Treachery Is Close To Silence

By Jim West

Updated: June 11, 2015

TREACHERY IS CLOSE TO SILENCE

What I mean that “Treachery is close to silence” (James Smokey West) is in the definition of TREACHERY: A HARMFUL THING THAT IS DONE IN SECRET; HARMING SOMEONE WHO TURSTS YOU and being complacent because of conditioning. I want to take a moment to discuss my views on safety and security from a personal perspective and what I see daily as people who ride the train and those of us who have been conditioned in the playing field to be complacent. I ride a train into NYC nearly every day. It reminds me of Lemmings running and falling off a cliff into the sea. It seems in the major hubs, with mass transportation, carpooling and more; we are being herded like cattle. This is a bigger problem than it appears. All I see is people complacent in their travels, standing within inches of one another trusting that no one will hurt them. Our guard and even our natural instincts are being lowered and disregarded as a nation. People wearing hoodies over their heads, in the subways, trains or streets and close to where you feel safe who will follow you home and enter behind you as you walk into your building and so often you are prey to these sick predators because you are complacent. The people on the train and the subways that try to disengage to “protect themselves” in an effort ignore everything and everybody around them as if no one else was nearby, when danger is only inches away. Do you look at someone with a backpack and wonder anything, even after seeing the terroristic damage it has done so many times before. Are you really looking or have you become conditioned to your environment?

If a thug decides to resist arrest and fight back when an officer of the law attempts to detain and question anyone, the officer is becomes the target. Resisting arrest is clear and the outcome is clearer. Who is the bad guy here and not saying there are not bad police but why give them a venue to react.

What I am saying is that we are being trained to accept anything and everything, surrounding us as human beings. We are born with survival instincts and are simply taught to ignore them. At best we are trained to become the victim by allowing the threat to enter our personal space without the ability to defend ourselves. Think about this. In war and in peace as a nation we have traditionally been unpredictable and difficult to read.

The world I grew up in we were also motivated to never give in and keep trying even if you at first don’t succeed, we simply adjusted and conquered. Other countries would look at not completing a task as a failure, me Jim West, just a set-back. We are becoming like a can of sardines, dead with your eyes open. Set-backs mean we keep trying to make this better. I would encourage everyone to watch or read the news and see what’s really going on around you. There is a threat and it’s probably closer to you every day than you realize. If you choose to ignore the possibility you could become a victim, you are only fooling yourself and empowering the criminals, crooks and crazies and now terrorists like ISIS.

I wanted to keep this short and sweet and send a message; you could be the next victim. You should prepare yourself for the worst thing that could happen in order to reduce the possibilities. Trust should be earned. There are many snake charmers and smiling faces out there attempting to win your confidence just to set you up for their success, be it robbery, murder, kidnapping or just to steal your heart. Be wise and train.

Remember, Treachery is Close to Silence.