Via
Claire (by way of
Zendo Deb and
Wirecutter) we find this story of biker gangs providing security for refugees from the California fires:
To the world at large, their leather club jackets mark them as something to be feared, but to the evacuees, it means safety and a watchful eye. On one, a sharp knife sits holstered on his jeans next to a walkie talkie clip. On others, tattoos and heavy skull rings rest around fingers that grip boxes and lug medical supplies around the shelter. “What we do best is to stand there and look ugly,” Strausbaugh joked. “We look hard and we are hard, and if pushed we can push back in a way that isn’t pleasant. But we also have a soft spot for the little guys.”
Between five to 12 men from the various clubs are on patrol at all times. When they heard complaints about cars being broken into, the men adjusted their patrols to include the parking lot and the dirt lot next door. They found used needles next to an area where children were playing and “gently escorted” those people out, Dunbar said.
“We saw a need and came and filled it,” Dunbar said simply. “Bike clubs are often involved in things like this but they’re not the type of guys to go and blow their own horn.”
This won't come as a surprise to anyone who's been around bikers. Zendo Deb muses on Thomas Hobbes:
People say that Thomas Hobbes was an unrealistic pessimist. But I think the state of that church/shelter before the bikers reestablished some level of order was exactly described by Hobbes’ State of War.
During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man.
Well, until some hard but good men show up. Men with a realistic view of the world:
For Strausberg, it’s simply a matter of putting the club’s skills where it’s needed most. They’re well aware of their reputation and the way they look to the world, but as he puts it, “We’re like the wolves protecting the lambs. Sometimes it takes a wolf to protect people from the other wolves out there.”
But Claire reminds us that prepping is more than building up stockpiles:
It seems “good citizens” are as unprepared mentally as they were physically.
3 comments:
Good Citizens also 'followed the law' and didn't clear away brush and debris from their lots, didn't have any preps ready, waited until they were told to do this or that.
It is the streak of 'wild' that makes for the best survivalists of any variety, whether it be one-legged desert hobo or leathered biker or old dude who just wants to be left alone.
Yup, Beans nailed it. Independence. Can't ever imagine using .gov resources like a shelter. I'd rather fend for myself. It's gonna be tough getting old....
Natural disasters bring out the best and worst in people. I've found those unwilling to be civil are not welcome, and sometimes have unfortunate accidents, when they become belligerent.
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