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News We Are All Rambo

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Long time ago I worked as a reporter at a small paper that started up. The pay sucked, but since I love to write, it was a perfect job for me. I initially started with a section on food quality. I named it "Them Vittles". People that read it like it, the restaurants didn't. Really amazed me after a couple months I go into a restaurant to eat, like a normal person, and they think I'm writing crap about them and expecting free food! Nope, I always paid my way in a restaurant. The shitty cooks just don't like the criticism that costs them their jobs, and then my reputation grew...it was a nightmare after 3 months.

So I ended up doing editorial comments. Restaurants chilled out, and life got better. Kinda.

So now fast forward 15 years, here I am in an e-mail list and one of the members makes a quip about me NOT being a "prepper" but instead a "survivalist". same damned thing, I just don't sugar coat it and fluff up the damned name. But she really pissed me off calling me "Rambo".

So I wrote a small snippet about it, mad at her, and then wrote a full piece an hour later. Here it is and I'm asking for some serious insight on this.

Since I last wrote for a paper i had to deal with several serious head injuries, and with that I lost some of my skills. Including writing. So at least I'm trying.

Here it is.
..................................................

We are all Rambo
by C. Kem
December 3rd, 2014

I am a survivalist.

I will not call myself a "prepper", to me that is the "soccer mom definition" of EXACTLY what I am- a survivalist.

Too often people will compare people like me, survivalists, as radicals, racists, militants and even "home-grown domestic terrorists". And truly the definition of survivalist is so fine, so detailed yet so broad, any such classification is not just wrong, but sladerous. It is uncalled for, it is unjustified.

A survivalist is not a radical, we just want to survive in a crisis. Just like "preppers" or "soccer moms".

A survivalist could be a racist, but you will find racism in nearly every political and social group out there, no matter what country you go to.

A survivalist could be a militant, but then look at the same statement before- you will find that in almost every political and social group out there, no matter what country you go to. Not just survivalists.

As for "home-grown domestic terrorists"...hey, I remember when I was a kid. Dennis the Menace...step aside kiddo, 'cause I put you to shame! LOL!

But “Rambo”? Seriously, is a survivalist "Rambo"? Actually, they could be. Just as anyone else could be. But let us talk about Rambo. Who was he? Where was he? Why was he like he was?

Rambo was viewed pretty much as a homeless radical militant looking for trouble

Of course Wikipedia feeds into that, saying “Rambo”
(Source: wikipedia), is used to describe “a person who is reckless, disregards orders, uses violence to solve problems, solely enters deadly situations, and is exceptionally tough and aggressive.”, referencing that statement to a quote from Oxford Dictionaries (Source: oxforddictionaries) which is not only inaccurately quoted in Wikipedia, but the Oxford Dictionaries definition not much better, claiming it’s “An exceptionally tough, aggressive man.”

The story line however tells the difference, really.

Who was he?

John Rambo was a veteran of the Vietnamese Conflict in search of a friend he served with. He finds his friend has past away, and is soon harassed and arrested by the town’s sheriff, who tries to force Rambo from the sheriff’s cozy little town. Rambo does not pay much attention to this, and he returns to the same town (in the movie and as a movie set, Hope Washington). The sheriff of course arrests Rambo again, and the events escalate.

John Rambo, though a fictional character, only brought to Hollywood a problem that persists to this very day- police abusing citizens.

So in this movie reference, the finger is repeatedly pointed at Rambo. I suppose if he met the grooming and dress standards of a small town cop, this would never have happened. I suppose if he just buckled under to a cop’s demands, this would never have happened. Or perhaps if the cop did not judge a person based on their physical appearance as readily, it would not have turned out like it did. Then look at the abuse committed by the deputies. Perhaps if Rambo was still arrested and the deputies were not making fun of his injuries and inflicting treatment that even back then was considered cruel and unlawful, Rambo would not have found a reason to kill any of the cops. After he found his best friend died, he just wanted to be left alone.

Brown and Garner

Now look at the recent events in Ferguson and New York City. Michael Brown and Eric Garner, both killed. What did Michael Brown do? He was caught on video doing a strong-arm robbery for cigarettes, and was seen getting violent with a store clerk, and then described by the officer, Darrin Wilson, as assaulting Officer Wilson. All the factors point in that direction. Brown tried to take Officer Wilson’s gun away, and then charged at him. This was not caught on video, but the robbery from moments before was, lending credibility to Officer Wilson’s case. Even I, being critical of cops, agree with that.

Eric Garner’s arrest, on the other hand, was caught on video. He was selling “Loosies”- individual cigarettes, tax free. And the cops killed him. Unlike Brown, Garner did not go after Officer Pantaleo, instead he had his back to Officer Pantaleo; the officer jumped him from behind then tackled him to the ground. And again, this IS on video. Even the New York Medical Examiner has ruled Garner's death a homicide, stating the cause of death was "compression of neck (chokehold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police." (Source: cnn)

And as stated by the medical examiner, acute & chronic bronchial asthma, obesity and “hypertensive cardiovascular disease” as contributing factors in Garner's death. But that somehow does not seem to justify ignoring Garner’s plea that he cannot breathe. And now he is dead. For selling cigarettes, or because the cops involved did not know their limits? Does this justify the police using an illegal choke hold?

Us

Now look at a lot of the police abuse that happens across this nation. These two events happened and the media caught them. But they are only two. For these two I bet we are talking about hundreds that go on without the media being the wiser. And if the media does not catch it, do you?

You see, that is where Rambo came from. He came from real life. He came from a novel turned into a movie by Hollywood, yes, but he came from the first hand experiences "discontent" society has with our so-called "peace officers". Rambo, as a character, took violent means only when pushed to the brink. Garner did nothing whatsoever.

Now reflecting back on John Rambo, he himself had impairments, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder particularly. Personally I think that while Hollywood’s intent on bringing a very real impairment that a sizeable percentage of Americans (veterans and non-veterans alike) have to public spotlight, if that is what they attempted, was well intended. But if anything it succeeded in provoking a fear in the public eye of people with PTSD, labeling them in the public eye as a threat, something which they are not.

In Rambo’s case his PTSD was worsened by how he was mistreated by the police. Rambo really was more of a kind, compassionate man that wanted a break from a horrible war he was pushed in and forced to live with in his memories.

When I compare the differences and similarities, we can see that the men were, well, men. They had impairments (unsure about Brown’s impairment). But most importantly their rights were abused by the cops.

In closing

While I understand that John Rambo is only fiction, his image is very real. And truly, John Rambo really is no different than many of us. He was just tired of being bullied by a bad cop. He was not reckless. He did not disregard orders (actually, he received his impairment by following orders). He only used violence to solve problems because he had no apparent options. Was he “exceptionally tough and aggressive”? I suppose that’s a matter of opinion. The definitions given by Wikipedia, Oxford Dictionaries and held the public in general to me are merely conjectures- opinions based on ignorance and lack of understanding.

And just as much as we can all end up being another Eric Warner, we are still, truly, Rambo.
 
I like it... and to be perfectly honest, you wrapped up exactly the entire story of John Rambo and it all started with him being harassed for nothing other than walking along the road, getting from point A to point B, yet being made out to be the aggressor. The metaphorical aspect of the story, that is.

Nice story though.
 
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Quite a well written text. From what I do see, in a lot of places people with PTSD are looked at as a threat, something extremely dangerous that you should never talk to or walk near. Listening to what people randomly talk that is the thought going around in this country. It's so bad that people see PTSD as something that will kill them if they walk near you. Anyway, I don't have much opinion, so here, take some pizza.:hug:
 
I'm watching it again now at mojvideo. My piece proved accurate in the first 10 minutes. :(
 
Anthony must be right-
Go to sunad. And don't forget the dot "something" and then go to opinions.
Anthony I have no idea why the program won't let me add an url....
 
I need more likes? Like totally whoa, dude! How many likes do I like have the like say? Like so totally knarly, dude!
I bought a print cop of the paper and it looks much better in print than on the website.
 
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