Would you live in an armed fortress?

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#3253872 27-Jun-2024 16:02

100% yes. It’s my ideal residence. Preferably with automatic Gatling cannons to defend the perimeter electric fence and land mines. And moat. With alligators in.

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#3253885 27-Jun-2024 16:06

Rikkitic:
Scott3:

I have spend a bit of time in the Philippines. Spouses childhood home has a ~5m high fence (with spikes of / broken glass / barbed wire on top), bars on every window etc. At one point I visited due to (my farther in law who at the time was in the judiciary, with a high profile case on), they had a security guard sitting in their carport on a deck chair with a shotgun all night. He then would travel to work (armed), with an armed driver (ex cash transport security guard), and a an armed police office (either in the car with them, or following on a motorbike).

Not a very nice way to live sadly, but part of life for those in higher risk occupations in that country. And the situation their pales compared to parts of South America / and bits of Africa, where those who can afford it choose to ride in armored cars.

All this stuff has a very real financial & quality of life cost that I am glad much of New Zealand can opt out of.

I spent a day in Manila once. Very depressing place with guarded islands of shopping mall consumerism rising above the surrounding slums. It felt like a dystopian science fiction novel. Even as one of the privileged few (moneyed westerners welcome), I was glad to see it disappear beneath the clouds when my flight resumed.

(Note to outraged Manila residents: that was then, I can't speak about now. I also realise there are very beautiful and enjoyable places in the Philippines, even Manila. I still don't feel any desire to return.)

Spent a week there on a photo assignment. Wandered through some immensely poor places and never felt terribly afraid. I stayed at the Hilton which had armed doormen.

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#3253887 27-Jun-2024 16:08

gzt: Often one of those things where locals and people familiar internalize the 'rules' and feel relatively safe day to day.

The problem is that this has serious repercussions for people's mental health, having to live in a siege mentality 24/7, thinking you could end up being killed every time someone comes up the driveway, is really not good for you.

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#3253890 27-Jun-2024 16:21

Geektastic: Spent a week there on a photo assignment. Wandered through some immensely poor places and never felt terribly afraid.

It's not whether you felt afraid, it's whether the locals who know the place felt afraid. Friend of mine had to do some work in a data centre in Montevideo and the taxi driver initially refused to take him to the address, then when pressed said he'd sit by the curb with the engine running and if anyone approached him during the trip from the curb to the data centre door to dive back into the car and he'd take off. Until that conversation he'd also felt pretty safe.

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#3253899 27-Jun-2024 17:05

Geektastic: 100% yes. It’s my ideal residence. Preferably with automatic Gatling cannons to defend the perimeter electric fence and land mines. And moat. With alligators in.

What are you going to do when someone hacks the automated guns, shorts out the fence, hang glides over the mines and feeds you to the alligators?

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#3253905 27-Jun-2024 17:43

neb: The problem is that this has serious repercussions for people's mental health, having to live in a siege mentality 24/7, thinking you could end up being killed every time someone comes up the driveway, is really not good for you.

I don't dispute that at all. No doubt that gun ownership provides a psychological safety function for some people in USA.

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#3253906 27-Jun-2024 17:46

Rikkitic: What are you going to do when someone hacks the automated guns, shorts out the fence, hang glides over the mines and feeds you to the alligators?

That's what happens if you don't pay for the optional surface-to-air upgrades.

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#3253907 27-Jun-2024 17:57

Rikkitic:
Geektastic: 100% yes. It’s my ideal residence. Preferably with automatic Gatling cannons to defend the perimeter electric fence and land mines. And moat. With alligators in.

What are you going to do when someone hacks the automated guns, shorts out the fence, hang glides over the mines and feeds you to the alligators?

Well I’m assuming my ex-Special Forces minions will take care of the intruders.

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#3253932 27-Jun-2024 20:11

Geektastic: 100% yes. It’s my ideal residence. Preferably with automatic Gatling cannons to defend the perimeter electric fence and land mines. And moat. With alligators in.

You were recently bemoaning the constant increases in the price of utilities. Haven't you seen any of the video clips showing rotary cannons in action with the $ cost of the expended ammunition superimposed?

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#3253992 27-Jun-2024 23:21

In New Zealand? Nah, no need. I live in an apartment and you need to get through multiple swipe card doors and then up many stairs or in a lift to get to the floor, then you have to get through the front door. Never felt even slightly unsafe here.

If I lived in the US... would probably have an underground storm shelter/panic room if I could, and would likely own some sort of firearm for protection... Cause it's the US, but wouldn't go full out armed fortress.

Now, if people start turning into zombies. Well, we're going full fortress mode out in the middle of the desert with moats, guard towers and razer wire fences.

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#3254037 28-Jun-2024 09:35

CamH:

Now, if people start turning into zombies. Well, we're going full fortress mode out in the middle of the desert with moats, guard towers and razer wire fences.

I mean it's a bit late to start building the fortress after the zombie apocalypse begins.

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#3254038 28-Jun-2024 09:45

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#3254042 28-Jun-2024 10:10

There is a reason why fortresses are completely meaningless militarily in today's world. They are targets that can be easily eliminated. Night is also no longer a protection, as it can technically be turned into day. It is much more important to know what the attacker is up to and to adapt quickly and dynamically to the conditions. Who feels safe in a nuclear bunker when the radioactive radiation above is deadly for decades to come?

Qui nihil scit, omnia credere debet.
Firewalls do NOT stop dragons.
In effect we have everything to hide from someone, and no idea who someone is.

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#3254046 28-Jun-2024 10:28

You are going to die anyway. What difference does it make if you are eaten by a zombie? Instead of huddling in a reinforced prison of your own making, enjoy the life you have. Those who want to survive just for the sake of surviving have a pretty meagre existence in my opinion. It is like someone boasting that they have a supercharged V8 when there is no road to drive it on.

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#3254049 28-Jun-2024 10:35

gzt:
neb: The problem is that this has serious repercussions for people's mental health, having to live in a siege mentality 24/7, thinking you could end up being killed every time someone comes up the driveway, is really not good for you.

I don't dispute that at all. No doubt that gun ownership provides a psychological safety function for some people in USA.

even the guntubers where complaining about that. so many untrained people where buying guns for self defense but not getting any training. thats how the problems start.

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