: Stop All This Self-Reliance Immediately! - LewRockwell
:
: https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/08/daisy-luther/stop-self-reliance-immediately/
: By Daisy Luther
: DaisyLuther.com
: August 27, 2016
: Around the world, governments have recently been issuing an
: unsettling call for their citizens to become more
: self-reliant. Just this week, the governments of both
: Germany and Czechoslovakia warned that people should be
: prepared for ““be prepared for the worst case possible
: scenario.”
: But here in the United States, just the opposite is happening.
: Our government seems to have an unquenchable thirst for
: cracking down on those who take responsibility for
: themselves. There is an abundance of evidence of this in
: Louisiana.
: The southern state has been hit with the worst flooding in
: over 500 years.
: While the final numbers won’t be known for some time, Gov.
: John Bel Edwards’ office has estimated 60,646 houses were
: damaged and 30,000 people rescued; other people escaped on
: their own.FEMA says 109,398 people or households have
: applied for housing help, and 25,000 National Flood
: Insurance Program claims have been filed. The American Red
: Cross called it theworst natural disaster since Hurricane
: Sandy struck New Jersey in 2012.
: This massive disaster was all but ignored by the mainstream
: media, since it didn’t fit the current agenda of
: divisiveness and racial tension. So what did the folks in
: Louisiana do?
: They rolled up their sleeves and took care of business.
: First, the Cajun Navy, a loosely organized group of local
: fishers, boaters, hunters, and guides, took it upon
: themselves to being rescuing people trapped by the sudden
: flood. Initially, the local sheriff’s department was
: reluctant to accept the assistance, but as they became
: quickly overwhelmed, they realized that they were
: disregarding a valuable asset.
: Initially, authorities in Livingston Parish didn’t want
: private citizens headed into the water, worried amateur
: rescuers might end up in trouble themselves, said Layton
: Ricks, the parish president. But as the calls from stranded
: residents continued to mount — at one point, Livingston
: officials said they were about 150 calls behind — parish
: officials relented.
: “Then it was like, do you have vests? Do you have insurance?
: Are you truly capable of doing this?” Ricks said. “And as
: it turned out, we couldn’t have done it without those guys.
: They were a tremendous asset for our people.”
: Locals who were not affected by the flood began cooking and
: donating food. Others helped flood victims to begin gutting
: their homes so they could start to rebuild. This community
: in the bayou pulled together to show the world that a real
: emergency response begins at home, undertaken by the very
: people who were affected. They didn’t wait around bemoaning
: the lack of FEMA, Red Cross, and government aid. They got
: to work.
: They opened up their own shelters in local businesses that
: were not affected. They distributed immediate relief to
: those who were displaced. They performed their own rescues,
: organized the response, and used social media to coordinate
: their efforts.
: They made just about everyone in America who heard about their
: efforts feel a wave of pride. In fact, they were so
: effective at their own free-market local disaster relief
: that they rendered the government’s assistance all but
: unnecessary.
: And that is when the government said, “Oh, no. We can’t have
: that.”
: Of course, the government doesn’t want citizens to realize
: that they are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves. If
: people realize that they can perform independently and that
: it is much better than performing within the strictures of
: government regulations, they will be a heck of a lot harder
: to control.
: So, they stepped in and uttered the scariest words ever.
: “We’re from the government and we’re here to help.”
: Like a horde of modern-day carpetbaggers, they began “helping”
: by forcing people who were struggling to rebuild to
: purchase permits. That’s right. They forced people to ask
: for permission for the right to repair their own property.
: Considering the daunting expense of rebuilding in itself,
: those State permission slips may make reconstruction
: cost-prohibitive for some, while others — given the strict
: regulations pertaining to the floodplain and more — may not
: be allowed to rebuild on their own property at all.
: “We haven’t suspended any or our requirements for
: permitting,”Justin Dupuy, building official for Baton Rouge
: and East Baton Rouge, told Reason in an interview. “Before
: they start making any repairs, they just need to call in
: and check with us to see what they need.”
: Really? These people who are about to undertake a repair have
: no idea what they need unless they ask the government?
: Fortunately, in a small act of grace pointed out by Reason,
: fees for reconstruction permits have been waived by local
: officials — though the permits, themselves, are still
: mandatory, as permission to repair some of the 20,000
: flood-ravaged buildings in East Baton Rouge might not be
: given at all.
: How very kind.
: But that isn’t the worst of it.
: They also decided to charge fees to the Cajun Navy before they
: were “allowed” to continue rescuing people.
: I couldn’t make this up.
: The Libertarian Republic reported: No good deed goes
: unpunished. The Cajun Navy is a group of volunteers that
: operates at its own expense to rescue people trapped in
: flooded areas in Louisiana. They use their own boats. They
: risk their lives. And now that people have noticed that
: they are far more effective than government rescue efforts,
: there are plans to require them to pay a fee before they
: are allowed to do any good. “Don’t worry. It’s just a small
: fee,” legislators explain. “Maybe only fifty dollars. That
: would be worth it to put authority behind the Cajun Navy,
: wouldn’t it?”
: When the Cajun Navy members said, “No thanks” to the
: government who wanted to train them to do what the
: government wasn’t even able or willing to do, they were
: treated like criminals.
: That’s right. The government deployed the police to prevent
: these good Samaritans that we all wish now were our own
: neighbors from continuing with their efforts.
: Louisiana State Senator Jonathan Perry is the engineer of the
: licensing requirements.
: “Perry said that if members of the Cajun Navy continue on
: without his legislation, they will be stopped by law
: enforcement officials from rescuing residents past police
: barricades…
: Under current state law, citizens who cross police perimeters
: are breaking the law and could face punishment.” (Source)
: You can be assured he’s doing this for the Cajun Navy guys’
: own good. He is trying to “empower” them.
: That must also be what the Red Cross is doing when they make
: it more difficult for good-hearted locals to help.
: Beth Yancey Houghton, a local woman who volunteered made the
: following post on Facebook.
: “So as we are headed back home from the River Center in Baton
: Rouge volunteering our nursing services Dawn and I have
: come to the conclusion that neither of us WILL EVER
: volunteer or donate to the RED CROSS. The Red Cross
: basically takes over the shelters and starts refusing
: clothes, donations and various volunteer services UNLESS
: they are previously contracted. So what does that
: mean….well, 60 boxes of doughnuts were discarded this
: morning becuase the delivery vendor was not in contract,
: hot meals were refused becuase the entity providing wasn’t
: contracted, and medical supplies including medications were
: trashed for same reason. Clothes that were “donated” needed
: to be left on the street unless they were “furnished” by
: Red Cross. As of tomorrow, the shelter we were at will be
: completely over taken by the Red Cross other than the
: medical area because they couldnt have the actual room
: since LSU has a contract with state to provide medical
: care. Its sad when the military police were helping to
: “protect” the medical areas from the red cross when there
: are so many other issues at hand. Anyway, next time to want
: to donate or volunteer your services, do your homework.”
: The Red Cross vehemently denies Houghton’s claim. Except…this:
: Nancy Malone, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross,
: said there’s misinformation being spread around, and people
: are confusing the Red Cross with their partner
: organizations. She also said there are liabilities to
: feeding people food that doesn’t come from certified
: vendors, which is why some offers to cook hot meals have
: been turned away.
: But she categorically rejected allegations that the Red Cross
: has thrown away donations.
: “If you came today and said you have 5,000 meals to offer,
: well, we already had food delivered today, let’s find a way
: to arrange for you to help someone else or come back
: another day,” Malone said. “It has to be about
: coordination. We are held accountable to state regulations.
: This food has to come from a certified kitchen.”
: Perhaps, technically, they didn’t throw food away, but turned
: it away, even though they didn’t have enough meals from
: “certified kitchens” to feed everyone.
: They make it seem like a conspiracy theory that many
: preparedness enthusiasts plan to avoid government
: intervention in the aftermath of a disaster. But as you can
: see in Louisiana, the intervention often takes the form of
: exerting control in an effort to foster a culture of
: dependency. The rules, regulations, licenses, and
: permissions mean that anyone receiving help must be
: compliant. An article called “You’re Right to Fear
: Government Intervention During Emergencies” sums it up
: neatly.
: In a crisis, whether a natural disaster that displaces you
: from your home, war, or TEOTWAWKI, this is exactly how you
: will be treated by government so-called assistance. Red
: tape, bureaucrats, nonsensical rules that deny help because
: of more nonsensical rules. Nothing will come easy. The
: process will favor a few. Your needs will be met only on
: occasion and by pure coincidence.
: So, while the governments of Europe are actually requesting
: that their citizens begin prepping for the future, the very
: idea of self-sufficiency scares the heck out of the United
: States government.
: It’s important to note that their need to make us dependent
: isn’t only restricted to the aftermath of a disaster. They
: seem to do everything they can to hobble those of us who
: even attempt to become even a little bit more self-reliant.
: Here are a few examples of the anti-independence stance of our
: government: Most burning stoves become illegal
: In some states collecting rainwater is illegal
: Living off grid is illegal in some states
: In some areas, you can’t even camp on your own land
: Unfortunately, I could go on and on. Here in the US, we are
: strongly encouraged to rely on ‘the system’. In the event
: of a national emergency, our government seems to prefer
: people to line up and get a government issued MRE than to
: pull something out of the pantry, share with our neighbors,
: and calmly go about our business.
: If we become too self-reliant, then it becomes obvious we
: don’t need them or their ridiculous regulations. This is
: the greatest fear of those in power: our knowledge of their
: irrelevance.
: And maybe that’s the real reason for the complete lack of
: coverage of the flooding in Louisiana. Not only was the
: flood a non-story because it doesn’t fit the current
: narrative of Black vs. White. It doesn’t fit the narrative
: that we are helpless and in need of the government to save
: us.
: But this isn’t at all true. We are actually incredibly capable
: of preparing ourselves for life’s disasters and then
: dealing with them when they occur. (If you aren’t prepped
: yet, you can go here to put yourself on the path to
: self-reliance.)
: The Cajun people didn’t wait for rescue. They rescued
: themselves. They proved that they had the wherewithal to
: take care of the business at hand without Daddy Government
: swooping in to save the day.
: In fact, the only thing the government did for Louisiana was
: to make their lives more difficult by forcing beleaguered
: residents to get permission to go about the business of
: rescuing and rebuilding.