Marauder Scum

I've been wanting to write this article for a few weeks now, without knowing how to start, so I'm just going to do it. We find ourselves standing at the edge of a Cliff, looking off into the future and seeing many potential hazards. We do not want to fall down this Cliff, so we make preparations to be ready for the things to come. We make plans, we store goods and equipment, and we train. We know there are many dangers ahead. In this article, I want to address one of those dangers.

The danger that I want to talk about is people. We know that people, as a group, are impulsive and stupid. We know that desperate people can be very dangerous. We are the people that see the writing on the wall and have made arrangements so that we will not become one of those desperate people, and so we will be able to help our friends and family. The events the last few years have made more and more people aware of the concept of being prepared, so that they will not be afraid or desperate. This is a great thing.

When we talk about dangerous people, we often think of the people living in cities who have not prepared -- those who have no food storage or no way to provide for themselves if the grocery stores are not stocked. History has shown us that, most often, these individuals will sit and wait until help comes to them. They are so dependent upon a system, that they cannot give up their faith in that system. If we look back to Hurricane Katrina, you had people who (even after being warned that they needed to evacuate) didn’t leave. They waited until someone came and picked them up. This is not the Golden Horde that is going to flee the cities into the suburbs, then into the rural areas looking for food. In the urban environment, the truly dangerous people are the organized criminal elements -- the gangs that have their own laws and no respect for others. In times of trouble, these gangs will use their pre-existing organization to take control of the desperate people around them. So, from the urban environment there is a threat and it is important that we understand and research these gangs. The better we know them, the better we know how to defend ourselves from them.

This article, however, is not about people fleeing the urban environment coming after those of us who have prepared. This article is to address an even worse kind of person. The person that I want to talk about here is the person that, just like us, is looking out over that Cliff but chooses not to prepare. Instead, they choose the path of evil, the path of violence, the path of the marauder. These are the worst kind of people. They believe that they have a right, based off might. They have the ability to take something, so it should be theirs. Instead of putting their efforts into making preparations to take care of their friends and family, they put their efforts into planning to steal from others.

There is no honor amongst thieves. When you choose the life of a marauder and espouse the belief that ‘might makes right’, you have to remember that there is always someone bigger. Groups of like-minded people come together with the goal of being pirates, with the belief that they need to spend no time or effort in building a community. They plan that their merry, little bands can just take whatever they need because they have a right to survive. I ask the question: What holds a group like this together? Historically, we have many figures, strong personalities that bully others into this horrible behavior. History also shows us that these organizations and groups do not last. They fracture and fall apart because of infighting. When your group is founded on the principle ‘I take what I need’, what is to stop a member of that group taking from another member of that group? I'm stronger. I need it. Might makes right.

I am personally disgusted with anyone who chooses this style of survival. I've spent the majority of my adult life training, deploying, and fighting to maintain the freedoms that I believe all people are entitled to. It is my belief that we need to build communities of trust and support so that when those dark days come, we can take care of one another. We all have many strengths and weaknesses. Together we can overcome many challenges. When we build our communities with trust and respect, we understand that everyone brings different things to the table. When we respect human life, we have strength.

Those who choose to be marauders will often try and justify their actions by saying it's just survival. Often, you'll hear statements like, “If I have to kill to feed my family I will”. This is my answer to that: You know now that dark times are ahead, but the only preparation you are making is that of violence. Yes, I will kill to protect my family. I have killed to protect the things that I believe in. The difference is that as I am standing at that Cliff, looking out, I have not chosen violence. I've chosen to put efforts into food storage, water purification, training -- things that will give me the ability to provide for my family without violence. I'm not choosing to do violence to provide for my family, but to protect my family. This is how I know that I stand on the side of righteousness.

I say this to all those that have thought of taking the evil path of the marauder, of the pirate: You're choosing to be the worst kind of person. You are the person that knows that dark times are ahead and chooses the path of weakness, the path that will lead to your defeat and the ruin of your families. We need not look so far back in history to see how these individuals are treated. We can look to current events. Currently, in the conflict in Ukraine, the individuals that have chosen the marauder lifestyle, that are preying on their fellow citizens, are finding themselves an enemy to all. The Russian forces that have invaded the country are their enemy. The good people of Ukraine are their enemy. They have no friends. A quick internet search will show you pictures of people tied to lamp posts with potatoes shoved in their mouths, their pants down around their ankles, being humiliated because they chose to live their marauder lifestyle. I understand that Saran-wrapping and a potato are not the same thing as the gibbet (the crow’s cage that the pirates of old found themselves in), but the principle is still there. It is a warning to all those who think their right of survival outweighs everyone else’s.

I cannot tell you how close we stand to the Cliff, but we get closer every day. Make your preparations. Make your plan.  Carefully pick your friends and associates. Choose wisely.

—Chris