First, Kurt’s post was brilliant! I would sign on to most of it. But his ‘product segmentation’ has always been around in the form of good, better, best though BBL probably should’ve put the better belt on my P2S.
I’m 80. I’ve seen more magic that anyone would have ever predicted. Certainly my P2S is one of those magic machines. I’m just a ham-and-egger (from Rocky 1). I’ll never have a print farm and will probably never succeed in coming up with a marketable 3D printed product. But I’d like to be free to try and I fear that some upcoming firmware will mistake my gadget for a gun and shut me down.
And make no mistake about it, BBL and all the other makers will comply will demands of U.S. politicians who stay awake at night worrying about my hobby. I’m selfishly unconcered about how the rest of the world controls their people. We (the U.S.) was founded on rebellion.
When I was a teenager in the late 50s and early sixties, gangs made zip guns. To make one, you simply went to the hardware store, got a piece of pipe, some nails, and some rubber bands and you were off to the races. If you were really good at it, you could shoot it more than once. Water pipe and rubber bands weren’t banned. Punishment in those days for violent crime was harsh and swift. The shooters went to prison. The hardware stores were unaffected.
In 2026, you’re still much more likely to succeed in making a gun on your mini-lathe than with your 3d printer. (I know, they’re coming after your lathe too.)
In the U.S., runaway liberalism will take more and more of my freedom under the guise of safety.They know what’s best for me. And a large percentage of those politicians aren’t really worried about my ability to print a gun, they just know a good cause when they see one.
Ain’t that the dam truth. No arguments from me. A kid who grows up being told by his Dad that in the the 3rd grade he and his brother in took on the entire 5th grade in a fist fight and won, grows up thinking that he has to be as good as his Dad or he’s never going to be a man.
Topic switch:
I’m 60 years old. These are the issues facing the planet.
Climate change (regardless of why, it’s happening (1909 was the last time Lake Washington (near Seattle Washington, USA) froze over and based on tree rings and indigenous aural records, that’s the way is has been for at least the last 1,000 years).
Human Population (there is no human population control (other than war) on this planet, and the political issues surrounding it means it’s not going to change.
Depleting resources (there’s a hard limit here and it’s coming fast. National leaders see it and are trying to grab what they can for their people (who “their people” are can be debated).
A lack of a truly effective method to expand to other planetary bodies, and limited political will to create such a method (i.e. very limited budgets here).
In the end, the human species is running toward an extinction event. When? I don’t know. What do I know? I’m 60 years old. My only child is dead at age 20. I have no investment in the future and will be gone in 20 to 40 years. The governments are going to do what they do and I doubt they are going to listen to me. I’m headed to the south Pacific to help sailors and remote communities until I die because I think these are the people most likely to survive the longest.
Print your guns, don’t print your guns. I don’t care. Peace out.
Thank you. I’m still working on it. Leaving the US for a sailboat is probably me going off the deep end, but I really do not want to invest in the country/world anymore. At least I’m not screaming at people anymore. Or wanting to hunt down his dealer. Or wanting his mother put in prison. or, or, or. Yah, still working on it.
There are a lot of people out there with lots of guns who agree very strongly with the American right to self defense. From voluntarily admitted statistics [pew] it’s only about 1/2 as common among liberals vs conservatives, and I know personally I’ve lied to every one of those pollsters on this subject - objective data probably would measure higher. Speaking softly and big sticks. To me personally, It’s a tool, to use when the time arises; so it is almost never at the top of mind the way it is with firearm enthusiasts.
I’m more into carpentry and karma, so if that revolutionary spirit ever finds its time, I’ll be your guillotine guy.
I really do not see any injected language in the post, but that may just be me. The only thing that caught me was “runaway liberalism”. Which with this phrasing, “liberalism” is not referring to liberals/democrats.
Bill is a very level headed guy, I will agree there. Despite the 64 year age difference, I share a lot of the same views and I think the post was written reasonably.
Love the Teddy reference.
To me it is a tool, but it is also a hobby, a right, and a duty. Self defense circumstances are never at the top of my mind. It would be a sad world if that was true. I have kept a firearm in every car that I have owned for the past 8 years (in the glove box), I don’t think about them unless I know I am going on to a site where I would be arrested or trespassed for doing so.
Yeah I do specifically mean the subdividing language of “runaway liberalism.” It turns an otherwise factual post into something that isn’t factual in this slice of time you and I share. Freedoms and privacy are being quickly eroded by those in seats of power, yes. Current tense. Lots of butts in chairs and they have lots of labels. Seem to all answer to bribes though. Cheap ones.
I like to think of them as all of the same species: Used car salesmen, Lawyers, Corporate Executives, and Politicians. All to be identified under the species name: Plaid Suits. Move up on the chain of evolution and you have pond scum.
“…you defeat your purpose when you inject the language of divisive media hysterics…“
Media? I don’t listen to them so I’m pretty sure I have not been influenced by them. Instead, I watch videos of actual people in Congress proposing more and more governmental control of my life. But I don’t lie awake at night making plans to revolt. I’ll be leaving soon so it really ain’t my problem any more as long as I can hang on for another ten years, I’m good.
