Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Ideas for what we can do to make our country a better place thread

I have some thoughts and ideas and I'm sure others sitting around this campfire do as well. We have all been impacted in many ways by the recent shooting. A new bar was set for horrific and follows an escalating pattern. Mainly, younger, white males committing mass murder. Most of us around this fire have some gray in our hair (if we have any hair left) and this is not something we grew up with. I think most of us agree there are many things headed in the wrong direction in our society and there's no sign of it getting better. Quite the opposite in fact. If anyone asks me, "what can I do" my basic answer is to first LEARN as much as you can and then take as much positive action as you can. For example, "mental illness" has been a frequent theme in these shootings and appears to be a factor with yesterday's shooter. Most people know what they know about mental illness from TV and movies. This means that what most people know about mental illness is erroneous. A significant percentage of our population has some form of mental illness. Few of us do not know someone who has a mental illness. It is common malady and hence, worthwhile to learn more about. People who are seriously mentally ill exist in large numbers in our society. None of them choose this fate. They are often outcasts, people are uncomfortable with them, they usually aren't on the, "guess list" and so on. There is tremendous stigma toward mental illness and for most who have it, they find this more harmful than the illness itself. My next suggestion, after you have picked up some knowledge is to go out and make a difference. I'm talking about helping others. I'm sure this suggestion sounds confusing. Perhaps you are thinking, "ok, you're suggesting I go out and help 'deranged' people - what do I do, find someone on the street who is talking to himself and invite him for dinner?" Fortunately, there is some existing organization and infrastructure you can work with. For example, "drop-in centers" for people with serious and persistent mental illness are fairly common. Volunteer your time there. Play cards with the people there, have a supportive conversation, learn about who they are. Another suggestion - find an Alliance for the Mentally Ill meeting in your area. These meetings are primarily comprised of parents who have children with serious and persistent mental illness. You can learn a lot from these people. These are people that were thrown into a world they never expected to be in. The typical age of onset for major mental illness such as schizophrenia/bi-polar disorder is young adulthood. Many of these parents had wonderful, bright children for whom there was no reason to suspect that their lives would be tragically derailed. For some, their children were maybe the high school valeditorian, they had a college scholarship and so on, only to have it go horribly wrong. These people all have stories to tell that are worth listening to. Each of us has an opportunity to add to the dimension of who we are and make a difference in the lives of others. "Faith without works..."

we can only control our own lives, and not all of us are even successful at that.
Living your life in the most moral, ethical and correct manner, is about the most important contribution an individual can make.

good points. thanks for the post.

if we could just figure out how to increase the voting percentages of eligible voters, it'd be a step forward. they'd need validated id of course. we find ourselves electing candidates that a small percentage of the legitimate voters chose.

nothing, people have been killing others since the beginning of time , just a fact of life

Kill everyone who disagrees...

get the liberals their own island..........

then sink it to the bottom of the sea

I would bet everything I have that people around this campfire have helped others out in ways they may ever been aware of. While we are painfully aware of horrific events such as yesterday's, to flip it around, I wonder how many events have been averted because someone made a difference in someone else's life? Over the years here, I have met several members who have spent a significant amount of their time mentoring young people - sharing their experience and talents to teach them fishing, hunting and outdoor related crafts. How can you know how much others have benefitted from your actions? The only way you can know for sure is to never do anything for anyone - then you can be pretty assured no one has benefited from knowing you. The concept, "faith without works..." makes sense to me, whether you have a religious orientation or not. The easiest thing to do is to barricade ourselves. Hmmm... I take that back... it is equally easy to not challenge ourselves and keep the same ideas, opinions and perpectives day after day. Open yourself to new experiences, take yourself out of your comfort zone and you will become a better version of you. As an example, I am a member of the local Rotary Club. There are occasional opportunities for overseas trips (e.g. building a dental clinic in a third world country). I've yet to see anyone return from one of these trips without having a changed perspective. And always an invigorated perspective. This isn't an ad for Rotary Clubs but there are all kinds of service clubs out there that have as their agenda, to help improve their communities. Don't assume these clubs are overly populated by Democrats either

Make it a requirement that each adult is armed, carrying, has firearms handling training, and practices with their firearm.

An armed society is a peaceful society.

Follow the Constitution as originally written.

As suggested by Joel Osteen, strive to be happy 7 days a week.

When you wake up every morning, tell yourself you will be happy.

I've worked with "Troubled Youth" for the last 30 years. While nothing is true for every person, 99% of the kids that avoided prison time by coming to us were unwanted by their single parent. Many were born for the simple reason abortion costs money and state/Fed programs don't pay, others simply for the extra $400/month plus food stamps and section 8 housing. I don't want to open up an abortion can of worms but I will say anyone that doesn't make enough money to pay taxes doesn't make enough to have kids. Part of any contract where someone takes gov. money should have a mandatory contraception clause.

I'm sure many unwanted childred grow up to be normal, healthy adults but I've seen what happens to a large percentage of them.

reinstitute glass-spiegal and put the FCC certificates on a 3 year max with only 50% renewals.
remove the electoral college and require voters reg cards to be photo-ID.
increase import tariffs.
overturn 2010 decision regarding financial contributions and corporations.
require churches to pay taxs on investments and revenues.
Audit the fed.
tie nancy pelosi to the hood of a explosive filled GMC and drive it thru the front door of the UAW.

Bowbldr's comments above working with troubled youth reminds me that there is an organization called the Boys and Girls Club that has branches throughout much of the country. They are quite appreciative of people wanting to volunteer their time.

If like me, you are not in law enforcement, another suggestion is to contact your local law enforcement and ask to do a, "ride along." I have done this many times. Prior to doing this, most of what I knew about law enforcement was from movies and TV. At least for small-town America, what I saw didn't have much resemblance to what Hollywood produces. I've done several ride-alongs and the VAST majority of what law enforcement deals with falls in three categories: mental illness, alcohol/drug abuse and addiction and domestic violence (which usually involves alcohol or drugs). Take these three categories out of the equation and at least smaller-town law enforcement would have very little to respond to. It was also a very illuminating experience to spend a full shift in a squad car chatting with an officer - about what he (or she) experienced, felt, concluded and so on. It was interesting as clearly some ended up with a career that they had not fully understood would be the outcome - that is they ended up being a community social worker more than any other role. The other highly educational piece was riding with officers who had been on the force for 25+ years as contrasted to some who were very early in their career. I have a much enhanced understanding of the community I live in from this experience.

Impeach Nobama!!!!!

Human nature has not changed significantly since, well since ever. What has changed is our values, or lack thereof. The first half of the 20th century was the greatest literary period since the writing of the Constitution. When the media became movies, then tv, then video games, the socal values of the nation were althered. Remove the filth from hollywood and video games and slowly the USA will return to a normal society. That and getting the children off drugs and just giving them the attention they need.

Return public education to education and not indoctriation.
It has to start at home and in the schools.

Abide by the ten commandments and end gun free zones.

That would be a good start!