Althouse: "The 33-year-old self-proclaimed anarchist from Janesville smiled as he closed one eye, cocked his head and made a clicking sound to mimic gunfire coming from an assault rifle..."

September 25, 2017

"The 33-year-old self-proclaimed anarchist from Janesville smiled as he closed one eye, cocked his head and made a clicking sound to mimic gunfire coming from an assault rifle..."

"... one of more than a dozen guns he admits he stole a few days earlier from a Janesville gun shop. 'Those were the best days of my life,' said [Joseph] Jakubowski, then the subject of one of the largest manhunts in Wisconsin history after he mailed an anti-government manifesto to President Donald Trump, stole the weapons, burned his truck and disappeared on April 4. 'For once in my life I was free. Nobody told me what I had to do. All I had to do was wake up and live.'.... But the hike took a toll. The two heavy backpacks he carried as well as a duffel bag in which he said he kept the stolen guns eventually wore him down. He also had to forage for food because the apples, oranges and noodles he brought with him lasted just a couple of days. 'I was exhausted at the end, mainly because I was so hungry,' he said."

From "Joseph Jakubowski's one regret: that he survived his failed quest to 'get off the grid'" (Wisconsin State Journal).

The shooting he's reminiscing about in the quote in the post title was of a wild turkey that he seems to have been able to kill and eat.

78 comments:

Oso Negro said...: The anarchist equivalent of that asshole kid who wandered off into the Alaskan wilderness to die. But give him props, he manages to look crazy, stupid, and dangerous in his post-capture photos.; 9/25/17, 9:14 AM
J. Farmer said...: Human beings lived under anarchism for about 95% of our entire history. Why people are clambering to get back to the lifestyle of the hunter-gatherer, I'll never understand. Although, while civilization has generally kept us protected from the ravages of nature, it has increased our exposure to the another deadly predator: other humans.; 9/25/17, 9:15 AM
Quaestor said...: The 33-year-old self-proclaimed anarchist from Janesville smiled as he closed one eye, cocked his head and made a clicking sound to mimic gunfire coming from an assault rifle — one of more than a dozen guns he admits he stole a few days earlier from a Janesville gun shop.

Joseph Jakubowski has not been charged with stealing or possessing in any way an assault rifle.; 9/25/17, 9:15 AM
J. Farmer said...: Oso Negro:

The anarchist equivalent of that asshole kid who wandered off into the Alaskan wilderness to die.

I think people are so far removed from that lifestyle it can only exist in a very stylized, romantic way in people's minds. That coupled with a sort of New Age environmentalism that sees nature as a place of beauty and calm and love and as a respite against cruel, brutal industrialization and urbanization. It really blinds people to just how cruel, brutal nature truly is.; 9/25/17, 9:18 AM
Darrell said...: He should have been eaten by raccoons.; 9/25/17, 9:25 AM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/25/17, 9:29 AM
Quaestor said...: If he really wanted to get off the grid he should have legally purchased a black powder shotgun (they are available and generally used by so-called "cowboy action shooters"). Or better yet, make a primitive bow and a few dozen arrows.; 9/25/17, 9:29 AM
Rae said...: This guy is confused in his thinking at the very least, probably mentally ill, and locked up is probably a good thing for now. Hopefully he'll get the kind of psychological and/or spiritual help he obviously needs.; 9/25/17, 9:30 AM
Nonapod said...: True anarchy is an ephemeral state. If you get enough human beings together you'll either end up with some sort of rudimentary rules for interacting with each other (social contract) or you end up with warlordism (rule of the strong), which is the bottom rung of the authoritarianism/totalitarianism step ladder.; 9/25/17, 9:31 AM
Rae said...: And yeah, he didn't steal any assault rifles, but that's the only kind of rifles journalists think exist these days.; 9/25/17, 9:31 AM
Quaestor said...: The anarchist equivalent of that asshole kid who wandered off into the Alaskan wilderness to die.

The life and death of Timothy Treadwell were so tragic I laughed my ass off.; 9/25/17, 9:32 AM
Paul said...: I'm a fan of such shows as 'Life Below Zero', 'The Last Alaskans', 'Alaska The Last Frontier'. I like their freedom, their 'can do' attitude, and improvisation skills.

But, they live a very hard life. They have to hustle to get food for the winter and they work like a dog lots of days. It looks cool but it's a very hard life.

Not being told 'what to do'? Oh yes they are told what to do. Mother nature tells them they had better do this and that or they will DIE out there.

No matter what you do, where you go, how you chose to live, you will be told what to do in some form or another.; 9/25/17, 9:33 AM
Quaestor said...: J. Farmer wrote: Human beings lived under anarchism for about 95% of our entire history.

Not true.

Laughably not true.

It's not even arguable.; 9/25/17, 9:36 AM
JAORE said...: Primitive living as escapism when a (short) hike back to civilization is fun.

Primitive living as living is brutish, harsh and short.; 9/25/17, 9:36 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I'm glad the guy was caught, but I'm interested in the survivalist thinking. He's running because he stole guns, so he has to take the guns, I guess, but the guns are too heavy: "The two heavy backpacks he carried as well as a duffel bag in which he said he kept the stolen guns eventually wore him down."

And he packs "apples, oranges and noodles" — only good for "a couple of days." Oranges and apples seem like a terrible idea in terms of weight.; 9/25/17, 9:41 AM
Paul said...: Oh, and read up on Christopher McCandless and he's death in Alaska. Bummer.; 9/25/17, 9:44 AM
Paul said...: And yes, Timothy Treadwell's story was a train wreck in slow motion (and his wife.) A good example of what not to do. He is no the only fool to go way out, be it the mountains or ocean or desert... and die. And he didn't listen to Mother Nature nor even properly read up on dangerous animals. He and his wife thought bears were, you know, like Yogi Bear!; 9/25/17, 9:46 AM
J. Farmer said...: Quaestor:

Not true.

Laughably not true.

It's not even arguable.

What states existed before the agricultural revolution?; 9/25/17, 9:52 AM
bwebster said...: Should have read up on his Hobbes:

"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.

"To this war of every man against every man, this also in consequent; that nothing can be unjust. The notions of right and wrong, justice and injustice have there no place. Where there is no common power, there is no law, where no law, no injustice. Force, and fraud, are in war the cardinal virtues.

"No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death: and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."; 9/25/17, 9:58 AM
Rae said...: I'm glad the guy was caught, but I'm interested in the survivalist thinking.

That's not survivalist thinking. That's making it up as you go along, while burdened with mental illness.; 9/25/17, 9:59 AM
Quaestor said...: What states existed before the agricultural revolution?

No one knows anything about the politics of prehistory, J. Farmer. Including you.; 9/25/17, 10:10 AM
Nonapod said...: @J. Farmer: Whether you believe it or not, hunter gather societies have/had some sort of government. They have leaders, whether you're talking about a single tribal chiefs or some kind of ruling council of elders or whatever, there would be power structures, politics, rules for dealing with problems, all the normal stuff that we think about when we think about "government".; 9/25/17, 10:12 AM
MadisonMan said...: The key to a Survivalist Existence: Don't be on the lamb from the law when you start. Moving great distances to escape takes great energy. You want to conserve your energy, so find a place to stay for a bit, settle down, accumulate energy stores, then make a leap to someplace else.

It helps if the places you stay are near Grocery Store dumpsters because then you can the food that doesn't sell by its expiration date.

Before you start, learn how to pick a lock.; 9/25/17, 10:13 AM
AllenS said...: Well, I guess that getting off the grid would be accomplished once he's sent to prison.; 9/25/17, 10:17 AM
Todd said...: So this self-proclaimed "anarchist" was on the run for 10 days. He wanted to get "off the grid" but had (it seems) zero survival skills. Has he never seen a single survival show on Discovery?

He is either nuts or (let us not ignore "and") incredibly naive/dumb. Sounds like he put the same amount of effort into planning this that someone would put into a day at the beach (if that much).

Seems like a 33 year old child.

At least he was able to memorize the mantra "Its TRUMP's fault!"; 9/25/17, 10:19 AM
MadisonMan said...: *can get* the food. Not *can the food*. Canning while being suvivalist would just mean carting a whole bunch of stuff along with you.

Who has space for a huge pressure cooker in their backpacks, after all?; 9/25/17, 10:21 AM
J. Farmer said...: @nonapod:

@J. Farmer: Whether you believe it or not, hunter gather societies have/had some sort of government. They have leaders, whether you're talking about a single tribal chiefs or some kind of ruling council of elders or whatever, there would be power structures, politics, rules for dealing with problems, all the normal stuff that we think about when we think about "government".

I am not talking about politics, which exists among all human social organizations. I am talking about a state, which is something different from mere "government." I used anarchism in its broadest sense as a stateless society. I was not referring to the political philosophy of the 19th century and that today has various advocates. The state really arises after the agricultural revolution and is a result of food surplus and division of labor. The reason you do not get such organizations with hunter-gatherer societies is because of the excessive amount of energy that needs to be devoted to basic survival prevents surplus production.; 9/25/17, 10:24 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Quaestor:

No one knows anything about the politics of prehistory, J. Farmer. Including you.

I suppose that depends on your definition of "knows." Biological anthropologists and archaeologist attempt to use material evidence to answer those questions, though of course much remains to be discovered (and there's likely a natural ceiling on what can be known). The first 70 or so pages of Fukuyama's Origins of Political Order are devoted to the "politics of prehistory."; 9/25/17, 10:28 AM
DUSTER said...: Mother nature is the true anarchist, she'll kill you five ways before breakfast, even an experienced woodsman would have a rough time over the winter months , this clod hopper would have made a wolfs dinner, if they don't mind the taste of crazy.; 9/25/17, 10:32 AM
Quaestor said...: 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.

Thomas Hobbes is certainly an interesting philosopher to study in the context of the intellectual history of the West, but his arguments are founded on premises that are questionable if not demonstrably false. In Leviathan Hobbes postulates an agreement among people to surrender their natural autonomy to an entity called the Sovereign in exchange for a safe and orderly existence — in other words, he's arguing against Cromwell's republic in favor of the restored Stuarts. It's ironic that a hundred years later Rousseau took a similar idea and used it to argue against kings in favor of republics.

Of course, none of this philosophizing happened in the context of the Theory of Evolution or the study of non-human primates. What is clear today is that primates are by and large instinctively social animals living in sometimes quite sizable groups governed by a dominant male, or more often a coalition of dominant males. Hobbes' war of all against all enjoys no empirical support.; 9/25/17, 10:33 AM
buwaya said...: This turned into an argument over definitions.
As usual in political arguments.
I deny that definitions are useful.
They are artificial constraints on expansive, diffuse concepts.; 9/25/17, 10:36 AM
SayAahh said...: Read: The Stranger In The Woods.
The extraordinary story of the last true hermit.

A discussion of the desire to be alone.; 9/25/17, 10:39 AM
buwaya said...: And Quaestor is right.
Humans are social animals, and even in a state of nature there is organization, authority, and obligation. Primitive pre-literate peoples, including hunter-gatherers, all have (or had) such systems.; 9/25/17, 10:40 AM
J. Farmer said...: @buwaya:

They are artificial constraints on expansive, diffuse concepts.

Aren't definitions kind of necessary for making communication effective?; 9/25/17, 10:43 AM
Nonapod said...: @J. Farmer: Sure, I'll concede that pre-agriculture most likely there were only "stateless" societies (although we can't know for sure obviously). Of course I don't know if that was what this clown was thinking about when he declared himself an anarchist. Just going by his actions it seems like he was probably thinking about it in more simplistic terms, he wined about people telling him "what to do" for example.; 9/25/17, 10:44 AM
J. Farmer said...: @buwaya:

Humans are social animals, and even in a state of nature there is organization, authority, and obligation. Primitive pre-literate peoples, including hunter-gatherers, all have (or had) such systems.

I do not deny that. In fact, I agree completely with it.; 9/25/17, 10:44 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Nonapod:@J. Farmer: Sure, I'll concede that pre-agriculture most likely there were only "stateless" societies (although we can't know for sure obviously). Of course I don't know if that was what this clown was thinking about when he declared himself an anarchist. Just going by his actions it seems like he was probably thinking about it in more simplistic terms, he wined about people telling him "what to do" for example.

I agree. He's most likely just a disturbed person without a very coherent political worldview. I know a lot of anarchist-minded people, and I don't think any of them deny familial, social, or civic obligations. That kind of extreme individualism is not what anarchism is all about.; 9/25/17, 10:49 AM
Nonapod said...: @J. Farmer: Yeah, sounds like those sorts of anarchist-minded people may be fans of so called anarcho-capitalism, like medieval Iceland and stuff.; 9/25/17, 10:58 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: "I think people are so far removed from that lifestyle it can only exist in a very stylized, romantic way in people's minds."

Rousseau (who has a lot to answer for) was the first Westerner to sentimentalize nature and the Noble Savage. It's been a running theme in the modern industrialized West since then.

What I noticed in "Grizzly Man" was the support Treadwell, who was obviously loopy, got from certain enablers. He was interviewed by newspersons and teachers invited him to talk to their classes about his adventures in the great outdoors and his touching friendships with BooBoo and Fluffy or whatever cutesy names he gave to the massive beasts who ended up not being such good buddies with him after all.

He might (perhaps) still be alive if fewer people had treated him like Dr. Doolittle.; 9/25/17, 11:08 AM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Ann Althouse said...
I'm glad the guy was caught, but I'm interested in the survivalist thinking. He's running because he stole guns, so he has to take the guns, I guess, but the guns are too heavy: "The two heavy backpacks he carried as well as a duffel bag in which he said he kept the stolen guns eventually wore him down."

And he packs "apples, oranges and noodles" — only good for "a couple of days." Oranges and apples seem like a terrible idea in terms of weight.

Yes and yes. The guy sounds like a silly LARPer--what utility does tons of guns have for one dude? How many hands you got, fella?
Unless he planned to sell or trade them, or to arm/equip a bunch of compatriots he apparently didn't have, keeping tons of guns on his person was a stupid idea.
Likewise why hadn't he practiced any of his solo survival tasks beforehand? It is not easy to live off the land, nor is it easy to live in the woods by yourself. Had he taken a couple of weeks to try doing so he'd have learned what kinds of things to bring, food-wise, and what kinds of things to leave (heavy bags of then-useless guns).

Thoreau had food (including prepared meals!) brought to him in the cabin someone else built where he stayed for a relatively short time. Eric Rudolph was an experienced outdoorsman and made it only 4.5 years or so in the NC woods near people--he got a lot of his nutrition from dumpster diving and was actually caught doing just that.
Real survival isn't easy, especially alone!; 9/25/17, 11:08 AM
Quaestor said...: I suppose that depends on your definition of "knows."

People who go about defining important words to suit their parochial notions deserve little respect. Francis Fukuyama once famously hailed the "end of history", as you may recall. That he devotes 70 pages to the "politics" of prehistory is not surprising.

Since you seem to be confused by certain fundamental concepts perhaps a discussion of history itself is in order. Generally speaking, history begins when a culture starts to comment on itself in writing. There are many cases where obvious literate cultures are considered prehistoric. A good example is Pylos. Carl Blegen discovered hundreds of Linear B tablets there on the very first day of his excavation of the site. Since then many hundreds more have been unearthed. Since the Ventris decipherment, these documents have been studied in detail, but they reveal almost nothing about Mycenean history, being by and large administrative notes kept by palace bureaucrats. Thus Pylos, Tyrins, Mycenae, and the rest of Bronze Age Greece remain prehistoric. However, across the Aegean, the contemporary Hittite Empire is within the compass of history. The records they have left us even document their foreign policy. Historians can creditably discuss the nature of the Hittite state by referencing what the Hittites wrote about themselves and other ancient states, especially the Egyptians, whereas Mycenaen politics are matters of informed speculation only.; 9/25/17, 11:21 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Then there was the "Into the Wild" guy who went into the Alaskan wilderness woefully unprepared and was found dead in an abandoned school bus in Denali. If I remember correctly, he made the fatal mistake of eating wild potato buds, which are extremely poisonous and will kill you in an extremely unpleasant way.

He was foolhardy, but many of us are when we are young. Civilization shields many people from the consequences of their own stupidity. Mother Nature doesn't cut you any breaks.; 9/25/17, 11:26 AM
Quaestor said...: Unless [Jakubowski] planned to sell or trade them, or to arm/equip a bunch of compatriots he apparently didn't have, keeping tons of guns on his person was a stupid idea.

This is quite likely. The poor snook is evidently a major league fantasist.

Thoreau had food (including prepared meals!) brought to him in the cabin someone else built where he stayed for a relatively short time.

After his stint living in his shack on Walden Pond Thoreau made his way into the "wilds" of New Hampshire and almost lost his sanity. A very, very silly man and a minor figure of letters at best. Those communards of the 1960s (Althouse probably knew some of them personally) who admired and emulated Thoreau were even more silly.; 9/25/17, 11:33 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Quaestor:

Since you seem to be confused by certain fundamental concepts perhaps a discussion of history itself is in order.

Nothing you said after that had anything to do with what I said or the point I was making. As I said in my second sentence, "biological anthropologists and archaeologist attempt" to answer questions about the politics of prehistory. Whatever you think of Fukuyama's The End of History and the Last Man, whose arguments remain important if not all together convincing, that does not address any point he made in a subsequent work. How Chiefs Come to Power by Timothy Earle is another book that focuses on politics among prehistoric humans.; 9/25/17, 11:36 AM
Quaestor said...: He might (perhaps) still be alive if fewer people had treated him like Dr. Doolittle.

This is why the Flavian Amphitheatre was, by and large, a Good Idea. Too bad those enablers can't be thrown to the beasts as in the reign of Vespasian for the entertainment and enlightenment of the masses.; 9/25/17, 11:42 AM
Quaestor said...: Whatever you think of Fukuyama's The End of History and the Last Man, whose arguments remain important if not all together convincing...

An understatement.

Nevertheless, you are absurdly unaware that every book title you drop refers to scholarly work (more or less scholarly, that is) that taken together make mincemeat of your original claim: Human beings lived under anarchism for about 95% of our entire history.

I'm getting bored with these pontifications and dilettante meanderings.; 9/25/17, 11:52 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Quaestor:

Nevertheless, you are absurdly unaware that every book title you drop refers to scholarly work (more or less scholarly, that is) that taken together make mincemeat of your original claim: Human beings lived under anarchism for about 95% of our entire history.

I'm getting bored with these pontifications and dilettante meanderings.

As I said an hour ago:

"I am not talking about politics, which exists among all human social organizations. I am talking about a state, which is something different from mere "government." I used anarchism in its broadest sense as a stateless society. I was not referring to the political philosophy of the 19th century and that today has various advocates. The state really arises after the agricultural revolution and is a result of food surplus and division of labor. The reason you do not get such organizations with hunter-gatherer societies is because of the excessive amount of energy that needs to be devoted to basic survival prevents surplus production."; 9/25/17, 11:58 AM
J. Farmer said...: p.s. If you agree with me that before the agricultural revolution, there were likely no states, then we have no quarrel. If it is bad nomenclature to call that "anarchism," I will retract.; 9/25/17, 11:59 AM
Quaestor said...: The state really arises after the agricultural revolution and is a result of food surplus and division of labor...

Once more you employ contrived definitions. Anarchists use the State the same way Marxists use capitalism, as a label for something which they can "oppose" with more contrivances. Anarchism (a conceit of the adolescent mind, by and large) damns the "State" and demands "voluntary cooperation" or "non-coercive associations" in its place. Here's where it all falls on its face: none of it is strictly voluntary. The State pre-existed us.; 9/25/17, 12:14 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Quaestor:

Once more you employ contrived definitions. Anarchists use the State the same way Marxists use capitalism, as a label for something which they can "oppose" with more contrivances. Anarchism (a conceit of the adolescent mind, by and large) damns the "State" and demands "voluntary cooperation" or "non-coercive associations" in its place. Here's where it all falls on its face: none of it is strictly voluntary. The State pre-existed us.

I do not disagree with you about anarchist political philosophy. I think it is pretty much anathema to human nature. But as far as "contrived definitions," how are you defining "the state?"; 9/25/17, 12:16 PM
Quaestor said...: ...how are you defining "the state?"

The State is the mechanism which allows us to live as social animals. We aren't bears, creatures that hunt and kill alone and only tolerate the close proximity for breeding purposes. Nor are we wolves. But we are more like wolves than bears. When I describe the State as a mechanism don't conclude I hold it to be a contrivance like a computer, a clock, or a Mousterian handaxe. Some of it is — chiefly the details which are the stuff of politics — is contrivance. But mostly the State is contained in our shared psychology, in our behavior patterns, if you like, which we have inherited genetically.; 9/25/17, 12:37 PM
SGT Ted said...: Untreated mental illness seems to be a hallmark of SJW progressives.; 9/25/17, 12:44 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Quaestor:

But mostly the State is contained in our shared psychology, in our behavior patterns, if you like, which we have inherited genetically.

How do you define a "stateless society," as is discussed in archaeology? Is such a thing even possible in your mind?; 9/25/17, 12:46 PM
Quaestor said...: A "stateless society" implies more contradictions than clarity.; 9/25/17, 1:01 PM
Gahrie said...: Hunter-gatherers were not anarchists. There were very strict norms and mores that were enforced by the powerful over the weak. The formal state did not develop however until agriculture produced surplus, which produced specialization, which eventually led to cities and civilization. The state became the means that the powerful used to enforce their will over the weak.; 9/25/17, 1:03 PM
madAsHell said...: smiled as he closed one eye, cocked his head and made a clicking sound to mimic gunfire coming from an assault rifle

Clicking!?!? Even his rifle is running on empty.; 9/25/17, 1:10 PM
Todd said...: How Chiefs Come to Power; 9/25/17, 1:11 PM
Quaestor said...: Archeologists who make claims about this or that site — say, some neolithic village in western Anatolia — as being an example of a "stateless society" are pushing the boundaries of what can be rationally inferred from what amounts to trash and detritus.; 9/25/17, 1:12 PM
buwaya said...: There have been good arguments to the effect that 19th century England was effectively a "stateless society" in the sense that over most of it there was next to no salaried officialdom nor an administrative infrastructure. People were not tracked, or poorly tracked by the state. It was more stateless than most of the US, and certainly more stateless than continental Europe or even many of its own colonies.; 9/25/17, 1:50 PM
Pinandpuller said...: IIRC The Into the Wild guy was pissed at the five year waiting list to float the Colorado River. I think he might have had a point there. He managed to survive that much.; 9/25/17, 2:20 PM
Pinandpuller said...: If you do honest work and buy a gun person to person where it's legal nobody cares if you go camping.; 9/25/17, 2:23 PM
John Nowak said...: As a felon, this guy wasn't allowed to own a gun.

That said, the only reason he was a fugitive was that he stole enough weapons for a platoon.; 9/25/17, 2:35 PM
Rusty said...: Blogger J. Farmer said...
"Human beings lived under anarchism for about 95% of our entire history. Why people are clambering to get back to the lifestyle of the hunter-gatherer,"

I think you'll find hunter gatherer societies highly structured with definite rolls for each member. Not taking each day as it comes there is a tradition of anticipating the future and making plans accordingly.Rather the opposite of anarchy.; 9/25/17, 3:17 PM
Rusty said...: "stateless society"

Does not mean anarchy.; 9/25/17, 3:19 PM
J. Farmer said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/25/17, 3:34 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Rusty:

I think you'll find hunter gatherer societies highly structured with definite rolls for each member. Not taking each day as it comes there is a tradition of anticipating the future and making plans accordingly.Rather the opposite of anarchy.

"stateless society"

Does not mean anarchy.

In fact, one of the primary goals of the anarchist movements is to eliminate the state. Modern anarchist movements on the left and on the right agree that getting rid of the state is a worthy goal. "A tradition of anticipating the future and making plans accordingly" is not "really the opposite of anarchy."; 9/25/17, 3:35 PM
Achilles said...: "... one of more than a dozen guns he admits he stole a few days earlier from a Janesville gun shop."

Not particularly bright. You don't want lots of guns. You want lots of ammunition. That is the heavy part.

And I would trade the 3rd or 4th gun for an E-Tool... And a thermal blanket...

And fruit? 90% water! That is heavy. Get jars of peanut butter and iodine and a little cook stove.; 9/25/17, 4:10 PM
Achilles said...: On my recycle trip through mountains 2 of the people in our platoon snuck out to walmart and smuggled a couple full bags of mini snickers bars in their packs.

Those are dense sources of calories and fairly light weight.; 9/25/17, 4:13 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: In fact, one of the primary goals of the anarchist movements is to eliminate the state.

Only to build a new state to suit themselves. They don't want anarchy, they just want their archy. Anytime you have 3 or more people you have politics.

There have been good arguments to the effect that 19th century England was effectively a "stateless society" in the sense that over most of it there was next to no salaried officialdom nor an administrative infrastructure.

Patrick O'Brian in one of the Aubrey Maturin novels quotes but does not name a philosopher who states that the form of government should be of no concern to the individual. Ah, that's what you call right there a fantasy.; 9/25/17, 4:24 PM
The Godfather said...: This nebbish wandering into "the wilderness" reminded me of Jack London's short story, "To Build A Fire". It's worth re-reading, or reading for the first time.
https://americanliterature.com/author/jack-london/short-story/to-build-a-fire; 9/25/17, 5:16 PM
MadisonMan said...: Loved TBAF. We read that, and August Heat, and Leiningen vs. the Ants, and probably others, in 9th Grade.

I rooted for the dog!; 9/25/17, 6:13 PM
Michael K said...: It really blinds people to just how cruel, brutal nature truly is.

Farmer, you should read "Clan of the Cave Bear." Jean Auel got a lot of things right.

She had some fantasies about super women but she actually did quite a bit of field work.

I doubt anarchy survived the first winter in Europe once they got out of Africa where it was warm all the time.; 9/25/17, 9:18 PM
John Nowak said...: >Farmer, you should read "Clan of the Cave Bear." Jean Auel got a lot of things right.

My favorite bit about the first book is that one of the characters is based on a skeleton in a museum.

Didn't care for the sequel, though.; 9/25/17, 9:28 PM
Michael K said...: "Didn't care for the sequel, though."

They eventually got to be soap operas but "The Mammoth Hunters" is pretty accurate about that culture.

Lots of fantasy in the second book.; 9/25/17, 9:35 PM
Michael K said...: This nebbish wandering into "the wilderness" reminded me of Jack London's short story, "To Build A Fire". It's worth re-reading, or reading for the first time.

I had some friends from England visiting about ten years ago and took them on a tour of California.

We ended up in the Wine Country and I took them to Jack London's estate.

They did not know who he was and I bought them a set of his books. We even hiked down to his burned out mansion , "Wolf's Lair."; 9/25/17, 9:37 PM
Rusty said...: In fact, one of the primary goals of the anarchist movements is to eliminate the state. Modern anarchist movements on the left and on the right agree that getting rid of the state is a worthy goal. "A tradition of anticipating the future and making plans accordingly" is not "really the opposite of anarchy."

I didn't say it was. It is the opposite of the chaos which people think is living in a state of nature.

Warner Herzog made a wonderful documentary called, "The Happy People" . Pay close attention to what the people actually say; 9/26/17, 6:13 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Rusty:

I didn't say it was.

Here is your exact quote: "Not taking each day as it comes there is a tradition of anticipating the future and making plans accordingly.Rather the opposite of anarchy."; 9/26/17, 9:39 AM
lawyapalooza said...: If his lawyer permitted this interview, he has some serious ethics issues in his future, I'm afraid.; 9/26/17, 12:57 PM