Good advice for interesting times.
Dalrock | July 8, 2016 | by Dalrock
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Vox Day offers excellent advice in It won’t be fun, but you must
endure
[http://alphagameplan.blogspot.com/2016/07/it-wont-be-fun-but-you-must-endure.html]:

> What isn’t fun is living in a 4GW world which is an obvious
> reality in the United States of America today. I believe things will
> get much worse before they get better too, and it will be awful to
> watch and dangerous as well. One of the best ways to help those
> around you outside of knowing some basic self-defense is keeping a
> level head as society frays apart around you. Most of your friends
> and family will be in a state of near panic as events like these
> continue on the news cycle, not because they are cop-lovers, or love
> the government, but because they subconsciously know that civil
> order is under attack.
> 
> If you find yourself becoming extremely angry and wanting to lash
> out at everyone around you, or find some specific group or person
> who is suddenly the ultimate evil in at the moment, step back for a
> bit. Remember that we are living in dark times and there are plenty
> of evil people around. Cherish the good around you, especially your
> family and friends. Endeavor to protect them and plan for difficult
> times, but do not lose hope, wish for violence for the sake of
> violence, or lose your cool because of the news. Be the rock that
> people can depend upon in hard times. Be the foundation of a future
> society which can be better than the one we are currently living in.

Separately, Michael Yon* explains at Breitbart
[http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/07/08/american-unrest-officers-shot-killed-dallas/]
how what Vox describes as 4GW unleashes more than just violence
motivated by defined causes:

> Amid the chaos of unstructured conflict and war, the always-there
> lunatic fringe is uncorked. Suddenly the actions of a serial killer
> look like the work of an insurgent or group. Criminality skyrockets,
> and what would earlier have been seen as just a bank robbery looks
> like part of a movement.
> 
> …
> 
> Wars allow criminals and the insane to fulfill their full their vast
> potential.
> 
> Some people just like to fight. Fighting is their cause, and they
> will latch onto any cause if it helps them get ammo. Young men with
> guns, no rules, and a sense of divine authority, are the most
> dangerous animals on earth.

Yon is referencing what he observed in Iraq, and pointing out the
risks we could face in the US.  We would be arrogant to ignore this
risk, but I also think we have a distinct advantage over Iraq, Syria,
etc.  The Christian concepts of loving our neighbor, respecting
authority, and sexual morality/the family are fundamentally different
than the Muslim worldview. Even deeply flawed attempts to live out
these values produce a far more successful and peaceful society than
what we see in the Middle East.

As effective as the left has been at assaulting Christianity, and as
effective as Christians (and everyone else) have been at assaulting
the family and fatherhood, we still have a core knowledge of these
things as a society.  It has taken great effort
[https://dalrock.wordpress.com/2016/01/22/dont-fear-marriage-and-fatherhood-but-beware-those-who-are-working-to-destroy-your-family/]
by Christians and others to make respectability disrespected.  To a
degree, we can start repairing this damage by simply removing the
effort currently applied to destabilize families.  While it would be
ideal to repudiate the anti father messages taught in the last three**
Kendrick brothers movies, we could start moving back towards a
Christian family structure simply by not making further anti father
“Christian” movies (or making them successful).  The same goes
for the yearly ritual
[https://dalrock.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/modern-christian-cultures-deep-antipathy-for-fathers/]
of denouncing fathers from the pulpit on Father’s Day.  It would be
ideal to repudiate this, but simply by _stopping the effort_ to tear
down fathers we would start to move in the right direction.

It would be profoundly foolish to hope or pray for civil breakdown, as
this will inevitably unleash all forms of evil as Yon describes. 
However, more difficult times are likely to lessen our appetite for
familial destruction.  We do not need difficult times to reduce our
zeal for destroying families, but fortunately for us difficult times
should tend to reduce the effectiveness of the forces diligently
working to destroy our society.

One thing you will find about life is that the events in your own life
will far overshadow the impact of global events. Be generally prepared
for difficult times (have some food, water, savings, means of
personal/family defense, diversify financially, etc) and vote
according to your beliefs; but don’t put your life on hold or worse
give up on it because of a bad global prognosis.  Keep your head as
Vox advises, and focus on being a good
husband/father/wife/mother/brother/sister/son/daughter to your family,
and a good friend and neighbor to everyone else.  Doing this out of
love and obedience to God will make a difference at the micro level,
and as others follow your lead it will make a profound difference at
the macro level as well.  May God bless you and your household.

*I’ve written previously about Michael Yon in Chivalry only comes
from a position of strength
[https://dalrock.wordpress.com/2011/01/03/chivalry-only-comes-from-a-position-of-strength/].

**Four if you include Mom’s Night Out.

 
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