Me & my picture

[Jim Bob]

This came in response to a question on another thread (http://forums.permaculture.org.au/ftopic4895-15.php), which I didn't want to hijack with my own nonsense.

I have always meant to ask you about the photo, were you out hunting when that was taken?
Yes, I was hunting rabbits and foxes on my father's 11-acre property. His neighbour's property is a weekender for yuppies, as a result the land is not cared for, and a HUGE patch of blackberries is home to rabbits. As my old man and his wife are trying to grow vegies, rabbits are a problem. The rabbits add to their meat diet - not that they really need any extra, real traditional heavy meat-eaters they are.

The foxes have previously massacred the entire chicken flock they had (except for one rather nervous survivor), and are generally a menace to local farmers.

In answer to the obvious sorts of questions (though perhaps I've just been talking to too many Americans online) I believe firearms are a tool, but a tool which is not suitable for self-defence, only for destroying vermin, exotic animals, culling excess natives, etc. Also as a tool which is dangerous, they need to be strongly-regulated - just as do cars, etc. I have a firearms licence, but don't own any - here in the city they're unnecessary and would only be a danger.

I called my blog Green With A Gun (http://greenwithagun.blogspot.com/) ;)

If you want to discuss further my personal views, to be kind to the people here, let's do it here in this thread or on my blog, rather than in unrelated threads ;)

[*redreamer*]

I am glad to hear that your reasoning is sound........... :lol:

seriously i wondered myself on seeing the image

and i checked out your blog too.......very cool i shall be back!

LOTS AND LOTS to read.....

....... I have been to a shop here called Bass Pro.............. :shock: oh my goodness........TALK ABOUT GRATUITUOUS REDNECK HEAVEN..........

it has lots of cool stuff too........ but honestly i wanted to take photos of all the errrrrrrrrr shall i call them 'shoppers' in there........
interesting bunch they were......... my boys of course loved the place........ until they found out that all the animals 'decorating' the place were REAL and stuffed.....

IT WAS CREEPY actually......

[Ev]

Interesting views Jim Bob sounds like you are doing OK, I found the Jewishfarmer link
http://casaubonsbook.blogspot.com/index.html
had a rather interesting peice on a flu outbreak or the like and marshall law being declared etc, all good reasons to keep as healthy and strong as possible...don't know how prepared I could really get for something like that though..scary...
Thanks[/url]

[ho-hum]

Jimbob,

Well said on the gun thing - they are a tool and anyone keeping one for 'self-defence' needs a psych evaluation.

I asked 'cos I myself still own 5 but I really should get rid of most of them that are not used anymore.

cheers,

floot

[Jim Bob]

I am a bit sceptical about martial law. Most people when paiting scenarios of government evil describe dramatic things, soldiers on streets and people in camps. But most government evil is more subtle, asylum seekers or prisoners of war kept on distant islands in legal limbos, that sort of thing. Even more is simply stupidity, lack of imagination. Oscar Wilde wrote about prison a hundred years ago, saying, "most cruelty is simply stupidity." He was describing a child in prison (they shared prisons with adults, then, which Wilde also spoke against), given a biscuit by a kindly warden, that warden was fired for breaking the rules about giving things to prisoners. Wilde said this was simply bureaucratic stupidity - and we have a lot of this kind of cruelty in our society. Martial law and the like seem rather less likely.

I present a picture of myself with a firearm to demonstrate that you don't have to be a pacifist hippy type to be concerned about the environment, about the future of the human race.

I would not say that a person with firearms for self-defence has psychological trouble. Simply that they're not a good tool for the job. The risks outweigh the benefits. In the United States, each year 400 people are killed by police officers in self-defence using firearms, and 200 by private citizens. But 800 people are killed by accident with firearms. While it's true that many instances of self-defence do not lead to deaths, it's also true that many accidents don't, either. Basically you're more likely to hurt yourself or a family member than someone who's a threat to you!

This would be especially so in Australia with a much lower crime rate than the USA and other countries. Having firearms around the house or on your person, you'd need to keep them loaded or at least not locked up, otherwise you couldn't get them quickly enough. The amount of danger to yourself and others of this from accidents is very great compared to the relatively small danger of being assaulted in some way.

I am in favour of having physical self-defence courses as part of children's education, particularly girls. Most of dealing with any confrontation, both in making sure that it doesn't turn violent and in handling it if it is violent, is self-confidence. Some practice at that would be very useful.

I do think that a universal adult militia would be a better form of national defence, and would have good effects on community conscience of young people. Many people are walking out of universities with their degree in hand into a job while never once in their life having done anything for their community. Not the military or police forces, not the Red Cross, not adult literacy teaching, not even a bake sale for a new wing to the school library. They've never had to be conscious of something beyond themselves. However, that sort of thing isn't going to happen however much I talk about it.

And that's the thing. I see a lot of quite utopian talk in permaculture and elsewhere. It's good to dream, but it's best to focus on things which are likely to happen. So for example, I might dream that no more coal-fired stations are built, and that every new power source will be renewable. But it's just not going to happen in Australia.

So I focus on the achievable - if there's a renewable power source proposed in my region, I'll lend it my support, against the NIMBYs. I might dream of universal adult conscription to build community, but that's not going to happen, either - so I'll focus on trying to get that community garden going.

In general, I like to see a great diversity of things in life - food, music, ideas. That's another reason to post a picture of me with a rifle - it makes people say, "what? hang on! what's that guy about?" We get into habits of thought and behaviour, doing the same thing all the time... It's good to shake ourselves up a bit ;)

[heuristics]

Thanks for that - I too have been intrigued with your piccie - I'll be honest, I was quite confronted the first time I saw it pop up.
Having read this post and visited your blog - very interesting and good onya Jim Bob

[ecodharmamark]

G'day Jim Bob :)

May the words of Oscar Wilde live for ever:

'A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.'

and this one:

'A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.'

and this:

'As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have its fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular.'

and my favourite:

'Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.'

Good luck with the community garden.

Peace to you and all sentient beings,

Mark.

[christopher]

Well said on the gun thing - they are a tool and anyone keeping one for 'self-defence' needs a psych evaluation

....or they live in a part of the world with weak government, spotty law enforcement, inadequate telecommunications and/or low population densities so police response time would be measured in hours or days.

Even without those factors, if I lived in a country with a strong central state and lack of poverty, I just wouldn't trust the police to be available and responsive to my needs at all times. Even the best police force is not omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, and if they were, I wouldn't want to live in a country like that.

It's funny that so many people are suspicious of the government, even dismissive of it or a need for it, but then place all the responsibility on the government to protect them from the lesser elements of their fellow citizens.

The notion that guns are evil and we need the state to protect us is a fairly first world thought.

And, yes they are tools. Some are for pest control, some are for hunting, and some are for protecting yourself and your family.

Jim, what kind of rifle is that? What caliber? What optics are you using?

[Jim Bob]

I did not say that it was a bad idea to rely on ourselves for self-defence, simply that firearms were a poor tool for it.

To avoid having firearms be a danger to yourself and your family, and easily accessed by thieves, you need to lock them up when not in use. If they are locked up, by the time you get them out the threatening people have either gone, or already beaten you up.

You also have to consider, well, who am I likely to be firing at in self-defence? The simple fact is that here in Australia violent crime against strangers is a very low rate. Most people who are assaulted, raped or murdered, are attacked by someone they know. It's very rare to be attacked by a complete stranger - I say this as a person who had his nose broken by a random guy in the street late one night in Clayton, the guy just walked past, smacked me one, and walked away. So realistically you're going to be defending yourself against someone you know. I don't know about you, but even if a loved one were stabbing me, I'd be unlikely to shoot them. A stranger, no worries - but a stranger is extraordinarily unlikely to be doing it.

Were I living in a country with a higher crime rate, or level of civil unrest, like the USA or Sudan, I might feel differently. But here in Australia, firearms are not appropriate for self-defence. A good self-defence course of some kind of simple karate or the like will be much more appropriate and useful, and no danger to anyone.

On the other hand, I believe a universal militia would be a better means of defending the country than we have at the moment, more democratic and lead to less pointless wars on behalf of whichever foreign country's arse we're kissing at the moment. This would involve everyone having firearms at home locked up.

Just because we have them at home does not mean they're for self-defence - as a chef, I have a lot of knives at home, but I don't plan to use them for self-defence - they're a tool, with another purpose.

The rifle pictured is a Brno 22 rimfire, with a 4x scope, designed for shooting of foxes and rabbits. It's my old man's, and he has others for hunting of deer and the like.