Category: Current Events & Politics

The Time Has Come To Fully Diversify: Retreating From Banks And From The Dollar Itself

The recent political crisis over the delayed raising of the U.S. debt ceiling was just a precursor of a much larger crisis that will occur when interest rates inevitably rise. Once they do rise, it will become impossible for the Federal government to service its debt without massive monetization and concomitant mass inflation. There may also be some draconian stopgap measures such as levies on bank accounts (a.k.a. “bail ins”), nationalization of private pension funds, nationalization or forced common stock purchases for IRA and 401(k) plans, currency controls, bank holidays, bank withdrawal limits, currency recalls, limited access to safe deposit …


Credit Market Derivatives: The Eve of Destruction

Interest rate turmoil again affected holding company trading revenues heavily in the first and second quarters of 2013. According to the latest report from the U.S. Office of the Compttroller of the Currency (OCC), rate trading derivatives losses were $3.018 Billion in 1Q 2013 and $3.804 Billion in 2Q 2013. It is noteworthy that the present-day casino in credit derivatives has built up in the era of ZIRP, where interest rate changes have been miniscule. The losses reported in the first two quarters were apparently triggered by the unexpected rate moves of less than 20 basis points. (Two tenths of …


We Have Lost Our Way, by An Optimist in the Redoubt

This may inflame some folks, but for others I hope it jogs our brain cells to ask, how did we get to this spot, and why are we of this prepper mindset? Think back to the early sixties (if you can), 6th grade in sunny California, and unlike my folks who suffered through the Great Depression, life was good.  NY Yankees’ Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were hitting away, trying to break the Babe’s home run record.  Every kid in my school played ball, at every opportunity, and you carried your glove with you, everywhere…it was a mark of boyhood. …


Letter Re: EBT Card Chaos Parallels “The Wayward Journey”

Hi James, I just came across the news story about some EBT cards to have apparently unlimited balances leading to the almost cleaning out of a Wal-Mart before the computer glitch was corrected. I bring this up because it is a near perfect parallel to the situation Nathan Hale Jefferson put in “The Wayward Journey” which I reviewed several months back.  He deserves a pat on the back for anticipating this. – Harry


The SurvivalBlog Social Media Glossary

I’m often asked about social media, forums, and meetup/networking web sites as a method for preppers to get together. I generally discourage the use of social media, as a big OPSEC risk. As I’ve warned my readers many times in SurvivalBlog, these sites are intelligence-gathering vacuum cleaners for self-incrimination, plain and simple. It has been well established that the NSA gobbles up as much information as it can and wherever it can. Even if what you mention about your private life in Tweets and Facebook posts is presently legal and commonplace (such as food storage, hunting, and shooting), that doesn’t …


Guest Article: National Call to Action: Time for a Change of Government and Leadership to Save the Republic, by Paul E. Vallely

‘The fate of the country is now in our hands’ It is is time for “Forced Resignations” initiated by our Citizens!   Our federal government continues down the path of destroying America. Americans must now stand up and put America back on the right track. The federal government has not subsided in “sucking the oxygen” out of America and its people with legislation and without the action required to solve our problems. The National Call to Action of the people begins now! And we call to action all branches of government to do your constitutional duties and not be led …


Life in the Year 2020: America With 20/20 Hindsight

By the year 2020 we may be in the midst of (or in the early stages of recovery from) a major depression or perhaps even a full-blown socioeconomic collapse. An old saying is: “Hindsight is 20/20.” So here is a gedanken: What will people observe in the year 2020, with the benefit of hindsight? The following is my conjecture on what folks will cite when asked: “What went wrong?” Profligate government spending at all levels Multigenerational welfare Rampant food stamp dependence (1/6th of the populace, as of 2013!) Loss of American competitiveness Declining academic standards and performance Decline in manufacturing …


Letter Re: Thoughts on Barbara Tuchman and System Fragility

James, I was reading Tuchman’s seminal work The Guns of August last night and found this quote, where she describes the emphasis in 1910 by author Norman Angell in his book The Great Illusion on how the increasing connectedness of business and nations would assuredly preclude future conflict: ‘By impressive examples and incontrovertible argument Angell showed that in the present financial and economic interdependence of nations, the victor would suffer equally with the vanquished; therefore war had become unprofitable; therefor no nation would be so foolish as to start one.’ This cited work was published in 1910, just prior to …


Embarrassing Truths: An Example of Why You Shouldn’t Trust Wikipedia

As I’ve mentioned before, Wikipedia’s editors have strong leftist and statist biases. This is evidenced by the way that they selectively delete content and gradually push the Point of View (POV) of articles to match their world views. According a SurvivalBlog reader in Switzerland, the following section was deleted from Wikipedia by members of an anti-gun Wikipedia cabal on August 14, 2013. (It had been part of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns article): Members convicted of illegal activity   Some members of MAIG have been convicted of crimes. They include:   Baltimore, Maryland – Mayor Sheila Dixon   Hartford, Connecticut …


3D Printing: Is it in Your Future?, by Kevin L.

There is a lot of talk in the media these days about three dimensional (3D) printers. For our community there is the Liberator, a 3D printed gun. It is an amazing development but certainly not ready for widespread use. 3D printers also make it possible to print your own magazines, holsters, and just about anything else you can think of that is made from plastic. But how good are these printers? Should they be part of your survival arsenal? If so, which one should you get? You can get used 3D Printers for around $550 without trying very hard but …


Letter Re: Pre-1899 Antique Gun Clarifications

Hi James, I was just looking at your FAQ article about antique firearms. Apparently, there has been some controversy over the dates of manufacture of some Winchester firearms. The discovery of so called Polishing Room Records have dates of “manufacture” which apparently disagree with the previously established “Madis” dates of manufacture. I was just wondering what your take is on this subject. Also, I’ve been trying to find out if there is any logical reason for selecting December 31, 1898 as the Antique firearms cutoff date. Did someone just arbitrarily pick this date? I know that there were cartridge ammunition …


Interrogation for Preppers, by Tim G.

(Editor’s Introductory Note: The following article is presented as an intellectual exercise, or gedanken. Be forewarned that there are mentions of torture (mental and physical) herein which are of course not conscionable behavior! But this mention is only for the sake of showing the full range of potential interrogation techniques, and as a warning that in the future — under different circumstances — you might have to be prepared to resist interrogation. “Forewarned is fore-armed.” Again, none of the following is intended to encourage any SurvivalBlog readers to do anything immoral, or illegal, or unethical. It is in your own …


Gold, Silver, and the Status Quo, by G.E. Christenson

Gold and silver will survive as a store of value and wealth. Paper money, the economic status quo, unfunded liabilities, pension plans, exponentially increasing debt, massive budget deficits, “to-big-to-fail” banks, and so much more are at risk of gradual or catastrophic failure. Gold and Silver Precious metals have been recognized as wealth and a store of value for over 3,000 years. They may no longer be used as currency but they retain their value. Example: I can’t go to Wal-Mart and buy food with silver coins but, practically speaking, I can sell or trade a gold or silver coin minted …


Letter Re: Gun Storage While Traveling to Anti-Gun States

Dear Sir,
Thank you for an excellent web site. I read it every day. I have a question regarding traveling with my handgun. Living in Ohio, a reasonably free state these days, I occasionally have to travel by car to one of the totalitarian states. States such as New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Maryland. I of course prefer to carry my handgun and have CCW licenses to carry in all the surrounding free states on the way. However, as my need to enter these other states, would potentially land me in jail if I brought my weapon, I must make my whole trip unarmed. Are there gun storage options?

Other than burying my gun just outside the state line of one of these totalitarian regimes, do you or your readers have any suggestions? I have considered contacting gun retailers near, but outside the borders. Perhaps asking them to store my gun while I am in the hostile territories. But this may have many complications, including entry at many points depending on my destination and scheduling…


Prepping for Our New Reality, by D.&M.

[Editor’s Introductory Note: I sometimes receive quite lengthy articles that are mix of great practical information and extended political narratives. In such cases I sometimes opt to edit out the particularly ranty sections. Where I have done so, you will see: “[Some deleted, for brevity]“. My apologies, but to make an article of this length readable, editorial discretion is a must. Furthermore, I have to recognize that all politics are local. Since SurvivalBlog is a publication with an international readership, I feel obliged to chop out political discourses that would be of little or no interest to my readers in …