Lessons learned
Lessons Learned WHEN THEY CAN'T BE LEARNED, THEY MUST BE EARNED!by Ted LangMarch 1, 2002It is most beneficial when reflecting upon the course of human events to learn lessons from both successes and failures. Failure to assess historical events in terms of not challenging negative assaults on societal positives is equal to not challenging positive reinforcement of society's negatives. It is the guaranteed most direct route to collective stupidity. As Santyana pointed out, failure to heed and learn from the past dooms us to its repetition.Take for example that magnificent icon of creative capitalism that once was Smith & Wesson. S&W (logo, right) was never a Fortune 500 contender, but its origin as a firearms competitor with Sam Colt's venerable Patent Firearms Co. presented the latter with more than a mere passing challenge. Both marketed the concept of a multi-chambered revolving cylinder magazine. But Colt's was a single action thingy: pull back the hammer locking the cylinder and hammer while aligning a loaded firing chamber with the barrel, and then discharging the round by pulling the trigger tripping the sear and causing the hammer to fall under spring-loaded tension. A very simple yet effective nation-building concept. But loading the weapon and removing fired cartridge casings was a slow and sometimes annoying effort, especially when the shooter was confronted with a swelled cartridge casing stuck in a chamber. A housing alongside the barrel contained a rod with a knob and a spring to allow for the extraction of a stubborn casing when grasping the extractor knob and forcing it backwards towards the errant chamber. Along comes the ingenuity of S&W with their break top revolver permitting the immediate extraction of all rounds as well as the immediate access to all chambers as opposed to Colt's one-chamber-at-a-time approach. Add to that S&W's innovation of firing the revolver single-action as was the Colt design, or double-action by initiating the entire chamber realignment, cylinder locking and hammer release by merely pulling the trigger. S&W competed very successfully with Colt in the early part of the last century. Virtually all police departments across the country employed as their standard service revolver S&W Model 10s, Chief's Special snub-nosed undercover revolvers, and .357 Magnums. S&W enjoyed its great success owing to independence, creativity and the spirit of competition. But then they gave it all up caving to Clinton's concept of the Second Amendment with his interpretation that it gave Americans "the right to hunt." Huh? The Bill of Rights gives us no rights - our rights already exist as given by God. All it does is prevent Big Bro government and Marxist buffoons like Clinton from depriving us of our rights. Why didn't S&W know that? How many big game hunters use a Chief's or a Model 10 to bring down a deer or a bear? Considering S&W's corporate domicile at the time, Great Britain, why couldn't they learn from their country's own gun ban debacle? When S&W caved to Clinton's demands for gun safety, and with the switch to auto-loading, semi-automatic pistols by police virtually everywhere in America, S&W lost its solid competitive edge exacerbated by the folly of their alliance with a corrupt, anti-gun politician. Clinton hates gun owners, and now gun owners hate S&W. As offered in his 2/26 piece in The Sierra Times entitled " `Dude,' Don't Get A Dell," firearms merchant Jack Weigand in his column alleges discriminatory practices by Dell Computer. Weigand offers that the company canceled his order for a new Dell because they mistakenly confused his operation with terrorist activity since he was in the firearms business. Dell failed to communicate with Weigand after repeated requests for an explanation and has admitted the "mistake." I guess Dell should realize that overkill may now go the other way, and their likable Cool Dude in the TV adds is now possibly viewed by 83 million gun owners as yet another anti-gunner. Why spend all that money on advertising if you're going to target [sorry] and alienate 40% of your potential market? Of course, the obvious possible and alleged corporate intent could merely be overkill and not intended to inconvenience gun dealers and owners. Considering the extensive anti-gun bias and propaganda of the media, the latter certainly wouldn't expose the anti-gun bias of others. Dell seems to have forgotten the Internet! Anti-gun propaganda has given gun owners hair trigger reactions to any hint of more. And if all the out-of-touch farmers in the Dell don't find a way to close the gate, they may find themselves out in the pasture with the other guy's cow in their barn! *** http://www.american-partisan.com/cols/2002/tedlang/qtr1/0301.htm
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What lessons in life have you learned from older family members while hunting ?
My grandfather and 2 uncles taught me many things about life and responsibility .
The one that has always stuck with me was the time I tried to "correct" another man's bird dog .
He made me walk home and would not hunt with me for a week .
He later told me that we had enough trouble with our own dogs,and should leave other peoples troubles to them .
I have applied that to politics and many other situations .
God!---I really miss their guidance .[:(]0 -
I learned a bit as a younger man through that most unforgiving and sometimes brutal teacher..experience. Didn't take me long to realize that there was a better way to learn valuable lessons without paying such a heavy price. I started talking with old folks. Not just any old folks, but smart, successful and/or knowledgeable old folks. Buying an old retired boiler man a few drinks and asking questions was like a 9 month course at a tech school as far as information goes. Hanging out with retired race car builders and machinists over a few beers at the VFW Club can teach more than five years of trial and error. Only bad side effect is that all of my old mentors are dead and gone while I am left with a vast accumulation of knowledge they imparted, that no kids today seem interested in learning. I guess they prefer the experience route to the easy one. Or maybe they already know everything. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by bigdaddyjunior
Or maybe they already know everything.
True that...0 -
Just ask them they will tell you they do. 0 -
...and then they go out and make the exact mistakes you would have warned them about.... 0 -
quote:Originally posted by bigdaddyjunior
I learned a bit as a younger man through that most unforgiving and sometimes brutal teacher..experience. Didn't take me long to realize that there was a better way to learn valuable lessons without paying such a heavy price. I started talking with old folks. Not just any old folks, but smart, successful and/or knowledgeable old folks. Buying an old retired boiler man a few drinks and asking questions was like a 9 month course at a tech school as far as information goes. Hanging out with retired race car builders and machinists over a few beers at the VFW Club can teach more than five years of trial and error. Only bad side effect is that all of my old mentors are dead and gone while I am left with a vast accumulation of knowledge they imparted, that no kids today seem interested in learning. I guess they prefer the experience route to the easy one. Or maybe they already know everything.
I think somebody is just fishing for free beer. [:D]
Just kidding. I went and paid a school for the education, AND I paid the bar tab to back it up with some real world experience from others.0 -
I don't believe its jsut kids today. IMO, the generation gap has been ongoing for centuries. I would assume kids in the '50s & '60s were the same. I picked those years since its probably a good representation of the members here.
Young adults believe they're know-it-alls. Its the nature of a young adult in his prime to think that way.
As you mature, you realize that is not the case. That there is a wealth of knowledge, experience, "tricks to the trade" if you will, to be harnessed from the minds of those who've already been there/done that.0 -
quote:Originally posted by dolfan
As you mature, you realize that is not the case. That there is a wealth of knowledge, experience, "tricks to the trade" if you will, to be harnessed from the minds of those who've already been there/done that.
For me right now, its hard to determine which ones know it and which ones BS it.0 -
quote:Originally posted by HandLoad
...and then they go out and make the exact mistakes you would have warned them about....
sounds just like my nephew in MT. AIRY,NC..[;)][:D] he's 18 and wrote the book..Loko0 -
Mt Airy is a nice town. Like to have a place outside town on the river. Upstream ofcourse. 0 -
Mt airy, thats funny. My wife grew up there from the age of 2 to 7. 0 -
bdj, that is exactly why i spend what precious hours i have away from the "real" job at the local smiths
could learn it by screwing things up but that is expensive and even sometimes painful
i am getting to where some of the stuff im doing is actually GOOD that i wouldnt be able to have done for another year or two if ever without his guidance0 -
Well said BDJ! BTW, great to see you posting here! 0
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