It is said that the love of money is the root of all evil.

I can grok that.

So I’ve been watching the Bundy rancher situation. You know, the situation where this rancher was grazing his cows on “public land” as his father and his grandfather did before him. And how the government wanted a huge fine for such public land use. (Public land can only be used if you PAY for it. It’s yours after all!) And how they swooped in with helicopters, military men, trucks, and barricades to take Bundy’s cows. And how a bunch of American people waged a large protest against this matter. And how the BLM finally backed down yesterday, saying they would let Bundy graze his cattle and have his cows back.

My thoughts on this thing have went, in order:

1. Bundy. Isn’t that the serial killer?
2. K. He’s a rancher who owes fines and should pay them. I don’t necessarily agree with the fines ,but we know how the government is.
3. Now that I’m thinking about it, it’s kind of sad. His ancestors were sent out there to steal the land from the local natives and populate it. Now that they’re done, the government is stealing it back.
4. K. There used to be 57 ranchers in his area and the regulations he is currently fighting with have shut down all of them. Except him. This is more serious than people realize.
5. They’re stealing his cows what??
6. Damn straight those cowboys need to go in and steal those cows back.
7. Damn straight the BLM needs to back down and give his cows back.
8. Damn straight the Bundy’s had better keep their guard up. The government is backing down PUBLICLY. We all know how the government is…..

The situation actually has had me kind of depressed in the past few days, watching it the way I have been doing. Reports I’ve found have been mainly through Alex Jones, who spins propaganda with the best of them, so I’ve taken the reports a little at a time. I’ve poked at things here and there and watched other reports from other places on the rare occasion I could find them.

It’s been depressing because my memories are quite clear on how things used to be before mandated car insurance. When walking around barefoot wasn’t a crime. And I’d spend just all day in the vanishing woods making tube rafts and playing Huckleberry Finn. When it was *okay* to be free. But people are really retarded these days. I mean, I was at our local farmer’s market a few months ago and it was raining. I kept slipping, so to preserve my weak ankles and bad back I took my shoes off. The slipping stopped. The glares began. And they were really stupid glares, too. I mean there I am standing outside on dirt at a farm with chickens in a pen over the way. You’re glaring at me over SHOES? We’re OUTSIDE! Why don’t you get your uppity ass back to your sterile environment and never leave there, bitch? Betting my immune system is healthier than yours. (mumble)

Someone pointed out to me on Facebook today that I should be aware that the BLM is trying to get money for fines the guy owes. And that money goes to reparations for the local tribes. I’m on the wrong side of this case!

No. See. I’m pretty sure I’m not. I did consider the people there. I also looked around myself. And I still look around myself.

Hasn’t anyone noticed we’re not allowed to do so much anymore? Are we that firmly distracted by our ipads and video games? There was a woman a few months ago that let her children play outside. She lived in a cul de sac so she didn’t think anything of the kids getting to play outside the way kids have been doing for generations.  Child care services took care of THAT before the day was over.

There was a man in Oregon who decided to be a bit more self sufficient – that thing the government claims they want from us. He was collecting the rain water that fell on his own properly for personal use. The government found out and blam. See, rain water in Oregon is public property. In case you haven’t figured it out yet “public” means everyone but you.

There was a woman in Florida who went 100% self sufficient. She was completely off the grid. Her clean looking house used rain water and she cooked on a grill. She had no need for these modern amenities. The news did a story on her. And the next day the city did an eviction notice. She’s fighting the matter in court now.

Who gives a flying FUCK about money when our freedoms are being taken away? I guarantee you my ancestors, when they lost their land, weren’t as worried about money as they were their freedom. That’s me saying this even though my tribe was one of the first to sell out. We sold out for peace, though. For not being another Wounded Knee. We were given land in land acts and then it was all taken away in 1972 or so when the government decided we weren’t Indian enough anymore. We were the first to cave in. We were invalidated as a result.

Closer to home, I watched things get taken away from my family. We were shrimpers you know. My father loved the river, loved the sea. We actually used to have okay money when I was a kid. And then regulation after regulation happened. Things got worse and worse until finally one day Dad couldn’t afford to captain his boat anymore. Our way of life is firmly over. We’ve been invalidated. As a matter of fact, you won’t find many small time shrimpers like Dad was anymore. Not in Fernandina Beach at any rate. We’ve been regulated out.

Oh, it was to save a turtle they claimed. It was to save this. It was to conserve that. But the more the regulations and taxes were levied the more we, as a family, came to realize what was really happening was the big boats were left standing. And small business – that American dream they don’t teach in schools anymore – fell to the wayside. It was never about saving some turtle. Especially since Dad always reached up his nets and saved the turtles and dolphins right away. You can do that when you’re a small shrimper.

Bundy’s way of life in his area is being regulated out. 57 ranchers. He’s the only one left. Whose cows are we going to eat when our ranchers are gone? Radioactive stuff from the East perhaps? Do some research on how the Japanese radioactive wave is still, to this day, leaking over here. And ask yourself, you sure you want radioactive milk? You sure you should be comfortable with the fact that even though the fish from Japan no longer meet safe levels of radioactive measure they still ship it in? And they raised the levels to make it okay? Why aren’t you upset? Why haven’t you put two and two together, and shook in some cancer for good measure?

I guess because you’re more worried about a pair of shoes in an outdoor market.