For those living in violent/dangerous cities/countries

Navigator

Navigator

The Living Force
FOTCM Member
Hello,

I live in México. As you probably know, crime is on the rise. You can see in the news that hundreds of people are being murdered every week because of drug related violence. It has been hitting my hometown hard for a while and I am worried. Kidnappings an blackmail are the mark of the trade. México is number one in kidnappings and Ciudad Juarez, a border city, has been declared the most violent city in the world. My hometown isn't a big city and I know of awful things happening to good people everyday. But thinking of all of us living in latinamerica facing similiar things, I would like to ask the C's: "What can we do to protect ourselves"?
 
Hi Navigator. The reason I would guess that this question doesn't need to go to the C's is because we can likely answer it ourselves.

It may very well be true that crime in your area, as well as most parts of the world, is on the rise. But getting your 'facts on the ground' from the mainstream press is not necessarily the most accurate. I would like to share an idea with you:

The PTB need fear to increase their control, correct? They need us to be afraid. Of terrorists, of militias, of 'gangs', drug-dealers, the mafia, smoking( :cool2:) etc. So in the u s, especially after 911, they have their 'terrorists', who might show up any minute in a jumbo jet ready to take out large buildings full of innocent people. Draconian laws are passed, mainly unopposed by the majority, because people are afraid.

In Mexico we have the same. Replace 'terrorist' with 'drug-gang' of course but the results are the same. The streets are pretty loaded with 'security' now. Checkpoints are becoming pretty normal, especially near the northern border, and the conditioning of the population to these changes is apparently working. All to protect us from 'them'.

Not to say their isn't such a thing as 'terrorists' or 'drug-gangs', but the fear these groups are used to create is by design. Almost as if they are all working for the same team. And likely are on some level.

And this is nearly everywhere to varying degrees.

That being said, if you live in a rough area with gunfights and kidnapping happening on a regular basis, you might use the old 'knowledge protects' adage and consider relocating to a safer area so that the Work can continue. ;)

My thoughts anyway.
 
I live in Phoenix Arizona, in a fairly "rough" part of town. I moved there because it was cheaper. I had to. There havent been many gunfights but there is violence and plenty of drug addicts and dealers and gangs. What I do is mind my own biz and take a hard line with the ppl who I know are out of their heads. They leave me and my family alone. You could almost say I am invisible. Not seen as a threat or a mark but more trouble than its worth. Thats the best way i can explain it. I will move asap tho, to a better sector.
 
I live in Phoenix Arizona, in a fairly "rough" part of town. I moved there because it was cheaper. I had to. There havent been many gunfights but there is violence and plenty of drug addicts and dealers and gangs. What I do is mind my own biz and take a hard line with the ppl who I know are out of their heads. They leave me and my family alone. You could almost say I am invisible. Not seen as a threat or a mark but more trouble than its worth. Thats the best way i can explain it. I will move asap tho, to a better sector.
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The same with me I have gangs, violence, alot of shootings in my neighborhood. And the best way for me to deal with it
is take care of my own business and go from point A to point B. Which means I go everyday directly from school from
school directly home and fast.

To me it is lke a war zone out there and I behave as if it is a war zone the only time I come outside is if I need to go some
where. But not to just walk around the block or hang out and such. It is a shame how I am so isolated from the world out
there but my goal and expectations aren't the same as theirs so I am a ghost to them.

Nobody on my block except the people I went to school with knows me and I think it is safe to keep it that way. So the best
way to stay safe well atleast from my point of veiw if you live in psychopathic community is to stay under the radar.
 
I think the situation in large cities has been carefully crafted by the ptb. People walk around equally wary and fearful of gangs AND police. Celtic, thats the best thing you can do is mind your own business, got to where your going and dont engage anyone. BUT dont be in a hurry OR look nervous. Predators sense fear. It forms a bright neon bullseye and blinks from a mile away. The same with arrogance or false confidence. Writing these posts have given me the idea to perhaps create an urban survival course.
 
Hi Bar Kochba and celtic. For the most part I agree with your 'stay under the radar' idea. But... have you ever been in your neighborhood and watched someone you knew [to be a good person] being assulted? Knowing you could likely help them but at the risk of the 'radar' nailing you? I only ask because it could possibly happen and then you are 'by the seat of your pants'. Help the person and blow your cover or ignore the violence to protect yourself?

Something to consider. And I'm guessing the choice can't be preplanned.

Maybe 'wise as serpents, gentle as doves' comes into play here.
 
I look at it this way. I must live where i live for awhile because I either cant afford or cant find anything else at the moment. There is a way to navigate these situations. As the saying goes, knowledge protects. And Gurdjieff says be an actor with everyone. The situations i have been in or witnessed in my past have given me the tools to deal with my current environment in a safe manner. Not completely safe, but i have faith that until we can afford to move, we will be ok. If i wasnt involved in work on the self, i dont think i would have the same discernment when it comes to reading all the different type ppl and situations out here. All i can do is my best and stay vigilant.
 
Hey guys,

Thanks all for the input, I do share some of the views you presented. "Stay under the radar", "mind your own business" and "keep a low profile" are things we already do here. Along with "do not share personal information if you don't need to", "don't go out at night", etc. All things that are common sense and perfectly understood.

But, as you have suggested, the PTB would like to have a society where everyone is just minding their own business, so there is no social cohesion. But isn't this reminiscent of Nazi Germany? Remember Martin Niemöller's speech.
 
In Mexico we have the same. Replace 'terrorist' with 'drug-gang' of course but the results are the same. The streets are pretty loaded with 'security' now. Checkpoints are becoming pretty normal, especially near the northern border, and the conditioning of the population to these changes is apparently working. All to protect us from 'them'.
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Well I think that's the former idea of PTB. But in my country there is something weird because people are claiming for more security and don't get it. We had 70 deads in weekends, very similar to Ciudad Juarez. There are very few police in the streets and they are as criminal as the worse gagns and much of the crimes are known person to person because the media is not enough to show it. Government statistics show drop in crime when we know that is a lie because we can see with our own eyes, it is on rise. Police don't help much when a crime is commited. At the end it seems to produce the same effect...

Adding to the above: pocker face but relaxed, no accesories, no ipod, modest clothing, distribute the money in different parts of the body, deliver what they ask without question, and be the more realistic (assume that they may be victim at any time and that nobody protects you because we are not special, thus decrease the entropy. I have time without being robbed! :D
 
Hi Galaxia. I think you might be in a slightly different ballgame. If you are still in Venezuela, there is the possibility that you are living in a country that isn't playing ball. With the u s anyway and maybe, deep behind the scene, they aren't even in bed with the PTB.

So it sounds like you are in a unique situation where what I wrote about the u s and Mexico may not apply. I personally would be curious to hear more of your experiences. There are obviously some similarities. Thanks.

For Bar Kochba, I have been considering your situation and thoughts for a while. And I guess I'm personally unsure that the 'fly under the radar' is, in general, the best approach. I've only spent limited time living in an overly hostile enviroment and I'm quite certain, since you folks(Navigator,Bar Kochba,celtic,Galaxia) deal with this now, every day, you have a better understanding of the 'on the ground' situation than I. And lots of respect to you all for working through this.

What has been on my mind today is basically the idea of being a 'safe' island verses networking with people in your neighborhood who are basically in the same situation. And, especially if they have children, are possibly living in fear. How nice it might be for people to network at least a little.

It might eventually lead to the EE program being introduced where it could really benefit people.

Much respect to you folks for being on the front line and keeping it together.

BTW, really appreciate this thread Navigator. It sure has my thoughts reaching. Somehow there seems to be a sense that we might all be in a similar situation soon enough.

Thanks.
 
Hi Bar Kochba and celtic. For the most part I agree with your 'stay under the radar' idea. But... have you ever been in your neighborhood and watched someone you knew [to be a good person] being assulted? Knowing you could likely help them but at the risk of the 'radar' nailing you? I only ask because it could possibly happen and then you are 'by the seat of your pants'. Help the person and blow your cover or ignore the violence to protect yourself?
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If it was somebody innocent or good the best thing for me to do is get some help that way I can scare the
attackers of and keep me and him from anymore danger.

For me to get involve risk myself and the one being attacked more trouble would be pointless. But it would
be very selfish of me to walk away from the situation and leave the guy getting attack.

The attackers has very little defense againts the cops and people so if I want to be under the radar and still
help the innocent bystander it would result in getting help.
 
Tomorrow is my first block meeting with all the neighbors. Probably we will end up watching hourly, a neighbor will go out to clean the sidewalk at 7am, another one will water the plants at 8am, etc... Keeping an eye on the people and the cars going through the street.

Just today it happened again, someone tried to break into a house, 3 houses away from mine. A neighbor collected telephones and cells from everyone on the block, and when the residents of the house went to church, someone heard strange noises and called. They all went back immediately and the robbery was interrupted.

Thank God nothing happened, and we are trying to get things going to be more proactive. We just can't count on the police anymore, a lot of them are in cahoots with the gangs. And of course, police is nowhere to be seen when needed.
 
Networking with the people around us sounds great on paper, but most of the people (parents, for example), are drug addicts, drug dealers, illegal aliens afraid & racist towards white people, gang members...we try to help the children out as much as we can, but some of these kids are already hardened liars & hustlers. Sad but true. I am on speaking terms with one other family, a family of illegals who are decent & hard working. There is the language barrier as well. And most of the hard working illegals are devout Catholics. I would share knowledge & network in a heartbeat if I thought it would be appropriate. But I must be externally considerate. Many of the people here are going day to day, & pray to Jesus every night. A white guy speaking of breathing exercises, pots, & work on the self would only draw attention where it is not desired, at this point. But I would anonymously leave flyers or something in the laundry room for people to check out, if I had some. Hey, thats not a bad idea...
 
Navigator said:
Hello,

I live in México. As you probably know, crime is on the rise. You can see in the news that hundreds of people are being murdered every week because of drug related violence. It has been hitting my hometown hard for a while and I am worried. Kidnappings an blackmail are the mark of the trade. México is number one in kidnappings and Ciudad Juarez, a border city, has been declared the most violent city in the world. My hometown isn't a big city and I know of awful things happening to good people everyday. But thinking of all of us living in latinamerica facing similiar things, I would like to ask the C's: "What can we do to protect ourselves"?
Click to expand...

I live in Mexico too and i know what you are talking about, things are getting really nasty really, what PTB is doing here is reaching very insane leves. Here in my city for example: some months ago as result of "the war against drugs" one of the gangs mutilated some men on the other gang and they threw the body parts out at the entrance of a junior high school, you could imagine how traumatic experience it was for the kids who saw the scene; then the military forces entering violently and illegally into people´s houses, it happened here in my block, just in front of my house, the neighbor told us how the military men treated their family...you could imagine.

So it´s just a very stressing situation, it´s practically unbearable to live here, for the sake of my family we decided to move (not right now in my case) though when i think of it carefully i ended up with this feeling of hopelesness because no matter where you see or go the state of the world is the same. I know keep on working is the only option, and that we are not alone in the suffering, that´s the only thought that makes all worth it.


Thank you for bringing up this thread, very useful insights.
 
Navigator said:
Tomorrow is my first block meeting with all the neighbors. Probably we will end up watching hourly, a neighbor will go out to clean the sidewalk at 7am, another one will water the plants at 8am, etc... Keeping an eye on the people and the cars going through the street.
Click to expand...

This sounds promising Navigator. Kind of what I was thinking might really come in handy. Regardless of their potential differences, many people all looking out for each other in a dangerous neighborhood seems like a win-win situation to me.

Tykes said:
...we decided to move (not right now in my case) though when i think of it carefully i ended up with this feeling of hopelessness because no matter where you see or go the state of the world is the same.
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Hi Tykes. It sounds like you too are in a high-crime area. Also on the front line, I imagine, so it's good to hear of your experiences. Though I would agree the state of the world is generally the same, behind the curtain anyway, there can also be some glaring differences in opportunity/comfort/safety from one region to the next.

As an example. Crime in our area(a few hours NW of you) is fairly low and is usually related to petty theft. Money here comes mainly from tourism so a huge amount of resources are expended to insure people's 'safety'. 'No crime' is very good for business. In a nearby large city, they still have the occasional shootout, but many(most?) cities do. Having been here for close to 5 years, I'm still surprised daily at how much I really enjoy living here, comparatively speaking. We feel as though we are part of a real community, in a 'lookout for your neighbors' sense. I don't go around telling much of what we often discuss here in the forum, but helping folks when they need a hand, checking in on them occasionally, giving when possible etc all makes for a tighter, safer community. Networking.

So don't lose hope in this regard, Tykes. Not all places are necessarily equal. Congrats on your decision.
 
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