Surviving America 022: To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

[00:00:00] Society in every state is a blessing. The government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil. The future has already arrived. Good day folks. What's up?

[00:00:26] To the virgins, to make much of time. Robert Herrick. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may. Old time is still a-flying. And this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying. The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, the higher he's a-getting, the sooner will his race be run and nearer he is to setten.

[00:00:56] That age is best, which is the first, when youth and blood are warmer, but being spent the worse and worst, time still succeed the former. Then be not coy, but use your time. And while ye may, go merry. For having lost but once your prime, you may forever tarry. Robert Herrick. Robert Herrick sounds like a back porch American poem.

[00:01:26] Has almost sort of like a southern twang to the rhyme, you know what I mean? Gather ye rosebuds. The old time is still a-flying. Tomorrow will be dying. But the truth of the matter is, folks, that is such a timeless poem. It is such a timeless poem. And time is such a timeless struggle.

[00:01:52] That it was written in the 1680s. Think about that. That poem was written in the 1680s. Y'all how different the world was back then? The world was so incredibly different back then, yet still people sat and thought, my time here is limited. You know, my time here is limited.

[00:02:17] Wow. Interesting, right? Interesting. Very. Anyway, Firewolf Forge, welcome in. Jay Ferg, welcome in. Very good to have everyone in here today for the, I was about to say the I Am Liberty show, but those days of days, the time has had its way with that show as well.

[00:02:41] And now it's Surviving America. I'm late because I was going to do a, just a free association show. And life has changed so much that even a free association show takes show prep. I just wanted to talk and enjoy the day. You know what I mean? Last week we had to run a rerun. We had some life impact.

[00:03:06] But today there's stuff to talk about. There's stuff to announce. There's stuff to, yeah, whatever. You know, for those of you in chat, feel free to guide the show as you'd like. Today's show is brought to you by PackFreshUSA.com. PackFreshUSA.com. They, I think they're still running a deal over on their five gallon Mylar bags.

[00:03:30] They are really the home, the hub for all food storage and food preservation accoutrement, really. The link right down below in the chat, first link in the chat, you will see PackFreshUSA.com. Use that link because that's PBN's dedicated link. And that tells them that you're here in me and this is a viable sponsorship opportunity for them. And that's the goal with sponsors, you know?

[00:03:57] And trust me, their 7mm Mylar bag is a very different thing than... I'm going to have to throw my phone because it is my birthday today. Thank you all for the well wishes. But as fate would have it, all the texts and all the emails are going to come in immediately. Right? Over, over... Is that a video game code, Firewall Forge? Up, down, left, right, A start.

[00:04:30] So, we need to talk. We need to talk. Cheers to many more years and disaster coffee. Look at the chip out of this beautiful cup. My wife bought me this so many years ago. It's such a great cup. Of course, it's going to get blown out by light. You know, it was like a joke. You know what I mean? The cup itself was designed as a joke. But our life is so weird that jokes sometimes are like, you know, it's like reality.

[00:04:57] She bought it years ago when I first started writing, I think. Oh, Firewall Forge. That's the way I roll, man. That is the way I roll for sure. Yeah, so let me show you something. I got to show you something.

[00:05:15] Myself and Phil Rabelais and Andrew Bobo, a former Matter of Facts fame, have to show you what's happening over at Disaster Coffee. They know some really cool things. I don't talk enough about Disaster Coffee here on this network, and I should because it is. Sorry, Johnny Five. I gave him the day off today. I'm manually. I'm manually controlling the computer. It's not run by AI today.

[00:05:44] By the way, Firewall Forge, the idea of putting the googly eyes on Johnny Five. Really good. Really good. He looks great now. But anyway, I don't talk about it enough, and it's a business we started years and years ago. I started years and years ago because we couldn't get a sponsor here at PBN. You know what I mean? And I said, you know what? Let's kill two birds with one stone.

[00:06:11] I've reached a point now where killing two birds with one stone doesn't even work. It's got to be at least four or five. You know what I mean? But anyway, so we've introduced tea back at Christmastime. Don't know how many people know about that, but let's talk about that. And just today, we released something else really, really cool. So we have an incredible jasmine tea. We call it EMP. This is for those of you who are new to Disaster Coffee. This is how we roll. This is our branding.

[00:06:41] Our branding is always disaster preparedness related. Just like two or three exceptions, right? Three exceptions now. So this is an insane jasmine tea. I mean, the tea itself, all our teas are loose. So you've got to deal with that the way you deal with it. I have a digital scale for it, to be honest with you, that I bought for baking and I use for tea making. I think it's probably the easiest way. Well, maybe not. Maybe not.

[00:07:09] Maybe if you know a certain scoop that's two ounces and you feel comfortable with it, that's probably easier. But, and of course, so the jasmine tea is amazing. Beautiful green. There's blue corn flowers in it. It's a beautiful looking tea. Amazing. The Gray Man is outstanding. And the reason the Gray Man is outstanding, it checks all the boxes for me. This is my personal review of the stuff. You know what I mean? It checks all the boxes for me.

[00:07:39] The branding is sweet. I love the hooded figure there in the Gray Man tea. But also, Earl Grey tea is like one of my favorites. It probably is. It's definitely my favorite black tea, bar none. And like everything else that we do at Disaster Coffee, this one is exceptional. You know, it's just an exceptional tea. So if you're into that sort of thing, yeah, if you're into that sort of thing, check them out.

[00:08:08] Right? Check them out. What we just started, I didn't really talk about this. A lot of times the run up to things we'll talk, I'll talk about on the air, but I just haven't had the time to really get into it. We're now doing K-Cups. We have started down the path of the K-Cup.

[00:08:26] I was never a big fan of the K-Cup, but one of the things that I think a smart business person can do is not become too tied up in your own personal goals, gains, pros, cons, likes, dislikes. Do you know what I mean?

[00:08:46] Like to assume that the coffee drinking world is only going to take advantage of what you offer and you're going to get the most out of them and they're going to get the most out of you based 100% on the things that you like and don't like. Probably a bad idea. Right? Probably a bad idea. So what we got going on now, Uncle Randy's Front Porch, one of our newest coffees. It's an amazing Mexican, right?

[00:09:12] Which is a pretty interesting little number really when you think about it because we have a lot of issues with coffee from different places around the world. And if you haven't tried Mexico, try Mexico. It's a great medium roast and it's close. And close means things nowadays. You know what I mean? Close means things. Close to the United States is going to mean a lot. It's going to mean a lot.

[00:09:40] Because other countries I think are going to have to – and in the short term. In the long run, I really do think that nations are going to get much more powerful with the new – people call it America first and maybe that's what it is. But really what's happening in the country right now with Donald Trump, I think what I see happening in the country with Donald Trump is fairness. As much as I hate to say that word. You know what I mean? At the end of the day, the things that are happening in our country right now are about fairness, man.

[00:10:11] Born to brap in the house. Thank you for the birthday wishes, sir. I do appreciate it. It's been a wonderful day so far. But, yeah, what I see happening is it just seems like – and it's fairness for the working class person. You know, like why should we fund everyone else's wars?

[00:10:34] Why should we fund everyone else's wars, our wars, everyone else's defense to the tune of trillions of dollars then sit here breaking our backs, working our asses off, being taxed to death, having our bonuses be taxed to the tune of over 50 percent. Right? You get a bonus from your job or a bonus from your company, and the government gets half of that.

[00:11:00] But why would a nation that purports to be free and filled with free people and freedom-loving Americans, why would a nation like that have something as silly as property taxes on their land and their homes and their vehicles? Ron DeSantis is about to get rid of it, right? He's about to rock that.

[00:11:26] And I think in order for the nation to really be at its healthiest – and I don't mean in the RFK sense. I mean like a nation's health. In order for us to be America, in order for us to be the country that we claim to be, right? Come flying in literally and figuratively to the rescue with our freedom, our freedom birds, right? For everything to be so free, property tax has to go.

[00:11:53] It just doesn't – it doesn't add up. You have a free nation by the people, of the people, for the people, right? Yet, if you don't pay your tax – so you're on the hook for taxes to the state and the Fed. And if you don't pay them, maybe not so free. Maybe you don't own that thing you thought you owned or you spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to quote-unquote own.

[00:12:24] So all of those taxes and things, they come on the back of this amazing and immense debt that we accrue by funding the world. By simply electing leaders who spend your money in a very compassionate and caring way and don't care about it. They don't care about the repercussions, right? You look at suicide, you look at fentanyl poisoning and overdoses and addiction in this country.

[00:12:54] And it's momentous what's happening. And if you think that has nothing to do with the fact that you get taxed at every level of your being, right? If it doesn't have anything to do with the amount of money you bring home, the amount of money it takes to live in this country, to buy a home, so on and so forth, you're crazy.

[00:13:15] And what I see with the president playing tough on other nations, with the president trying to do the mineral deal with Ukraine. You know, what is Ukraine? Ukraine has become the golden calf of our age. Five years ago, Ukraine was a corrupt nightmare in the Eastern Bloc. You know what I mean?

[00:13:40] And it was just like, yeah, Ukraine, you know, it's synonymous for corruption and it's a crazy place. Like if I always measure the reality of a situation based on how I would explain it to my kids. You know what I mean? Like, how would you explain Ukraine to your children five years ago before the war? Before the war, you wouldn't be like, Ukraine's a really great nation with a lot of potential. And it's run really well and everything's on the up and up. Former Soviet, you know, things are good.

[00:14:10] No, you would be like, man, it's a really corrupt place. I mean, I'm sure there's some good people wrapped up in it all, but at the head of the monster. And, you know, the leadership was largely bought off by the I don't want to go into the whole Ukraine, Russia issue, but you get my drift. We sent you whatever it is, $250 billion, $300 billion, something to the tune. And and now we'd like to have a shot at your rare earth minerals.

[00:14:38] And remember, America is one of those nations where. While we have the power, if we have the power and the success, the world turns a little more smoothly for most nations, right? Should rare earth dominance go to China? What do you think the world would be like, better or worse? You know what I mean?

[00:15:06] So it's just about fairness. You know, we listen to people talk about fairness and equality and all this kind of stuff for what, 10 years, 10 years. And it got to such a madness that no one could even believe it. Right. Now we have a president who's looking at the American people and saying, I want fairness for the people of this country on a global scale.

[00:15:32] In other words, I don't want the average taxpaying American to foot the bill for the entire world. I don't want them to pay more than everybody else. Right. The media is losing their mind. I can't believe it. How could he? How can you know the funny thing about it all is it goes back to that same old sort of adage, right? It goes back to spoiling and weakening countries the same way that you spoil and weaken a child. Right.

[00:16:02] You give them everything for nothing and they become spoiled. It's that same things happen with nations. You look at Europe. When I was younger and I first found out about NATO and the vast disparity of soldiers and weaponry and everything that that Europe as a whole puts in compared to what America puts in. And then you break it down by nation, you know, the great nation of England. Right.

[00:16:27] How much are they putting into NATO compared to how much how many how many forces we have dedicated? And you're like, what? What is going on? Long before I was, you know, polluted by politics, just just a young kid looking at numbers going like, that's really weird. I don't know. It's it all seems really nice to have a voice out there in the wild that says, you know, let's.

[00:16:57] Let's just stop giving away everything for nothing. Oh, I hope you guys feel the same way. Twelve count single use cups. Twelve count single use cups of our Mexican medium roast. We're going to be adding pandemic. We're going to be adding the bear blend. We're going to be adding supply drop to the cake up thing. I don't know. I don't know if you guys drink that kind of stuff. I don't have a cake up machine.

[00:17:26] I'm not a Keurig type of guy. One cup of coffee doesn't get me very far, to be honest with you. I'm I'm more of the person in the business that's pushing for the five pound bags of coffee. You know what I mean? Like the 12 ounce is good. OK, the cake up is cool. But I think for me personally. I'd benefit from a five pound bag of supply drop. Just me. You know what I mean?

[00:17:53] So today's today's broadcast is largely. Largely focused on the subject of time and life lived and that kind of stuff, because it's your birthday is a time for reflection. You know what I mean? I don't always talk about it that much. Well, here you go. Here's here's a thing. You know, you should be trying to change throughout your life, change for the better, things like that.

[00:18:20] Sometimes a change for the better is a is recognizing in yourself some weakness, recognizing the people around you some weakness. Right. And what I thought about today. I woke up. I got a really cool gift from my wife. I got a really great card for my kids that I mean, it's hilarious, but I can't even show it to you on air because you don't live with us. You know what I mean?

[00:18:50] So you can't grasp what the reason behind it all. It would take the rest of the show for me to explain it. OK. And that's a gift that is tremendous. Right. Like that's a gift. But it's so good and funny and cynical and just, you know, a little a little commander out of his own kids. And it's really funny and fun. But for the longest time, you know. If you're a person who.

[00:19:20] Likes to keep the waters even. In other words, a person who's easy to get along with like me, a laid back kind of guy. You can get a lot of credit for being that guy. You've got to. What you've got to be careful of is. Understanding. Am I that guy or that gal? Naturally. Or.

[00:19:46] Am I that guy or that gal because the other option is too scary or the other option is too much work? You know, am I so highly agreeable because I don't want to have any conflict in my life whatsoever or minimize the conflict to the maximum? Right. Right. Because that's a massive trap in life that can cost you a lot.

[00:20:13] And what I realized waking up this morning, what I realized, this is really probably the first time that I've ever even done a show. That. Was on or around my birthday and I even mentioned it. And I start, you know, for years and years and years, I always said to myself, you know, it's really kind of childish, I think, at a certain age. And I believe this. It's kind of childish at a certain age to like celebrate like, oh, my God, it's my birthday. I'm 39 years old.

[00:20:42] I can't. Let's all holler and celebrate. Right. It's a kid thing to really have over the top celebration for birthdays. I always like look leery eyed at people that are like having a birthday party when they're 35 or something. Those those things, those. What are they? They're they're somewhat excuses and sort of like a leaning into a more noble way of thinking or something like that.

[00:21:13] But what I've come to notice as I get older is that stuff can cover up truth. Yeah, it sounds good. It looks good. It makes you look good and maybe feel good and it sounds noble and all that kind of stuff. But you have to look deeper in into what really motivates you and really moves you. And you have to be really. And this is the hardest thing to do. You have to be really honest with yourself.

[00:21:38] And one of the things I was thinking about this morning was, man, it is fun and nice to wake up to these kinds of things on your birthday. Right. And. I started to consider. In order for you to wake up with a birthday gift in order for you and that that's pretty normal. That's not like something new for me or anything like that. But in but in order for people to tell you happy birthday.

[00:22:07] They have to know it's your birthday. Right. Number one. Number two. If you go down that path, then. Then in your mind, there becomes. There becomes a sort of responsibility to the people around you, like you have an expectation of the people around you. Right. And that expectation is, yo, it's my birthday. Like you say happy birthday. Right.

[00:22:35] And I think for me, it's not a it's not like a thing that I want or need because for so many years, it's whatever. It's my birthday. It is whatever. But there was a level of I associate with a lot of people online. Right. I associate with a lot of people online and there are a lot of people out there. And if I were to proclaim with my most unworthiest hand. Oh, God.

[00:23:04] Does anybody know what that's from? That it was my birthday. Well, then then you put that expectation out there on people to say, hey, James, happy birthday. Right. And I think there's a fear in that for me. There was a fear in that for me. You know what I mean? To. To make it a thing and then nobody else make it a thing. Right. All of a sudden, like, oh, James cares about his birthday. Now, nobody else really does. Right. That.

[00:23:33] But that's that weird expectation thing in life without expectations on the people around you gets really stupid. It gets really stupid. It gets really weird. And it all goes back to that idea of what Trump is doing with America. Do you know what I mean? Like, Trump is doing this. He's he's putting things in order the way that they're supposed to be. You're supposed to have a nation that has expectations of other nations that we are aligned with, allied with. Right.

[00:24:04] And it's the same thing with your life. You're supposed to have no matter how much you love a little child, a little of the amazing woman, a man in your life. You are supposed to have expectations of that person and not for not even just for you, but for them. You you you if you get wrapped up in a relationship with people in business and whatever and you have zero expectations of those people, it sucks for them, too.

[00:24:32] You know, it's not just like, oh, man, I wish they were doing this or I wish they did that or I wish this happened this way. It also really puts them in a weird position because they're like, I don't know if I'm doing good or bad or, you know, he there's all this gray area that exists because you have no expectations of the people in your life.

[00:24:51] And, you know, look, the reason I'm bringing it up is because life is short and things can always be better, you know, and and the the quickest route to things getting better is for you to be honest with yourself. You have to figure out how to do that. And I think even before you before you can even start to get honest with yourself. You've got to have the time for that, you know, the reality of time is we have been.

[00:25:22] I think. I think American people largely have been programmed into this idea of, you know, you wake up, you drink your coffee, you go to work and then you're in bed. You know what I mean? Like before you know it, it's bedtime. What even happened? Firewolf Forge says something in chat that is everything in my life, right? We only get to celebrate each other how many times in life.

[00:25:50] That's that's the that's the mentality right there. If you can take that mentality and apply it to everything in your life, every not everything, but every interaction with something valuable to you. So you have interactions with valuable people and things in your life. If you can apply the fundamental count, the fundamental inventory, right? I'm telling you right now, it can change your life. It will it will it has to change your life.

[00:26:19] Otherwise, there's something wrong with you. In other words, you you pick your let's see, how old is my son? He's nine now. Right. You know, that old saying like you don't know the last time you will be able to pick your kid up. Right. Or the last time you pick your child up. Like I'm in that I'm in the pocket with with Jacob. Right. I'm in that sort of transition period.

[00:26:45] You know, the picking up is slowed way down. You know what I mean? And you start thinking to yourself like there are nights. There are nights when I'm doing something downstairs. See what I'm doing. And most of the time and and I'm doing something down here. He's watching TV. He falls asleep. You know, I do the old under the neck and under the legs upstairs. Right. My 13 year old. That's a wrap.

[00:27:14] 13 year old is like, dude, wake up. Go to bed. Don't sleep on the couch. Your bed's way more comfortable. You know what I mean? And you can apply that. Like how many more. In other words, how many more times am I going to pick Jacob and take him into his bed? You know, you can apply that to everything. You know, how many times are you going to celebrate your spouse's birthday? How many more times are you going to celebrate that anniversary together? How many times are you going to celebrate a birthday with your father, mother?

[00:27:45] My father's birthday is the 20th of February. And we had a we had a real day out. You know what I mean? Like just just kind of our our kind of day out, the kind of days out that we've had my whole life. You know what I mean? Fishing store lunch, talking about the Eagles, talking and talking to people about fishing that are at those stores. We always used to do that, doing that again. And, you know, you have to figure those things out.

[00:28:14] You know, my sister, I have a sister who is, you know, she is mythical, really. Like we have a sibling relationship that is it just is mythical. It's it doesn't even seem right. It's one of those things where it's like there are almost no bad memories. No big fights, no serious arguments over much of anything.

[00:28:42] And it's just been, you know, and when we come together and when we have time together, it's just just so much fun. You know what I mean? And the same thing pertains right early on in life. You get you have the abundance of time on your side. The abundance of time is on your side. And when you're a little kid like my kids, probably your kids or grandkids, then it's it's forever. It's like, well, I'm going to go out and play with my friends forever. I'm going to hop online and do this forever.

[00:29:12] I'm going to whatever it is. Right. It's it's just seems the void of time that or time seems like a void. Right. Where you can just stuff days and days in there and they're always going to be more days behind you, more time or opportunity. And then, you know. Well, really, the trick is to figure out to get out of that mindset ASAP. I think the trick to a great life is to get out of that mindset as quickly as possible. Like this, the earlier you can learn that this is a limited run.

[00:29:42] This is a limited edition run. The James Walton run is a limited edition. The J Ferg run is a limited edition run of this story. The born to brat, the firework forge. Right. It's limited. It's a limited edition. The sooner you can learn that, the better life becomes because then you can really enjoy. You know, you're not on this this tirade of whatever, whatever it is, instinct. I mean, it's where people are. They're pushed.

[00:30:12] You know what I mean? What it is, they're operating at too high a speed, I think. I think we're all most of us are operating, at least for some part of our day, at too high of a speed. And you blow by stuff. Right. Firework Forge has a breaking news. Wait, do I have a breaking news? Let's see real quick. Firework Forge. We'll play with this. Slow down the philosophical a little bit. Do I have a breaking news?

[00:30:41] I don't think I have one. Rats. This is a Red Beacon Media breaking news report. This just in from Firework Forge. Breaking report from the wife. News source, wife.

[00:31:11] Live at the store, $30 for a 60 count of eggs. $30 for a 60 count of eggs. That's pretty impressive. That's pretty impressive. So, yeah. That's, wow. We're getting there, folks. We're getting there. Those of you who keep hens like I've told you all these years, good on you. Did Johnny Five turn on? Yes, he did. You see that? You get hand talking with people. And Johnny just clips.

[00:31:41] I gave you the day off. Take the day off. It's my birthday. Take the day off, dude. You're a workaholic. You know that? So, yeah. I don't know. I don't know if I'm going to ramble on anymore. I don't know if I'm going to ramble. I feel good. You feel good? I don't have a real big survival end to all of this stuff. I do want you guys to check out the spacepen.com, the Fisher Space Pen with the promo code PREPPERS.

[00:32:09] The pen that writes in everything underwater, in space, 250 degrees. If you need a good pen to write in the sauna, if you're in the sauna and ideas come to you, something along those lines. Negative 30, if you're out in the cold a lot, that kind of stuff. I don't know. It is very prepper. You know what I mean? The Fisher Space Pen. So, go to spacepen.com. Check it out if you need a good pen. They got a great EDC clip-on pen, too. Looked that up. It's a pretty cool little number.

[00:32:39] The bullet pen is small. But you get 20% off. Use the promo code PREPPERS. Okay? And check out the Monday night show. It was really fun. Really fun. I'm going to clip it today. Maybe. Maybe not today. Maybe Friday. It's a busy week. But enjoy the day, PBN family. Okay? It's... And thank you. Really. Thank you, guys. You're...

[00:33:04] You know, all of this stuff that I just talked about in terms of expectations and, you know, rocking the boat and whatnot. Enjoying your time on this planet. I work those things out. You know, I sent an email out today for the first time, I think, about my birthday. And that was due in part to Chris Williams sending out an email about his birthday five days prior and me going, I should do something like that. Chris Williamson, rather.

[00:33:30] But it was also due to the fact that, you know, things change. And they should change. And they should change for the better. And we should always be open to that, you know. So tell yourself the truth and get out and enjoy your life, folks. Let's end today's show. Since we opened today's show with a poem, let's end today's show with a poem. I do want to read to you. You feel free to go away if you're not into poetry, right? Jay Ferg says, yes, you've always kept.

[00:34:00] Yeah, it's just one of those things, you know. It's one of those interesting things. Yeah, you have, Jay Ferg. You have always popped in and made sure that people understood that it was my birthday. And you see that? Then you wind up with this unfair situation where you have somebody carrying your torch for you at a time when you should be carrying your own, right? Okay, this from Darker Trails, right? A book I wrote two, three years ago now.

[00:34:27] Filled with some poems, filled with some really cool apocalyptic stories and all that. This is a good one. I'm very proud of this poem. It's not long. It's a short one. Well, no, it is kind of long, actually. But the stanzas are short. And it touches on everything we've been talking about, okay? So in your time, you're here to be forgotten. That's number one.

[00:34:55] Don't walk with your head too high, lest the wetted hand of the clock cut it off. In your time, you might stand for something. Stand against the crooked looks. On a frayed high wire above a spiked pit, you might stand for liberty. While the crowd breathes fire, you might do the right thing, even when it hurts. Rose petals and silk linens, but you use Jacob's pillow.

[00:35:23] Soft hair like stems of lavender, you might deny the temptation to replace it with discipline. In your time, you might take the hand of a woman. Ah, what power. For one woman, you can collect the stars, shake them in a mason jar, pour them back into the night sky, writing her dreams into the cosmos.

[00:35:48] Together, you might sand the sharp edges of suffering, the only true equality of outcome. Beware of the slanted man. His gait is strange, knees in his thighs. His eyes are backwards in his head. With a golden rod, he turns over stones looking for another dime. In your time, you might bless the world with a child. A crime! But who else might save the future?

[00:36:18] Don't forget, you are here to be forgotten. In your time, you might stare into a dark room with the moon aloft, the competing breaths of your children and your wife, your family tucked safely in bed. You might feel the security and civility gifted to you from a forgotten man's time. From a forgotten man's blood. Blood on copper. Blood on iron.

[00:36:48] Blood on steel. Blood on lead. In your time, you might find that all of life can be seen in a dark room wrapped in warm blankets. Have a good day.