Iconography And Violence

Thoughts on displaying iconography in the form of bumper stickers as an indicator towards someone bent towards road rage or violence in general?

https://scienceblogs.com/purepedantry/2008/06/17/road-rage-correlates-with-numb

As always one indicator is never enough to draw a reasonable conclusion, but I thought it was interesting as a soft indicator to prime the mind towards physical self-defensive if you find yourself in a situation. Or to assist in doing a cold read on anyone you can link to a vehicle with bumper stickers. Especially stickers with offensive content.

On the other had most showy people are just big talkers, so I don’t know? It seems the more motivated people are to convince you they will act it’s less likely they will, but other times the are accurately forecasting their future behavior. Thoughts?

For that matter thoughts on any iconography in general? Don’t tread on me flags, confederate flags, political bumper stickers remaining long after the election, graffiti, extreme patriotism, certain tattoos and so on.

I certainly see a lot of this being benign especially with certain religious forms of iconography. Although certain narco groups display some catholic saint. And iconography can be used to throw you off the sent and make someone appear benign. No matter what I see it as a disruption from the baseline worthy of consideration.

How it’s used now? Or how flags and other forms could or will be used in a long term grid down situation?

 

Yeah, is there an ignore function on this board? I don't know who this person is, but s/he seems bent on collecting our thoughts and opinions for some reason. I can't think of any reason that works to our good.

 

I understand TMT Tactical, I also have a sarcastic sense of humor that isn't always got by every one.

As far as the original post goes, As far as I can find one of the first and most enduring traits of Homo Sapiens is his varying forms of self and group identification.

To some extent, I think that bumper stickers are a sign of certain personality traits though it varies from place to place exactly what it might tell you. In general, if you place a statement on your car you are declaring your feelings and the fact that you don't care who knows about your opinion. On the other hand the same sticker on another vehicle may simply be a sheeple follow the flock sort of thing.

A conservitive bumper sticker isn't very shocking in Dallas Texas but it might not be well received in Chicago Illinois. The more controversial the sticker is the more likely that person is to be agressive I think. If for example you drive though Harlum or Watts with Stars & Bars on your truck you probably are not to worried about it causeing some anger or any responce to it.
More later. Have to go to bed.

 

Most people seem to have a need to be, or at least feel, like they are part of a group. The clothes that you wear, the style of your hair even your shoes are all statements of who you are or want to be. Some people don't seem at first to have this need but in the end, they will conform to something even if it is mostly being a non-conformist. Some people put things on their cars and trucks hoping to be identified as part of a group because of some perceived advantage. A lot of people like this have window decals stating that they are supporters of law enforcement type charities.

The thing about all of this self-identifying is that it isn't always the truth especially in the political arena. People are rather saying what they think others want to hear. I have a hard time believing that everyone that identifies as a Democrat actually believes all the stupidities that they call their platform. Republicans are no better off. The party says a lot but then basically does none of it.

In general, even when they control the White House, The House and Senate they let the Democrats do most anything that they want to do. I, unlike most people, REMEMBER the Republican Contract with America and how they laughed at our stupidity and did NONE of the things that they promised. I remembered, " Read my lips, NO new taxes!" I remember the promises before the last election. Two years into it we still don't have a wall and we still have Obama care. In the end result, there is not much difference in the ACTIONS of the dumbocraps and the rapeyoublicans.

Politicians use Iconography as a tool to influence people. All too often it is used to anger people. Let us be real, nobody paints or puts a Confederate battle flag on their car to celebrate their Confederate background. If they wanted to do that they would instead fly the National Flag of the Confederacy.



The Stars and Bars were the Battle banner of Robert E Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Because it was adopted by the KKK it has gotten a bad rap much like the Swastica which a=was a long honored symbol used by a lot of people on several continents long before Germany was even a nation.

Often opponents twist the meaning of another groups icons. I do NOT understand what is bad about wanting to make America great again. If you don't want your country to be great and its people to have a good life you need to leave, not attack people that wish this.

One of the things about iconography is that the meaning of various symbols are not understood the same by everyone. Symbols change their meaning over time. People that pay too much attention to and get angry at bumper stickers are often just looking for something to annoy them.

If I see a car with a bunch of bumper stickers I just figure that is their way to call out and beg, "Pay Attention To ME!!!"

 

Click on the person's name and you will see it.
(Unless you have me on ignore, in which case you won't see this either)

 

Your concern is well grounded . At one point I had a kid that was effectuated with my daughter that came by my house occasionally . He is now a C.I.A. agent . She was surprised to here from him about 20 years later . He called her phone and told her he had noticed some one was sending fake messages on her phone . She at this time was living in a different state , with a different last name and different phone , but he knowed exactly who she was and suppose to a certain extent had been monitoring her phone calls . I will repeat the same advice that a friend of mine gave me . My friend goes to Washington D.C. every year to speak to the out of touch politicians on what is actually happening in ground roots every day America . When I expressed my concern over being monitored , he told me just don't do anything illegal .

 

Great advice right up until they make you illegal. How long until being a Christian is illegal? When they finally outlaw all guns do you turn yours in or are you now illegal? How long until speaking against left wing causes is illegal? How many felonies do you commit every day without even knowing it?

 

The fact is that no matter what you do, say or worry about if the cops want you they simply shoot you, plant a few pills on you and drop a throw down gun and it is done. I stopped worrying about them a long time ago. When there is nothing that you can do about a problem worrying about it doesn't help. Since then my relations with cops has become much less strained. In the past, my experiences with thugs were better than most of my experiences with cops. At least when a thug messes with you, you have the right to defend yourself.

 

Anonymity is the best policy. Don't have vanity license plates on your car. Don't have pro-gun stickers ... unless you like having your truck searched.

Were I a mass murderer, I'd have a couple of flower shop stickers on my car

Always allow your enemies to reveal intel on themselves. You are just a bystander, right? Right.

Operate on your terms and in the dark.

Does the smoke from smoke grenades stop bullets? It stops the enemy from knowing precisely where you stand.

 

It depends on where you live. Around here NRA decals are about as common as the University of Texas and Texas A&M decals. Plus, it is perfectly legal to have a gun in your vehicle even without having a concealed carry license. It is considered YOUR territory and is covered by the castle law. My truck is a rolling armory and the cops only have to ask and I will tell them what I have and where. They are fine with that as long as I leave them there. I did have on that was interested in my sword on the gunrack. He liked it and we chatted about swords and knives for a while.

 

Much the same in Tennessee, especially in East Tennessee. Whole nuther story out Memphis way. Shelby county, the county in which Memphis resides, is responsible for over 80% of the state's penitentiary inmates. Parts of Memphis you don't enter after dark without being armed. When in Memphis, I was carrying.

We had reason to travel to Memphis on several occasions -- you can go from safe to condition orange in two city blocks. That city's police do not want to see armed civilians -- even the civilized ones. The cops there are on-edge. Study Memphis' crime areas before going there -- it's best if you are just passing through. Nashville and Chattanooga are much the same, but not as bad. Decades ago, I was in a Chattanooga mall and they had a kiosk that was covered in wanted posters. Mall on the other side of Chattanooga was civilization central.

Thought I was going to have to use my chopped 9mm in Nashville one night. Turned out to be totally benign, almost funny. Guy was scoping me out. Had my hand on my weapon. Then his prostitute came out the back of a business. He thought that I was the heat scoping him out. Neither of us were in danger, however that section of town was a condition yellow area.

 

I think to some extent that sort of crap just goes with the frictions in a big ant pile. There are parts of Houston and Dallas that aren't good places to be after dark. The difference is that we are all able to be legally armed. that makes criminals REAAAALY nervous. If I am attacked and snap a cap on a known violent felon they will hardly look at me twice. Also, the cops that aren't playing cowboy in the big cities are getting increasingly comfortable with an armed citizenry. There have been a few instances where a civilian came to the aid of the cops and it was a citizen that went after that terrorist that hit in a church here.

It just goes to the way people think. I will defend my wife and kids with my life. Most people will agree to that. I am a Texan and I will defend YOUR wife and kids with my life. To do less is unimaginable for me. Our cops in the less liberal and smaller cities are sort of beginning to change their dffinition of who is us and who is them.

 

Might have been Gary Kleck's study (?), but one study asked felons convicted of armed robbery if they avoided someone that they thought were armed. The felons said, "Yes." Y'know, criminals stake-out houses, well of course they also size-up people based on how they carry themselves and other body cues -- eyes, how people direct their eyes. If they spotted weakness they'd attack. If they spotted self confidence or the potential victim looked more like he could turn you into a victim, then they'd leave that guy alone. If somebody walked / held their arms like they were carrying, guess what, they'd leave that guy alone. So that's it, according to criminals, firearms prevent crime. To me and those in the know (TexDanm, one for instance), to us this evokes a "Duh!"

What follows is a side story; it's me rambling on (only if you are creepily curious will you read this): My dad was a gambler and he could read people. After he died, some of his buddies hired me for the legal side of their businesses (everybody pushed me to go to college, not military, not running gaming machines); they were all like my uncles, they knew me since I was in diapers. Just like my dad, these guys could burn holes through your head with their dead stares. They'd been in wars, didn't want their kids, the family's kids to be in another stupid war; maybe they were scarred (?), their business. They were waaaaaaayyyyy past brave, they were in some other reality. Sometimes they'd take mind-numbing chances -- and not for the money. And some paid for it. ...... I'm rambling stop that... ok So these guys are with this wet-behind-the-ears young man, one on one two of us are driving around town, whatever. So in this bubble, one guy, the next guy, the next guy, they open up to this kid, they knew this kid's dad in life. They open up and start telling me some of the stories. We'd drive by some bar, I get a story that happened there. We'd drive by a warehouse, I'd get a story about what happened there. So sometimes we'd be in a gambling house, yeah I'm not supposed to be there, but there was money there to be counted, piles of coins to roll. Oh the living stories there. I'm drifting off.