Viral Survival

by Pete Thorsen

  Any vehicle with no RFID tag or with an expired tag is now easily located by police and stopped on the spot. A ticket is then issued (if they cannot provide proof of insurance) and the car then is towed to the impound lot (the car cannot be driven without insurance).

  This new policy is certainly a boon for raising money at police departments and for raising money for the towing and car storage companies. And this is at a time when a large part of the state’s population is having a tough time making ends meet as it is.

  The insurance companies had to raise everyone’s insurance rates, of course, to cover the cost of sending out these new RFID tags that the companies now had to supply. This is just one more example of Big Brother watching all of us while costing all of us more money at the same time.

  The only question is, what comes next?

  Chapter 3

  Bea has been riding my case about getting “prepared” for what is likely coming. Well, that is not quite true. She does want us to get prepared for what might be ahead but she would never ride my case about anything. She has obviously been looking at stuff on the internet about it. I’ve seen a lot on there about what people are doing and what some think everyone should do to get ready so it is not just Bea alone doing this preparedness stuff.

  I don’t really know why I’m against it. It certainly makes sense, and if you follow what is happening in the world then you know bad times seem like they are coming. Or at least a major change of some kind is coming. So yes, it makes sense to try to plan ahead some and have a few things on hand just in case.

  I guess I’m against it because it seems like accepting defeat. If you prepare for bad times then you have already accepted that those bad times are indeed coming and are inevitable in our future. To me that is admitting defeat. Instead of being optimistic about our future you are instead pessimistic about our future. It is a defeatist attitude about your future and the future of your country. My view of this may well be skewed somewhat but that is still the way I feel about it.

  And I do know the value of being prepared. Here in Minnesota we have plenty of bad weather throughout the year and you would be an idiot if you did not have plans, supplies, and the equipment in place for when that bad weather hits.

  Bea and I live in a small country home and have had our share of bad weather problems. We are snowed in at least a time or two every year for at least awhile, until the county road is plowed out which can be anywhere from a few hours to a few days.

  We have had ice storms that have taken down many of the power lines for several days and we have had to get by without any electricity for awhile. Once the county road flooded out but we could still get to town by going the opposite way until we hit another road and could bypass the flooded area, though this was certainly way out of the way for us.

  Our house has never been hit by a tornado but there have been several that have touched down in our general area throughout the years so it is definitely a real threat here in the summer. We had what they called “straight line winds” a couple years ago that caused quite a lot of damage in the area. We lost a small garden shed of ours that time. So whether it’s winter or summer, severe weather can be a real issue here and we have done some things and bought some things so we are at least somewhat prepared for when the bad weather hits us.

  We heat with propane gas but the furnace requires electric power to work so we installed a non-electric woodstove and keep plenty of wood on hand. It is not as nice as the furnace but it will, and has, kept us warm when the power has gone out in the past.

  I have also installed a couple of small non-vented wall mount propane heaters that require no electricity to operate in two different rooms to provide extra heat in the winter if the power is out. In the Minnesota winter, heat is not a luxury but a necessity for your very survival.

  We keep some extra food and other supplies on hand so if we can’t get to town for awhile we will at least have plenty to eat. We have a deep well for water for the house that requires electric to run of course but we have purchased a generator big enough to run that pump occasionally so we will have water for drinking and washing and such.

  In a real pinch we could use that old hand pump on the shallow well out by the old garden to get water. That would not be very handy in the winter at all though. I guess it would not be very handy in the summer either but still better than dying of thirst. Our generator, while running the well pump, will also run our refrigerator and freezer. Just a few hours a day would at least keep everything from spoiling.

  So we are prepared for some stuff and I certainly see the reason to be. But being ready for one of Mother Nature’s weather tantrums is different than accepting that the greatest nation of all time will fall into ruin. I just cannot and will not accept the premise that the United States of America is doomed.

  So while Bea and I do not argue about it I do know she wants to really stock up on many things. She also works full time in Forest Lake at a large grocery store. She is a cashier there and actually makes fair money at it. So we have some extra money and it would not hurt us any financially to stock up some more. But she knows I don’t want to do it.

  A friend of ours stopped in and had supper with us and during supper we were discussing the military training in civilian areas along with all the police forces in the nation getting so much military hardware and similar topics. That led to talking about Minneapolis being one of the test cities for the federal takeover of the city police forces. After supper we continued our discussion when I asked him if he thought our government would ever declare Martial Law here.

  “I really don’t think they would ever declare Martial Law, or at least call it such. They would use other means instead.”

  “Yes, because if they did declare Martial Law it would lead to the second Civil War.”

  “I’m not too sure about that happening either.”

  “You don’t think everyone would rise up against the government if they did that?”

  “It would depend on many things. If done right, then no, I don’t think most people would rise up against the government.”

  “But there are many times the number of civilians with guns than all the military and police combined.”

  “So. The police and military are trained and organized with plenty of supplies. Most gun owners are not really trained, are certainly not organized, and most have very little in the way of supplies.”

  “So you think the government could just run roughshod over the population with no push back at all from the people?”

  “I did not say that, but it would depend on why the government resorted to declaring nationwide Martial Law. For them to do so would have to mean that the nation had already fallen into chaos just to warrant that major policy change.”

  “Yes I can agree with that. So people would still resist that change.”

  “If the government let chaos run its course for awhile first and let things get really bad here then most people would beg to give up all their rights just to get out of the chaos and back to some form of normal. For this scenario to work out many civilians would have to die and things would have to get really bad though. Then the government, at the invitation of the remaining population, would swoop in and save the day for those left alive.”

  “So you think our government would just sit idly by while the nation tore itself apart?”

  “Have you ever seen our government move fast?”

  “So that is the only way the government could avoid a second Civil War?”

  “No, there would likely be many ways for them to take total control. I’m sure the military has several scenario plans already worked out and written down ready to implement when a certain set of circumstances come into existence here.”

  “I know they supposedly have plans for just about everything. What would be another way they could do it without many civilians fighting them?”

  “In most all cases some people will fight any rapid government takeover. And in any case
the government would not try it unless the country was in rather dire straits first. Otherwise the government would continue just the way it is now with more and more government intrusion into our lives and more and more laws, restrictions, loss of our rights, and regulations with our government growing ever more powerful, just like it is doing now. With this trend it would be like Martial Law at some point anyway with it never being declared as such.”

  “So what would be another scenario for a quick takeover and our total loss of rights?”

  “I am far from an expert and can only guess at what they might do. I’m sure they would have much better plans than anything I could ever think of.”

  “So make another guess. That first one seemed rather reasonable in a dark way.”

  “If things here were descending into chaos they could quietly pull more troops back to the states and put men, equipment, and supplies in strategic places in the country ready for rapid deployment. When they are ready, then a complete takeover of the power grid and all communications would likely be the first step.

  “Once they had the power to control communications they would shutdown all radio, all internet, and all telephones. They would leave the television up but keep very ridged control over all the news. With no communications no one would really know what was going on in the country, only what we heard on the TV news. The government would blame everything on hackers and or terrorists.

  “Next the government would close off roads in and out of most cities using those big cement barriers we see all over the place. Some highways would remain open but have heavily armed checkpoints to stop these so called terrorists. So at that point the government would control nearly all communications, all electric power, and all transportation.

  “And at that point the government could then dictate anything they wanted. Any resistance would be dealt with harshly without anyone that did not witness it even knowing about it happening. Poor areas of many cities where riots and trouble would first erupt could be bombed from the air or more likely just sealed off and ignored to let them work it out amongst themselves.

  “Again, with no communications anyone that was not on scene would not have any idea about what was even happening. Select areas could have their electric power cut off and food and other supply deliveries cut off very easily. A couple weeks of no food and no water would bring that area’s population into submission in just those selected smaller areas until eventually most of the country was controlled.

  “They could offer a chance for people to turn in firearms and receive food. Or offer food for information on where firearms were located. Neighbors would turn in neighbors for food. Anyone caught with a firearm would be shot or maybe just taken away—which would be better so no one really knew what happened to them. That would increase the fear factor among the population.

  “Maybe whole families would be shot if even one firearm was found in the home. Or even neighbors who did not turn their neighbors in would be shot. Who knows just how brutally evil the government could run things if they had total power.

  “Americans have almost always been spared any personal contact with brutal violence. Once they saw it in person most people would submit to almost anything. The government need not try to do the whole country at one time because with no communications or transportation people in one area would have no idea what was happening in another area. Oh, I’m sure a few people could do some traveling because it would be impossible to stop it all, but it would not be enough people to make a big resistance fight.

  “Once most firearms were removed from the population and people had submitted to the government’s will, then the forced work programs could be implemented.”

  “Many people would fight while they still had guns to fight with.”

  “Yes, they would, but there would be no way for them to organize with no communications so it would just be “lone wolf” attacks, or at best very small groups. Anyone caught helping or even just accused of helping these ‘terrorists’ would be publicly executed or ‘disappeared.’

  “Rewards would be given to anyone who helped capture these terrorists. In areas where there were enough of these patriot terrorists the government could shut down all electric power and all shipments of food and supplies. Just starve them into submission.”

  “Our troopers and police would never kill American citizens.”

  “Both the world’s history and our own nation’s history disagree with that statement.”

  “You paint a pretty grim picture.”

  “It could be worse than we can even imagine. But I do not think it will ever come to that. Instead it will just be the slow degrading of our rights and privacy until it finally amounts to the same end results. Sooner or later we will be living in a society just like in the book 1984. It just won’t happen over night.”

  We then changed the subject until he left awhile later but our conversation caused me to have a very hard time falling asleep that night. I kept thinking about what would cause our government to declare Martial Law and what would be the benefit for them to do so. One thing I thought of was it might be used as a last ditch effort by a crumbling, broke government just to try and hold the country together for at least awhile longer. Or the fact that some people who were in positions of power would always want more and more of that power.

  Just the term Martial Law had negative connotations and the government would never use that term in any situation. They would instead say that we faced an emergency situation and the government would at first make an emergency response to control the situation and help the citizens.

  Then when that was not enough the government would give themselves some temporary emergency powers to take better control over the grave situations to further help more of the nation’s citizens in their time of need. The term Martial Law would never even be mentioned.

  I lay awake for hours that night thinking and thinking about many different scenarios that could cause our own government to take more control over the nation’s citizens. Unfortunately it was not all that hard for me to think of several different reasons that our own government could do so. And to take more of that power at the very wishes of the citizens.

  Control. It always came down to that word. Control was the answer. Our government would say we needed to temporarily lose some of our guaranteed rights so our government could get control of the current situation. And like my friend said, if the situation was right the people would be more than happy to “temporarily,” freely give up their rights to ensure their safety.

  Chapter 4

  There were riots in the city again last night. Protesters shut down Interstate 94, which is arguably the busiest highway in the whole state. About a hundred people were arrested and about a dozen police suffered minor injuries during the event.

  This protest was not a surprise to me or anyone else. There have been many such events lately. Last night Bea said she is taking a concealed carry class and is going to start carrying a handgun after she passes the class. While I feel this is an unnecessary step right now I do understand and things are certainly going downhill and it looks like there is no end in sight. So I support her decision to take the class and I even told her I will go with her and do the same.

  We signed up for the class and found out we could take it that following weekend. I have always been a hunter and I have several guns. Bea is not a stranger to guns and while she has never gone hunting she has shot a few of my guns and enjoys trying to outshoot me. I only have one handgun which happens to be a revolver. The man who signed us up for the class said the revolver would work fine and we could both use the same gun while taking the class if we wanted.

  When the weekend rolled around and we attended the class we both found it interesting and very informative. While we both got to shoot there was little actual time spent shooting during the class. Most of the class was instead learning about the laws pertaining to carrying a gun, the many aspects of actually ever using a gun for self defense, and ma
ny other legal and safety issues. The class was pretty sobering.

  Everyone who took the class had a different gun I think. And the instructors had a few pistols available that students could use if they did not have a gun of their own. This gave us a chance to at least hold and look at many different styles, sizes, designs, and calibers of handguns, and get other peoples’ firsthand experience and views on different handguns of all types.

  After the class we applied for our permits to carry. The next weekend we spent time going to different sporting goods stores that sold guns to look at different pistols and their prices. We both also checked out a lot of information on the internet about different handguns that we might consider buying. We both decided to buy a gun just for concealed carry.

  The revolver I had was an older Ruger Security Six in three fifty seven caliber. It was a good solid gun and very accurate, especially when thirty eight special ammunition (which it also could shoot) was used in it. While it could certainly be carried by either of us it was physically large and heavy and would be more difficult to conceal. Here in Minnesota concealment was not a legal requirement to carry a handgun. Meaning you could carry openly if you wished, or partially concealed. Though it was an option, neither of us wanted to openly carry, and we would always carry concealed (if we carried at all).

  So we went shopping for two handguns. We got our permits in the mail on the same day and could now legally carry the guns that we had yet to purchase. I bought the first gun. It was a Ruger SR9 in nine millimeter caliber. It was light to carry, shot a fairly powerful cartridge, and was physically small enough to carry for me in an inside-the-waistband holster. Bea waited to buy anything until after she had done some shooting with the pistol I had purchased.

  So we took it shooting and it shot fine and was accurate enough for what it was designed to do and I was happy with my choice. Bea shot it many times and while the recoil was quite snappy because of its light weight she could handle it just fine. That next week she bought an identical one for herself. But she surprised me with buying a second pistol also.