Driving Resilience By Building Networks

John Robb sometime goes off into some wild speculation but I generally find his analysis of trends to be pretty accurate.  He's gone beyond "fourth generation" warfare and tries to envision communities that are less likely to be hurt by disruptions outside the control of the individuals within the communities.

The idea of the resilient community clearly resonates.  It makes a great deal of sense to many people and there a lots of efforts underway at transition.  However, as always, the big question is: will these efforts be sufficient to make the transition before it becomes a necessity?  

I'm not convinced they will be given historical precedent.  So, the question then becomes:  how do we improve our chances of building resilience?  That's the question I've been grappling with for years and I think I've found the outlines of the answer.

More at Global Guerrillas

Good News from India

Looks like Indians are becoming aware of the need for self defense.

In the land of Mahatma Gandhi, Indian gun owners are coming out of the shadows for the first time to mobilize, U.S.-style, against proposed new curbs on bearing arms.

When gunmen attacked 10 sites in Mumbai in November 2008, including two five-star hotels and a train station, Mumbai resident Kumar Verma sat at home glued to the television, feeling outraged and unsafe.

Before the end of December, Verma and his friends had applied for gun licenses. He read up on India's gun laws and joined the Web forum Indians for Guns. When he got his license seven months later, he bought a black, secondhand, snub-nose Smith & Wesson revolver with a walnut grip.

More here: New groups mobilize as Indians embrace the right to bear arms

When the law is an Ass...

Then I guess I am an outlaw.

Kurt Hofmann ask the question, "Is 'law abiding gun owner' what we should strive to be?

The "enforce existing gun laws" argument has never made any sense to me. It implies the infringing laws are legitimate and thereby cedes the moral high ground to the enemy. It also means that when realpolitik demands "compromise" the law always moves in the direction of greater regulation.

The best argument is "Repeal existing gun laws". All of them. In a civilized society, the law does not interfere with a peaceable citizen going about his life. If there is violence the job of the police is to show up and make sure the right person got shot.