Category: Current Events & Politics

Notes from JWR:

The aftermath of the recent earthquake in Haiti has underscored the fragility of modern societies. In the event of a major disaster, it doesn’t take long for “the thin veneer” of civilization to be peeled back. And please keep in mind that headlines like the following are not exclusive to Third World countries: Gangs Armed With Machetes Loot Port-Au-Prince; Central Business District Resembles Hell On Earth As Bodies Pile Up And Armed Men Battle Over Food, Supplies. Here is a key quote from another recent news story from Haiti: “Money is worth nothing right now, water is the currency,” one …


Letter Re: Surviving Severe Winter Weather in Ireland

Good Afternoon Mr. Rawles, I thought you might like to know how the so called severe weather is treating us here in Ireland. We have had snow and ice on the ground for the past two and a half weeks. We live a couple of miles out of town and our local road resembles a skating rink, very easy to drive down the hill but not so easy to drive back up. But driving is not much of a problem as my wife is from the American Midwest and I spent five years living in the highest town in North …


Letter Re: Preparedness with Very Limited Resources

Mr. Rawles, I am grateful to you for providing this site. I am one of perhaps to many, who can barely make it check to check. Though I have been aware of what is happening for several years now, the amount of provisions I have been able to secure has amounted to nothing compared to what I am reading here. However, within this site is information which has been the greatest of value to, at the least, strengthen me with understanding. I sit here in the comfort of my home, surrounded outside with cold and over a foot of fresh …


Lessons from History: The Immigrant and the Refugee

As a student of history, it is surprising how often the same traumatic patterns emerge in times of economic turmoil, political upheavals, and civil unrest. All too frequently, average citizens get caught in the middle of tumultuous situations and unwittingly are soon reduced to the status of refugee. Unlike someone that intentionally emigrates to better themselves, a refugee typically hits the road with few or any assets and no sure destination. As I’ve mentioned before in SurvivalBlog, if the 20th century taught us anything, it is that the one category you don’t want to find yourself in is “refugee.” Refugees …


Letter Re: Deflation for How Long?

Dear Captain Rawles, I recently saw the following excerpted comment at Zero Hedge and the argument makes sense to me: In my opinion there is a flaw in the inflationary argument. It is only when money escapes into the general populace that the dilution effect on the currency actually occurs and drives up prices. By giving the majority of the new money directly to his buddies, Bernanke is simply changing the ratio of cash held in favor of the big banks and against the general populace. If the big banks fail to spend this money with wild abandon and instead …


Letter Re: We Have Some Hard Decisions Ahead

Dear SurvivalBloggers: The economy has taken a dramatic turn for the worse for many Americans. Hundreds of pages could be written to describe how it happened and who did it. While many individuals and households have had the financial resources and good fortune which will allow them to weather economic uncertainty, many will simply not be able to maintain their standard of living. Many two income households are now one income households and that income may have decreased due to companies cutting back on work hours. This situation has been occurring for many Americans for many many months, forcing people …


Letter Re: Buying a House in Australia?

Dear Mr Rawles, I pray that God may continue pouring His comfort, love and strength upon you and your family in these difficult times. My wife and I will finally settle down in Melbourne, Australia in 2010 after years of relocating internationally due to my work – we finally obtained the Australian resident permit! As a result of all the traveling, we have also had to leave all our savings in banks for all these years. We prefer living in a region to know it well before purchasing property, so we will probably purchase a house sometime in 2010-2011. As …


Letter Re: When Does the Other Shoe Drop?

James: I was having a conversation with my survival think tank buddy tonight and he asked me when I thought the dollar would collapse. I answered that it was like asking when the next ice age would come. It’s due in another 1,000 years but we could be off by century or a millennia. It’s the same thing with the dollar. It is impossible, mathematically speaking, for it to continue in it’s current valuation indefinitely as it is in a non-sustainable negative spiral for reasons people reading this blog are well versed. A collapse could happen tomorrow but is could …


The Reliability of the Gas Tube-Driven AR-15/M16/M4 Design is Again Questioned

Several readers wrote to mention these articles: How Reliable is the M16 Rifle? and, a follow-up: The M16 Argument Heats Up, Again. This is sure to raise a ruckus with some of the SurvivalBlog readers that are owners of AR-15s, registered (Class 3) M16s, M4geries, and even AR-10s. Before you send me a fusillade of angry letters, please note that most of the failures mentioned in the After-Action Report (AAR) were with M16s and M4s that had been used in very high volume of fully automatic fire–something that they were not designed to do. (After all these are individual weapons–not …


The Flash to Bang Count: Observations on the October Indonesian Asteroid Airburst

A few days ago, The Telegraph reported: “An asteroid that exploded in the Earth’s atmosphere with the energy of three Hiroshima bombs this month has reignited fears about our planet’s defenses against space impacts. On 8 October, the rock crashed into the atmosphere above South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The asteroid was around 20 meters across and hit the Earth’s atmosphere at 45,000 mph. The blast was heard by monitoring stations 10,000 miles away, according to a report by scientists at the University of Western Ontario. Scientists are concerned that it was not spotted by any telescopes, and that had it been …


Letter Re: University of California Disaster Preparedness Videos

Jim: While scanning through iTunes U, I found a television (or audio) series from University of California TV on disaster preparedness. They are professionally produced and contain a wealth of information about about emergency response systems are intended to work. Included here are four of the fifteen or so shows that they have put together. The ones I have included are Natural Disasters, Chemical and Biological Agents, Pandemic Influenza and Emerging Infections and Disaster Volunteerism They go over several case studies that happened in California, but talk about organizations generally enough that it is applicable to most areas with advanced …


Letter Re: Survival Notes from the Dominican Republic

Jim, I’ve recently read several of your books and found them both interesting and educational. I would like to offer some personal insights based on my experiences from living in a small rural town one of the larger Caribbean islands. Most of my notes are cheap solutions used by people in developing nations all over the world. There may be better ways, but these work and cost next to nothing. Water: There is something especially disturbing about opening the faucet and hearing a sucking air sound. Not being able to shower, flush, or wash dishes is the worst. One or …


Letter Re: Should I Rent, or Should I Buy Property?

Sir; I have a question that I think would be of interest to a lot of your Blog readers: “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It“. I really enjoyed the book. It helped coalesce all of the concepts I learned in “Patriots”, [the now out-of-print] SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog Volume 1, and “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation”. One of your central precepts is that one should move to a “lightly populated rural area.” Okay. With some work, I can find and buy a suitable piece of property and/or house. But you repeatedly point …


Twenty-Two Reasons Why this Recession is Different and Why it Will Endure

I find it surprising that I’m now getting inquiries from readers, asking if “we’ve reached bottom” in the current economic recession, and asking if the time has come to start buying stocks or residential real estate. It seems that the talking heads of mainstream media are using some sort of voodoo. How can anyone think that we’ve hit bottom, and an economic recovery is in progress? To dispel the myths from the CNBC Cheering Section, please consider the following. (And note that I’ve provided references for each assertion, just so you know that I’m not talking out of my camouflage …


Two Letters Re: Abandonment of the Dollar is a Premature Rumor

Dear Editor: This civil debate on the status of the Dollar–and thanks, by the by, for keeping things civil on your blog–all comes down to a matter of not “if”, but just “when.” The United States Dollar will soon be dead meat. Finis. See this article: Reckoning Day for US Dollar Coming Next Year. We just need to ask: will the[definitive] end [for the dollar’s dominant reserve status] come in six months, or six years? So, no matter when, I’m hedging by building up my stash of silver and lead. (The kind that goes “bang.”) Since I’m still paying off …