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16 Comments

  1. Shana tova Ze’ev!

    Yes, I too grew up in NY and with an awareness of just how bad things could get and how quickly a “civilized” country could rapidly descend into madness. Growing up seeing the concentration camp tattoos on the arms of people that I knew made this very real to me. And finally realizing why we had such a small family as everyone who didn’t make it out was lost to us forever.

    That said, my interest in preparedness is not geared towards just providing for my own family. I believe that the more that a community prepares and the stronger their bonds are to each other, the better off we will all be no matter what happens. So I guess my take on it all is not to find a way to obtain an isolated homestead which I will surround with razor wire and protect with thousands of rounds of stored ammo. I do believe we need each other and we are all only as safe and prepared as our neighbors are.

    1. Ani,
      like you I grew up in a community that had similar experiences , many of the older generation experienced those horrors up close and personal, I never knew until my mothers death in 2017 when going through old letters that my own family suffered the same . My grandfather ( of French Canadian Extraction and had Relatives in Alsace France) served in the US government in the 1930’s as a G-man (FBI) and was recruited in the the then Nascent Agency Called the OSS (Office of Strategic Services ) those heartbreaking letters home after Germany fell. The letters told of him searching for family members in Displaced Person Camps and any other resources he had due to his position , the letters range from June of 1945 to March of 1947. as the letters go on its descriptions of Destruction and the shear amount of people ( Millions) from all over Europe held in these camps waiting to go home, You can see the panic and despair in the writings , its heart breaking.
      No one in my family who stayed behind in Europe Survived .
      The Article Above is a Very Good read and exceptional advice on how to endure such hardship , how can you help others if you are not prepared yourself !
      We as the Children of Survivors owe it to those who bore Testament to the cruelty of those who brought it against their fellow citizens and to never forget the ones who no longer have a voice. For me personally the words “Never Again” is not an empty slogan or just words , it is a way of life and ultimate survival.
      This is the Time to reflect on such history and personal thoughts to improve our own lives to the potential that our creator wants us to become .
      I have 50 relatives who no longer exist in this world , out of a family that size only 5 of us are living. I consider us lucky ( or Devine mercy) to not have experienced the above first hand and will always remember those who did, I strive each day to improve myself and help others .

      G’mar Hatima Tova

      Nightbreaker

  2. What an awesome article. Really enjoyed it. To the author, have you considered that survivalism is a discourse in response to the distance between connectivity and not?

    That perhaps survivalism (as it is most commonly practiced), is an ideological influence as a means to reinforce and raise loyalty toward a particular system of organization? In this way, it ensures that the cycles are maintained and in doing so, eliminates other alternatives?

    Again, really enjoyed this piece.

  3. Finally, a fellow Jew who is waking-up as we did as a Jewish family!

    This says it all about America in your article…

    “This occurs when it discusses the realities facing people now as their economy stagnates, when it discusses what happens now as people increasingly disconnect from their fellow man, lose their human connections, their religion, their ability to form and maintain stable family and community relationships”

    The LEFT, with their anti-Jewish/antichrist principled edicts of feminism (allowing women to have no authority from her husband and the government/tax money as her husband which has caused severe divorce, abortion, lawsuits for equality), marriage for Sodomites, children encouraged to uphold anti-ethical values, society with no respect for authority/law enforcement, a chipping away of the US Constitution (Jehovah given rights)–first/second Amendments now; the rest later, socialism (Venezuela chaos), the attack on the wealthy innovators of society, language police, microaggressions, constant racism promotion where none exists, impeaching a President over nonsense, educating children by Marxists professors then pitching the taxpayer pick up the $1-trillion dollar tab, harassment/physical violence against any voting group other than the LEFT, and the list goes on and on.

    Sorry for the long diatribe, but excited to see Jewish folks waking up as this is no longer the America I grew up in. If we act now, we can save this tragedy about to happen: gutting of American bandwidth orchestrated by the LEFT. Remember the words of John Adams… This country is not for the anti-Jew/antichrist principled…

    “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other…”

    The only way out of this tragedy is to separate LEFTist from state… instead of to separate Church from state–the state governments that the Christian/Jewish Church founded to begin with.

    Shalom

  4. “then went on to thrive by continuing to fight and build their own worlds”
    This article is heady stuff. I should probably read it a few times before commenting but I just can’t help myself.
    I too believe the boundaries of our own worlds expand and contract based upon circumstances. One of my takeaways.
    Relative to my back yard, mother earth is a large planet. There are large cultural differences in the regions of our country. Most differences contribute to our country.
    Dialects, restaurant menus, how we worship, in general good stuff.
    WW2 forced the greatest generation to put aside differences that separated us. Our back yard expanded accordingly. We joined forces and pushed back against evil.

    I have a dear friend who passed away 4 years ago. A week before he passed I asked Tim what is most important to him. He told me he loved and prayed for all of humanity. The treasures that he stored in heaven are his family and friends.
    When we talk about riches this is where my heart goes.
    Even with cancer killing his body, he was not bitter. His faith never waivered.

    In my opinion, much of the new technology and cable news is created to tranquilize the masses. I learn much more when I interact face to face.

    Thank you for the thought provoking article.

  5. Too ethereal, too esoteric. Survival simply means surviving until the threat to survival is over. Outlasting through either skill, planning or forethought or all of the above. Much depends on luck/chance but most depends on preplanning and preplanning includes everything including getting out of dodge before the SHTF.

      1. In that case you are referring to a “people” or a country or all humans. The author wasn’t really talking about “survival” in the way we all think of it, i.e. “will I survive” or “will I and my family survive”. The article basically considers survival of a nation or a people to be a success even if YOU die. I (and you) cannot make my country survive or make my state, county, city or neighborhood survive. I can only do it for myself and “maybe” a few others. IMHO if the SHTF and I do not survive it but everyone else does “I” don’t consider that a “success”.

        1. I cant speak for the author. Survival means “to return.” Return to what? A specific way of living and organizing life. In contrast, the way we normally think of survival is to continue living in the face of a hardship. But, that is a simple understanding. The way survival is practiced today is to buy your way to safety. Some of us take it further with learning skills. But there is always that consumer aspect to the modern use of the word. In addition, there is (and has long been) an individual component to survivalism.

          Because if you think about many of the things survivalists learn, the skills and material items they have, if those groups organized on a large scale, then you have an army. Since there is a monopoly on violence by the state, we get the emphasis of individualism and media narratives that focus on binaries.

          I’ll stop here, but to go back to my point, survivalism is anything but simple. Good stuff, though, OneGuy. 🙂

  6. I so appreciate your thoughts and words, brother. Reading them I was reflecting on something I read today.

    This just in: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-life-changing-magic-of-making-do/?fbclid=IwAR3hkmoe_JcwmDDAkvp6tFLnJugZ7fFHPnpekFPQx8vwpDGj-q25dDiVzLQ

    “We urgently need to bring to our communities the limitless capacity to love, serve, and create for and with each other. We urgently need to bring the neighbor back into our hoods, not only in our inner cities but also in our suburbs, our gated communities, on Main Street and Wall Street, and on Ivy League campuses.”
    ― Grace Lee Boggs, The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century

    Both the article and quote express in slightly different ways what you were saying: Survivalism can be a progressive mindset for how to shape the world as so much of it seems to be slowly heading down an unpleasant path.

    We have many choices on how we shape the world, most seem insignificant. And yet, they make an impact, one that we may never fully appreciate.

    Carry on

  7. zeev here, the writer of the piece.
    thanks for you comments !
    It was a pleasure to get feedback.

    muddy kid, i especially appreciated your thoughts. oneguy—i know this was a bit ethereal. I think when it comes down to it , i felt i had nothing to offer above and beyond the many thousands of articles that already discuss the concrete realities of ‘survivalism’ when it comes to the mundane realities of food, medicine, transportation, heating, housing. what i was trying to point towards is the complexity of the ‘spirit’ of survivalism because in a society and world as complex and multilayered as our own, one that , on top of everything, has to contend with a large and opaque government, it is a sisyphian task to begin even thinking about what the spirit(s) of survivalism are.

    what i’m saying , at the simple level, is survivalism thrives when it is seen as multi textured rather than as a characture that television would have people see. that notion in general is really that television and consumption of IDEAS as entertainment (infotainment) actually cheapens the spirit of many a cultural meme or zeitgeist, and reduces it to peggs for pegholes.

    survivalism [spirit] is the ultimate thing that cannot be oversimplified. it is both social, individualist, communalist, but also anti-communistic, people build walls and fences in their minds about what the spirit is, but we all knwo it when we see it. and one of the fundamental characteristics is thoughtfullness and simplicity of lifestyle, surefootness and confidence in ones self responsibility, but also ones needs to be responsible for others who are part of your team.

    and then what i’m saying is, in many ways, we are all a bit survivalist except for the very few people who are truly stuck int he bubble of self destructive consumptiveness, and that , my own personal philosophy of hope, is encouraged by the fact, that people CAN AND WILL easily and without much heartache be able to do with a lot less of our modern convenicneces as things suffer, and may actually become better off for it.

    i don’t advocate for poverty, but having less cnventional wealth can sometimes encourage a flourishing of the spirit. in particular, i think if all of new workers lost their ability to get dry cleaning done tomorrow, the world might be richer for it.
    i mean, i respect dry cleaning and all, but seriously? dry cleaning? i don’t pay for that except on ocassion for a suit. and even then, i can iron a damn suit, it’s not going to fall apart.

    not to mention dry cleaning is , like golf , incredibly environmentally destructive on a systemic level. which, we don’t have to regulate. the economics of tough times is a very elegant feedback loop . ( not that i’m against golf!…per se. )

  8. Zeev,

    I agree with you in your attitude about golf courses. When I think about “just in time” produce delivery and compare that to the enormous amount of food that could be raised on the land devoted to the pursuit of a little white ball, I get hot under the collar.

    Carry on

  9. Off topic, but somewhat aligned. My son owns an Archery shop and has a shirt that states, “Hunters Haven, it’s like a golf pro shop, but for men.”

    Survivalism is like a great hobby, but it might very well save your life, and many of your loved one’s.

    Another man and I started The Christian Emergency Preparedness Network some years back with the intent of joining the local churches in community preparedness with emphasis on creating contacts based on the value of a connected communications system amongst like-minded Christians, and promoting preparedness from the pulpit.

    I approached ten churches, not one pastor would agree to have that talk from the pulpit. I saw the division based on race and the last president, yet could not get the leading black churches to consider it either. Trying to head off the potential conflict that would become racist by design. I was sorely disappointed as I thought uniting the Christian churches was the most logical way to reach tens of millions and get them to unite and prepare wisely. That’s much of your message, and hope someone else might try this in their neck of the woods. Even if it was within one denomination for starters, it could spread. The church is the most logical avenue to the greatest success. I urge people here to approach their pastor to speak from the pulpit.

    Good article, thanks.

    1. as for the church thing, not off topic at all. religion can be highly survivalistic in many different ways. both at the actual congregation level, philosophical individual level, multi-congregational inter-church level.

      i look at the new fake religions like ‘singularity worship’ also known as ‘transhumanism’ as nothing more than born again materialism in new clothing worshipping ‘baal’ or whatever other balogna golden calves are out there. Wortship artificial intelligence , which is just worshiping the extension of man’s intellects as it is expressed throguh our tools , tools such as computers and medicine—is just another dead end, and a dangerous one at the systemic level. usually a form of worship encouraged by those attempting to decieve others astray.

      the issue, one that i’m fascinated by is that now that we live in a technological age where are tools are understanding are better than ever at explaining away and often solving problems we’ve had and still have for millenia or more—–how do we contend with our new notions of god. i think it’ sthe same old god, but we have a new problem of how to reintroduce god into a world where we think we are infinitely connected through the internet, rather than through universal consciousness (god, or whatever you want to call the spirit) …..it’s a real problem. i think the biggest spiritual problem of our age—same old problem,just we are more materialistic than ever as medicine actually works better than ever and our tools work more effectively than ever to predict and explain our world .

      god has been put in a corner. and man does so at his peril. the survivalist spirit, i think , must reckon with these issues both at the individual level, the family level, the congregation level, the community level, the regional level, and the state level. and sure , if you’re really expansive in your definition…then at the species and ‘global’ level. …but that’s a whole lot of levels!

      plus, i like archery. always had a steady hand, so keep up the good archerying.
      i will leave you with the most impressive archery video on youtube. forget survivalism, you used to be able to conquer the whole world with arrows!
      enjoy.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEG-ly9tQGk

      there’s lots , lots lots lots to think and discuss there.
      religion can be , in general, a force for good if you ask me. I rebelled against a religious grade schooling experience having come from a fairly secular background but being highly educated from my youth in morning till evening parochial and secular studies. i rebelled early, got it over with, went to a secular public high school in new york, and over my 20s and 30s learned the value of religion and community from the perspective of an adult , rather than a somewhat rebellious and impetuous kid . that said, the critical thinking person will almost always have a hard time with being forcefed religion at a young age. it’s a healthy and usually necessary process. not for everyone, but healthy part of the personality mix of society.

      i wonder if jesus wasn’t rebelling against religion in his 40 days in the desert. It seems he started his own way of thinking which helped a lot of people. if the bibles of various faiths have meaning, which i believe they all must and unquestionably do, with the very act of reading and believing in it, then i think most religion’s are due their respect as expressions of survivalism spirit , giving meaning to the world makes you want to live in it and recreate it despite so many seeming zombie individuals and so many seeming good people engaging in bad habbits, as well as institutions corrupted perhaps by a few evil or doomed puppeteeers.

      i really like ‘pirkey avot’ ‘chapters of the fathers’ . perhaps one of the more out of place texts of the jewish cannon. part of the old testament, and applicable to many peoples, even secular ones who may worship power and materialism for its own sake.

      it’s definitely worth reading as much as any survivalist guide to aphorisms and sayings.

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