Morgan Stanley’s Doom Scenario: Major Recession in 2013
Jim W. sent this: Iran Accepts Payment in Gold to Get Around Sanctions
Marc Faber – Before The Collapse US Will Go To War. (Thanks to B.B. for the link.)
R.B.S. sent: There Is Only One Thing That Can Save Japan Now: Inflation
Items from The Economatrix:
Unemployment Benefits, Payroll Tax Cut Really At Risk Of Going Over The Cliff
Stock Market Set To Sell-Off This Week; Argentina Nearing Technical Default, Etc.
10 Freest States For Homeschooling
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An interesting recently-released e-book about electromagnetic pulse (EMP): The Pulse of Allah. And with no affiliation, there is also a new EMP Blog.
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Dr. Gary North: Ken Burns’ The Dust Bowl: Blowing Sand in Our Eyes
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C.D.V. sent: Houston Police Department: Victim shoots robber to death
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“If we get one bad, unsuspected news event I guarantee you it will be lights out very quick. One of the things these algorithms do is they make sure the input is good. And whenever the input isn’t quite good they back off. When I say back off I mean they back off in the blink of an eye. So it can go from good to very bad that quickly. And all it’s going to take is some unforeseen news event and they won’t be there. And then we’ll see what the liquidity is.” – Eric Hunsader, in a Peak Prosperity interview.
Release day! The First Revised Edition of Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl, by Timothy Egan © 2006
Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston MA
ISBN 9780-618-34697-4 (Hardback)
Available at your favorite bookseller in paperback and e-book formats.
If you remove the dust jacket on a hardback edition of this book and you see two hard faces staring back at you. They are a man and a woman enduring the drought of the 1930s in what is now known as the Dust Bowl of America. It is also known as the worst manmade environmental disaster in our history. The Dust Bowl is the most significant weather event of the 20th Century.
The drought came as settlers were attempting to grow crops of cotton and wheat in the seemingly endless prairie. They used their metal plows and tractors to break the rich, black soil to plant their seed. Their techniques worked for many years, but the drought took advantage of the deep furrows and desiccated the soil down deep. No crops meant no money. With no societal safety nets, thousands of people had to leave.
The story is told through the eyes of six families and their communities before and after the calamity. The author explains the allure of the region and the impact farmers had on a fragile ecosystem. Going back several centuries, we are told of how the plains Indians lived with the land with minimal impact even in dry years. This was prime grazing land for buffalo before being slaughtered for their hides. The farmers came in and thought they were in charge. They learned a hard lesson.
I have driven through the panhandle of Texas and Oklahoma known as No Man’s Land and it is easy to see why the name is appropriate. My wife describes the area as desolate, and as usual, she is correct. Yet, there are still people choosing this area as their home.
The recent PBS documentary on the Dust Bowl features comments from the author of this book, but only skims the surface of the story. You need to read the book to hear the stories of the people involved. They are tough, heartbreaking, instructional, and inspirational. There are many tips for preppers throughout the book as people describe what they had to do to survive. These folks lived and died in a manmade disaster without FEMA. The military and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) were essentially useless. You cannot shoot a drought, or grow trees without rain. The situation finally triggered a mass migration to California as depicted in The Grapes of Wrath, which is another great read.
The book has several photos built into the narrative helping the story. A good index and thirteen pages of notes fill out a great book on a memorable piece of our history.
Apocalypse Chow: How to Eat Well When the Power Goes Out
Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, Copyright: 2005
ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-0824-1
ISBN-10: 1-4169-0824-2
Available on Amazon or eBay for under $10
We often say that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” and that holds true for this little gem. Measuring about half the dimensions, length and width, of a regular book, you can see Apocalypse Chow doesn’t follow the rules and isn’t the usual heavy tome full of hundreds of recipes. The recipes begin on page 112 and there are less than 70 of them. Apocalypse Chow can be viewed as a jumping off place for what to do with all those beans, all those cans, and all that rice and pasta that you have purchased if you are not much of an inventive home cook.
Apocalypse Chow inspires a love it or hate it reaction. Again, if you are looking for an ordinary cookbook, move along, there are many out there that are more comprehensive and complete. That being said, Jon Robertson wrote this book after he and his wife decided to ride out Hurricane Bonnie and found it to be somewhat of a personal catastrophe. Power went out, they ate peanut butter crackers, and became surly with each other in the hot, humid, and dark aftermath. They learned that true preparations mean more than “stashing a few extra gallons of water and finding your manual can opener.” They determined that in the future, they wanted to, in those well-worn words, thrive not simply survive, and they figured it out.
I enjoy the subtle cleverness of this book. The title, of course, is a play on the Vietnam epic war movie “Apocalypse Now.” “The Well-Tempered Pantry” chapter is coyly named after Johann Sebastian Bach’s “The Well-Tempered Clavier” (or harpsichord). Other chapter names referencing idioms or modern culture are Power to the People, The Calm Before the Storm, Recipes for Disaster, Cooking up a Storm, Just Rewards, and Are We Having Fun Yet?
Some people have groused about the fact this is a vegetarian cookbook. The author and his wife live a vegetarian lifestyle. That is one of the strengths of this book. In grid down, eat your fresh and frozen foods first or whip up some of these recipes and add a little meat to them. Add some of that canned chicken, Vienna sausage, canned ham or your choice that you’ve squirreled away. (SurvivalBlog readers hopefully have a healthy herb garden growing to cut the monotony and add freshness, vitamins, and taste dimensions to canned and dried foods. Herbs are among the easiest, low-maintenance plants you can grow.)
If your family doesn’t regularly home cook or use your preparation foods, this book can help you get started. It somewhat assumes a pantry with non-electric cooking utensils and seasonings. However, there are handy lists of tools and food items. Someone in your family will have to be in charge of food preparation and this book would make a nice gift to that person.
There are pantry lists and resource lists. One interesting aspect is how the author lists various interesting food products you can find in different ethnic stores. And last, one of my favorite recipes is a black bean patty on page 120 that ends up looking like a sausage patty. Adding BBQ sauce, catsup, teriyaki sauce, or even pancake syrup for a sauce finishes the dish. It’s that versatile. I added a bit of salt to improve the taste because I prefer salty. The patty resembles a pan-fried breakfast potato patty. Some grated onion and even olive oil for frying make this a very appealing little dish.
I’ve prepared several of the dishes and some recipes seem to be simply variations of other recipes in the cookbook, such as a couple of the pasta recipes. However, all in all, I enjoy rereading this little book over and over which Includes main dishes, salads, and dessert recipes. New ideas for combining pantry food, vegetarianism, and the author’s sense of humor are pleasant and entertaining. Apocalypse Chow is a different kind of cookbook, and I cheerfully recommend it.
I’ve been shooting Buffalo Bore brand ammunition for about two years. The owner, Tim Sundles, never ceases to amaze me with all the new loads he comes out with – not just for self-defense, but great loads for hunting as well. What I also like about Buffalo Bore is that Sundles doesn’t use special pressure barrels to test his velocities, he uses his own guns, from his own collection, so you are getting real-world velocities. Additionally, Sundles lists the various firearms he tested his ammo in – I’m not aware of any other ammo maker that does this.
First up is the new .38 Super +P load, with the Barnes Lead Free 124-grain all copper hollow point. Now, I hate to admit this, but I had never fired a .38 Super before I got this load. Over the years, I had plenty of opportunity to buy a few 1911s chambered in .38 Super, but always passed – ammo wasn’t available in a lot of gun shops, and most of what was available were FMJ loads – not ideal for self-defense. I know many years ago, the .38 Super was really popular south of our border in Mexico – but those days are long gone, as legal private gun ownership is all but a thing of the past in Mexico. I understand that the .38 Super is still very popular down in Texas, though. So, I had to borrow a .38 Super 1911 from a friend to test this new Buffalo Bore load. Make no mistake, you can’t and shouldn’t attempt to fire the .38 Super in a .38 Auto chambered pistol – and especially a +P loaded 38 Super – you’re inviting trouble if you do.
Many folks believe that the .38 Super is nothing more than a slightly hotter 9mm round – well, not exactly. And when we are talking a .38 Super +P load – we’re talking a pretty hot-stepping load – it is in the same ballpark as the .357 SIG loads, in my opinion. What we have in this newest loading from Buffalo Bore, is the very popular Barnes TAC-XP bullet, which is proving itself to be an excellent manstopper – this bullet stays together – there is no lead core – the bullet is a solid copper hollow point, that penetrates deeply and really expands. Sundles also uses a flash retarding powder, to help prevent loss of your night vision when you fire this round. No one else is doing this to my knowledge. My chronograph gave-up the ghost sometime ago, and I never replaced it, so I’ll just give you the velocities Sundles gets from his handguns he used in his testing. In a Colt 1911 Government Model, he was getting 1,409 feet per second – that’s moving. In a Taurus PT 1911 – he was getting 1,288- feet per second, and in an EAA witness, with a 4.25-inch barrel, he was getting 1,228-feet per second. I fired this ammo into some water-filled milk jugs – I lined-up three just in a row, and the Barnes bullet easily penetrated all three milk jugs – so I had to add a fourth milk jug – and the Barnes bullet was caught in the fourth milk jug -and it expanded perfectly and retained 100% of it’s weight. What more can you ask for in a self-defense round? If you own a .38 Super chambered pistol, this is s round you need for self-defense – bar none!
Next up is the .454 Casull round, with a 250-grain XPB Barnes bullet – and the difference between the TAC-XP and the XPB is that, the XPB is designed for hunting purposes, it will penetrate a little deeper and not expand quite as much – and when hunting big game, you want deep penetration to reach the vital organs of big game. In Sundles testing, he found that this load will penetrate roughly 24-inches, depending on the impact velocity and the particular bones that may be struck in the game animal. Again, I had to borrow a .454 Casull chambered revolver to test this round. I placed 6 milk jugs in a row, and they didn’t stop this round – all I can say is, this one really penetrates. It would be ideal for large deer and black bear, and even bigger critters like elk if you stick to broad-side shots.
The XPB bullet is long-for-weight, and it crowds the case capacity, so Buffalo Bore wasn’t able to use their flash suppressed powder in this load. I don’t have a problem with this at all – I don’t hunt in the dark – it’s against the law, so I’m not worried about getting blinded by the flash. I barely noticed the flash in my own testing in daylight. Sundles is getting close to 1,700-feet per second in a Freedom Arms 6-inch revolver, and that is really moving along a 250-grain bullet. If you own a .454 Casull chambered handgun, you need to check this round out for your next big game hunt.
Okay, I was never all that interested in the .45 Colt round, until my friend–and fellow gun writer–Sheriff Jim Wilson turned me onto this load in a Ruger revolver many years ago. You can load the .45 Colt to power levels above a .44 Mag if you handload, and you can do it safely, too. Buffalo Bore came out with a 255-grain soft cast hollow point, gas check load, which was designed for self-defense. Yes, this load is hotter than other factory loads, which are a bit sedate if you ask me, but it is perfectly safe to shoot in any .45 Colt chambered handgun according to Sundles.
This new .45 Colt self-defense load with this particular bullet, was designed to mushroom at speeds as low as 750-feet per second, but it will still penetrate about 18-inches, depending on the angle of the shot and whether or not bone is hit. Many .45 Colt factory loads have a round nose bullet, and they just slip right through tissue and bone without really imparting the energy needed to put an end to a dangerous self-defense situation. Additionally, this bullet was designed with a special crimp groove and the case mouth is heavily crimped so the bullet will not jump the crimp and tie-up your revolver. Also, a flash suppressant powder was used in this load.
I tried this load through a S&W Mountain Gun, and it wasn’t bad in the recoil department at all. I note that Tim Sundles was getting 983-feet per second from the same gun. This round is much more pleasant to fire than any .357 Magnum load – and it will penetrate deeper that a .357 Mag JHP load and probably be a better manstopper. While many folks don’t carry single-action revolvers for self-defense these days, this would be a great load to stoke in any single-action revolver or a S&W Mountain Gun. Many folks in the Southwest still carry single-action revolvers when they are out backpacking or on horseback, and this is the round they should have if they expect to face two-legged critters – and it wouldn’t be a half bad round for medium sized game, which brings us to the next Buffalo Bore load.
The .45 Colt HEAVY +P “Deer Grenade” round is a massive hollow nosed 260-grain cast bullet with a gas check, traveling a velocities from 1,449-feet per second up to almost 1,900-feet per second, depending on the handgun or rifle you are firing it through. What’s nice with this bullet is that it won’t lead your barrel because it is gas checked – and if you fire a lot of cast bullets, you know how quickly a barrel can lead and what a pain it is to clean your barrel. Buffalo Bore designed this .45 Colt load to be the world’s premier deer load – and I’m sure not going to pick a fight with Sundles over this – I believe him!
At an impact velocity of 1,100-feet this bullet will mushroom to about .80 caliber and should punch right through any deer with a broadside shot – that’s great in the mushrooming area – that is serious expansion. At the 1,500-feet per second velocity, the bullet will still mushroom and some of the mushroom will fragment and send those pieces flying through the deer. At the 1,900-feet per second velocity, the entire mushroomed bullet will turn to shrapnel and send bullet particles throughout the deer doing horrific damage and probably push right through the deer. This load wasn’t designed just for deer hunting, it can also be used on black beer or wild hogs and if you’ve ever hunting hogs, you know how hard they are to put down.
Now, a word of warning, and be take this advice to heart: This load is not designed for use in all .45 Colt chambered firearms. Use this round ONLY in the following firearms:
All Ruger large frame revolvers chambered in .45 Colt or .454 Casull, but don’t use it in a smaller framed New Model Vaquero.
All 1892 Winchesters and all copies of such made after 1920.
All Winchester and Marlin 1894 models.
Any break-open action like a T/C or Handi-rifle.
Any falling block action such as the Sharps or Winchester 1895.
Any Freedom Army Model 83 or 97.
So, take this to heart, and do NOT use this round in any other firearms!!!!
No one else is making a round that can compare to this one from Buffalo Bore, if you have one of the aforementioned firearms, do yourself a favor and get some of this ammo and give it a try. This isn’t plinking ammo. This is serious, +P hunting ammo.
Next up is the new .460 S&W lead free, 275-gr Barnes XPB load – and again, I don’t have a revolver chambered in this caliber – but I’d sure love to have one – maybe one of these days, when funds permit, so I had to borrow this S&W revolver to test this load. As mentioned above, this is the XPB bullet from Barnes, an all-copper hollow point, but it was designed to penetrate deeper and expand a little bit less – great for reaching the vitals on big game animals. S&W advertises this round as the flattest shooting handgun round in the world, and I have no reason to doubt this claim.
This load at 275-grains, doesn’t recoil nearly as much as some of the heavier loads in this caliber, and that’s a nice thing. However, there is a lot of muzzle blast coming out of the sides of this revolver, so don’t fire it with someone standing next to you. Tim Sundles has this round at 1,946-feet per second from his S&W Performance Center 10.5-inch revolver, and that is really moving. This round would be great for elk, moose or some of the bigger bears. And, when hunting those types of big game, you really want a load that penetrates. Again, I lined-up 8 water-filled milk jugs and fired this round into them – never did find the bullet – it’s buried in a mountainside. So, we’re looking at some deep penetration.
Last up, for this article (and there are more new loadings from Buffalo Bore, but I’ll save them for another article) is the .45-70 +P 350-grain Barnes TSX FN. This is really a hot-stepping .45-70 load. Pay attention that this is a +P load , and it is NOT safe to shoot in just any old firearm chambered in this caliber. So, here’s a list of the guns it is safe to shoot in:
All Marlin 1895 made since 1972.
All Browning 1885 and 1886 copies,
Rossi Rio Grande.
New England Arms Handi-Rifle.
T/C Encore.
All falling block actions made of modern steel such as the Ruger #1 and #3, Shiloh, Christian and Pedersoli Sharps
All Winchester 1886 iterations made since 1915 and all Siamese Mauser bolt actions.
Now, if in doubt, go over this list again, before firing this +P .45-70 load in your firearms…and if you have any questions, contact Buffalo Bore Ammunition before ordering this ammo. This load is identical in exterior dimensions – but it is rated as +P – so be advised.
This Barnes all-copper, expanding 350-grain TSX-FN (flat nose) bullet will penetrate about as deeply as a typical 400-grain load core partition expanding bullet, yet gives the benefit of a lighter bullet, which means less recoil. Plus, it will shooter flatter. Out of Sundles’ 1985 Marlin 22-inch lever-action rifle, he was getting 1,931-feet per second. I tested this load, and although I couldn’t chronograph it, I have no reason to doubt the velocity Sundles was getting. I fired this round into a dirt mound, and I dug and dug – and never could find the round – it must be on the way to China because it penetrated so deeply.
With this +P .45-70 round from Buffalo Bore, you can have a “one-gun, one round” that will be capable of taking any and all big-game in the USA – including bison and brown bears. I have no doubt about this.
There are plenty of other newly developed loadings from Buffalo Bore that I’ll cover in another article. Tim Sundles does not sit on his past accomplishments – he is constantly developing new loads and he actually tests his loads in the field when he goes hunting. As of late, he’s been hard to catch in the office because he’s been out hunting and testing his newest loads on game.
I’ve had some SurvivalBlog readers e-mail me and ask, how is it that I can test all these different loads in one day? Well, let’s be realistic here, I don’t test these loads in one day, this is over three months or longer – Buffalo Bore doesn’t develop all these loads and send them to me at one time – it’s a process that takes a lot of time. I have to actually get out in the field and fire these loads – and in some cases, I have to borrow firearms in some of these calibers so I can test the loads – it is a time-consuming process. I also have to take notes on all the calibers I test, and refer to my notes for articles like this.
If you aren’t satisfied with standard factory loadings, and you want a little more velocity, penetration and knock-down power, then you owe it to yourself to check out the Buffalo Bore web site to see what they have to offer. They truly do have a huge offering on some of the most popular calibers around. And Tim Sundles tells me that SurvivalBlog readers are some of his best customers, as well as some of his most loyal repeat customers. Similarly, I’ve found that SurvivalBlog readers are a very intelligent bunch of folks who know what they like and don’t like. Be sure to check out the Buffalo Bore web site, I’m betting you’ll find something there for your self-defense, hunting and survival needs. – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio
JWR:
Can you recommend a way to properly store 1-2 gallons of fuel in a trunk for emergencies?
I think something like a Kolpin Fuel Pack with some Sta-Bil in it would last in a confined space for an extended (3-6 months) period of time.
All The Best, – Travis R.
JWR Replies: For regular carry in a car trunk, there are just a few truly safe containers that will prevent your car from becoming a veritable flaming bomb, in the event of a major rear-end collision. One that I can indeed recommend is the Explosafe can. And FWIW, I prefer Pri-G as a fuel stabilizer.
N.G. in Minnesota’s One Pan Wild Rice Hotdish
This is a very simple recipe that allows for a lot of flexibility. There are five basic components, and the combinations are endless. This is a great thing when you cant just run down to the corner market to shop. Wild rice is plentiful in my area. I can buy a 12 oz bag for $2.99. If wild rice is expensive, or not common in your neck of the woods, substitute white or brown rice, and adjust accordingly. Instead of 2 cups wild rice and 6 cups water, use 3 cups white or brown rice and 6 cups water.
2 Tbls Fat (I prefer butter or bacon grease, but oil could be used)
1lb Meat (chicken, grouse, pheasant, beef, pork, venison, turkey, rabbit, etc) cut into ½ inch pieces
1 Onion finely diced
2 c Wild Rice
6 c Water or Broth (chicken or beef depending on meat choice)
3 c Orange Veggie (squash, sweet potato, carrots, etc or combination of any) cut into ¾ inch cubes
1 c Dried Fruit (raisins, cranberries, apricots, apples, strawberries, etc)
3 c Green Veggie (green beans, broccoli, celery, etc or combination of any) cut into ¾ inch pieces
Salt and Pepper
In a 3 qt or larger Dutch oven, deep sided frying pan, or stock pot, over medium high heat, melt fat. Brown meat and onion for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add broth and rice. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes. Add orange veggies and fruit, stir, and simmer for 30 minutes. Add green veggies, salt and pepper to taste, stir, and simmer an additional 10 minutes, or until water is absorbed and veggies are tender.
Chef’s Notes:
This recipe will easily serve six adults. If you are using leftover cooked meat (a great way to get rid of a holiday turkey) add the meat when you add the green veggies. If you are using canned veggies, use the water from them as part of your broth and then add the veggies during the last 10-15 minutes so they don’t become mush. Dried veggies can also be used so long as you adjust the amount of liquid needed to account for them rehydrating.
If you raise or hunt your own meat, and grow your own veggies, this recipe will cost less than $.60/person. That cost can be brought down even more if you use white or brown rice. Not bad for a colorful, nutritious, hearty meal.
Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:
Currently Available as Free Kindle e-Books:
Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!
G.G. mentioned: Fed Bought 77% of Federal Debt Increase in 2011: The Data Source
Food scarcity: the timebomb setting nation against nation. (Thanks to Jim W. for the link.)
Items from The Economatrix:
Sandy Seen Boosting US With As Much As $240 Billion Rebuilding
I just heard about a new online marriage courtship service for Reformed Christians: Sovereign Grace Singles. They have a special “Group” page for preppers! It is refreshing to find a conservative online service with a backbone. (Unlike the many mainstream dating sites out there with that seem to feel obliged to have a rainbow of categories like: “Men Seeking Women/Men Seeking Men/Men Seeking Goats, et cetera.) It is nice to see that Sovereign Grace Singles even has a doctrinal statement.
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R.C. suggested this at Instructables: The best Rain Barrel for less than $15, and where to find a barrel
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Now that’s thinking outside the box! Amazing pictures of ‘green’ condos, offices and a pop-up lobster shack made up entirely of empty shipping containers. (Thanks to Linda U. for the link.)
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M.K.A. sent: Homemade Emergency Canned Heat.
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F.G. sent a “Plowshares Into Swords” piece for SurvivalBlog’s do-it-yourselfers: DIY: Shovel AK – photo tsunami warning!
"Let the American youth never forget, that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils, and sufferings, and blood of their ancestors; and capacity, if wisely improved, and faithfully guarded, of transmitting to their latest posterity all the substantial blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty, property, religion, and independence." – Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833
Release day, tomorrow! The First Revised Edition of Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse
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Today we present another two entries for Round 43 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.
Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, E.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).
Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.
Round 43 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.
SurvivalBlog has always suggested if not promoted having a Christ-centered spiritual focus, and my wife and I had that focus even before the writing on the wall became clear and we started prepping. We’re in our 50s now and have attended church for the most part since we were kids, and have a personal relationship with our savior Jesus. I like reading the thoughts of other posters as they prep, and their spiritual questions. Is it trusting to prepare? Will not God take care of us whatever may come? What role does God play in the events that are unfolding? Very interesting and thought provoking. There are many difficult questions I cannot answer, but I can answer YES to the question, Is God good? That answer, based on decades of experience walking with Jesus, calms my soul, restores my joy, and helps me understand that this world is not the final stop on my trip through eternity.
We have traveled to other continents, and have seen Christians in third world countries, in person and through video. We have talked to many other Christian people who have traveled the world, and the stories they tell of God’s love, work and faithfulness are astounding. We are seeing such things here in our corner of America as well, including healings, and people having spiritually meaningful dreams and visions. To use a C.S. Lewis line,” Aslan is on the move”, and it is so exciting.
When we see Christians in poor nations worshipping our Father, there is a genuineness and sincerity that is riveting. Most often, they are in humble circumstances, gathering in an old building, or a cinder block structure they constructed, or simply outdoors. But their surroundings make no difference as they worship in Spirit and in truth. Those images are mostly in stark contrast to the comfort in which we worship in the US. I’ve heard Christians say that our comfort zones are actually spiritual prisons, and that’s a big part of the lukewarm impotence of Christianity in America today.
All this has got me thinking about what happens after the crash, regarding our fellowship, worship, and work as Christians. Let’s take a look at that. What could happen?
The church today is defined mainly by economic and statistical measures, not spiritual. Take a representative yet fictional church, managed by Pastor Reverend Dr. Theodore Lexicon. Pastor Lexicon has a PhD from a well respected seminary, all the right connections on LinkedIn, and can read New Testament Greek as easily as the menu at Denny’s. He has a staff of ten, and a hundred fifty deacons populating 15 committees in charge of all the business of the church. Around him he has an inner circle of ten elders who make all the decisions, and decisions they do make, with there being not much hint of dissension. As far as the American church goes, they are on the straight and narrow, getting the job done, preaching the gospel and paying the mortgage. Oh, and I forgot to mention that their numbers are growing to such an extent that the obligatory Planning Committee has been formed to explore future real estate growth options.
You have the picture. Perhaps you are a member at Pastor Lexicon’s church today? The question is, what happens to the church after the crash, or in the run-up to the crash?
Today, many groups are using the fictitious ‘constitutional separation of church and state’ to attack Christianity. Not Islam, but Christianity. That’s another discussion, but there are factions in the government who are sympathetic to this attack. Both Obama and Hillary have used the term, “Freedom of Worship,” to refer to our rights under the first amendment. Think about that term for a while. Freedom of worship is what they had in the USSR under communism. There was a state sponsored or sanctioned church, with violently proscribed limits of behavior. Citizens could go worship as they pleased, but there was no freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, spiritual freedom. The vocabulary is already being tested for changes here in the US.
This wall of separation argument will be the basis for any attack on the church. And the attack can be simple. Look at the amount of church real estate held in any decent sized jurisdiction in the US. Many of those parcels were purchased 100 years ago and have now been encompassed by urban and suburban sprawl, to the point that their land is worth millions. Churches do not pay property taxes. There have been noises already that this is an unfair act on the part of government favoring religion. Look for that to change.
Since the Obama Depression started, many churches have lost the ability to pay their mortgages and/or staff and have gone under. Imagine the carnage when the US, state, and local governments realize all the money they are leaving on the table by not charging churches property tax.
I don’t expect this will happen while things are relatively calm, but in the midst of other economic disasters (US bond default, hyperinflation, 40% unemployment), such a tax levy would sail through any legislative body.
The net result of this tax would be the prompt (12 months?) forfeiture of 75% of church properties in the US.
That’s one scenario. For another, consider the outbreak of violence, or incapacitation of our power grid, even for a few weeks. Churchgoers would stay home, the church mortgage would go unpaid, and the end would come swiftly. Pastors check winter weather forecasts and pray for clear skies on Saturday night, to miss not one Sunday’s offering. Imagine six weeks of missed Sunday offerings? The Body of Christ is in debt to bankers and lawyers, but I digress.
Regardless the mechanism, you see that it’s at least plausible that national disaster will spell the end to the megachurch and even the kilochurch. What happens then?
In that case, a bunch of people would simply fall away. Like it or not, many people go to church because 1) their parents did, 2) it’s good for the children, 3) it’s a good social experience, 4) attendance is mandated by their social circle, etc. In my experience, there are many who are open to an experience with God, but they are not seeking it, and will not step outside their comfort zones to get it. Sadly, this describes some church staff as well. Given the slightest danger in attending church, either physical or via government intimidation, many will simply disappear.
The rest, optimistically 15 or 20% (?), will seek to continue their relationship to other Christians, and continue the work that God has prepared in advance for them to do. Let’s focus on them now.
With no brick and mortar church building to meet within, what will these people do? I believe that they will meet in their homes, or in unofficial church locations. Some degree of stealth will be required for sure, as even today localities are using zoning ordinances to prevent Christians from meeting in their homes.
If you do an internet search on ‘home church’, you will find a small, yet vibrant movement of Christians already meeting at home, or in small rented spaces. Many of these people became disillusioned with Church, Inc., that is, big business church, led by people such as Pastor Lexicon. They left that, bumped into other Christians of like mind, and naturally gathered in groups in the only place they had, at home. People in home churches whom I have met understand the difficulties with large church organizations, but do not dwell on the negatives, rather are pushing forward in the Kingdom of God, studying, preaching, discipling, loving, and serving.
I have mentioned the fact that I attend a home church to a few pastors. Some react badly, obviously feeling threatened. I did not understand this at first. Then I got a view of a typical modern church, which consists of Sunday services as usual, but perhaps dozens of home groups meeting all around the region, with 10-20 people apiece. Imagine some small issue blowing up in such a church, as happens from time to time. Could be a budget issue or a personality problem. In short order, 10 home groups could split off, become home churches (what do we need a seminary graduate pastor for anyway?), and the originating church would be devastated. I think that is at least the source of some pastoral consternation regarding home church.
So, if you are now preparing in the areas of bean, bullets, and band-aids, why not spiritually? I’m not suggesting in the least that you abandon your Sunday, Church, Inc. experience, any more than a prepper should abandon shopping at the grocery in favor of making his own toilet paper. Take all the good while you can. Pastor Lexicon needs all the good Christians around him he can get, if he’s ever going to see the light!
I am suggesting that you should seek out like minded Christians, and form a home group, or study group, or Tuesday morning coffee and prayer group, as a basis for continuity of fellowship after the crash, or after the government fires your pastor and takes your property.
I’m involved in several groups, including a men’s group, Sunday home church, a couple groups of people who serve the poor in our community, and prison ministry. I know more Christians today than I ever knew as a pew warmer in Church, Inc. If something happens, I can quickly reach out to others, to help them and to receive help if needed. If I have a problem and need prayer, I have a network of literally hundreds of people I have prayed with before to come to my aid. These are not just people I have passed in the caverns of the church building, but my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Likely you are already in a home group and have a small set of loving connections to other Christians. Build on that. Volunteer to help the poor in your area. You will find the most loving, merciful, compassionate people serving there. You will find that because unmerciful, legalistic, cold Christians naturally sequester themselves inside church buildings! That leaves the Christlike ones to minister in the community. Build bonds of love to your fellow Christians, and bring others into the family. The Body of Christ is a miraculous and beautiful thing. Let’s be sure it is not decimated by the evil schemes of evil men after the crash!
As a project, do some research on Christians in oppressive countries, like China. You will find that they have no buildings, no staff, no budget, no constitutional protection, and no constitution! But their lives in Christ are beautiful! Our country is headed in that direction, and we can continue to be headed toward Jesus as a Church, if we prepare.
The ground smolders with the charred remains scattered across once-green fields now turned black from cinders and dried blood. An electric pole lies on its side across an abandoned road, menacing with the occasional buzz and spark. Your home is gutted, shredded like a soft chunk of cheese. A stack of crisped tortillas lie uneaten on the hearth, abandoned in the chaos. The air is fowl and acrid though silence has now settled after the screams and destruction of the night before.
You were lucky, though. Living on higher ground, you heard the mobs coming and you had time to hide in your nearby cornfield. You pray for your children, but you prepare yourself to find them among the scattered bodies. Knowing the subtle trails only traveled by farmers like yourself, you weave your way through the hillside, clinging to any hint of normalcy and structure. You are trying to stay calm, determined to avoid going into full out panic yourself. You WANT to survive. You HAVE to survive to tell your story and work to rebuild your life. You start taking inventory of your food, your clothing, your memories…everything you will take with you as you flee and search for other survivors. Your name is Juan, and your world has ended as you knew it.
This isn’t the opening to a novel on a future apocalypse, but one of the many stories I heard from actual survivors of civil war. Juan’s story is not unique, but it is a true survivor’s story. While studying anthropology, I had the chance to live in rural Guatemala, site of some of the most gruesome civilian and military guerilla forces in modern history. Lasting more than 3 decades, the Guatemalan civil war razed villages, crippled the country’s economy, and essentially drove the entire population of 10 million people to live in ‘survival mode.’ During this time, the country also faced increasingly devastating earthquakes, mudslides, sinkholes, and drought. Human disasters coupled with natural disasters should have spelled doom for an isolated agrarian country. But, against this backdrop, life somehow continued. Markets adapted to new distribution channels, educators flopped down in the fields instead of schools, and religious networks united people in a common hope for change.
Through the prolonged instability, some survivors fared better than others. Some foraged the donated goods from aid organizations but still lived precariously day-to-day. Some learned to adapt to their changed environment and actually learned to thrive in it. Those that had strong networks adapted to this changed reality and endured all the subsequent threats. They developed local versions of goods no longer available for import. They planted small gardens in their patios when vegetable trucks were being ransacked on the highway and never made it to market. They wove their own clothes and patched old clothes to extend their wear. They repaired roads and maintained infrastructure when the government refused to. And, they did this by strengthening their small communities and tapping into what I call a survival network.
Building a Survival Network
What tips can we take from survivors of modern-day disasters? How should we guide our prepping to not only survive an initial catastrophe, but participate in the rebuilding and restructuring of the future? If there is one overarching theme to survival on a budgets, it is to connect with the people around us. Guatemalans (and many Americans, for that matter) don’t have the resources to stockpile food, water, weapons, and tools. Most work the fields to stock up for winter and live season-to-season. But, if they don’t own a chainsaw, they know a neighbor who does. They choose not to buy their own pickup truck because they can pay the 30 cents to hitch a ride down the hill to market instead. Simply put, they learn to identify resources in their vicinity and build relationships of reciprocity to maximize those resources.
I know this point may be criticized—preppers feel that anarchy will reign and pit neighbor against neighbor, so you have to amass everything for yourself and not count on your neighbors to help you. I understand that argument, and I think it IS prudent to prioritize your own personal supply of survival gear. I realize that thinking of networking as prepping may be more unnatural to Americans raised in an individual-centric mentality.
But, no matter how elaborate your preparations are or how extensive your budget reaches, no one person can live unaided forever. As the saying goes, no man is an island. I believe the exact opposite is true. Those people who build trust among neighbors and promote greater self-sufficiency among a strong community is much less vulnerable to attack, much more adaptable to changing threats, and much more likely to survive long-term. And, frankly, who wants to live alone in a post-apocalyptic world?? I think prepping should include reaching out to people you care about and help them prepare to survive with you.
This is NOT adding more friends to your Facebook account, this is in-person, relationship building. So, how exactly should you network for survival? The good news is, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel to figure out what a successful network looks like. As with any network, you should start with yourself and work your way out to larger circles of family, friends, community leaders, and neighbors.
· Start with YOU. Identify your OWN skills inventory that may be of value to these people in order to build reciprocal relationships. Just as self-interest can motivate looters to rob a cache, self-interest drives trade. In order to acquire goods and services from others, you need to have equally valuable items yourself. Remember, trade can include expertise and labor, not just supplies. Strategize what vocational skills you can build up to make yourself a more valuable member of a survivor community.
· Once you’ve learned more about what you have to offer, get more informed about the people in your immediate surroundings. Be informed of groups that share your values and build relationships with preppers in your state and city. A well-networked person is also a well-informed person and one that can identify warning signs early on. Prepping isn’t just about preparing for an unknown future. It’s about learning from the recent past.
· Get out and about in your neighborhood–study the geography, the layout of the neighborhood, the areas that are more likely to stay dry in a flood or stay erect during an earthquake. If you need to flee your home during an emergency, having strong relationships with people in these areas could save your life. Study exit routes using back roads or footpaths. Identify possible hideouts if your home and bugout shelter are compromised.
· Build a “skills inventory” similar to your physical goods inventory and identify people in your community with these skills. Some key skills are: hunting, fishing, first aid administration, auto mechanics, blacksmithing, architecture and drafting, construction, HVAC systems, organic gardening, herbal medicine, electrical engineering for radio and surveillance equipment, sewing, and more. If you don’t know anybody that has one of these skills, find one!
· Try to build stronger relationships within your existing circle of friends to identify individual skills that could fit better into your survival network. Learn about the personal lives of your coworkers or fellow worshippers at church. Become better friends with your auto mechanic and others with practical skills that will be valuable post-catastrophe.
· After getting closer to your existing network, expand! Join your local Elks Lodge or Rotary chapter. Start a preppers book club. Host community seminars on various survival skills or even basic interests such as canning fresh fruit or tending heirloom seeds. Try to create venues where you can meet new people but also learn about their skills and strategize how they might fit into your survival network.
· Don’t limit your network to only include active preppers. A glass-artist may not currently be interested in prepping, but would have valuable craftsmanship skills that could translate to other types of materials when factories shut down and all goods are made by hand.
· Participate in local politics. Yes, politics. One of the primary roles of government is to build a sense of community and understand constituencies. You will learn your community’s demographics, economic class structure, current issues being debated, and priorities. This will help you navigate various group dynamics and build stronger relationships with diverse groups. This can also help you tap into informal distribution channels and alternative communication channels that will survive when electronic media and big trucking are destroyed.
· Open yourself up to examination. No, you don’t need to give a guided tour of your bugout camp, or reveal how many pounds of food you have stored. But, your prepping should be part of a conversation so you can brainstorm ideas and strategies with others. Isolation can be dangerous. You may not know your weaknesses and prepping deficiencies until it’s too late. Instead, you should work to entrench yourself in a network of equal give-and-take. Offering expertise and services will make you a trusted member of a community rather than a selfish, isolated target.
Guatemala is a small country most can’t place on a map. Reports on its civil war didn’t make it onto many American newsstands. But, its people have lived through some of the exact conditions the prepper movement is warning of. Just as Juan was able to utilize his knowledge of hidden footpaths and hiking trails, we should work to extend our prepping beyond physical goods and tactical training. I was privileged to hear Juan’s story because he was able to escape the destruction and live with numerous sets of neighbors until he was able to rebuild his home and retake his land. Juan did various jobs from carpentry to transporting avocados, exchanging his time and talents for food and shelter. He wasn’t a prepper in the traditional sense of amassing survival goods. But, his experiences forever changed the way I view a future catastrophe. I work not only to increase my family’s self-sufficiency but also to become more integrated into our community and more connected to local resources. I learned from Juan that merely staying alive through disaster is not truly surviving. Instead, you can actively shape the new structure and community that is rebuilt afterwards. But, you have to be part of the community first if you ever hope to participate in a new one.