Is It Really That Bad?

Keith Richards was once asked how long he had known Mick Jagger. He replied that he knew Mick before there was "rock and roll."

How long have I been dealing with conspiracy theories... since before there was an internet.

Yesterday we had a Farm Animal swap... buy or sell or trade farm animals. No FDA or EPA or SWAT showed up. Cash was exchanged for goats, pigs, sheep, chickens, etc and folks went home happy. No RFID tags...no registration.

Every time I close the store I manage, we count our tills and deposits and we literally have stacks of 20s and 100 dollar bills. The economy is challenging, but everybody here seems to be making it.

Everyday, I ride to and from work or running errands for the farm... and pass the local sheriffs and deputies, highway patrol, and cops... I wave...they wave back. The last time I stopped at a sheriff road block it was to direct traffic away from a bad accident just up the road. Some of those same officers shop my store and they buy fencing and feed and are regular guys... nice folks and families. No evil rogue cops here..just guys doing their job. the people here can even defend their homes with guns and not face prosecution..and do so.

I just fed my animals...none of which are tagged. I actually sold a few yesterday at the swap and my wife and I bought groceries with the money we made. In a few minutes, we will ride to church and then have Sunday dinner at my mother in laws house and the kids.

The moon rose last night, big and creamy, and the stars were putting on a brilliant show. The spring garden is planted and coming up...and after mid April, it will be time to plant the summer crops.

My point in mentioning all of this is...Is it really that bad? I read the posts here about pending legislation and virile diseases, and strip searches, and police and UN invasions, and I wonder just how much of this is planted in reality?

Now I counter that with having been into Conspiracy Theories before there was an internet. I have actually built a bunker, have multiple semi auto weapons and hunting rifles, I do practice shooting and survival skills, I can cut the power off and never miss a beat. I actually lived in a cabin with one light and a wood stove to heat and cook with and I did bathe by the well from which I drew water, and used a "johnny house."

I have been waiting for years for the UN and the NWO to come calling and kick my front door in and imprison me in a re-education camp until I take the mark of the beast. Still waiting. The world I read about here at ATS and the one in which I live are so far removed from each other...

Now there is a depression of sorts and people are hurting economically. The rise in militant Islam troubles me. And I am sure that i do not like Mr Obama's agenda for America. I miss John Wayne and Ronald Reagan. I fly an American Flag on my lawn and I pay my taxes and have done pretty good in life. I am actually quite boring and hard working and really don't like to bother other people. I also have a red neck side and fly a rebel flag, and won't run from a fight, and I do have a shot gun, a rifle, and a 4 wheel drive...

So, do I really live in Mayberry with Andy, Barney, and Aunt bee...or am I just lucky... or just naive?

Is it really that bad?

You got it made.
Congrats and may you continue to live happily.

As with most things its a mix of both ends of the spectrum. Yes there is terrible legislation out there (SOPA, PIPA, etc) and yes the economy is still pretty screwed up, but the jackbooted UN-super-nazi-FEMA goons that much of ATS rants about till they are red in the face just haven't happened (and having worked with FEMA in the past probably wont ever happen). Where you live OP sounds much like the more rural parts of america, which in some respects have weathered the poor economy better than places that helped fuel the fires of the housing bubble. I live in a city of approximately 30k people and at the worst of the economy (provided we have in fact seen the worst of it) I could ride around town and see foreclosure signs up on nearly every street, many business locations were vacant and commercial and retail development tracts sat half-finished because the money dried up and investors ran for cover.

For you, evidently it's 'not that bad'.

I'm happy for you, really I am.

I wrote out a whole post about my own situation here in the UK but I couldn't post it. I realised that I appear to have lost all hope of life getting better. Having stuff and being just able to pay the bills, doesn't equal quality of life here.

If even some who are aware of the problems that many are suffering right now can ask your question, what hope is there of others realising how desperately needed change and spreading awareness is?

No offence meant to you OP, your situation is enviable. I just despair that if people such as you and I stop speaking up for others, no change will ever come.

We can only do so much and need to stand together to effect change.

It really is that bad, just not for you and some minority of others.

Sounds like you live in or near a small town populated by a lot of common sense folk who stick together. My advice is to stay. You sound like you have your head screwed on tight so I'm keeping my eye on you.

Things are good or bad depending on where you live really. The big metros like Phoenix or Chicago are sinkholes of crime for the most part while the country is the place to be if you can handle it.

Like you OP, I live in a very rural area and doing ok. In my opinion, that's Why we're doing ok. It's in the bigger cities that all the things we fear will/are happening. Why bother with the little guys when you want to control the masses? Target the cities first, control the most people. Sooner or later, it'll trickle down to us.

In a macro context, yes... I believe it is really that bad and trending worse.

The impact and perception of what's going on at the macro level varies so widely to each individual it is impossible to answer your question.

Now, the underlying context of your thread implies that a lot of the news topics and theories that people are apparently freaking out about are really blown out of proportion and are possibly not as bad as people are making them out to be (or just not true at all). I believe in that sense, nope... It's really not that bad.

I stayed off the internet for a few days. And while I was gone I got a new perspective. I realized there is a strange phenomenon here that is hard to describe. I believe a lot of the posts on this site about the NWO and rfid chips and regulative overreaching etc... are all true. And yet, to get to the REAL truth about anything you have to examine the motivation. What is the REAL motivation to dwell on this #? I'll be honest. For me it's a kind of distraction away from boredom and emptiness. It's exciting to think the world is about to end. So there is surface truth in the items that are posted here. But maybe there is a lack of REAL truth, because maybe at its core this site is not about revealing hidden things, but about killing time and feeling part of something.

It's hard to understand how something can be true and not true at the same time. That's why I'm so attracted to the character of Jesus. Because he's obsessed with truth and it seems to me he gets it. That he knows what real truth is. Anyway, I'm glad you had a nice weekend of the farm with the neighbors and family. It sounds nice.

Thanks for the replies. While life is good, it is not perfect. Life happens and we all have problems to deal with.

For instance, we made some decent money yesterday off of the animals we sold, but then we get home and while feeding everyone realize my black and white belted nanny goat was missing. After searching, I can only presume that "Oreo" is gone... probably stray prey to a coyote.

Everyday I see a Marine Corps Osprey fly over heading south...probably flying from Quantico, Va to Camp LeJeune, NC...I also see major chopper movement sometimes and can't help but wonder if something is up.

I, too, read all the press about pending legislation and after doing some research, realize the same crazy proposals have been coming from the same crazy congressmen for years... and for years they keep getting tabled and die in the legislative process.

I know that people are hurting financially, but I also know that many good jobs can not be filled here in NC. Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant is advertising 17 bucks an hour... and still have openings. There are retail outlets that can't fill key carrying positions... or find enough qualified managers. One of my contemporaries just had a mass hire and out of all the applications...only found 2 qualified for the position.

I had to check on the baby chicks in my store this afternoon...make sure they had food and water until we reopen tommorrow..we closed for Easter. Anyway, I passed homes and yards with families cooking out... grand kids in yards having Easter egg hunts, people lingering at churches, the restuarants near our store were packed... a lot of people were fishing at all of the local farm ponds and numerous creeks and rivers... kids were riding bikes... and it was striking to see that there were a multitude of peoples... white, black, hispanic... all doing the same things. The old men were sitting down at the country stores... folks out on the lake boating and fishing.

Again, that is the point of the OP... life seemed very normal. No armored columns of humvees, no FEMA checkpoints, no lingering at the TV watching tyrrany take control.

If you do not live in an area like this, it is easy to think the world is going to hell. And with an airstrike in the middle east or the impact of an ill timed asteroid, I suppose it could.

If you are able, I invite you to North Carolina... or any other rural area. Folks here are used to hardships and the brutal realities of life. Farmers deal with life and death everyday. In the country, even if you don't farm, you know you are at the mercy of the elements, weather, politicians, and just getting by.

Is it really that bad?...Not yet.

doesn't militant Americanism worry you more-so than a mostly fabricated and localized militant Islam?

You seem to have found the answer to a happy life. May it be long and blessed.

Live Long, and Prosper - Ancient Vulcan blessing.

I also think that people in rural areas live a much simpler life with much fewer of the trappings that big city dwellers seem to have .

There are also different ethics, morals, and standards of how to conduct life in general in rural areas. People aren't chasing the consumer society's drive to have more stuff at all costs.

Less debt (usually), less stuff, happier people, who can't seem to see what all the fuss is about from city folk.

reply to post by AlreadyGone


You know,your situation is common in the rural parts of the US.
Some people do better than others,but for the most part the community is there for you.

I missed those days on the farm,good hard honest work.
Community events,ice cream socials,and the like.

But get away from that,as I have done out of necessity to larger urban areas,things change dramatically.
More people living closer together,more problems.
Simple things now are now more complex.

You begin to see the real problems with the world.

I hope you find "oreo".

I think it depends where you live on how the economy is like what types of job there are.I wish the best for all of humanity,it has to get better.

you live in an oasis in the desert. people don't believe in God. you're proof God exists, since Jesus is keeping his promise to protect all in His care.

if God wasn't real, your little community would have been swallowed up by the hell that is consuming the world.

reply to post by AlreadyGone


I think you can call yourself the exception. Very few people have the fortunate lifestyle you enjoy. Life in the city has gone from bad to worse and slipping down the drain a bit more every day. People born into a city are often poor, end up working low paying jobs that barely enable them to survive, and certainly not enough money to buy land out in the country somewhere. Most people born poor in the city get stuck there. I think as a whole, the country is starting to have a "I give up, the country is ^%$#^&" attitude. As with most things, when things go even worse, you will be the last to feel it out in the country. Anything that happens generally rolls onto the city dwellers first.

Yes, many pieces of horrible legislation have been passed, and this will continue until we have no rights left at all. You should be concerned about National Defense Resources Preparedness executive order that Obama recently gave. With this Martial Law can be declared for virtually any reason (even in peacetime) and the government can seize all of your livestock, crops, or any of your assets they feel they need.

When that happens, you will answer your own question with, "Yes, it is that bad".

No, it's not that bad. You can go through life paranoid, afraid, and bitter or you can choose to be positive and happy. The life you have is less about the conditions around you than it is about the attitudes you hold. I choose to see life as beautiful, and every day my family gives me enough joy and love for a lifetime.

Just live for the moment with no fear and an open heart.

It seems to me the more disconnected you are with everyone else, the more disconnected you are with an overall picture of life on earth. It sounds like you are content in your life, and that's great. On here its going to be different. Everyone doesn't get on here to talk about how awesome life is and how simple things are in the world. It would be boring and lack entertainment value. Sometimes though it's good to live in the moment and happy for life in general. But yeah, most everywhere sucks to live when you look at the big picture.