Badguys Beware: I Don't Dial 911

By: Steve L.

The simple idea that people entrust their personal safety to a complete stranger is something that bothers me to no end. Grown men sleep soundly at night placing the security of their children and loved ones in the hands of others while the wolves wait patiently for the lights to go out. What does this all mean, you ask? It is proof that an extremely virulent epidemic is sweeping across our nation: one borne of complacency, greed, and a sense of diffused responsibility. The foundations of self-reliance and duty on which this great country was built upon, serves as nothing but a memory in today’s modern world. We have become dangerously dependent upon the institutions and technologies that were created as a boon to our civilization and now, as a result, these same apparatus have become our crutches. We go about our daily routines tethered to the logic that society will shelter us from those who intend to do us harm.

I was recently reminded of this problem all-too-well the other day, when I caught a television advertisement for the Brinks Home Security Company. In the commercial, a man and woman are settling down to bed in their new yuppie suburban tract home. A storm rages outside. After a strange sound is heard from downstairs, the man offers to check it out, only to be encountered by a hoodlum breaking into the door at the bottom of the staircase, which summarily sounds the alarm. Our “man” immediately de-asses the area and retreats to the safety of his bedroom while our foe decides he is afraid of loud noises and flees the scene. At that point the couple receives a phone call from Brinks which assures them that they are protected and safe from any further intrusion. I then proceeded to throw up.

What kind of baloney is this? I understand this is only a commercial and I may be over-analyzing the subject matter, but has anyone ever considered the different outcomes that could have possibly played out? What if the perpetrator was armed, with the intent to injure or kill? What if he had entered the house and went after the children while the man and his wife were locked away in their room? The story could have turned out much different.

The point I’m trying to make is, these companies like Brinks think they can sell peace of mind. Even more frightening, is that people actually buy into it. They disconnect themselves from the responsibility of protecting their own lives and property because bad things do not fit squarely into their posh lifestyles. This not only displays a complete lack of situational awareness, it is also demonstrates an increasing acceptance of cowardice from a societal level. In essence, we expect someone else to fight our fights.

But what happens when the police are ten minutes away and all you have is ten seconds? What precautions have you taken to ensure the safety of you and your loved ones when the hostile threat is not deterred by your alarm system? You wish now that you had not compromised the security of your family by relying on strangers that may never come! The burden of responsibility is not theirs to bear. It is yours and yours alone.

The Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States allows us, as Americans, the right to self-preservation; not as a right given to us by man or governments, but by the Almighty himself. A vast majority of people do not seem to understand this and believe the act of self-defense should be relegated to someone else. Take a good long look at where we live. It is a place where people no longer feel a sense of duty to protect their person and property; where companies like Brinks consistently prey on the public’s feeble insecurities, not as an act of goodwill or charity, but one of greed and profit.

- Steve

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