The ATF
Let's look at the ATF for a moment. It's the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. These are the three things in the economy that aren't affected by recession. The people that smoke are going to keep smoking as long as tobacco is available. I was at a cigarette store the other day. The guy was obviously hurting but he was going to walk out with a carton of something. I walked out with a box of 200 filtered tubes for $1.70. He walked out with a carton of cigarettes for $35. A few months ago I bought a pound of tobacco that cost about $20. It's still about the same price and I still have enough for a lot left. Eventually these smokers are going to figure it out and get on the ball.
I've been brewing my own beer for years. I also make wine when the juice becomes available. I have the diagrams for a simple still and I know how easy it would be to go that route if I decided to. I will always have alcohol as long as farmers are growing and selling grain. Anyone can make more than enough alcohol to get drunk and stay drunk if they just do a little bit of research. My favorite beer is still cheaper to buy than it is to brew, though, so it'll be a while before I have to resort to that.
Firearms are still accessible by just about anyone. If you're not a monumental fuckup then you can still walk into a gun store, fill out a form and buy a gun. Even if you're a bonofied, monumental fuckup and you've got a criminal record you can still find someone who's willing to sell you a gun via private party if you have any internet savy or you know how to open a newspaper and you live in a free state. I can honestly say that any time I go into a private party gun sale I try to measure up the guy that I'm selling or buying the gun from. Do you really think that the gang bangers can just throw on a polo shirt and khakhis and suddenly start talking like a normal person when they decide that they want to buy a "legal gun"? Do you even think that they care if the gun is legal or not when they have intentions to use the gun that they're buying for illegal purposes? The "legal gun" will probably cost them more than an illegal gun from some jackass who smuggled a truckload of guns across the border, anyway.
So now we're looking at three of the major industries that will do well in a bad economy. People will smoke whether the economy is good or not. When things start to get worse people start looking for people that know how to make some booze. When things start to get so bad that the government doesn't even matter anymore then the firearms that are already in the hands of normal citizens will start to worry everyone who are still trying to figure out how the government lost power in the first place. With all of this in mind I can understand how the ATF got so much power in the first place. They have quite the monopoly on the three parts on the economy that don't actually care about the economy in the first place.
I've been brewing my own beer for years. I also make wine when the juice becomes available. I have the diagrams for a simple still and I know how easy it would be to go that route if I decided to. I will always have alcohol as long as farmers are growing and selling grain. Anyone can make more than enough alcohol to get drunk and stay drunk if they just do a little bit of research. My favorite beer is still cheaper to buy than it is to brew, though, so it'll be a while before I have to resort to that.
Firearms are still accessible by just about anyone. If you're not a monumental fuckup then you can still walk into a gun store, fill out a form and buy a gun. Even if you're a bonofied, monumental fuckup and you've got a criminal record you can still find someone who's willing to sell you a gun via private party if you have any internet savy or you know how to open a newspaper and you live in a free state. I can honestly say that any time I go into a private party gun sale I try to measure up the guy that I'm selling or buying the gun from. Do you really think that the gang bangers can just throw on a polo shirt and khakhis and suddenly start talking like a normal person when they decide that they want to buy a "legal gun"? Do you even think that they care if the gun is legal or not when they have intentions to use the gun that they're buying for illegal purposes? The "legal gun" will probably cost them more than an illegal gun from some jackass who smuggled a truckload of guns across the border, anyway.
So now we're looking at three of the major industries that will do well in a bad economy. People will smoke whether the economy is good or not. When things start to get worse people start looking for people that know how to make some booze. When things start to get so bad that the government doesn't even matter anymore then the firearms that are already in the hands of normal citizens will start to worry everyone who are still trying to figure out how the government lost power in the first place. With all of this in mind I can understand how the ATF got so much power in the first place. They have quite the monopoly on the three parts on the economy that don't actually care about the economy in the first place.
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