quantity is its own quality

QUANTITY IS ITS OWN QUALITY
Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Okay, the above has nothing to do with this article, but the date is right. Not knowing much about the event, I’m guessing from casual observation that it was a religious conflict. But I like to think it is a statement against tyrants. Don’t I have a minion in the UK? Cultural context would be welcome here.
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Our Germany Minion ( actually I might have two-the e-mail and given names sometimes confuse my imperfect recall ) I believe was the one that made the comment on his Russian comrades saying something along the lines of quantity having a quality all its own. I loved that. Now, I’ve had my run ins before with Russian peasants, as I recalled to you, while I was working at the casino. At first they were just rude bastards but as soon as I snarled back and didn’t kiss their ass we got along fine. On reflection, I can see where they were coming from and so it doesn’t bother me any more. I was showing weakness at first, from their point of view. My point is that besides the initial problems, I always thought Ruskies were pretty cool. The above folk wisdom just reinforces that. Sure, I wanted to kill them when they were commies and I was employed by Uncle Sam, but since the end of the Cold War and since we’ve become more socialist than they are, I no longer feel so militant.
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Going back to the Great Patriotic War, Russia was able to defeat its foes through massive defense works. You’ve all heard the stories of tractor factories switched over to tank production. No matter how good the Germans were, how advanced the technology, the Russians simply overwhelmed them with numbers. A super deluxe tank with much better armaments will still succumb to ten tanks surrounding it and shotgunning it. And, as I never tire of telling you, we are now in the same position as the Nazi’s were. We lack resources and an energy supply ( today’s newest figures has the oil imports on track for an almost ten percent decline this year ) so we try to make up for it with technology. In the long run it won’t work. Anyway, the Russians are still able to utilize the same kind of strategy. They didn’t piss away all their resources driving back and forth across a continent and supporting a parasitic banker class. They are still able to substitute quality with quantity.
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I’m not claiming that a ultra-bad piece of crap, even in huge numbers, will necessarily work. I’m saying that marginal quality ( not extreme poor quality ) can be made much better with quantity. Rawles, bless his pea pickin heart, has introduced to the prepper lexicon the “two is one, one is none”. Same thing. Our only difference is he still insists of high quality in his multiples. I feel much more secure with lots of “okay” quality rather than just a few high quality goods. I’ll take a dozen $5 stainless steel straight razors over two $60 German steel products. I’ll feel much better with a half dozen WWII surplus bolt actions than I would with two SKS’s. No, you can’t shoot more than one at a time. But that isn’t the point. The point is that stuff breaks. Stuff is stolen. Stuff needs to be replaced after our factory system ( well, okay, China’s factory system ) fails. Only deep stockpiling will work long term. Stockpiling is not a perfect system, but in any collapse scenario it is essential to get you to the next phase of survival ( stockpiling is mainly to survive the collapse and give you time to transition to low tech ). And when you are poor, middlin quality is as good as it’s going to get.
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I’ve talked about this before. I bring it up after ordering those wool pants I told you about yesterday. A minion had care packaged me a pair of fleece bibs for the cold. I love them, thought that was a great gesture, but it is only one. I need quantity. Four pants at $8 each after shipping, brand new heavy wool pants. I can slip them over my slacks and laugh mirthfully at the cold ( I have the plastic rain pants for the occasional wet and cold ). Now I feel my stockpile level is sufficient in yet another item. Just like my other cold weather gear. Three pairs of snow boots, a dozen wool glove liners, five pairs of heavy mittens, a half dozen thermal pants, a half dozen wool socks, at least a dozen wool sweaters. All bought cheaply, but there is never enough. More, more! Quantity is its own quality. I’ll be stockpiled long after the collapse. That stockpile should actually outlive me, even if I am the last one in the stewpot.
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