My thoughts on the III

Earlier this week, there was a verbal exchange, a dust-up if you will, on Facebook between two factions (for lack of a better word) of the III community. I started this post that night, but that little voice in my head that keeps me from chasing down idiots on I-40 and beating them with a tire iron told me to sit on it for a few days. Time and clarity are my friends.

In January, I had an article published in III Magazine about some of the basic concerns "outsiders" have about the III community. Negativity, -isms and a certain closed-off attitude are the three biggies. But this post is going to be about negativity. I basically feel if you have time to troll other people's blogs and hack and snipe, and THEN go to another site and snipe behind the other person's  back, you've got too much time on your hands. That's time better spent getting your own shit together. Days later, this still pisses me off and this may be a jumbled ass mess. Bear with me.

First, let me state my position; my personal identity in the Patriot community. I'm not a III% in the true sense of the term. My age, gender and position as the cute chicks sole protector and provider when SHTF will prevent me from standing with the III on the Green. I consider myself part of the X%, if you will. I will offer comfort, aid, and support to the III Patriots in whatever way I'm able. I will tend to the wounded and dying, feed, clothe and care for as many Patriots as I'm capable of doing while still tending my girls. They will always come first for me. And yes, I have had "the revelation". I will fight until I run out of ammo and options; and I have made the hard decision about what to do with the cute chicks. I know they won't survive without me, and I will NOT allow the government to make that decision. Anyway, this is why you'll never see me sign off with a III or put it after my name. I have too much respect for the men (and women) who will actually serve in that capacity to puff myself up with that designation.

Now, my beef. I've spent the last, geez, almost two years? Time flies. Anywhoo, two years of observing and talking to various Patriots from Kerodin and Wirecutter to a lot of y'all who've become family to me. I've talked to others, both through blogs and on FB, branching out into the wide world of Patriot and III. What I've discovered is that you can tell who's had "the revelation" and who is still on their personal playground in their mind going "pew pew pew". Those who are serious and those who are playing Tyrants and Patriots.

The serious ones are too busy making preparations, planning, scouting, training, organizing, networking, and building to troll. They are too focused on the Coming Storm to hunt down and shit on other Patriots. They are the ones who realize that there are many paths to the same destination; and if someone chooses a different path headed to the Green, then God speed and we'll see you there. The serious Patriots know that every able bodied person is needed in the coming fight and to try to tear them down because they don't think EXACTLY like "we" do is counterproductive. This is where my Libertarian streak comes through. Different does not mean "wrong". If something another Patriot does, believes or practices does not march in lockstep with what you do/believe/practice, that does not make them wrong. And it does NOT give you the right to try and stop them, by words or deeds. If some one's path is about to take them over a cliff, yeah, you might want to point it out to them; but it's ultimately up to that person to change their direction. Not yours.

People on the fringes are watching and listening to everything we do and say. Patriots who are out there looking for other Patriots are watching and listening. Whether they decide to back us depends on what they see in us. Are we showing our best face? Or are they seeing a bunch of petty, bitchy backbiting little cuntcakes too self-absorbed with their own importance in the III community to come together in a strong coalition, a cohesive fighting force? When you post, comment, Facebook, tweet or any other "public" form of communication, what impression are you giving? Are you showing the face of a Patriot who's made the decision, or are you showing the face of a poser who's worried about his "place in history"? Frankly, some of the stuff I read makes me want to weep for our future. Make no mistake, this isn't a Call of Duty game, this is real. When it drops, blood will flow and Patriots will die. If we can't get our shit together better than this, we're truly fucked.

Now you may comment. I'm a big girl, I can take it.