St. John’s is a little restaurant downtown Chattanooga owned by Josh Carter. Local economy eateries and shops are less likely to draw the interest of a national brand-conscious terrorist. (Photo St. John’s Restaurant)
By Duke Cumbelich
There are so many reasons to shop at your local small businesses. You are helping your fellow neighbors by supporting the local economy and which provide the majority of local jobs.
The middle class is built on the backs of small businesses. Small businesses do not divide up profits among shareholders spread across the world. They stay in the local economy. Small businesses that grow and expand need the assistance of other small, local businesses to help with expansion. But perhaps the most important reason to do so this holiday season is because of the terror threats by ISIS.
If you are concerned about the threat of terrorism in our area, then you need to be aware of where the most dangerous areas are. The purpose of terrorism is to create terror (or cause panic) among the general citizenry. Terrorists want to hit public places or areas where there are a lot of people gathering.
The preferred targets are outdoors because they enable the terrorists to hit quickly. I believe most terrorists are not concerned with being caught. To the contrary, getting caught is part of the plan. If you’ve noticed, when the Islamic terrorists have been caught they freely give up their identity and their purpose. They take full responsibility because they are seeking to be martyrs to reach paradise. They would rather die for their cause with a hardy “Allahu Akbar!!!” Click. BOOM.
Back to the point, they want to strike during daylight hours in the United States so that they will get widespread media coverage. Further, their targets will be intended to hurt Christians as well as the economy. They aren’t worried about specific dates or holidays because their terror is aimed at creating new days of remembrance.
We all remember 9/11, don’t we? But they won’t specifically target Christian organizations such as churches because they believe the United States is a Christian nation (How little they actually know.) But what opportunities are coming up that would cause large numbers of people to gather outside, early in the day, is the start of a holiday season, and would hurt the economy? Oh, and has a catchy name? If you guessed Black Friday, you would be correct. So you are a terrorist group who wears black pajamas and masks, has a black flag, and recently threatened to turn the White House black. Is there a better name for a day of remembrance? And every big box store around the country will have dozens, if not hundreds of shoppers waiting outside for the doors to open.
Safety in small
France is a country with strict gun control laws. That is possibly one of the reasons for the large loss of life. Nobody could shoot back. But they attacked with fully automatic AK47 rifles, hand grenades and explosive devices. It is just as easy, if not easier, to smuggle guns and explosives into this country as it is France.
If you remember, the federal government was giving guns to criminal organizations in Mexico just a few years ago in an operation called Fast and Furious (LA Times). They lost track of several hundred weapons. And 8 Syrians were just caught illegally crossing our southern border. But I’m sure they were all just women and children refugees, right Mr. President?
So skip the long lines. Avoid the mall areas (which are mostly large, national corporations anyway.) Refrain from Internet shopping and go visit your local, Chattanooga retailers.
Quit worrying that small retailers’ prices are often a little bit higher. You will get dedicated customer service in return. And many small retailers will match the prices of the big corporate stores if asked. Some offer discounts for veterans, law enforcement and emergency responders.
So be safe, have a happy Thanksgiving, merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah.
— Duke Cumbelich owns P5, the preparedness shop, in Chattanooga.
Sources: LA Times, 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.latimes.com/nation/atf-fast-furious-sg-storygallery.html
