Letter Re: Gaining Situational Awareness and Old-Time Knowledge

Jim,
Situational Awareness has a number of definitions, from the rather complex to the “simple”. They include:

  • The process of recognizing a threat at an early stage and taking measures to avoid it. (Being observant of one’s surroundings and dangerous situations is more an attitude or mindset than it is a hard skill.)
  • The ability to maintain a constant, clear mental picture of relevant information and the tactical situation including friendly and threat situations as well as terrain.
  • Knowing what is going on so you can figure out what to do.
  • What you need to know not to be surprised.

This comes to mind because of my recent reading of your novel, “Patriots“. (An excellent book. A must have for any “prepper”.) The book is primarily about a group of people who joined together to survive in the “days after”. The daily requirements of surviving in times of roving bands of criminals and martial law enforcers were covered rather forcefully. Many of the challenges they faced required an armed response, and situational awareness was often discussed. For the kinds of situations in which the “Patriot” folks found themselves, the extremely helpful explanations of such matters as OPSEC and LP/OPs are very helpful to anyone facing what is soon coming for many of us. As the book describes, situational awareness is absolutely vital to survival and success in our near future.

But, while situational awareness is most commonly thought of as a conflict skill, there are also other kinds of situational awareness. On Yahoo Groups, there is a discussion group about surviving in the days after. One of the most prolific writers has several times recently warned the readers to “Get out of the cities now !”. He’s even suggested moving to very unpopulated areas and using wood pallets to erect shacks. IMHO, this is a suggestion that will cause many people great harm. Folks, with little or no preparations, suddenly moving to the land to escape the “Golden Horde“, will likely fail or die. Just reading the stories of the many pioneers who moved west, will quickly sober you up from any “can do/don’t know” thinking.

I have lived nearly all my life on a farm. I have developed a deep knowledge of the land. It has come at the great expense of many missteps, failures, successes, hard work and time. I call it having situational awareness of the environment. I know what certain kinds of clouds mean when forecasting tomorrow’s weather. I know that the vine-like plants with three shiny leaves aren’t so good to eat or touch. I know a dead snake can still bite. People just coming to the land for the first time will have little of that knowledge.

For untold years and many generations, the knowledge of how to live on the land and be self-sufficient was passed down thru families. In farm country, school was often found at the back fence. If you or your Grandfather didn’t know something, the farmer next door often did. I remember many times in my youth when I’d be out working the land and the guy next door would be out on his. Often as not, we’d stop and stand by the line fence and talk. …And I learned lots. But, now, much of this passing on of knowledge is lost. Farmers more commonly sit 12 feet in the air, driving an air conditioned combine, following the turns suggested by the GPS receiver on the dash. Your parents most likely worked in a factory or a shop, than on a farm. What was common family knowledge just a couple generations ago, such as maple syrup making, canning, gardening, butchering, animal husbandry, etc., etc., is gone. The “chain” is broken. Without this great deal of passed on knowledge and experience, nearly any farm endeavor can, and often will, lead to unexpected disaster.

This is where Situational Awareness comes in. “The need to know, so as not to be surprised.” The list is endless, but for starters:

  • Knowing the good bugs from the bad in the garden
  • Knowing fresh horse manure will kill a garden, fresh chicken m. will help
  • Knowing only 3 or 4 ounces of yew leaves–a common landscape plant in much of the US–can kill a horse
  • Knowing how to split wood so that the axe won’t glance off and chop your leg
  • Knowing that burning certain kinds of wood in your wood stove means you need to clean the chimney twice a winter so you don’t burn down your house [with a chimney fire]
  • Knowing the nice, fresh, clean, free flowing, mountain stream may be full of giardia.
  • Knowing that, when plowing with a horse, you should never tie the reins together and put them around behind your back so your hands are free to handle the plow. (This was the way it was done in the novel “Dies the Fire” [by S.M. Stirling). If your horse happens to shy and takes off running, you will be dragged along the ground and be seriously hurt. The proper way to plow is with the reins over one shoulder and under the other. Then, if your horse runs, you just duck your head and the reins slide off.
  • Knowing that crows in the garden are bad because they eat the new planted seeds, but crows around your chicken coop are good because they keep away the hawks that will eat your chickens.
  • Knowing that if your tractor suddenly starts making a new sound, this is not good. Stop immediately and figure out what’s going on, before something breaks.
  • Learning to look around you when walking, instead of only staring at the ground for your next step, (as most people do).

And on it goes. I have lived decades on the land. There’s not a day goes by that I don’t learn something. But even with all my handed down knowledge and hard-fought experiences, I’m not even sure I could make a go of suddenly heading out to the “country” to build a cabin and barn, till the soil, cut fire wood, store food for man and beast, and more. It’s just awful hard without lots of prep’s. And I can tell you, without an extensive knowledge of what the “environment” around you is telling you, it’s darn near impossible. …(Taking a walk in the woods can hurt just as much as a walk on certain inner city streets.)

So what are you to do ? Well, having a “G.O.O.D.” bag and great escape vehicle is a start. Having supplies, tools and seed already in place really helps. But once you get to your retreat site, have a plan, have some knowledge of how to do, what to do. Practice now. If you think you’re going to learn while living in a wood pallet shack, you won’t. You’ll most likely die. If there’s no more Elders to ask, get to know the other “elders”–books. Go to local farms and ask to spend time just helping, so you can learn something. Go to a school to learn skills; like tracking, orienteering and fire building without matches; (one of the best, imo, is Midwest Native Skills Institute). Never take charcoal or lighter fluid on a picnic, learn to gather what burns. Go camping in winter, instead of just when it is “pretty” outside. Find a “big animal” vet. and ask to attend and help when birthing a calf. Most especially, turn off your tv. Use your time to learn to sew, or knit, or make soap. Pick up (fresh) dead animals on the road and practice skinning them and then tan the hide. [JWR Adds: Needless to say, consult your state Fish and Game laws before doings so!] Find local crafts people and acquire a skill, such as weaving, or candle making, or tin smithing, because having a survival trade in a cashless society may keep you alive. Learn to listen. Throw away those darn ear plug music things. Learn situational awareness. What is the wind telling you about the day ? What does the sudden and not normal crowing of a rooster warn you of ? What does the setting of the moon in a certain place on the horizon tell you about the season ?

Learn what it takes to live on the land, before you have to suddenly move there. Learn what nature, the land, and new tasks are telling you, before you find yourself in a difficult situation, …(un)aware.

– Jim Fry, Curator, Museum of Western Reserve Farms & Equipment, Ohio

Economics and Investing:

The Old Yooper mentioned this FSU piece: Signposts Towards the Inevitable. The graph showing the upcoming second wave of ARM is particularly alarming. There will be some real ARM-twisting then!

Thanks to G.G. for this piece: Irish government faces growing fears of debt default

Steve S. recommended a video of a lecture on the history and nature of debt-based modern currencies, and their implications on freedom.

DS spotted this: As U.S. Borrowings Rise, Treasurys Begin to Pop. As I’ve mentioned before, look for a big jump in Treasury yields as a key indicator that stagflation is ahead.

Items from The Economatrix:

America Has to Come to Grips that it is Bankrupt

Rich Chinese Buying Bargain US Homes

Roubini Tells Geithner to Nationalize US Banks

Pound Falls Further

UK Unemployment to Hit 3 Million

China is Right to Have Doubts About Who Will Buy American Debt

IMF Chief Warns Second Wave of Countries Will Need Bailout

Ireland Could Default on Debt

UN Lobbies for Share of Bank Bailout Funds

$60 Billion Loss at RBS Prompts Savage Job Cuts

Spain’s New Jobless Crowd Soup Kitchens

Failure to Save Eastern Europe Will Lead to Worldwide Meltdown

Cash Crisis Forces California to Free 55,000 Prisoners

How the Crash Will Reshape America

Severe Retail Downturn Forecast for 2009

Odds ‘n Sods:

My old friend Fred the Valmetmeister sent us a “signs of the times” piece: For many Idahoans, better a trailer home than no home

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Greg mentioned a useful table on Firewood Ratings and Information, published by the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory. Greg notes: “With all the “fire” wood down in the recent ice and wind storms this appears to be a helpful link. I see too many people burning the wrong woods or at the wrong time.”

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When we last checked, “Patriots” was ranked #3 in What’s Shaking in Buy.com’s Entertainment section

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“I am so firmly determined, however, to test the constancy of your mind that, drawing from the teachings of great men, I shall give you also a lesson: Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with coarse and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: ‘Is this the condition that I feared?’ It is precisely in times of immunity from care that the soul should toughen itself beforehand for occasions of greater stress, and it is while Fortune is kind that it should fortify itself against her violence. In days of peace the soldier performs manoeuvres, throws up earthworks with no enemy in sight, and wearies himself by gratuitous toil, in order that he may be equal to unavoidable toil. If you would not have a man flinch when the crisis comes, train him before it comes. Such is the course which those men I have followed who, in their imitation of poverty, have every month come almost to want, that they might never recoil from what they had so often rehearsed.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, c. 4 BC – AD 65, Epistles, Volume I.

Note from JWR:

Congratulations to CDR, the high bidder in the auction that ended yesterday. Today we begin a new SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction. This auction is for a large mixed lot, which includes:

1.) Another “be ready to barter” box of 38 full-capacity gun magazines, from my personal collection in JASBORR. This box includes: 4 – Excellent condition original East German 30 rd. steel AK-47 magazines in a “raindrop” camouflage pattern belt pouch, 12 – Excellent-to-new condition original Bundeswehr contract HK91 (G3) alloy 20 round magazines, 6 – Well-used but serviceable condition original Austrian FN-FAL steel 20 round magazines with cartridge counter holes, 10 – Used AR-15/M16 USGI (all Colt made!) alloy 20 round magazines, and 6 – Excellent to new condition original (Norwegian contract) Glock Model 17 9mm 17 round pistol magazines (early type, with “U” notch). All of these magazines are of pre-1994 manufacture (and hence legal to possess in New York.) These magazines have a combined value of approximately $700, in today’s market. Note: If you live in a state where full capacity magazines are banned, then you must choose to: refrain from bidding, or designate a recipient in an unrestricted state, or re-donate the magazines for a subsequent auction.

2.) A huge lot of DVDs, CD-ROMs and hard copy nuclear survival/self-sufficiency references (a $300+ value) donated by Richard Fleetwood of www.SurvivalCD.com

3.) A NukAlert compact radiation detector donated by at KI4U.com (a $160 retail value). 

4.) Five cases (200 pairs) of AMMEX Heatworks chemical hand warmers (a $182.50 value), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com

5.) A Brunton Solarport 4 (4.4 Watt) compact photovoltaic power panel and 6/12 VDC power adaptor set, including as USB power port. This is a $120 retail value, courtesy of Ready Made Resources.

6.) A Pelican Model 1400 waterproof case in olive drab, ideal for pistols, Starlight scopes, or communications gear. This is a $95 retail value, courtesy of Scorpion Survival.

7.) A Non-Hybrid Garden Security Collection, Garden Bean Collection, and your choice of a pint of fertile grains (Hull-less Oats, Spelt, or Winter Rye), a $50 + retail value, courtesy of Seed For Security.

Thus, this auction has a combined value in excess of $1,600. This auction ends on March 15th. Please e-mail us your bid. Your bid will be for the entire mixed lot.

Letter Re: UHF Business Band as Another Option for Retreat Local Two-Way Communications

Sir.
Another option for retreat communications is to license your own business frequency with the FCC. That is what we did. Having worked in public safety, both fire and law enforcement for 30 years, I knew what I wanted in a radio system. I wanted to use public safety quality radios and I wanted my own repeater, all in the UHF business band. Our remote area has few UHF frequencies since public safety operates in the VHF band in our area. There are few businesses that use radios.

The initial license cost about $400. for ten years because the initial frequency search. Future 10 year renewals are about $135. The frequency is mine and no one for over 50 miles can use or license it. I licensed a repeater as well so I got two frequencies for the price of one. I obtained a permit for a repeater site from BLM and I will install my 50 watt, solar powered repeater this spring. The repeater spot, on a remote mountain, “looks” into the mountain range where our ranch is and also looks 30 miles down the valley to the closest town.

As far as purchasing quality radios, I decided on the Kenwood brand since that is what I use at work and our local radio tech is a dealer for them. For hand-held radios, we use the [Kenwood] 3160. I bought all of mine used on eBay for less than $150 each. For 25 watt and 45 watt mobile radios, I bought them on eBay as well. I have a 65 watt mobile in the house as the base radio. These radios have over a 20 year life in my experience.

By using these professional radios, you can also purchase military/police quality head sets, boom microphones and bone microphones for them which is very important to OPSEC when patrolling or manning an LP/OP. Sound can travel a long ways in the mountains.

Also, you can program the radios for the FRS and GMRS bands so you could talk to folks with their inexpensive radios from K-Mart and Cabela’s. This would be illegal for the FRS frequencies unless you can program the radio to [limit it to] put out .6 watts (600 milliwatts) on the FRS frequencies. You could not use the base or mobile radios legally [with more than 600 milliwatts] on either the GRMS or FRS frequencies.

As far as antennas go, buy a good commercial or public safety quality antenna for your base antenna. When it comes to hand held radio antennas, I have seen the high gain antennas from Smiley Antennas, work wonders. Once our mounted unit was working in a narrow canyon and no one in the unit could reach dispatch on their hand held antennas when we needed a patrol car for an arrest. I attached my expandable Smiley Antenna (VHF) antenna to my radio, extended it out to the full four feet, and contacted dispatch with no problem. I was the brunt of many “fishing pole” radio jokes from my team mates, but they all went out and bought their own!

I would recommend that groups consider this type of communications for their needs.

Thanks for your work Jim. I just renewed my 10 Cent Challenge subscription, with a little extra. – PED /p>

Letter Re: Hardening a Home Against Small Arms Fire

Sir,
I wish to inquire about hardening a home .I n a firefight, when in a “normal” home, shots would traverse the walls. Being a simple farmer here in southeastern Idaho I am a little concerned about the current turmoil and possible Golden Horde. I know that when I was in Rhodesia, we built earthen berms around the home like big flower boxes along with 2″x4″ mesh wire to stop RPGs. We also had built two perimeter fences and placed crushed white stone inside the two fences ([each] nine feet high). Also I am interested in how to pump water here when there is no grid power for myself and family and 30 head of animals. I have some supposed “no freeze” hydrants now but they do freeze. Go figure. I have only been in Idaho for two years. Thanks for any help. Also, I wanted to say that your novel was great. Sincerely, – Charles B.

JWR Replies: Retrofitting a house for ballistic protection can be an expensive proposition, if it is done in a manner that is aesthetically pleasing in the present day. Sand bags are inexpensive, but as one of my distaff consulting clients noted, “There is a big difference between Better Homes and Gardens and your Harder Homes and Gardens.”)

I generally recommend starting with a masonry house with a metal roof. They are nearly fireproof, and aside for their windows, quite resistant to small arms fire. As I described in detail in my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”, given sufficiently heavy hinges and stout hinge mounting points, steel shutters can be added to windows, and then wood veneer added, to make the shutters look “decorative.” Adding steel plate to doors overstresses their hinges, so it best to build bullet-resistant doors from scratch. Again, that is described in my novel. And the novel even includes a formula for calculating the weight of plate steel. (It does add up quickly. Parenthetically, special safety precautions must be taken when lifting and positioning plate steel. (See: ANSI A10.13-2001.) The oft-quoted “32 feet per second-per second” of acceleration is a law not to be trifled with! Watch your fingers and toes.)

Water pumping is best accomplished by a traditional Aermotor windmill if you are in a windy region, or via photovoltaics elsewhere. In either case, I recommend constructing a large cistern to provide gravity flow for domestic use, gardening, livestock, and firefighting. OBTW, the folks at Ready Made Resources offer free consulting on photovoltaics and other alternative energy systems.

Regarding your frost-free hydrants. They were possibly installed incorrectly. Since the valve body is buried below frost depth, they should not freeze is buried at sufficiently deep. (This depth varies, depending on latitude and solar exposure.) Properly, they should have at least a cubic foot of gravel around the base, where the valve’s weep hole drains the water from the standpipe portion of the hydrant, each time that that the water is turned off. It is uncommon, but the weep hole can become plugged, especially by heavy clay soil. It is also possible for frost to be “driven down” to unusual depths by the proximity of vehicular traffic or even large livestock tromping around a valve. BTW, be very cautious if you decide to excavate to check to see if there is enough gravel there. It is easy to break Schedule 40 PVC pipe with a hand shovel. (I speak from sad experience!)

Three Letters Re: Gold and Silver Coins as an Investment

Howdy James,
I hope you and yours are doing well. I recently came across the Preparedness Podcast and in Episode 5 – Gold, Silver, and a look at what’s coming in 2009 is an excellent primer on investing in gold & silver.

Basically silver is your ‘checking account’ and gold is your ‘savings account’. A 20% silver and 80% gold ratio is suggested as good mix of spending power and portability. A few gold coins take up a little space when you have to bug out, but the same dollar amount in silver will weigh you down when you need to carry other items. I do think silver is the better choice for a ‘barter society’, but gold rules when you got to travel light! Later, – Mark in North Carolina

 

JWR:
Don’t even think about buying gold bars, unless you are a multi-millionaire s already swimming in coins! To quote Gary North, rather loosely, “You are now entering an area only gold dealers ever venture into”.
Gold bars do save a small amount of premium – initially – but this is “penny wise, and pound foolish”. For a small premium for coins, 5% to 8% currently, you get all these advantages:

1. Much easier to verify authenticity. How do you know that you are getting real gold when you buy bars? How do you prove a bar is gold when you sell? This is easily a deal killer. Even if you are not a numismatic expert, common coins can be verified with a scale and calipers to conform to the published weight and dimensions for the coin. It is extremely difficult for fakes to conform to specifications – read the expert, Mr. Fisch. Even more conveniently you can use the Fisch coin test kit. These are highly recommended, not just for assurance purchasing today, but a great service to offer in post-TEOTWAWKI “Barter Faires”

2. A wider market for coins means a better price, and much more liquidity. You may take a nasty discount trying to get rid of a hard-to-verify bar that more than negates the premium saved.

3. No need to assay. Forget the cost for a moment – what if assay services are not available in a crisis?

4. Smaller units so you have a much more divisible means of payment. Bars are only good for large transactions. To dollar cost average in or out of an asset you need smaller units.

5. A small premium is not an expense, but part of the value inherent in the coin – value you will recoup on resale. If you don’t overpay, you can recoup much of the premium even upon resale to a reputable dealer, e.g., see Tulving’s buy versus sell prices.

You should be able to get most or all of the premium back from a private buyer – if not even more premium in a bull market mania. Do you think a newcomer to gold will even consider risking hard-earned cash on a unverifiable lump of gold? The only exception I can think of are some of the Credit Suisse or Pamp Suisse “coin-like” bars that are well known and minted like coins (not cast in a lump like ingots). Weight and dimensions can be verified on these coin-like bars, Fisch even has a verification tool for the 1 oz. Credit Suisse [bars]. Still, I prefer coins – why limit your market when you want to sell?
Leave the cast ingot bars to the big bullion banks that can document the chain of custody from bullion foundry to bank.

An argument for silver bar investing can be made, given the recent high premiums on silver. But, even here, why not have your silver investment do double duty to add to your barter junk silver?
Regards, – OSOM

JWR Replies: I’d just add that serialized 100-ounce Engelhard and Johnson-Matthey silver bars are typically re-purchased by coin dealers without any assay required. After you have your barter silver coins squared away, silver 100-ounce silver bars are the the most cost-effective vehicle for silver investing, at least for the small investor.

 

Mr. Rawles,
I have been reading your blog and others (like FerFAL in Argentina, [also see FerFAL’s SurvivalBlog Profile]) and completely believe that having some silver coins is a good thing to have when the SHTF. However, someone asked me recently, “So how would you use them? How many people know a “standard” [modern, debased] coin from a “silver” one?” Well, I didn’t have a good answer for that. Can you help me explain the use of silver coins in a SHTF scenario? Who would recognize their value other than another prepper? Even all of them might not know. Thanks, – Coinless in the Mountains

JWR Replies: I estimate that nearly half of the US population is familiar with the fact that dimes, quarters, half dollars minted before 1965 are silver. (Although most folks don’t know that they are 90% silver, with base metals added. for the hardness required for the rigors of circulation as pocket change.) Most of these same folks know to look for copper showing on the rims of later (post-1964) debased coins, to distinguish them from the earlier, genuine article. In the event of a monetary collapse, there will surely be a rapid education for the rest of the populace. The beauty of free market economics is that prices very quickly reach equilibrium. I anticipate that within just a few weeks, new prices denominated in pre-1965 silver coinage will be set for most consumer products, and a daily trading ratio of silver coin-to paper currency will be pegged. (No doubt with a steadily-declining value for the fiat paper currency.) Have faith: The marketplace will quickly adjust, and people will quickly adapt to using silver coinage and practical tangibles in barter. (As I’ve written before, in the early stages of an economic collapse, ballistic wampum, i.e. common caliber ammunition will likely be even more sought-after than silver.)

On a related note: Few Americans are familiar with the 40% silver content half dollars minted between 1965 and 1970, so I do not recommend buying any of those for barter.

Economics and Investing:

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s planned “Son of TARP“, also dubbed “TARP 2.0” bank bailout is rumored to be more than twice as expensive as the first round that was enacted in late Aught Eight. This is more evidence that the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) has no limits, and will not end until the the taxpayers are on the hook for decades of substantially higher taxes and not before the value of the Dollar is reduced to near fire-kindling status.

Thanks to Brandon S. for these two items that he spotted in the Alabama media: “Here is what happens when counties make poor financial decisions. Special Masters Recommend Non-User Fees to Pay Off Sewer Debt, and County commissioners [in a bankrupt county] fear for their safety and ask for off duty police officers to watch over them.”

JHB sent this: [US] Federal obligations exceed world GDP: Does $65.5 trillion terrify anyone yet?

G.G. sent us this one from The Financial Times: Eurozone slump worst in 50 years

From D.D.: Ruined financiers committing desperate acts

Items from The Economatrix:

What The Stimulus Bill Means to Us Here is a quote: “For the average Joe Citizen, it doesn’t look good: $13 per weekly paycheck (if you have a job) and tax breaks that appear to be for those who still have money for cars, houses and education. There’s a few extra dollars for food stamps, some Medicaid prop-up, some jobs…amazingly ineffective and not likely to ease the situation. Whoever said “anything is better than nothing” is totally wrong in this case, considering the bill the taxpayers will end up with.” JWR Adds: Lest anyone deceive themselves, any transfer of wealth orchestrated by government requires both a recipient and an individual who’s earnings are being expropriated. (See today’s Quote of the Day, from Kenneth W. Sollitt.) The money can’t come out of thin air. and when you consider the inherent inefficiency of government, this is even more of an insult than direct theft. At least when a robber sticks you up at gunpoint, there is the assurance that Mr. Badguy gets all the money that you are handing over. But when the government gets involved in the “fairness” racket, only about 50% of the tax funds reach the intended recipients. The rest is consumed in overhead.

 1 in 9 US Homes Vacant

The Coming Crisis: White Collar Homelessness

US Stocks Fall Again

US Auto Parts Industry Wants $18.5 Billion Rescue

Why Geithner’s Bailout Plan Got a Bronx Cheer

Trillions? Get Ready for Quadrillion!

Projected Jobs Numbers Don’t Quite Add Up

Geithner Faces Tough Debut at G-7 Meeting in Rome

Stocks Sink on Uncertainty of Stimulus Plan

S&P Heads to First Ever Quarterly of Negative Earnings

How to Invest When Stocks Aren’t Going Anywhere

$100 Bills as Toilet Tissue?

Chrysler in a Crunch

Some Banks May End Up Nationalized, Analysts Say

Odds ‘n Sods:

FDA Declares Form of Vitamin B6 a Drug (a hat tip to JHB for the link)

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FloridaGuy sent this item from any Indianapolis newspaper: Legal gun owners must give fingerprints to get their stolen guns back from police

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KAF and Hawaiian K. mentioned this commentary by Dimitri Orlov: Social Collapse Best Practices

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F.H. flagged this television news item from Las Vegas: Local couple rescued from blizzard during snow machine outing [in Utah].This tale illustrates the importance of proper planning and carrying the right clothing and survival gear. It also underscores the importance of physical fitness as a key aspect of preparedness. The couple was physically incapable of walking out. But ironically, the fact that they were overweight might have helped in their particular situation–since they had to wait for days for rescue, and they foolishly carried no food or water supply.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"There are certain things that are true no matter how much someone may deny them. In the economic realm, for instance, you cannot legislate the poor into independence by legislating the wealthy out of it. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. Government cannot give to people what it does not first take away from people. And that which one man received without working for, another man must work for without receiving." – Kenneth W. Sollitt

Note from JWR:

Last day of bidding!

The current high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is at $1,725. This auction ends at midnight (Eastern time) tonight–Sunday, February 15th. This auction is for a large mixed lot, which includes:

1.) A “be ready to barter” box of 36 full-capacity gun magazines, from my personal collection in JASBORR. This box includes: 12 – Used original Bundeswehr contract HK91 (G3) steel 20 round magazines, 6 – Used original Austrian FN-FAL steel 20 round magazines, with cartridge counter holes, 10 – Used AR-15/M16 USGI (all Colt made!) alloy 20 round magazines, 6 – Excellent condition original Glock Model 19 9mm 15 round pistol magazines (early type, with “U” notch), and 2 – New and very scarce original FN (Belgian-made) US M1/M2 Carbine blued steel 30 round magazines (marked “AYP”) . All of these magazines are of pre-1994 manufacture (and hence legal to possess in New York.) These magazines have a combined value of approximately $710, in today’s market. Note: If you live in a state where full capacity magazines are banned, then you must choose to: refrain from bidding, or designate a recipient in an unrestricted state, or re-donate the magazines for a subsequent auction.

2. ) A brand new-in-box Hot Jaw Bag Sealer and a box of 10 Mylar bags . (Every retreat group should have one these, since they are a tremendous labor saver!) This is a $200 retail value, courtesy of Ready Made Resources.

3.) A huge lot of DVDs, CD-ROMs and hard copy nuclear survival/self-sufficiency references (a $300+ value) donated by Richard Fleetwood of www.SurvivalCD.com

4.) A NukAlert compact radiation detector donated by at KI4U.com (a $160 retail value). 

5.) A gift certificate for $100 worth of books, courtesy of Back 40 Books.

6.) A case of 12 cans of recent production nitrogen-packed storage granola (mixed varieties) This is a $96 retail value, courtesy of CampingSurvival.com.

Thus, this auction has a combined value in excess of $1,565.

Again, this auction ends at midnight (Eastern time) on February 15th. Please e-mail us your bid. Your bid will be for the entire mixed lot.

Letter Re: Some Thoughts on Economic Stimulus, From a Macroeconomic Perspective

Jim:

I sent the following letter to my legislative representatives:

Here is macroeconomics as I see it:
Wealth comes from commodities, manufacturing (improving commodities), and agriculture (same principle).
Service industries do not create wealth, they distribute it. This includes financial industries.
Government consumes wealth as it re-distributes it. Even in the admittedly vital services such as protection of its citizens.

Fact:
There are already (pre-”stimulus”) more government employees than there are employees in manufacturing and agriculture in the US.

Observation:
The aforementioned being true, increasing the size of government is like a snake thinking it can sustain itself by eating its own tail. Three things will happen. 1) It will taste bad. 2) It will hurt. 3) Ultimately the snake will die.
Another way to look at it is to acknowledge that if government spending produced prosperity, the US would be at its most prosperous.
This proves the common wisdom of the advice to those who find themselves trapped in a deep hole. The first thing to do is to stop digging.

Strategies:
Consume less. The only credit problem we have is that too many (individuals, businesses, financial institutions, and governments) have used too much credit and amassed too much debt. This means you. When you have to incur debt to pay the interest on your prior debt, you are running a Ponzi scheme. Does this sound familiar?

Reduce taxes and simplify laws to give incentives to wealth creation. 1) Oil (or any energy production scheme that investors will back) will stem the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars out of our country. We have a lot of potential energy sources. These dollars can be used for further investment and job creation in our country. 2) Agriculture – Our country is blessed with the ability to efficiently produce food for our people and others throughout the world.

Reform the financial industry. Their accounting books should have all their assets and liabilities on them. Acknowledge that derivatives are a form of gambling (though even in Las Vegas the house makes you buy chips up front to show you are good for the debt).

Allow institutions that have made bad gambles to fail. If you want to finance something, help small and solvent banks that have made prudent business decisions to buy (or assume) the assets of the insolvent institutions at fire sale prices. So what if we have to learn the names of the new big (only) players in finance.

Stop demonizing the rich who have come to their wealth honestly. There are only three things they can do to prevent their wealth from helping the economy. 1) Burning it. 2) Burying it in the back yard in a (really big) cigar box. There it cannot help finance jobs or investment. They are not likely to do this anyway since this strategy cannot make them more money. 3) Investing it in financial instruments that are the (so far) legal equivalent of gambling. As noted previously, regular gambling is safer for the economy.

Final thought:
Government did not make our country great. Our Constitution made it great by freeing people from tyranny (be it from cheats, liars, bullies, or government) to become the best they can be by depending upon themselves. Please read the book “The 5,000 Year Leap” authored by Cleon Skousen.

Regards, – Kris N.

Letter Re: Getting the Right Training and Preparing Methodically

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I wanted to thank you for what you are doing and your work. I think that the reality is that you are saving a lot of people’s lives in addition to helping people to continue to be “in” the world but less and less “of” the world. I have been able, in turn, to pass along to other people a lot of things that I have learned from you and your readers, and I hope help them to focus and remain calm in their preparations. (I have also pointed them all to your web site).

Now three things that I have done/learned that I would pass along to your readers:

1) I did get some guns and ammunition recently following the information I learned from your web site and novel. Then I found a man that would teach me basic marksmanship – again as your advice suggested, learn the tools you could be relying on. After just one day of proper training I was shooting better than 90% of the yahoos at the range that had far better gear than I have. It cost me a little money But I am better equipped, more confident, and have a foundation to build upon – add each day I am at the range I am better and better. So I would tell your readers that if they just “think” they know what they are doing, then spend a little money and really learn what you are doing.

2) I bought and read “Patriots“. It was a good read, but sobering. At the same time, it helped me frame better the “problem” I am trying to solve. And while I hope it never gets that bad, it sure allowed me to get some perspective and begin to work things out in a way that fits my scenario. My advice would be for others to get your book and read it.

3) I purchased the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. When I first started this process a few months ago, I was very overwhelmed. I noticed your course and its price and I thought – “Too much.” However, after reading the blog for a month or so and after reading your your book, I felt you could be trusted and that your course was not “hokey.” I have been very, very pleased. It is practical, well organized, and adaptable. There is a saying “How do you eat an elephant? – One bite at a time.” And your course helped me to get things aligned so that I could eat things “One bite at a time.”

I have been working on a one year preparedness program since the week after Christmas. I am probably 75% of the way toward where I want to be. The remaining 25% is probably one-half just finishing purchasing and storing some things and one-half understanding if my retreat location can handle some of my “plans” and if not, [then determining] what is Plan B.

My family and I would not be nearly so far along without your help. I wish we had started this process long, long ago, but c’est la vie. We are on our way now!
May God bless you and your family, Kind Regards, – Jay

An Invitation to the Baen’s Bar Forums, by Michael Z. Williamson

I’d like to extend an invitation to SurvivalBlog readers to visit the Baen’s Bar Forums, hosted by the sci-fi publisher Baen Books. My forum there has ongoing, detailed discussions of ARs, Mausers, handgun choices, and preparedness, mostly for natural disasters. There are also shameless plugging of my books (since it’s my forum). Be forewarned that there is some off-color language–PG-13, not R, and the religion and politics of members varies greatly, though there are other fora we send them to for those arguments. Registration is free, private and not shared.

My subforum is “Mike’s Madhouse,” and there are a variety of other fora of interest on the site. – Michael Z. Williamson