Episode 60: He Had It Coming! Vigilante justice during societal breakdown

spk_0:   0:06
I want to tell you a story. Forget it in the pocket. I'm gonna tell you a story. I was in college is Coach boy and this was sending about the year 19 eight year. So remember exactly the year I was in a as a member of a band and we went to a area flea market about an hour away from where I went to college. And while we were there, I started. You know, I'm a pretty good curious guy. I end up talking to everybody in sight like they're my best friends. Just one of these guys who, when I'm in the mood to talk, blabber away. And I was talking this guy just this random guy, you big, heavyset man. I'd put him in his forties. Somewhere around there are dark hair. Ah, big, big, big, strong man. I mean, I mean big, and he was a stout man. He was a ah, heavy man and a couple dogs with rice comment to him. You know how well behaved his dog for? And how is it? That was really cool. Now, let me explain. This flea market debt we were at is one that was frankly at the time, notorious for being where you could buy anything. And I'm telling you I have. See, I saw back in the in the day when we went to these flea markets and before Uncle Sugar really crack down on what was going on is easily works. You could literally buy anything. One of these flea markets, they were called, actually, they were called a dog and gun sales. Firearms. You sold hunting dogs? Ah, there were. I mean, it was a three day it bent in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere. And when I mean in the middle of nowhere, the nearest town to their has 85 people. And it's not in that town. It's not even five miles from that time. He is is the middle of nowhere in a county that has less than 4000 population, and there would be 20 to 25,000 people camping out and visiting this remark. Okay, I met this man and we were there to actually buy some components to put together from some speakers for a band or a broke college kids. I talked to him and and I really kind of forgot about it. It's a later. But I remember one thing. I don't remember the man's name. I remember. You know, we didn't get, you know, we didn't share, uh, phone numbers, anything like me. But I did remember when I, you know, we parted ways pleasantly, and two or three people ask me. You talked to him, didn't you? Yeah. You didn't make a mad, did you? No. I don't generally make people who I talked to mad, but he's got kind of a temper. Okay, Bye. And this is I totally forgot about it. Absolutely forgot about it. Until about a year and 1/2 ago when I was re reading a book that I read once before. And then it charged this memory. The book is called in Broad Daylight. It's about a man named Ken. Rex McElroy is about a town called Skidmore. Missouri, which is in North miseries in northwest Missouri. Were in north Missouri Maur the central part of the state. And the book is about Can Rex McElroy Waas shot to death his wife being hit. He was in a pickup truck in the middle of town in broad daylight, which is where the book name came from and there were 40. 50 town people are always half the people in this town were in surrounding the vehicle. And he was shot to death in a few. So lot of bullets. His wife. Somebody ran to the truck, opened up the passenger side of the door and pulled her out and dragged her away as the truck was being pummeled by bullets from three different rifles. Okay, people get murdered every day. What makes this so different? Well, the people of the town of Skidmore who were there never told what they saw. They didn't tell law enforcement who did it.

spk_1:   5:44
Everybody hit the deck. The first shot and nobody saw anything.

spk_0:   5:49
Nobody saw anything now. Interestingly, the woman whose name was Trina identified one of her shooters. One of the shooters said I saw this man holding a rifle. In fact, it was the son of the man who pulled her out of the truck. Was one of the ones that was shooting. She identified him as an eyewitness, and yet there were no indictments. Give it No. And why was that? Why was that? Never went to trial. Why did that happen? Because he had it comin and Ken Rex McElroy really did have it coming. There's an excellent book. I highly recommend you listen to it. It's called in broad daylight. There was also a made for TV movie Skip, that it's not worth it. In fact, there is a new version of the book, which has been updated for the I believe it's the 20 or 25 year anniversary of the shooting. Some might call it murder. I would call it the Shooting. And in that book I as I was re reading the book, I read the original book, but I heard the second audio. It dawned on me. Hey, wait a minute. Many, many years ago. You remember that one guy you met in urban sale? That one pig, strong, heavy, black haired man who everybody was afraid of coming too. So heaven only knows what merchandise At a place where I know for a fact, a lot of stolen merchandise was sold. This man was a thief. He was a rustler. He stole cattle. East hogs. He waas a very bad person. He murdered people, he shot people in cold blood, and he got away with it. He got away with it for years and years and years. And finally, the law was apparently not enough to put him away behind bars after he walked into the store and shot on old man with a shotgun in his own store, over up a minor tiff with one of the Children. And there were witnesses and they still let him out. At that point in time, the people of Skidmore, Missouri, got together. They had a meeting and he came in and broke up the meeting. He came into town, broke up me. And this is a town that had lived in fear of this man for years. And they had had enough. He had it coming. So three of them went, got their guns and they shot him dead, dead, dead. And they walked. What's the purpose of whatever I bring us up? Well, I just want to use this an example of a personal example of blowback. He had it coming and spices gonna take it here for a little bit. She's gonna explain what blowback is, and we're talking about blowback. On a personal level. There's there's two kinds, Remember, there's one kind of blowback. But this is a, uh, something that I think is vitally important for all preppers to understand as part of the preppers psych mentality.

spk_1:   9:57
First, the wiki definition of blowback. It's a term originating from the American intelligence community. The no dating, unintended consequences, unwanted side effects or suffered repercussions of a covert operation. That fullback on those responsible for the aforementioned operations to the civilian suffering, the blowback of covert operations. The effect typically manifest says random acts of political violence without a discernible direct cause because the public and whose name the intelligence agency acted, are unaware of the affected secret attacks that provoked revenge counterattacks against them. Now we're using a personal version of blowback here for this podcast, which is epitomized by the old saying that which comes around, goes around, comes around when you treat people badly. It eventually comes home to roost on you don't try. So this podcast is about how to prep to avoid blowback, more or less in both the day to day living sense and in the emergency type situations in the day to day living. Since the appearance of blowback is pretty common. For example, in the sailing ship era the Napoleonic era, say 18 hundreds sailing ships early 18 hundreds. The most common casualties of battles between ships, worthy captains and first officers, particularly unliked captains and first officers, and a surprising number of the fatal blows came from somewhere behind their own quarter deck. But, you know, since they're heading into battle and all, what you do with the casualties is you just kick him over the side because you don't want to be tripping on him. The ships are very small, and, uh, you know it's dangerous to leave things lying around. So whoops, Captain's gone down. Funny how that happened. Tip him over the side and there we go back.

spk_0:   12:15
A lot of you have to understand. Part of what was going on in that culture is sailors would never talk two officers about what happened. They just wouldn't do it. So if you were a hard horse and there were some hard horse

spk_1:   12:32
for some evil men use their

spk_0:   12:34
evil in that in the Royal Navy and another Navy. So it's not just the British, but it was. The Brits had their share, and you could end up with you could end up getting shot. Accidental a purpose, as they used to say. Yeah, And it was a real thing. And you know, if this is carried through it in AA lot of different militaries a bit like Vietnam and called the color fragging An officer, a lieutenant who went out, did something stupid and tried to get everybody killed every other patrol. Well, you know it. Oh, yeah, Grenades go off. Sometimes they just go off. What could you say it happens? So, yeah, we're not gonna We're not gonna go on the international scale of blowback, but I highly recommend you reading. Read the book. Blowback. It's ah, it is I opening to say the least as to how much the governments secret missions have affected things like 9 11 And I'm not gonna go, isn't it? We're not. This is not a political thing. It's just history. And some of the stuff we have as a as a intelligence community member have done have really bitten us in the tail. And I highly recommend that book. But a lot of the stuff we personally do to other people can as much bite us in the tail

spk_1:   14:15
a lot of people seem to think they can hide behind the law. As Ken Rex McElroy did behind the law. He laughed out of his stolen goods, went to some really excellent lawyers, and that's how he got out. It's It's not like the policemen of the county's he lived in had not been busting their hind parts to throw him in jail forever. They had been

spk_0:   14:37
right. It would have been unable to get it done legally. To be fair, most of the policeman, most of them were afraid of him. Most of them would not take him on. And he ran into one Highway Patrol officer who wasn't afraid of anybody in that police officer. I was the one who, you know, basically, I was the one who threw him in handcuffs and took him in, and nobody else would do it. And he tried to intimidate that officer. It didn't work. But, you know, there's just so much people are going to take. I had a dream. Is this a good time for my dream? Good time for your dream. Okay? I had a dream. This is a couple years ago, and sometimes you come up with great ideas and dreams that just don't work out. Real life is sometimes you come up with dream solution. Some of the best stuff we've come up with itself we dreamed about. You know, we're trying to come up with a solution to a problem and, you know, you go to sleep and your subconscious puts it forward. Well, I had a dream. Crabs. A lawyer? Yeah. No. Okay. This is not a good dream. A nightmare I don't wanna be. Oh, and I had a client who was a woman who was dealing with on abusive husband who abused her, abused the Children, but none of it was provable. And she could not. She could never get the legal system to take her seriously. So I was earlier. She killed the husband, and I was trying to find a way to keep her from going to the electric chair, which they'll use it. Sorry, but whatever. Um, I was trying to find a way you keep her from going down for this crime because it was absolutely murder. And I'm try. I tried everything, man. I was my cousin Vinny. Kind of many. You know what I was as a video package. Donuts. You know what I'm saying? I was I was the guy. I was trying every lawyer trick in the book. Nothing was where it was getting nowhere. The jury were giving me the snake eye. They were giving me stone cold, right? My right, my eyes. The judge. He looked like Fred Herman with from the Cousin video. You know, he's, like, got that, you know, Herman Munster thing going on, and I just This is not going anywhere. And finally, I'm just like, Well, there's one thing I can try. There's only one thing I've got left. So I turned to the judge, turned to the jury closing arguments is that But the bottom line comes down on Lee. One thing and one thing only. It's this the bottom line. The man had it comin and their silence in the card room and every dead looking looked over the jury, The jury, they're looking at each other like in a shocked what? Why? Well, the private tour of the prosecutor man, and he's got his head in his hands. And the judge says, Excuse me, Did you just say he had it comin? Yes, I look back. Just yes, Your Honor. That's what I said. I'm like, Oh, I've got a present man. Go, I This is Mao practice. I've gone to jail for this is just You mean to tell me we've been in this courtroom for days and this man had it comin? Yes, Your Honor. And you didn't think to mention before wasting days of all of our time, the most obvious fact that this man had it coming? He had it coming. Yes, your Honor. Well, Mr Prosecutor and the prosecutor? I don't know, Your Honor. He had it comin. Turns around. Looks the jury jury, and this woman's insisted that he had it coming. He had it coming. All right, Case dismissed. Man Had a governor boom. Those even the case, it does not actually work that way. In real life, there is no he had common defense. Mother should pay you a lot of lot of the things you hear about one of our local community. That fact has had a real rash, and I don't know what's going on here. It is a very small town that really rash of of child molestation cases. I'm talking 10 of them in the last couple years that there's a very small town that's like, ridiculous and, you know, if true, these guys have in common. But that's not have legal system works.

spk_1:   19:39
Except if something bad happens to those people might be that nobody saw anything.

spk_0:   19:45
Yeah, that's true. It might be.

spk_1:   19:47
I would say the people of Skidmore had a he had it coming defense?

spk_0:   19:51
Absolutely, because there is a point in time you will reach where you have it coming. If if you're let this type of person you have a comment, you just do.

spk_1:   20:04
So first, Don't be the kind of guy who has it coming, and that will make you safer. Is willing as well as making the world a better place, by the way. From for a proper note, though, you can also take this into prepping. I remember in particular uh, a few years ago there was some big disaster in California and everybody started getting on the emergency service's personnel because they hadn't done a good job of getting ready for this disaster and its California. And it's one of those things that happens in California. I don't remember if it was a drought or if it was fire or if it was an earthquake. But they know

spk_0:   20:47
your name is volcano, mudslide, earthquake, drought. We might have an old saying,

spk_1:   20:55
probably wasn't a tornado because California, but good at any one of them. It was predictable. The emergency service's people have done an inadequate job in this particular town of dealing with it. And when they started to take the heat, the first thing they did is started blaming the preppers in the area and called him selfish because they had, instead of expending their efforts to help make their community a better place and more prepared, they had selfishly spent there time, money and efforts in just protecting themselves and the the individuals that they cared about. It was a clear and obvious just an attempt to redirect Blaine by finding a scapegoat. And the preppers were handy scapegoat because sometimes misery does love company, and those who are in a better situation can attract the anger and resentment and frustration of people who are less prepared in an emergency. And one, I thought it was a blatant attempt to shift plane shameless attempt ship plane. But I also noticed that it worked to some extent because when people are angry and frustrated and they don't have a good target, they will find a bad target. And people who have more than you have at that point in time make a very tempting target. They're not gonna buy these perfectly true explanations of Yeah, When you were buying all this insert expensive junk you didn't really need Here I was spending the time and effort building up. These resource is they're not gonna be here in that because they're going to look for somewhere to put their anger and put their blame and the less well you like. You are in your community, the less well understood you are in your community, the more likely or to be a target for that. And that, I think, is where a lot of the fear of seizures comes from. If people can find a reason to blame you, they can give themselves excuses for coming and take it yourself.

spk_0:   23:22
You just have to dehumanize you Now. There's a reason that people, um, that people are dehumanized, and this is part of some of what our government does to people. As a matter of course in certain situations. A day after de humanize you, I have to take away your humanity to get you to comply. Now this sounds like a extremely political statements, but it's not. It's a fact in the training manuals for the military. They must break down Lee individual to make a soldier to make Marine to make a sailor. They can't have the individual put himself before the core or the Army or the ship.

spk_1:   24:14
And the only way to have a cohesive in group is to have an out group. If there aren't others outside, then there can't be a cohesive group. And it's not just governments that do this. Every organization under the sun we'll have a natural and human tendency to form in groups and out groups. And this is one of the devices dividing lines upon which the group's might be built,

spk_0:   24:39
right and, you know, like But there's there's specific things like the military, and I'm not saying that it necessarily isn't something we have to do. I just saying this is what this is part of the of the way it happened. Another, another examples prisons. Okay, When you go to prison, you become a number. You're not a human anymore. You're you're a number and they take away. Yeah, that's why they cut the hair, the military. That's why they cut the hair prison, cut the hair. That's part of the part of the process. Uh,

spk_1:   25:10
removing individuality too enhanced group cohesiveness and separate you from others.

spk_0:   25:19
And it doesn't even have to be. This could be like she's a private guy. Fraternity is the same way, you know you speak. I don't know how many people I know have joined for fraternities, sororities and before they were quite individualistic. But after what? And I'm not, please don't misunderstand. I'm not saying Don't join a fraternity. Don't join a sorority. What I'm saying is, you know people change when they become sorority and fraternity members in college. It changes who they are and changes their outlook. It changes a lot of dumb, and they just become they could become interested in different things. And there is a socialization process because this is the way that sigma whoever does it. You know, it's just the way that's the Sigma way, you know, that's the whatever organization way

spk_1:   26:11
they're making better bonds within the group by creating a verb identity.

spk_0:   26:17
So and there's nothing really wrong with that. But that does lead you open thio both exploitation and exploiting others. It leaves you, uh, it gives you the it puts another us and them out there. The dark

spk_1:   26:39
side of the group identity is that it lets you treat others as less than fully human.

spk_0:   26:44
And you see this and and and dehumanizing others. You know, that is one of the things that that, you see that they use on police shows. That's really a lot of that stuff that you sent. Please shows it's just baloney. I've never been a cop, but I I have been in a profession that deals with police. Frankly, I'm just gonna come out say, You know, I've been in one way or another a journalist for 35 years, and I've you know, my When I went to school, I went to school to be a journalist for, uh, criminal law. I typed, my I have a a declared minor in criminal justice. That's just what I did was my interest in school was was journalism of crime eso I've been dealing professionally with police officers for 35 years, So I kind of get an idea of what people What of the Hollywood stuff is actually real? And what if it's just complete nonsense? And one of the things I've noticed that is actually riel is the breaking down? That's the that. That's what they you know. That's what they try to D'oh! That's part of it. It's a it's intentional. It is not bad, necessarily. It's just part of the way that we're wire.

spk_1:   28:15
And that, too, do you think is most likely to be the scapegoat in such a situation? Is it going to be the people who have ties to their community and nail positive relations with members of their community? Or is it some guy who's been somebody? You didn't want your community the whole time, and now you look around and he's got stuff you don't have. You want his stuff, but you don't want to feel like you're evil. Russia is not like you, and you remember how he has separated himself from you for a long time. By his behavior. You're setting yourself up to attract blowback.

spk_0:   29:06
Yes, you are. Whether it's deserved or not. Doesn't matter. Obviously, there are things you could do to become that, you know, if you're gonna be the the village jerk. Yeah, you're not gonna last long. If the stuff hits the fan, you're going to be the 1st 1 that goes over the railing

spk_1:   29:29
On a related note, that expression about don't kill the messenger that everybody Bandy's about so casually through. The reason that became a thing is because habitually they have killed the messengers. I mean, the Roman emperors were pretty outright about if they would just Phil messengers who brought him news they didn't like. And that was pretty straightforward. But much more often. It's people who bring that news of unwanted events, especially if they do it in a non empathetic. I saw this coming and you didn't see it coming. And now you're stuck by it. Don't you wish you'd been more like me?

spk_0:   30:11
I call this

spk_1:   30:12
comes a tempting to shoot the messenger. Frankly,

spk_0:   30:14
I call the soniya you tell you. Yeah, I saw this. You did? It's okay. Anytime you hear that, so near thing going on, you probably just made it really bad mistake. If you ever hear that coming out around Yeah, that was probably not a good there will be payback for that because there will be blowback blowback. You can generate so much blowback and you'll have it common if you could do this kind of time. Even if you're right, he hasn't had nothing to do with you. There will be consequences to your action. There will be payback. There will be blowback. So don't be that person.

spk_1:   30:49
And for those of you who have been laughed at for propping in the past, and all of us have kept caught some sort of heat, either laughed at for prepping or been looked down upon because we don't have the same kinds of stuff. But we would have if we weren't spending. The resource is on that. Everybody's caught some heat for it. He's done a serious amount of prepping. I would expect I can see where it would be really tempting to point out that yours was the wiser way when the time comes. But that's just a blowback magnet, right being right. And then there's being right and loud, and one of those is not a great idea.

spk_0:   31:30
I lookit, I'll find I'll shoot you and take your stuff Well, problem solved, you know, seriously, ever getting back to the police thing and one of things that is not realistic is CSC is a TV show. Okay, Just to be perfectly clear about this is a really fun see TV show and C i s It's a TV show.

spk_1:   31:51
Even the Mounties didn't always actually get there, man,

spk_0:   31:54
don't they? They don't really do this in real life. Okay? Yes, there are CIA size, and yes, the police do investigate to the limit of what they can do. But I'm here to tell you this whole spending five weeks finding a fiber in the truck is at best of times ridiculous. And at worst, And I'm not encouraging. People go out and kill somebody. Be Oh, yeah, I could get away with it. No, that's not What I mean is, if you are, put yourself in a situation where you are the person that nobody likes, nobody's gonna bust their butt, keeping you safe, you know? But you nobody's gonna you know, somebody turns you into the next kin. Rex McElroy. You know, nobody's going to speak up nothing in the room after you. But, you know, you're you're the person who put you six feet under is not gonna go to jail if you make yourself into Kent. Rex McElroy Because he had it comin and he really did anything else to add.

spk_1:   33:07
I hope that none of our audience out there is the kind of people that can Rex McElroy was. He

spk_0:   33:14
was just He was just evil, flatly evil. And that's not a work to steal a line from the TV show General Arcadia. Uh, this is a great line, though, Um, and is that we're not talking about religion. We're talking about a TV show. So, uh, the guy who was praying God in Genoa, Arcadia came up with this. He said, um, he is evil. And that's not a word I throw around lately, and so I kind of take that. That evil is not a word I throw around lightly. It's not something you hear coming out of my mouth very often, but that man was evil. And anybody who's truly evil really does have it coming. As far as I'm concerned, so doesn't mean I'm gonna do it. But I'm you know, I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it.

spk_1:   34:04
Frankly, if that was all this this podcast was about. I wouldn't have bothered because one I hope none of our audience fits in that category. And two, If it did, well, then you had a comment and ah, on your own head, be it. In that case,

spk_0:   34:20
the real reason that

spk_1:   34:22
I was interested in doing this was to help raise awareness about the ways in which someone who is Gil is prepped and is right can become a target of redirected anger and have the same kinds of be treated in the same kinds of ways because in people's minds, if they have anger, they need to get rid of and you're the natural target for it. And you've got stuff they feel they really need, and they don't want to feel you evil themselves for taking it from you. One of the ways human psychology is set up to deal with the situation is to find ways to redirect the blame onto the person who's got what you really need that gives the the takers the moral excuse in their own mind to do it. That is what I'm really concerned about and the reason I wanted to bring up in this podcast is Don't set yourself up for blowback, even if you're right. Even if it wasn't because you were being evil, even if all you did was be right just a little too loudly. I wouldn't wish that upon you.

spk_0:   35:47
Okay, that's just cool. Three or four special ops were driving past her old but Air Force base. Three or four special ops helicopters taken off for some training, and that's just cool. We're just driving past right past the end of the runway on 98 in favor of another year. That's just cool. It's also cool to drive over here, Teoh the other side of the island and watch the F 20 two's that 35 take off over your heads. Pretty cool.

spk_1:   36:15
He kind of never found salty. Never found a military jet he didn't like. Pretty much so.

spk_0:   36:21
Yeah, except for the people would be little. Answer. The bone Man. Those things are loud.

spk_1:   36:26
Look sure I ever gained more warmth from one statement. Then when we were bicycling down a trail in the middle of nowhere and we got buzzed by a couple of military jets. But I looked at him just water to f A 18 is doing way out here.

spk_0:   36:48
Yes, I'm like, I love this woman. She knows that that it's an F 80 not a super orner. What is? Yeah, where we live? You don't see a lot of a few teens you really took were not around the navy base were around you see a lot of warthogs, whole lot of warthog. You'll see the you'll see the bee will be to quite a bit

spk_1:   37:11
The wart hog drivers love it when they come in for a fake strafing run and you fake die formas they buzz you when you're writing down the trail

spk_0:   37:21
we see be choose a lot We're not too far off the flight craft for, uh, the base or out of okay, But getting back to getting back to the podcast 0.2 things to my two takeaways is, um, one of the things that I think is really important for preppers to be is opsec paying attention to it. Don't be that guy that's bragging about Well, I saw this coming miles away and I got four years worth of food in my basement. That's a bad idea. So in the other thing in paradise prepper today a a column on each of these things. So I fired. Should be a three. Be wide, checking out. The other thing you might want to consider is looking at the different things of becoming a great man or great woman. Nobody just nobody pays attention to at all. Just somebody who's rather transparent. It's not that you're good, it's not bad. It's just nobody knows you there. This is a very good way to be when your product, you know, you don't want to draw attention to yourself, ever. So if you if you do this, you're not gonna be the type of person who's gonna have problems with blowback. So you might wanna look does happen and maybe think about you know what kind of prepper Rolla my looking to be for myself. What am I trying to be? Well, that gray minerals are really attractive option. You know, I don't want to be the mall manager guy who's always bragging about all cool tact, cool stuff he's got on his a r 15. You know the fact that he goes to the gym so he can whip around that £28 rifle? No, because he's got every flashlight in the laser under the sun on it. Here's a hand of your air. 15 weighs more than £9. You're doing something wrong. Just a thought. Um, weighs more than £8. Maybe auto. Start thinking about, uh, what you could cut back on. Just a thought. Just throwing that out there. That's all I'm saying. You think it's from you? You know, I said

spk_1:   39:31
what I wanted to say.

spk_0:   39:32
We're gonna hang this one up, eh? So, er, from right now, we are in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Right outside of Edwin Air Force Base, my old hometown. I lived here once, and we'll talk to later.