has built it to the economic power it is. It is not a dead city making its money off tourism like Nola( as much as I love it) . But a thriving petrochemical powerhouse with access to shipping as well.

      • Oh no, Joe!!! Lots of room left in Wyoming, sure, but folks who come here had better love the cold, snow and wind. Most don’t, and leave as soon as they can. The cows already outnumber the people here… and we like it that way. 🙂

        There are relative risks in every place, of course. Not all are the same, or have the same potential. It is not possible to find a completely risk free place to live, obviously. If people make reasoned decisions, and rational choices to meet those risks, they will be ready for problems when those come. When people make decisions and expect/demand others be responsible for the consequences, then we all have problems.

        • “When people make decisions and expect/demand others be responsible for the consequences, then we all have problems.”

          Have you and others considered the wisdom of a complete boundary fence?

          As more Californicationers drift ever eastward, looking for cheap land, you will find yourselves under mandate to use huge solar farms so as to raise the temperatures, and to build large wind barriers.

    • Another lesson is to have a bug-out bag with a couple days of food, water filter, toiletries, first-aid, etc, that you can grab and go. It won’t do everything to get you through the long term in a disaster but if something is prepared ahead of time that can be taken away quickly, it can help you survive long enough to get you to someplace better.

      • “Another lesson is to have a bug-out bag…”

        Have you noticed that all the articles and instructions about bug-out bags are really light on underwear?

    • I remember reading that volunteers who showed up to help after Katrina were met by a FEMA official who told them they weren’t wanted because they couldn’t comply with a long list of bureaucratic requirements. Having a boat and being willing to rescue people wasn’t good enough. Either the feds showed more sense this time or the Cajun navy was smart enough to stay away from them and do what common sense indicated was necessary.

      JWT was wise to go armed. There have been stories about fake rescuers robbing flood victims and fake victims ambushing rescuers.

      • “I remember reading that volunteers who showed up to help after Katrina were met by a FEMA official who told them they weren’t wanted because they couldn’t comply with a long list of bureaucratic requirements. ”

        Didn’t the talking balloons at CNN recently scream the same objections? Only even more silly?

      • reminds me of the ten words you don’t want to ever hear!

        “I am from the government, I am here to help?”

        Run!

      • This time around the officialdom has been quite complimentary and appreciative of the way private citizens showed up and started rescuing people and generally helping out. The only people who haven’t said much are Acevedo (who started out trying to claim the private people showing up weren’t “properly trained” and the major of Houston. No big surprise there.

      • One thing the Cajun Navy did that worked well was to set up their own private communications system. They were able to let their people know of dangerous situations LOOONG before the “official” channels were able to spread the word. And in the main they pretty much avoided playing “mother-may-I” with officials when it came to helping people. We had a group from central Fla tied in with them last week.

  5. Being prepared to help others is important and I would add one thing to the article in that vein.

    What is/are the likely events in your area? Around me it’s blizzards in the winter and tornados/windstorms in the Spring/Summer. So, just as an example, I own a chainsaw which I keep fuel and lube on hand for so that trees fallen across roads are something I can clear out of the way for my convenience and so that other vehicles can pass.

    • Blizzards, a chance of Tornado’s in the summer, and flash floods. The flood would not hit me but it might turn a lot of people a little north of me out of their places. That being said the biggest threat is wind driven snow and a lot of it. I have a wood fireplace and currently a years worth of wood. Living in the mountain west keeps you far far away from Hurricanes and major floods.

      • Places you might not think would flood do, as residents around Estes Park learned a few years back.

        I was living in Aurora at the time and damned if you didn’t come to find out that places you thought were high weren’t and vice versa.

        Either way, nothing wrong with a little preparedness in your ability to help others. You might end up just making your own life easier or you might save someone else’s.

    • When I used to live up north us boys would make it a habit to go out helping people every time we had a snow storm,even after a long day of work. We are all members of a community and if someone needs a hand we should give it. I believe in self defense but I don’t understand some people who seem to be waiting for a catastrophe to shoot all their neighbors.

      • Yeah, it’s not that there are people that will be or currently are predators on other people, it is that so many people that are currently law abiding proudly declaring of their intent to become raiders and maurauders on the innocent, the helpless and defenseless; so that in essence, becoming the worst kind of an evil humanbeing that their are capable of becoming, to simply survive another day.

        It truly is another indication of how far down the path of darkness we go when we turn away from the word of G-d and the Christ.

        And that’s why I won’t hate those that have turned to murder to simply survive another day; but I will simply put them down with a bullet to center mass or a rope over a branch as they deserve, because of the evil demons that they have become.

        • “becoming the worst kind of an evil humanbeing that their are capable of becoming, to simply survive another day. ”

          The natural order of things created and established by God is to survive, at all costs. Peacefully dying in order to not so impolite as to continue living is not described in the Bible as a virtue. Nor is surviving declared “evil”. If scripture is from God, and if scripture is translated correctly, God ordered the deaths of thousands of people we would call “innocent”, in order that Isreal survive. I don’t imagine the Jewish nation is alive today because they were masters of “the are of the deal”.

        • Umm, well Sam I Am, I’m sure Hitler, Stalin, Pol-pot, Jeffery Dalmer and every two bit criminal that has ever commited a rape, robbery and murder has made similar arguments and justifications for their actions.

          You can choose to be kin to those that create such horror, blood and death; or you can choose to be a defender of those needing protection from such evil; make your choice with wisdom and love.

          • “…it is that so many people that are currently law abiding proudly declaring of their intent to become raiders and maurauders on the innocent, the helpless and defenseless…”

            Taking philosophy out of it, completely, when it comes to a situation where one of us must die so that the other may life, my choice will always be for the person dying to be you. When the survival of my family depends on which one of us is eliminated, I choose you and your family to be eliminated. I do not owe you, or anyone else, my life or the life of my family. When the apocalypse comes, in a choice between you and me, I choose me, everytime.

            Nothing personal, it’s just how life works. If you have determined to sacrifice your family’s health and life so that another “innocent” can live, I hope you have explained this thoroughly to your family.

  6. I’ve been through three cat 3ish storms Wilma, Charley and George. While living in different parts of south Florida. I’ve been through more cat 1’s and tropical storms than I care to remember. The three strong ones were followed by days to weeks without power and weeks to months of clean up. But I’ve never dealt with a single looter. Two of the three where in smaller towns one was in a large city. All nice areas. One of the storms took two weeks before power was back and I ran out of supplies so I had to go on a supply run. Red Cross was handing out ice and water.

    Fill up bathtubs and sinks of water for the toilets, freeze jugs of water, buy lots of water, lots of food that doesn’t need to be cold or cooked. Snickers bars are awesome. Warm beer is also good followed by bread and peanut butter. Luke warm Spaghetti’Os suck. Fill your propane tank and have an extra for your grill.

    The worst for me has been the lack of AC during Florida summer. After Wilma we lucked out it was in October and the following week we didn’t have power wasn’t that hot. I could sleep without sweating. I have a gas generator, but it doesn’t run the house AC. Only the refrigerator, microwave, toaster oven TV and direct tv. I only ran it during the day to save fuel. So again limited or no perishable food. I have a friend. I know surprising. But he recently got a propane generator that does his whole house and it’s the bees knees. Best ten grand someone can spend if you don’t plan to evacuate. CBS house, hip roof, hurricane shutters or hurricane rated doors and windows are a must. On top of an elevated lot or house on stilts.

    • You can get giant bladders for your tub to store drinking water for a pinch. I don’t remember right off the top of my head what they’re called but IIRC they come in 50, 75 and 100 gallon sizes.

      Depending on your house size, a couple tubs for toilets and whatnot and another bladder as a secondary reserve water supply.

  7. After observing the experience of others I will be getting a water purification device and a small portable solar panel with battery storage, for the house.

    • A nice idea, as long as it’s not a cloudy, overcast – snowy day.

      Consider a charger that’s powered by your vehicle’s cigarette lighter. You can charge your cellphone the same way…

      • Well, if you don’t like the drawbacks of a solar charger I’d get a hand crank or battery back up to recharge. The car may be underwater and while the 12v would work underwater I’d prefer not to scuba dive to retrieve my freshly charged phone.

  8. “I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted, I won’t be laid hands on. I don’t do these things to others and I REQUIRE the same from them.” John Wayne as J. B. Books in “The Shootist”

  9. Fun fact: You can get a AM/FM/SW radio w/flashlight that can charge USB devices by crank and solar for $30. Amazon or ebay.

  10. Lessons? It would be nice if the city had access to some of those duck tour boats. Those amphib trucks based on the old DUWK design.It seems just the tool for flood rescues. As for unrest? Houston has had little & the police there did not follow the cut & run example of the NOPD.

  11. Deadly F4 tornado in Massachusetts? June 9, 1953, 94 dead, 1228 injured, 10,000 left homeless. MA has had over 100 tornadoes since 1950.

    Flood in Arizona? Check. July 16, 2017, 15 dead. Arizona has had many deadly flash floods.

    While floods are more likely in low-lying coastal locations and tornadoes are more likely to hit the Great Plains, the fact is that deadly weather will find you. As Scar said, “Be prepared.”

  12. I agree with the comments here, but there’s another lesson to be learned from Hurricane Harvey too- if you have to be caught up in a SHTF type disaster, make sure you’re in TX when it happens.

  13. Good food for thought but that picture is worth a thousand words. Damn is the only word I can think of.

  14. Great article, good advice. We cannot rely on the government to protect and support us. That is a very Liberal perspective. Be independent. Form alliances with like-minded individuals, be prepared. God bless the people in Texas and my heart and prayers are with you.

  15. The greed monger Republicans are already arguing they are not going to give as much money to the victims of hurricane Harvey as they first promised. This of course surprises no one. After the photo ops its back to their greed monger normal ways of penny pinching at the cost of human life and suffering. Its called being a “Good Republican” as worshiping “the golden calf” takes first priority over acting civilized.

    As far as looting we have not seen the same amount of it as we saw in the Katrina disaster.

    Lessons learned. None of course, because blind greed will continue to allow new housing developments on wetlands and with no where to go the water will again flood out Houston. Even the cost for minimal drainage project’s will never be spent as most tax money is reserved for more wars of rape, pillage and conquest. And with the extremes of Global warming another disaster is sure to come and probably much sooner than anyone wants to think about.

    Global warming just may make large areas of the world uninhabitable and its already happened on South Sea Islands that are already underwater as we speak with the indigenous populations transplanted on other islands that are completely foreign to their unique cultures which will bring on violent race wars with the people that are the majority on their host islands. Rising seas have also forced Eskimo’s to relocate entire ancestral villages to higher ground.

    Rather than worrying about how many of your neighbors to shoot over water soaked and destroyed property the greed monger Conservatives should be worrying about the planet we all live on becoming uninhabitable very soon.

    Of course History repeats itself. Three thousand eight hundred years ago in Pompeii a greed monger Merchant made his entire family and his worker slaves stay in his basement to guard his wealth instead of fleeing the city. Result was they all died and today we have greed monger Conservatives so worried about losing any money by paying higher taxes to stop global warming that this means the whole damn planet will go down the tubes rather than just losing one Roman City when Vesuvius blew up. ITS CALLED CONSERVATIVE PROGRESS. SARCASM INTENDED.

    • “Global warming just may make large areas of the world uninhabitable and its already happened on South Sea Islands that are already underwater as we speak with the indigenous populations transplanted on other islands that are completely foreign to their unique cultures which will bring on violent race wars with the people that are the majority on their host islands. Rising seas have also forced Eskimo’s to relocate entire ancestral villages to higher ground.”

      Natural selection, Dude; survival of the fittest. Civilization does not advance or survive because life is comfortable and fair. Winners seek pleasing results; losers seek pleasant methods. Mankind is not separate from the world. In Africa, when the sun comes up, the lions begin running to catch their meal. When the sun comes up, the Impala run to keep from becoming a meal. Either way, my man, when the sun comes up you better be running. Sitting and whining will gather you no meal, nor will it assure your insulation from discomfort.

      • Really? What inhabited Pacific islands have been submerged and the islanders relocated? So far, I haven’t actually heard of any. BTW, the reason Harvey stalled over TX, appears to be the existence of an unusually cool weather pattern over North America at the time. No connection with the alleged global warming that no one really seems able to verify.

  16. Sam I Am, I look at what you wrote and I get a cold chill down my back as I look into the face of absolute evil.

    You are trying to rationalize for the ability to murder the helpless, the weak and the defenseless, and call it just. You are in the same mind and are one with Hitler, Stalin, Pol-pot, Geghis Khan and Jeffery Dalmer, and their embracing and creating mass murder, blood and death.

    You have free will Sam I Am, you can choose to continue down the path of certain death, if you ever cross the line from thought into action, and end up dying at the hands of good people defending themselves from a murderous and evil filled monster; or you can get right with G-d, and find the path of true unconditional love and eternal salvation, or choose instead, eternal damnation.

    • I appreciate you taking time to respond to one of my comments, but am puzzled as to which one you address. You replied to “foghorn5950”, so I do not have sense of the context.

      Taking a flyer, if you are responding to my notation that “survival by any means necessary” is not EVIL, then you do not understand the cycle of life. “survival” has no characterization, for man or beast. It is not justifiable, or unjustifiable. Survival (clinging to life) is simply “the prime directive”. Survival is a basic element of all nature.

      Determining whether a person or regime SHOULD (sorry, I do not know how to bold or italicize text here) survive is not a matter of whether survival is a natural and human right, but a matter of whether or not a higher order (clan, tribe, group, town, nation) entity can survive the disruption. In any event, whenever a person or nation is determined to be no longer eligible for survival, it is simply silly to assert or believe that the entity disrupting the greater entity has no right to attempt to survive.

      There is EVIL in the world. It needs to be eradicated. Fighting back while being eradicated is simply a matter of survival. The innate need to survive is neither good, nor bad. To expect otherwise is folly of the first order.

Comments are closed.