The Outlaw's Handbook

by Charles Sledge

  The Source Of Respect

  Respect comes from a man’s strength plain and simple. A man who isn’t strong isn’t going to be respected. He may be “good”, he may be moral, and he may be a “pillar of the community” but he will not be respected. Sure he’ll get the plastic “respect” of those around him. The babbling masses but as soon as something goes wrong they’d turn on him and tear him down in a second. The respect like the bond with fair weather friends is ultimately meaningless. Yet if they respect you and your strength even if they’re weak and worthless as friends/brothers/members of the gang you don’t have to worry about them getting one over on you because of the respect they have for you that comes from your strength.

  Look at it this way let’s say we have two men. Jackson and Tim. Both live in a small town of a couple thousand people or so. Tim has bought into the modern system. He believes that violence is something that should never be tolerated and is never the answer. He believes that the more he does for others the better off he’ll be. Nearly the entire community has been impacted by Tim in a positive way. He’s opened his house to others, he’s work day and night at the battered women’s shelter and he’s always there every Sunday to give his 10% to the church though of course being Tim he never makes a big deal out of it.

  Then we have Jackson. Jackson just got out of prison for a violent altercation. He is ex-military which gives him some respect around the community but other than that is known as a scoundrel. He steals and lives as he pleases. Now let’s say something tragic were to befall this town. Let’s say the governmental policy of the country where they live has made it to where food is scarce and combined with a nearby war people are starving. A mass of villagers the same villagers that were so helped by Tim and cheated by Jackson band together to scrounge up some food. Tim has stock piled food just for this occasion and offers it to them.

  They thank him but soon return for more. Tim gives all he can to them even cutting his own shares to share with the community. Then one day a group of villagers come out to Tim wanting more they say Jackson stole their share of bread. But Tim turns them away and points to Jackson across the street and says “We’ll go get it back from him”. Jackson sits there watching them through steely eyes knowing on his “ill gotten” bread. The villagers look at Jackson there are three of them there but perhaps they could take him but then they turn to Tim who has another share left. Tim refuses to give it to them. A fight breaks out and Tim is fatally injured in the scuffle. The villagers take all of Tim’s bread and leave sprinting past Jackson as he rises from his chair.

  You can give someone everything you have but if there is no respect for you they’ll simply treat you as a tool to be used and then discarded. Likewise you could take from someone everything but if they have respect for you and your strength then they’ll treat you at the very least as an equal but far more likely as a greater. It’s human nature, it’s not pretty but it’s true. The outlaws knows this and has seen this play out and therefore seeks respect first and foremost. If he is hated so be it, it matters little in the grand (and true) scheme.

  Real Respect

  There is a difference between what one would call true respect and fake respect. One is as we stated above not something that can be negotiated. The villagers who killed Tim couldn’t negotiate the respect they had for Jackson though they could and did “negotiate” the “respect” they had for Tim. One was based on strength one was based on he was convenient at the time and social convention. One is based on something that cannot be changed or moved the other is as stable as a leaf blowing in a hurricane. Still one moment than slamming to the ground in the next. Tim found this out the hard way. This is the difference between respect based on strength (real respect) and “respect” based on niceties or morals.

  False respect (the one we’re “supposed” to give to certain people) means nothing when it comes down to it. It’s a mist, an illusion of no real substance and which counts for nothing when the cards are down. Whereas real respect based on strength is a respect that cannot be changed and is always there. This real respect is the only kind of respect that matters. If someone respects you for things other than your strength that respect will fly out the window once they are put under pressure (or even inconvenienced a little) this happens to employees, spouses, and other people time and time again. If you can’t destroy someone utterly and completely they’re going to have a hard time respecting you and will stab you if it means saving their own skin.

  Respect is all, the outlaw knows this. He has lived too close to reality to be foolish enough to rely on the goodness of others, even those within his own gang. He knows what lies behind the plastered smiles and docile nature of the herd. Someone may like you even “love” you (whatever that word means) yet will turn on you like wolves as soon as it’s inconvenient to like or “love” you. Respect is non-negotiable. No one can decide if they want to truly respect you, they simply do at a primal level. Seek out respect based on strength and you’ll have a firm base to fight from in this world.

  An Outlaw’s Loyalty

  After describing the outlaw you may be thinking “Sure he may be powerful and masculine, but I don’t want to become an amoral sociopath and therefore this isn’t for me. But you see the outlaw isn’t without morality, kindness, goodness, morality, and all those things that help civilization along when people play nice. Rather he reserves it for those that actually deserve it. So while the average citizen is told to be nice, loving, and loyal to the state and all within the state. The outlaw picks and chooses who he shows kindness and loyalty to. it’s isn’t something that is freely given it is something that has to be earned and it is not easily earned.

  The average citizen is told to be loyal to his enemies and his masters as loyal as he is to his family and friends who (ideally) care about him. How does this make any sense? To be kind and loyal to those who would use and destroy you? The outlaw loyalty is to those that are within his gang, his circle, everyone else is treated as whatever they present themselves to be. If they wish to be an enemy or attempt to enslave to outlaw then they are dealt with. If they are innocent and just happen to be standing by in this world then nothing bad will befall them. As I’ve said elsewhere the outlaw doesn’t seek to enslave others.

  It’s a pain keeping them in line and the outlaw performs better on his own anyways. He’ll fight attempts at one trying to take his own freedom but has no interest in taking the freedom of others simply for taking the freedom of others or for his own ends. Only if one stands in the way of the outlaw does he get dealt with by the outlaw. Those within the outlaw’s loyalty are treated with kindness, love, and respect. They are shown softness because they won’t attack the outlaw ruthlessly for showing such things as the world as a whole would. They would never use the outlaw and if they tried they would be destroyed for the outlaw has no mercy for his enemies and those that come against him. Even if they do it in a roundabout way.

  Loyalty Is Earned

  With this being said one doesn’t get the outlaw’s loyalty simply because he wears the same badge, has the same skin color, or has the same beliefs. Snakes and rats come in all different shapes and forms many similar to the outlaw’s own. A outlaw looks at a man’s character and judges him based on it. Though he knows he can’t be allies with all and doesn’t care to be he knows that one of the most important skills he can learn is to be a good judge of character. An outlaw’s trust and respect must be earned before his care and kindness are earned. Not only must it be earned but it must be tried and tested as well. He knows anyone can fake something for some time.

  Loyalty like respect isn’t something that is given out freely. There are no “We’re both human so we both deserve respect” that is bullshit. Belonging to the same species does not mean one should respect the other and sets one up for being taken advantage of and destroyed in this world. Wolves tear each other’s throats out and man is no better, and may in fact be worse. When you go around with open arms you signal t
o the entire world that is filled with predators that not only are you weak but that you are also a fool. You are an easy mark, easy prey. You will be taken advantage of until it’s better to take you out completely.

  Such is the fate of one who gives his loyalty, kindness, and love away freely. However when loyalty must be earned not only does it prevent one from being destroyed so easily but it is also worth much more. No one has respect for the man that “respects all” (if that’s even possible) nor does anyone have love for the man who “loves all” for it is then meaningless. While an outlaw may put his life on the line fighting for a brother he’d let the mass of humanity die in a ditch and laugh as he passed. Meanwhile the “man” who “loves all” is doing what? Simply virtue signaling harder and harder to show his love, yet would he lay down his life for every passerby? Even those that’d happily kill him and make use of his family?

  Crossed Loyalty

  Because the outlaw’s loyalty is true and runs so deep it is a deep insult when it is crossed. Cross an outlaw’s loyalty and you become something worse than an enemy, you become a traitor. While an enemy can simply be defeated and disposed of a traitor is someone who must be made an example of. Come against someone face to face and toe to toe and when you best your enemy you allow him to die without further ado. However when one comes at your back with a knife then things change. They cannot simply be defeated but must be made as an example of what happens when one crosses your loyalty and kindness.

  A former friend turned enemy is always more bitter than one who has been an enemy since the beginning. A crossed loyalty is one of the greatest of insults as well as a testing of one’s strength. Do you allow it to pass or to you make it right? The outlaw always makes it right and makes an example out of those who cross him. Much of these can be prevented by happening by vetting each and every person you give your loyalty to hard and often but even then there are those that simply do not get it and do not care. Those are the ones that an example must be made of. This can happen in business, relationships, war, and every other realm of human endeavors.

  When an outlaw’s loyalty is crossed he acts like one of the gods of old jealous and all-consuming in their rage when they have been blasphemed. While the outlaw may not cause fireballs to rain from heaven or every first born to die he does what is necessary to ensure that his loyalty is never crossed again and that all know he will not lie down and let others walk on him, especially to those that he has shown his rare kindness and loyalty to. An outlaw’s loyalty is hard won and even harder crossed. The outlaw also realizes that the weakness of humanity keeps most from being worthy of loyalty and that humans will turn on one another as soon as they are inconvenienced or pushed. Only a few noble souls are worthy of true loyalty and love.

  The Outlaw Plays To Win

  Have you ever held back? There are certainly times when it’s warranted. For example sparring with a member of your pack, training a student, and a few other times and places when it’s acceptable. But once you leave the ring and face someone or something that is not a brother looking to sharpen you and you him or a student looking for your teaching then things change completely. The only thing that counts outside a match is victory or defeat. There are no rules in battle there are only victors and losers. To the victor goes the spoils while death and slavery go to the loser. There is no nobility in defeat outside of the ring. There is no nobility in being defeated in the real world.

  The outlaw understands this and always plays to win and always play for keeps. Because that is how the world works. There is a time for training and a time for war. A time to use rules and a time to throw them away completely. The only thing that counts in the real world is winning, there are no second place winners for the most part. When presented with a challenge most have the faulty mindset of using “just enough” of whatever to complete it. They want to use “just enough” brain power, “just enough” effort, and “just enough” force to get what they want. While others use all that they have to take victory. And when these two forces meet one is always blown out of the water because “just enough” is never going to cut it.

  “Just enough” ensures defeat when the it really counts. “Just enough” ensures that you’ll end up losing more than winning and that’s not a way to live a good nor a long life. You must always come ready to go the distance. If you show up to the fight without any fight in you (wanting to do “just enough”) then you’re not going to make it through plain and simply. Not only must you be willing to go the distance whatever that may be but you must be willing to go the distance and further under harder circumstances than your opponent. That is the direction in which victory lies. No half measures, no lukewarm feelings. A singleness of purpose and an unwavering dedication to your cause and fight.

  Staying Sharp

  Many live their lives in a sort of haze. They live only half awake unware of what goes on around them. Because of this they make for easy targets and easy pickings. No fool can acquire much for long without it being taken from him by one smarter, quicker, stronger, or just plain better. In order to always be ready to go the distance and fight to win, one must keep himself sharp. An animal that loses his edge is an animal that is slated to die. Not staying sharp is like going into a knife fight with a dull knife. No matter your previous experience or know how you’re not going to come out the other side ahead.

  Generally life throws us enough to stay sharp on our own. With the challenges that come from every angle, constantly fighting and constantly overcoming whatever is thrown at us keeps us sharp. Yet even with all of that we can keep an ever sharper edge by always maintaining ourselves and training. Maintaining (if not improving) not only our physical body and skills but also our mind and wisdom. It all plays a part in who comes out on top. There is no single one factor that decides everything which is why we must develop them all. Like a fortress that has walls on every side not just a few. A fortress with three walls in the middle of a plain might as well not have any.

  Dullness is extinction. When you lose your edge you become prey. You may say “Well yes this is true for the outlaw because of the life that he has lived” but you’d be wrong. It’s true for us all. It’s just as true for the suburb dad or the corporate drone as it is for the outlaw. We like to think that we live insulated from the way the world works but we don’t. We may not face life and death (or we may) but the mechanisms are all still the same. You will still be seen as a target and taken out accordingly. Staying sharp prevents this from happening. Though we all must go eventually.

  Show No Mercy, For You Will Be Shown None

  Mercy is as they say something that works well as a intratribal ideal but is not for those outside. For those outside you must press every advantage and go for victory at all costs. You must show no mercy for you will be shown none in return and any weakness that you expose will be used against you. Outside the gang’s hideout mercy is not used. Even if you were to place arbitrary rules on yourself and they were agreed to as soon as your enemy could they would use them against you. All that happens in this instance is that the honorable are destroyed because of their foolishness of thinking the enemy knows the meaning of honor, something that only exists between groups of men banded together.

  Perhaps you will get lucky and face worthy and honorable enemies that share your sense of honor. Even so betting your future on luck is a guaranteed way to end up somewhere you don’t want to end up. Not to mention that this world rewards rats, cowards, and cheats more than anything else and if you do have honor and are strong these rats, cowards, and cheats will hate you all the more. They’ll hate you for not being the docile sheep they can do as they please with and they’ll hate you from standing against the slave masters that pad their pockets so well. Meaning that most of your enemies will come from this class.

  A class that cannot be reasoned or talked with but simply destroyed and defeated. They must be met measure by measure and even more. If they use knife use guns, if they use guns use bombs, and so on and
so forth. Not playing to win ensures one thing and one thing only. Death, defeat, destruction, or whatever else you want to call it but there is nothing noble or good about it. No matter how you ended up there. And if you’re looking for a good name for history when then hell there’s nothing better than victory to do that. The victors are always the good guys in the history books no matter how wretched they actually were.

  The Duality Of An Outlaw

  When it comes to talking about the outlaw it’s important to realize that he represents duality if not a paradox of sorts. Here’s what I mean by this. I want you to think of the outlaw, what comes to mind? Of course it’s going to be different for different people. Some people are going to think of a Hollywood movie portrayal, while another is going to think of a local gang or perhaps their own, while another is going to think about a loner that brings to mind “outlaw” when they think of them. My point is while we may often think of an outlaw as a loner and a fierce individualist the truth of the matter is that outlaws generally reside in gangs. Even a powerful man is not going to last long on his own, when compared to how long he’d last with others around him.

  Yet we cannot help but notice an outlaw’s love of individuality (by standing out from the masses) as well as a love freedom. An outlaw swears to oath to a loyal and trusted few to declare himself separate from the nothingness that makes up the masses and not having an identity. So the outlaw is both a “rugged individualist” as well as a gang member and leader. He represents what is best about one who wishes to stand on their own two feet with what is best about the practicality of having other men around you on your side. One could learn much from this well balanced duality of the outlaw. One can be an individual without being a fool and one can be part of a group without suffering the same fate.

  A lone wolf appeals to the imagination but a strong gang appeals to reality. What the outlaw seeks is a group of “lone wolves” that are simply alone because they live among masses of sheep and yapping sheep dogs. However when these lone wolves become part of a pack they don’t suddenly turn into sheep. They stay wolves, but wolves in a pack. That is the outlaw and his gang. They are separate from the masses yet bounded and bonded to one another. One can be both a lone wolf that stands apart from the sheep yet also part of a pack. As a matter of fact that is the ideal that an outlaw strives for. No gang of sheep ever accomplished something and no sheep on his own does anything but feed predators.