Common Sense

By my rough calculations, that’s how many rounds have been fired at Appleseeds across the nation in the last 3+ years.

That’s a lotta rounds…

Each one fired in the spirit of Liberty.

Each one fired in remembrance…of the Founders, and of the heritage.

“To remember, is to honor.”

And that’s what we do at Appleseeds.

Teach the heritage and the history.

Because this program is doubling every year, we should see, in just this one year, another 2.5 million rounds fired on that battleground of liberty known more commonly as a 25-meter marksmanship range.

And, out to 400 yards on a full-distance AQT, whenever we have the facilities at the site of a particular Appleseed.

We don’t fire the long-range component because “it’s cool”, or because it offers any training that 25m does not (although sometimes you get to shoot in some wind).

We fire the long-range component to drive home the point that “what works at 25, works at 300, and 400″. Yes, we can tell the students that, but there’s no doubt that “seeing is [really] believing.” And so that’s why we do it - plus there’s no denying that firing a full-distance AQT (100 to 400 yards) is a lot of fun…

And while 2.5 million rounds sounds like a LOT of ammo, and is, think of how much future ammo is being saved, because Appleseed grads can hit a target with the first shot, and not the last.

Doubling the probability of a hit means you save 50% of your ammo. But at Appleseed, we do far better than doubling. It’s more like a factor of ten or more. And, if Appleseeders take the info they get at their Appleseed home and put it into practice until they reach “rifleman” standard, it would be a hundred or more.

But in a way, that number would be meaningless, because pre-Appleseed, any shot you take over 100 yards is likely to be a miss - and therefore you prob wouldn’t take it in the first place - period.

But then you come to an Appleseed, and find out you can take your rack rifle and any common ammo and, with the addition of basic marksmanship skills taught at an Appleseed, make hits at 500 yards…

Suddenly, your rifle, in your hands, becomes a powerful tool. And an effective one.

Say, Appleseed is a pretty good deal, on that basis alone, huh?

But Appleseed is also a self-improvement movement disguised as a marksmanship training class: We make you a better person.

Or more, correctly, as you persist in the journey to becoming a rifleman, you make yourself a better person.

More competent, more organized, more precise.

More thoughtful.

More alert…

And, in the process, we wake up that “inner sleeping American” you never knew was there - the one who cares about his country, and its future.

In fact, you may be so encouraged that you will “get off the couch” and help us bail the sinking Titanic.

Don’t laugh. It could happen.

You could turn from a discouraged, depressed, apathetic soul shaking his head at the state of his country and the darkness of the future - not knowing what to do, not even believing anything can be done - turn from that to a person brimming with hope, and ready to “roll up the sleeves” and get to work, cleaning this nation up - by starting in your corner - with the sure knowledge that many others are starting to clean up their little corners around this great land.

So that, one day, the country will be a better country (just like you are a better person for coming to an Appleseed, learning and understanding you need to get to saving the boat, and then doing it), and so the future will again be bright.

All because you got off the couch.

PS: When you come to an Appleseed, bring as many with you as you can (simply write on a list all your relatives, your co-workers, your neighbors, your fellow gun club members, your friends - and talk to each and every one of them…). Remember, women shoot free, as do kids age 20 and under (say, those are some pretty old ‘kids’, right?) - and, as always, military ID shoots free. Appleseed is not about money. We try to collect enough to cover expenses, but don’t complain if we don’t. Every last one of us are volunteers - and every last one of us is a Rifleman. So we teach what we know how to do. Shoot.

In the fall of 1777, several drawn-out and ferocious battles led to the surrender of the British Army which was invading New York from Canada (you remember, a single round from rifleman Tim Murphy took out a British general, and resulted in a patriot victory, right?).

At the surrender ceremony, the American army was drawn up as the British and Germans filed past.

And here we have a description of that victorious army, direct from an eyewitness, one of the surrendering Germans:

Not one of [them] was uniformly clad.

Each man had on the clothes he was accustomed to wear in the field, the tavern, the church, and in everyday life.

Yet no fault could be found in their military appearance, for they stood in an erect and soldierly attitude. Not one of them made any attempt to speak to the man at his side, and all the men who stood in array before us were so slender, fine-looking and sinewy, that they were a pleasure to behold.

There you go: directly from the eyewitness, across better than two centuries, and right to you - an on-site, on the spot, eyeball description of a victorious American Army, just after forcing a British surrender that is universally believed to be a turning point in the American Rev War.

Now, in contrast to the above, consider this image - again, straight from an eyewitness, at least in part:

[British General] Burgoyne appeared, wearing a hat with streaming plumes. According to one of his German officers, he had “bestowed so much care on his whole toilet that he looked more like a man of fashion than a warrior.”

All within the block quotes above comes from Benson Bobrick’s Angel in the Whirlwind - The Triumph of the American Revolution”, pages 280-1

The British were well-known for sneering: sneering at the American “rebels”; sneering at the Canadians; sneering at their own troops (at least, the officers did), and sneering at civilians.

Which is why the above description comes from a German - you’d have to look pretty hard to find a positive or even accurate comment from a British participant that is other than scathing about us “rebels”.

To sneer, you have to have a pretty big ego. And more than one historian has pointed out that the egoes of British leadership in the Rev War (as well as of many American leaders) created real problems for the Mission, as defined on each side.

Ego: what’s it worth?

If you answer, “nothing”, you may be on to something.

Been reading a little Rev War history lately, and find that John Adams’ biographer (one of them) says that Adams could have been a great man, if he could have ditched his egoistic concerns about his reputation. (That’s not to put down all his many achievements, but to suggest those achievements would have been even greater were he not so small-minded.)

What were evidences of his ego? A big one was his willingness to judge others harshly. Can you believe he, at one time, hated Jefferson, thought Paine was an idiot, and doubted George Washington? Among others! And not terribly shy about concealing his opinions.

Another was great concern that he get credit for all he did for the Revolution. Which carries within it the seeds of building one’s self up and simultaneously belittling the efforts of others - not something that a “team member” should be doing - if you are part of a team effort. (And even John Adams would prob agree, “you can’t do it all, yourself - you need the help of others…”)

An end result of the above was a slippage in efficiency - sorta the “two steps forward, one step back” notion.

And a comment in your biography that you “could have been a great man…”

Reminds you of that Vietnam War comment: “we had to destroy the village in order to save it.”

Except in Adams’ case, what destroyed the reputation he wanted as a great man was his desire for a reputation as a great man.

Not trying to dis Adams, here. We are all flawed, and none perfect. And imperfect as he and others in the Rev were, they are to modern Americans (in comparison) Giants Whose Like Will Not Be Seen Again.

Simply trying to point out the disadvantages to having a strong case of “the ego”.

In the Appleseed program, we have a saying honored far more in the breach than in the observance: “Check your ego at the door.”

It means, you don’t let what YOU like or dislike get in the way of the Mission. It means you subordinate yourself to the Mission. If you want to go on a picnic on a weekend that the Mission says you are needed at XYZ to teach marksmanship, history, and heritage to your fellow Americans, you go to XYZ - not on the picnic.

Alas, few of us seem to be able to even approach that lofty goal.

And as a result, the Mission fades into the future. Something we could do in a few years recedes further into the distance. Becomes more problematic. (Heck, without ego, with total submission to the Mission - at least until it is attained - the probability of success approaches 100%.)

Now, if John Adams had an ego issue, Benedick Arnold had a real ego issue.

Arguably the most talented, the bravest, the most effective person on either side of the War - but with a fragile, brittle, sensitive ego that eventually forced its way out until the man that would risk life, limb, and fortune for the Cause became more and more focused on himself and his future.

Sure, he was helped along in a big way by all the meaner minds on the scene, from fellow officers to some of the “100% politickers” in the Continental Congress as they back-bit, dissed, and otherwise insulted the man.

To the point where he wavered, and in wavering, fell from grace.

Both I and you should have a great deal of sympathy for him - not because it’s “the liberal thing to do” but because it’s doubtful if either of us would have been able to avoid his path, were we subject to the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” (actually, the pettiness and jealousies of his fellow Americans) directed at him.

In addition, doubtful (very) that we’d have achieved his great achievements before his ego became so bruised it demanded “satisfaction”.

Ego. It’s something each of us has - and like everything else we have, it can help us, or it can hurt us.

Ego allows us (sometimes) to be shamed into being better people.

Ego (most of the times) prevents us from being better people than we are.

On balance, if there is a Mission involved of some great import, like the Mission we have in the Appleseed project, ego is better relegated to the attic storage, and our efforts on behalf of the Mission thereby become impervious to personal likes and dislikes, or to personal concerns about credit, or to personal jealousy.

Subordinate yourself to the team. To the Mission.

At least, until you attain the Mission, when you are free to return to your normal life, and take up the petty concerns of everyday affairs.

Just clap your ego “into irons”, “for the duration”, and you’ll be a much better team player in the struggle to wake up your fellow Americans to their history and heritage - and much more effective in the battle for liberty.

Gee, if you’re gonna do something - if you’re gonna get off the couch, finally, and volunteer your efforts to the Cause - seems to me you’d want to be maximally effective - so that every hour you put in equals an hour closer to the goal. It would have to be depressing to bring your ego along, and see every hour you put in bring you only 30 minutes closer to the goal - or five minutes (or, for a few of you, actually result in increased time to the goal, not decreased time…).

Yes, guess you could say, pre-frontal lobotomies, if they could be done on a reversible basis, are the answer.

This idea is well illustrated in The Terminator series of films.

Remember his description? He has one Mission, and one Mission only, and until he accomplishes that Mission, nothing will deter him, nothing will stop him.

Sounds like a good thing to have on your resume, and to have people whisper about you, if you are on the Appleseed Mission.

Only we sum it all up in the single word “dedicated”.

Greater dedication leads to lesser ego. You can take that to the bank.

And, while we’re about this, let’s understand that “talk” means little, it’s action that counts.

You don’t do much, sitting on the couch. You do much, by getting off the couch, and doing whatever the Mission requires.

We are fortunate that the Appleseed Mission does not require you to start on a single-minded journey of hunting someone down and killing him.

That all that is required, in fact, is to attend Appleseeds, and teach your fellow Americans about their history and heritage, while you teach them the traditional skill of rifle marksmanship.

An activity that is not only fun, but deeply satisfying. An opportunity to “bail the ship”, and see measurable results of your efforts.

So, if you elect to join us in this Great Mission to save a country, let’s be sure to “check your ego at the door” (caution: it won’t be easy; it will require some work on your part) and adopt a Terminator-like driven sense of Mission.

So that we reach the Promised Land - a free and even proud Nation of Riflemen - sooner, rather than later.

Can you do it?

Of course you can.

You’re an American.

A long time ago, a founder had this to say about people in his home colony:

“I am wearied out, with Expectations that the Massachusetts Troops would have arrived, e’er now, at Head Quarters. — Do our People intend to leave the Continent in the Lurch? Do they mean to submit? or what Fatality attends them? With the noblest Prize in View, that ever Mortals contended for, and with the fairest Prospect of obtaining it upon easy Terms, The People of the Massachusetts Bay, are dead.

“Does our State intend to send only half, or a third of their Quota? Do they wish to see another, crippled, disastrous and disgracefull Campaign for Want of an Army? — I am more sick and more ashamed of my own Countrymen, than ever I was before.” - Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 26 April 1777 [electronic edition]. Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts Historical Society. http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/

Lest we wax too eloquent about the sloth of modern Americans (which Fred is wont to do, being as they are the only Americans he has experience with), it is good to understand that many of the same problems we have today - ignorance, laziness, and apathy - were part of the human condition even back in the early days of the Republic.

The difference being that, back then, you were asked to grab your single-shot, muzzle-loading musket, and head out to face British lead and steel; whereas, now, all you are asked to do, is get off the couch, grab a bucket, and help bail to save the ship.

There are even people in Appleseed who will tell you it is fun, bailing.

But here’s a founder who was moved to describe fellow members of the Founding Generation as “dead” - and all because they were letting a noble cause slip thru their hands when all along, were they but willing to step forward, that cause could be obtained upon “easy terms”.

And prob so. If Americans back then had stepped forward as one people, and mustered an army of 100,000 - or even 50,000 - chances are good the Rev War would have been much shorter…

Since John Adams brought up the subject with its implied question of whether Americans are dead, whether or not they are buried, perhaps we should spend a few minutes considering the issue from a more modern point of view.

To re-ask Adam’s question, only in reverse - not “are Americans dead?” - but, “are Americans alive?”

It seems unnecessary to say it: to be alive, is to show signs of life.

But it somewhat begs the question, for then you have to ask, “what are ’signs of life’?”

Well, “movement” would be one - just as laying on the ground, perfectly still, unmoving, could be a sign of non-life.

“Movement” implies “motion”, which implies “action”.

So, what is “action”?

Guess you could say, “‘action’ is ‘doing something’”.

And the converse of action is not only “doing nothing”, but “thinking, without doing”.

“Thinking” can include “feeling”, and “believing” - as in “I feel strongly about the Bill of Rights” or “I believe in the Second Amendment”.

Now, we’ve already defined “thinking, without doing” as congruent with signs of non-life. Which suggests you can sit around all day, “thinking”, “feeling”, and “believing” - and others can wonder if you are even “alive” - because they see no motion, no action.

Yes, I know the cynic would say “You wanna see Americans in action? Simply unplug the TV, and watch how fast they rocket off the couch, to put the plug back in…”

Like that old humorous sign at a store: “Wanna see the dead come to life? Be here at quitting time…”

But the prob is that the only “quitting time” in life is death.

And it seems a shame to show signs of life only at “quitting time” (some people will exhibit signs of remorse about a “wasted life” as they get older - sorta a premonition of quitting-time coming…).

So, to come to a conclusion: To be alive, is to act.

By that definition, most Americans are not alive - unless you count eating, sleeping, defecating, sex, driving to work, and TV-time - as “action”.

Most of us would not consider the above any more “action” than breathing is action.

And “breathing” is clearly not “action”, certainly not meaningful action.

OK, so there’s a new concept: “Meaningful action”.

We should also throw in the notion of “effective” action - since, you can argue, ineffective action is no better than no action at all.

Therefore, if our definition of “life” is showing “action”, and our definition of “action” includes the twin dimensions of “meaningful” and “effective”, where does that leave modern breathing, eating, defecating, TV-watching, driving-to-work, voting-for-the-same-lying-politicians Americans?

Would it be fair to say, on the Dunce-heap of History? Is that too strong?

Worse, is that something we need to learn to live with?

Or is there hope we can change that picture?

I say there is such hope - and its name is Appleseed.

Teaching Americans their history and heritage - the facts and events surrounding that critical first day - April 19th, 1775 - gives them a perspective on life few of them have now.

And believe me, it makes a difference.

We need to get every American we can, to Appleseed.

A new word in the language - which is both a noun, and a verb (”to Appleseed)!

We need Americans to get back in touch with “action” as a concept.

No longer being passive couch-sitters, but alert people who care about the important things of life.

One of which is Liberty.

Appleseed is the only program I know that can do that.

You need to be a part of it.

So we can show, “there is life in America…”

Even the title above will frighten some of you.

Fred will often advise newbie instructors during the training process to relax, and “let the inner Beast out.”

It’s necessary advice.

Most modern Americans are typically modern Sad Sacks, successful products of the modern educational system, which means, for the most part, they are chock-full of self-esteem while being essentially useless as human beings, being composed of equal parts of ignorance, laziness, and apathy (mainly because they’ve been given no standards, not exposed to any goals, other than voting for left-wingers…)

Step up for a mission? “What does that mean?”

Speak in front of fellow Americans? Uh-uh!

Make a commitment? “Are you kidding?”

Take a stand? “Forgedaboudit.”

To participate in a program like Appleseed requires all of the above.

Which makes you a pretty special American, when you make the decision to jump in the Appleseed pool.

Pretty special. But not perfect.

You come to the program with all the faults of your fellow 21st-century Americans.

And naturally it takes time and practice to try and eliminate them.

To find your backbone. To get in touch with your inner American - the one who’s not 21st-century, the one who harks all the way back to being out on Battle Road on April 19, 1775.

He’s there, inside each and every one of us.

He’s strong, he’s proud, he’s humble, he’s honest, he’s smart, he’s brave, he’s effective - in short, he’s everything the education system has tried to pound out of every American it can get its hands on.

Without success. Or maybe, only with limited success.

Because he’s still there, inside nearly every one of us. If you are reading this, he’s there, right inside you, and needs only an excuse to come out - and a little welcome from you - along with a little positive encouragement, as he, emerging from a long hiatus, spreads his wings at last.

Which is why Fred encourages new instructors to get in touch with the “Inner Beast” - and “let him out.”

That Inner Beast is your guts, your backbone, your determined spirit, your self-confidence - everything they’ve tried to breed out of you.

Talking in front of others is a big step for most Americans. Not something they want to do.

Yet every RWVA instructor does it, routinely, at every Appleseed.

Just like every RWVA instructor fires “Expert” on the Army Qualification Test, every time.

It’s simply a skill to be learned.

The Inner Beast, the one sleeping inside each of us, is there to help you learn it.

Which is why you need to call on him, to wake him, to get him out and set him free…

Best way to do this is to immerse yourself in the history and heritage of the founding of your nation.

Hear the story at Appleseed, read “the books” about it, know and understand what they did two centuries ago - and why they did it - and it’s tough to go back to the deck-chair-ensconced worthless couch-loafer that you once were.

Sitting in a deck chair while the ship sinks? Not something that strikes the Inner Beast as a good idea.

Pull the plug on the plasma, and get out working to save the country? Now, that sounds like something worthy to the Beast, something noble he can sink his teeth into, and make his heretofore worthless life have meaning…

Granted that the IB (the Inner Beast) is there, right there inside each and every one of us (I hope) his birth like all births is attended with pain, distress, and a touch of fear.

“Can I do it? Can I make the grade?”

And, like all births, the process of successful birthing is aided by a midwife - by someone who’s been thru it, who knows and understands it. Like your RWVA instructor, at an Appleseed.

The guy (or gal) who will be your mentor as you learn to get in touch with the IB, as you take up the Mission, as you teach your fellow Americans what you’ve already learned, and what they need to know, to save this nation.

Underlying those first initial uncomfortable, doubtful steps is a joy that will soon sweep you up - not only joy that you can do it, but joy that you are doing it. And joy that you are doing it.

Suddenly, it no longer seems new, and fearful.

Suddenly, it seems exactly what you’ve been cut out for, all your life.

Suddenly, you’re doing something you care about.

Suddenly, you’re part of something. Part of the great stream of history and heritage that began on that April morning so long ago.

Suddenly, the IB - the Inner Beast - has another name, a proud name, a name to echo down the centuries, a name that has echoed down the centuries - American.

American.

Yes, it means something. And it no longer means a stuttering, unsure, tentative, helpless, uncertain, wandering, lost, pathetic, ignorant, lazy, and apathetic doofus.

Gosh, can life get any better?

You need to be part of this program.

You need to find out and experience what Appleseed really is.

The great part of it? You’ll be welcomed to the program - welcomed by people you’ll soon find out are the cream of the American crop (and working hard to squeeze out more cream, just as you will be), Americans who are worth knowing, people who become instant friends.

You become part of a brotherhood, one whose like hasn’t been seen for a couple of hundred years…

Some of you, the most intelligent, the brightest, the most alert, will start to prick up your ears immediately you hear someone ask that question.

[Whisper] “What’d he say? Is he talking about The Line in the Sand?”

“I don’t know - all I heard him say is something about ‘the line’…”

[Thoughtful silence, then]

“Fred, what line do you mean? Surely, not The Line - the one where we pull out the guns…”

No sir, I am not talking about the line to start shooting to solve all our many problems. Not the famed ‘line in the sand’ (itself showing the progression of the language - a ‘line in the sand’ used to mean a line you were not serious about, as, being drawn in the sand, and not concrete or rock, it was easy to erase, and retreat back and draw another, if someone took up the dare, and crossed the first. In other words, a phony line…)

We know from the Declaration of Independence that people will stand almost anything to keep from doing anything about the “anything”.

…experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

That’s a sad quote, however accurate - as it makes a mockery of the notion, also ensconced in the Dec of Independence, of “pursuit of happiness” - by suggesting that when things start to “go bad”, when “gov jumps the rails”, you’ll choose to suffer in silence rather than doing anything - until a line is reached.

“Suffer in silence”? How does that help you in your pursuit of happiness?

Seems to me, it pushes that “happiness” off to a distant horizon, one you won’t get to, unless you first pass thru the storm of energy and activity needed to eliminate the “suffering in silence”. By eliminating whatever causes that “suffering” which you elect to do in “silence”.

Looking around, you don’t have to look far to see a multitude of things you’d like to see changed, but so far have not done anything about. Hence, as you sit now, you are fulfilling the prognostication of the founders, the one they enshrined in the Dec of Independence, the one that says you’ll suffer in silence - at least, as long as they “are sufferable”.

But don’t worry about that “line in the sand” - the one involving guns.

There’s no longer a need for them (I can almost hear your gasp!).

No sir, I am talking about a much more important line that has to be crossed.

A line that comes before The Line.

The line that’s called, for lack of a more heroic name, “the line for getting off the couch”.

For most of us Americans, that’s the toughest line - as proved by all the millions who can’t cross it - who can’t get off the couch.

And if you can’t cross that line, you’ll never be able to - or have to - cross the Other Line (which is good news, for most of you).

You may heed help to cross that line. You may have to say, “honey, would you do me a favor? Next time you go by on the way to the kitchen or laundry room, would you pull the plug to the TV outta the wall?”

With no TV to look at, it is easier to get off the couch…

The Founders left us a legacy of freedom, and told us that as long as we, the American people, were educated, alert and energetic (they didn’t actually say the last, but you can assume they meant to), we’d never have to fear losing it.

They derived this from their own experience with the American People.

More than one founder pointed out the American Revolution was won before the first shot of the Revolutionary War was fired. It was won in the hearts and souls of the American People.

There’s an implication there. A strong one. You have to win the American people over to you, first. That done, the need for guns is over. You, the American people, simply vote the b*stards out. (OK, I can envisage certain limited circumstances where the need is still there - say, if the gov tried to ignore the will of the people - a somewhat unlikely prospect - as I believe politicians are terrified of the American people owning firearms…hence the effort to disarm them.)

Once you win the battle there in the hearts of Americans, the rest is history. Sure, back in 1775 they still had to fight the Brits, but only to convince them that the war was already won.

And the Brits have been gone for over 200 years.

So, simply by crossing the unnamed line, the “getting off the couch line”, you obviate any necessity for crossing the Other Line - or even getting near it.

Now factor in some other info: that only 1/3 of the American People was on the side of the Patriots - about 1/3 were Tories; another third didn’t care.

And that, those taking up arms who served in the Continental army amounted to only one in 100 Americans. Many more served for short stretches - sometimes, only a day or two - on active duty as part of the militia.

Still and all, only a very small minority of Americans ever served under arms in the Rev War.

So we don’t have to win the war in most minds; only a small part need be won over, to make the kind of sea change we need in this country - a new awareness of the beginning of our heritage, and a new appreciation of the need to protect it.

In today’s America, prob as little as 1 or 2% will make the difference…

Which is good, because it will be a monumental task to get even that small portion up off the couch…

That Unnamed Line is the tough one…

You can help.

You can help conquer that line.

Join us here, at Appleseed.

And we’ll do it again, just like they did it two centuries ago.

And in the process, we’ll save the nation.

Pretty nice deal, huh?