Sunday, November 23, 2008

Losing the World War on Liberty, or, "Will Book Tour for Food."

Losing the World War on Liberty, or,

"Will book tour for food."



A buddy of mine called me the day after the election and said, "Mike, we gotta get the band back together." He was referring, of course, to the constitutional militia movement of the Nineties. Well, he was right, but wrong too. We need to prepare, we need small units of the armed citizenry to be training all over the country. We need to be preparing for the day when our fight moves beyond the political theatre. What we don't need is to repeat the mistakes of the 90s -- the fumbling, the failed attempts at regional and national organizations, the toleration of fools, "militia generals," conspiracy theorists and the Turner Diaries crowd who showed up claiming to be our allies. We have no time for those same mistakes. We didn't know it at the time, but the Clintonistas were punks compared to this crowd. Bill was just in it for the babes. Barry's in it for the raw power.

So the stakes are higher now, and the potential for catastrophe is higher as well. Let me emphasize one thing: we won't get a second chance at this. If we lose individual liberty here, now, in this country to our would-be socialist overlords, we won't get it back in the next hundred years, if then. This is a World War on liberty, people, and right now we're losing it, and losing it badly. We have all of the dangers of 1940 without any of the future promise of success. America does not sit in the distance waiting to come to the rescue of Europe. Name one government ANYWHERE which is committed to free markets and individual liberty. Name one. Unlike 1940, the United States has BECOME Europe. The night beckons.

So what do we do? The short answer is we do what we can. I am close to being finished with Absolved, a book that is at once a novel and a combined field and technical manual for the armed citizenry and might be useful in rolling back that beckoning tyrannical night. It happens that my work is getting great response from those who have read chapters on the Net. For this I am grateful. But we must get this information in the hands of the million or so Three Percenters who are with us but don't know how to proceed.

Absolved, when printed, will be done by an on-line, on-demand publisher. Lacking established writer's credentials to attract a regular publisher, the resources to produce it myself, and most especially lacking the time to get it out before the sea change following Barry the Lightworker's inauguration, this is the only way to distribute it.

A volunteer editor is working on chapters now, getting them set in pdf format so we can send them on to the publisher when completed. I am struggling to turn out the last chapters with a Lexington & Concord finish as fast as possible. But what happens after the book is available for sale? The Internet, powerful tool that it is, is still limited in its reach. The fact of the matter is that most Three Percenters don't even know that they are Three Percenters. I'm talking about the working fellers, the redneck NASCAR boys, the modern Deacons struggling to protect their inner city neighborhoods from the gangstas and the drug epidemic. The people who know vaguely that somewhere there is an Internet, but have neither the time nor the resources to figure out how to use it.

Yet it is precisely these people we must reach. Events, as they always have been, are our greatest recruiter. But how shall we help folks who are self-mobilized but unsure how to proceed? We cannot expect them to come to us. We must go to them. How?

For one thing, use the tried-and-true methods of communication while we can. Chief among these is talk radio. Once the book is out, mouth-to-mouth-to-radio tower is the best advertisement of all. Second, we must go where our fellow gunnies go: the private and public ranges, the gun shows, the marksmanship events and sometimes right into their homes, if they'll have us.

And while we're talking up the book, we can make other points of principle and praxis. We can also link up like minded people in a given area. So how do we do this on our own limited means.

Have laptop and sleeping bag, will travel.

One of the ideas that has been suggested to me is a low-budget book and speaking tour, where I could go on the road, ALICE pack, laptop and sleeping bag in hand, and travel from prearranged palce to prearranged place. It would go like this: I would arrive at a place where some Three Percenter would put me up for the night or weekend, I would do the gun show or speaking engagement, whatever, and the host would commit to see that I got to the next place, where I could do it all over again.

Among other things, this would take a considerable amount of pre-planning. I would committ to do it for say a month or six-weeks. The Three Percenters who wished me to visit their area would have to contact me well before the tour with their suggestions, and I would have to knit together an itinerary consistent with geography and schedule desires. The tentative period would be from 1 February to 31 March.

I'm open to suggestions, folks. Whaddaya think?

Mike
III

16 comments:

j3maccabee said...

As usual, your perception is keen and your vision clear, and I agree with all of your assessment of the current and future sit. The book and its promotion are indeed an excellent mechanism for putting truth, inspiration and information into the hands of the people. Additionally, I think that advertising on Amazon ( they DO carry the 'Boston T Party" series), and Shotgun News, might be feasible.
The touring would be a great idea for gaining exposure and there should be plenty of people happy to host you during events, but only two caveats: one, you would also be exposing yourself to more open observation, surveillance, etc. by the lower elements, and two, you would have to exercise sufficient self discipline to avoid wearing yourself out, jeopardizing your health and so on.
But the book will indeed have a major impact on the future of our society.
All the best to you and to all here.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.

Jay21 said...

The gun show tour is a great idea. I will be more than willing to put you up with 3 hots and a cot, and pay for the booth. Keep me/us posted. Spreading the word. On a side not, is there a quantity break on the "web publishing" site? My store is small, but i will stock the Sipsey Street adventure, I have lost money on less improtant products.

tom said...

I think we can find a few spots for you to stay in Texas you'd be mighty welcome.

pdxr13 said...

The cover of "Absolved" is bold and simple enough to translate to an XL T-shirt, with the roman numeral III on the reverse. My $15 is on hold for such a product, or the authorized graphics files in .TIF format to deliver to my local T-shirt shop.

Mike will certainly come up with a price schedule for 10+ (or appropriate shipping quantity/weight/size) that optimizes distribution costs per book. Folks need to have a copy of "Absolved" sitting on their brass-recovery box at the range and another available to pass along to interested parties. A very important part of "Book-On-Demand" printing is that the cover be sharp and clear on durable heavy stock, not looking like a dot-matrix color printer made it in 1985.

In the State of Oregon, there is no "Gun Show Loophole"(private parties are required to run background checks with gun serial number through State Police when a sale is made at a bona fide over-24-guns-for-sale "gun show"), but there is a way to have "Not-A-Gunshow" at a private meeting. The main point is to have 24 or fewer firearms for sale and no FFL-licensees selling. No background check required, and afaict, allows legal sale of handguns/longguns to 18 year old and older persons. Licensed dealers are prohibited from selling handguns to persons under 21, but private persons are not prohibited from making such a transfer. I'm not a lawyer, and you should consult counsel before circumventing the alleged intent of the law while complying with the actual language.

Having a noted author speak at a "Not-A-Gunshow" Oregon event might increase attendance.

Cheers.

Rufus13
-in Portland Oregon-

Loren said...

This blog is bookmarked. As I said on WRSA, you have some sleeping bag space in St Louis.

What's more important than "getting the band together" is making sure that the bands can get together. This means communication. Gather phone numbers, so you and others can talk to each other if needed, and serve as points of contact. The network doesn't have to be used, it just has to exist.

I'm not a communications expert, but I'm sure there are people that would understand how to put such a thing together. Th important thing is, as you said, to let the local units stay independent, and keep training. They just need to be able to hook up across the states, and maybe the nation, so that when action is needed, the whole system can be brought online for the governors that stand up.

Rogue Ghost said...

There are a few of us in AZ that will be happy to have you around. I myself would be willing to have you hang out here for a few!

Northgunner said...

Hi Mike,

My wife and I are in agreement with Rogue Ghost. There are plenty of good folks here in AZ that would be happy to have you come out for a visit and get the word out about "Absolved" at a gun show here. As to the publishing side of it have you thought about contacting Kenneth Royce/Boston Tea Party at Javelin Press for suggestions or help. How about Matt Bracken, author of "Enemies Foreign and Domestic"? I'm sure that either of them as published authors would be very happy to render help with this (or at least advice). Please keep up the good work and leave "Absolved" open to having a sequel possible.

Yours In Liberty! ~W~ III Northgunner (from Free State Wyoming)

triptyx said...

You've got a friend in Dallas, and you won't even need the sleeping bag.

Just say the word.

Luke said...

How would you feel about speaking at my church? You and Chuck Baldwin seem to see eye-to-eye on a lot.

tom said...

My pastor is contemplating a 6.5mm Grendel EBR like mine. Might be some speaking op in Central Texas related to that besides gun shows.

First thing discussed in the pews this morning before things started up beyond hello was opening deer season, the travesty being forced on us, and if a buddy of mine had got that monster hog he'd been chasing.

All I can tell the Bidens and Pelosis of this world is you don't want to poke LRRP/SEAL/Force Recon/SF/Airborne/Ranger weasels with incontrovertible principles and the ability to subsist in Laos and Cambodia for weeks at a time with no airdrops or they'll "rip yer balls off", like yer grandpappy said.

We had a nice conversation at a local eating house about merits of seceding from the US being as we give the Feds more money than we get back in a crowded house after church, we're all a bit deaf and talk too loud on general political issues at times and I saw some smiles around the eating house and not one single person who looked unhappy with the fact we were discussing such matters.

The current "victors" are sorta like the snake that swallowed something bigger than it could digest and are going to die from it, one way or another, because the people won't take it anymore. Another 700 Billion in "economic stimulus" from Schumer...none of this made anybody I spoke with happy at all. But it hardened their hearts against the people of "hope and change".

Eagle said...

Mike, have you considered podcasting "Absolved"?

Texas Shooter said...

I have a spare bedroom in Northeast Texas available anytime, if you can put up with all the John Deere decorations.

ChuckAtPodunkOutpost said...

""
Eagle said...

Mike, have you considered podcasting "Absolved"?
""


""
The fact of the matter is that most Three Percenters don't even know that they are Three Percenters. I'm talking about the working fellers, the redneck NASCAR boys, the modern Deacons struggling to protect their inner city neighborhoods from the gangstas and the drug epidemic. The people who know vaguely that somewhere there is an Internet, but have neither the time nor the resources to figure out how to use it.
""

A podcast is still not suitable to the newest of computer neophytes. But developing an audio (read: music) cd that can be easily reproduced for distribution would pretty much cover the bases.

For that matter, a cd version of the book would be useful. It would not require presence of an Internet connection for download or to make use of it.

Depending on the size of the book's pdf file, other useful files for a Three Percenter could be distributed on the same media.

JR said...

Here is another offer for a spot in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

If you time it right, you can catch the Market Hall and Fort Worth Gun shows on consecutive weekends. Throw in a couple mid week range days and dinners to talk with folks met at the first gun show and it should be a productive week.

Anonymous said...

Put it on youtube, and then send it round on email chains. It will go viral. Just look at the Ron Paul Revolution as an example of what can be done with the web, and with local meetup groups/chat boards.

joseywales76 said...

mike you have a room in lilburn ga.