Category: Current Events & Politics

Subtle Changes in Rural America, by Hollyberry

My husband and I first moved to Maine eighteen years ago from New Jersey. What a breath of fresh air and change from a crowded, polluted environment. We moved to a small town that was the county seat for an area that is approximately 4,300 square miles and has a very low population. Most folks were really nice but there is a “your from away” mentality with some of the more stubborn folks. I gently reminded some of the more hardcore folks that although I may be “from away”, New Jersey is still part of the United States. I understand …


Transformative Tech: The AR, The Glock, and The Smartphone

In this brief essay, I’ll be discussing three relatively new technologies that have been nearly as transformative to modern society as Gutenberg’s 1448 invention of the movable type printing press. The AR The Armalite Rifle (AR) family of selective fire and semi-auto rifles, pistols, and shotguns have become ubiquitous in the early 21st Century. They have been produced for the U.S. civilian market since 1959. There are an estimated two million new ARs produced each year for private use by American families. There are now roughly 20 million in residential closets and gun safes. Many of those ARs have changed …


Know Who’s Running the Show, by B. Unknown

If the key to survival planning is about awareness, then start with becoming aware of the government of your own community. I don’t know about your town. But in my town, being a team player in local government means ignoring and promoting incompetence and tolerating abusive toxic behavior. If you’re a moron, then this is an easy task. If you are a moron who hates working and just wants to fill a seat and get paid for it and be told how wonderful you are for doing nothing, then this is the place for you. If you cry and complain …


Thinking About Resilience, by C.H. in Kansas

Introduction I would like to direct this article to new SurvivalBlog readers. Perhaps you were referred here by a friend or coworker. Perhaps you stumbled into SurvivalBlog through an internet search. However you arrived, if you’ve taken the time to poke around, you may be overwhelmed by the abundance of information on preparedness both here and at other sites. As of this writing, the war between Hamas and Israel has entered its third week. The death toll continues to rise. Dead and wounded among the victims—the Israeli citizens and other nationals—number in the thousands. Violent demonstrations against the US have …


Some Lessons Learned in Israel’s Kibbutzim

Like most other Americans, I have been closely watching the recent events in Israel.  I traveled there once, as a tourist, for several weeks. On that family trip, we drove up to the northern border with Lebanon, and all the way south to Eilat, on the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba. My wife (Avalanche Lily) has studied Hebrew for many years, and she has traveled to Israel more than a dozen times. In all, she has spent more than three years in Israel. So for us, watching the Israel-Hamas War brings back a lot of our travel memories. Lily lived …


The Societal Effects Of Inflation – Things Are Really Going Bad, by Brandon Smith

Editor’s Introductory Note: This article was authored by Brandon Smith of Alt-Market.us and was originally published at Birch Gold Group. — Historically speaking, inflation/stagflation has always been a disastrous affair. One is hard-pressed to find any legitimate examples of a country that experienced an aggressive inflationary event that came out better for it. A rare scenario would be one in which a nation inflates to fund a war that they then win, but usually negative consequences still happen later down the road. The problem is that the effects of inflation can be subtle and far-reaching, quietly creeping up on a …


Caged Retail Stores: A Sign of Deeper Societal Degeneracy

In this essay, I will be quite brief and to-the-point: The recent waves of large-scale shoplifting, flash mobs, store lootings, and “street takeovers” in America’s cities illustrate a profound change in American society. I can see that it will only be in retrospect that historians will recognize this turning point for America. This is the stage where the basic Social Contract — characterized by civility and trust in retail commerce — has been severed. I found these two articles indicative: Target to partner with Homeland Security to battle organized retail theft — company expects to lose over $1 billion due …


Disease Vector Awareness and Action, by K.B., M.D.

I am writing this article to share with our dear readers the information from several news articles featuring illnesses secondary to disease vectors and also spread due to immigration to the United States or international travel to other countries. It is a broad topic that I will condense for our readers in hopes of increasing not only awareness but also instructing in means of protection and treatment. Disclaimer: I am neither prescribing medicine nor dispensing medical advice. Anything that you choose to do as a result of reading this article is your own responsibility. Always seek out treatment and advice …


Risk Mitigation in the Mid-2020s

Looking at the manifold threats facing the world in late 2023, as an American citizen I cannot help but feel overwhelmed. In a nutshell, these threats include: The threat of regional or world war, stemming from the Iraq, Ukraine, or Taiwan conflicts. Out-of-control government spending and indebtedness. Corruption at all levels of government. Federal agencies running roughshod over our constitutional rights. Selective and vindictive prosecutions driven by politics. High inflation and an increasingly unaffordable cost of living and healthcare. Urbanization and over-complication of supply chains. Malinvestment and misallocation of government spending. Chronic homelessness and growing encampments. Uncompensated Federal mandates on …


Governments Start Calling For Price Controls – Rationing And CBDCs Come Next, by Brandon Smith

Editor’s Introductory Note:  In place of our usual Monday column on Economics and Investing news items, we are re-posting, with permission, this insightful piece by Brandon Smith.  Both his Alt-Market.us site and his premium newsletter The Wild Bunch Dispatch are highly recommended. – JWR — Last month in the middle of the surreal “Bidenomics” hype I published an article titled ‘Nothing Is Over: Inflation Is About To Come Back With A Vengeance.’  I outlined the misconceptions surrounding CPI and how it is not an accurate model for the effects of inflation.  I also noted that the index had been manipulated …


Some Very Bad Law: The ATF’s New “Engaged In The Business” Rule

I’ve had several readers write to ask me about the ATF’s new 108-Page proposed “Engaged In The Business” rule. On August 31, 2023, the Biden Regime announced that it is attempting to redefine “engaged in the business” of selling firearms. This rulemaking will strongly amplify and greatly expand on the wording of the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BCSA) of 2022.  The latter provides that, as applied to a dealer in firearms, the term “engaged in the business” means “a person who devotes time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular …


Never Forget: Leftists Showed Their True Authoritarian Colors During Covid, by Brandon Smith

When I think back to the first days of the covid pandemic lockdowns, I suspect the majority of people, even many conservatives and liberty movement types, had a healthy concern about the effects of the virus and the potential for structural upheaval if it turned out to be as deadly as the World Health Organization initially claimed. If covid had an Infection Fatality Rate of 3% or more as global health officials warned, then the damage would be substantial enough to change our world for many years to come. Anyone who was not at least partially concerned about a biological …


“Bidenomics” Is A Fraud Based On Deliberately Misrepresented Stats, by Brandon Smith

Economic issues are some of the most politically abused issues often because the data politicians exploit is easy to present out of context. The vast majority of the public doesn’t spend their time immersed in the intricacies of monetary policy, unemployment stats and the processes of inflation vs deflation. They hear a soundbite on the news or social media once in a while, assume it must be true and then go on with their day. This is how economic crisis events always seem to take the population by surprise – The establishment tells people all is well and no one …


Using Pop Culture to Teach Survival and Civics, by M.J.

This short article does not teach any particular skills, tactics, or procedures. My only objective here is to offer some suggestions for using pop culture to get children or teenagers to start thinking about survival and to learn about civics. While most pop culture ranges from fluff to downright destructive, there are some gems we can pull out of the trash heap. Some of the examples here are irreverent and some have bad language; that’s the point. Books and sober lectures aren’t always the best way to get people’s attention. Note that I am labeling anything with vulgarity or profane …


Globalists Suggest ‘Finance Shock’ and Climate Controls, by Brandon Smith

At the end of June government leaders and think-tank power brokers from around the world met at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris. Participants include United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President Ajay Banga. The supposed purpose of the summit was to find financial solutions to the goals of tackling poverty while simultaneously curbing “planet-heating emissions.” As with all climate change related events the discussion in Paris inevitably turned to international centralization of power and the formation of a global consortium to fix the …