Our underlying goal in a SHTF scenario is ultimately to stay alive and live without exposure to risks.  As much preparation as many of us have made, in the altered world of a SHTF crisis, there will be many dangers that lurk; and some of them will be inadvertently from our own doing.

Here are the six laws of survival. Read this. Memorize this. Apply this. One day, you will need it.]

In a survival scenario all bets are off and the following laws will keep you alive. These laws are rigid, but necessary. Harsh, but true. Keep your cards close and always have a plan.

Today I’d like to share with you a “3-second survival hack” you can use to skyrocket your chances of protecting your loved ones during ANY crisis.

This technique is so powerful it can give you almost superhuman powers during the ugliest nightmares imaginable….

From natural disasters like earthquakes or tornadoes…

To explosive situations like mass shootings or even nationwide martial law.

And It doesn’t matter if you’re out of shape…

Or have no equipment…

Or even if you’re disabled living in a wheelchair.

This technique has been tested and proven by elite soldiers and real world “miracle” survivors from around the world.

Law 1: Wherever that crowd is running, do not join them.

This is not to say that they aren’t (initially) running in the right direction.  But what of it?  They are bound to be either captured en masse or worse (bombed, strafed, or shot).  For the horror of the IHM (the Incredible Human Mob), look no further than “War of the Worlds” with Tom Cruise where he and his family are driving the passenger van…right up and into the mob.  Look what happened there.  You can’t defeat their numbers, and you will be captive to them…another steer in the herd.

Strike out on your own, you and your family, avoiding the main thoroughfares at all cost, and avoiding the IHM.

Law 2: You have to have a place (and places) to go.

This is where thinking outside of the general herd will pay off.  We’re going to instruct by running through a checklist…. this will be a “handy-dandy” checklist that you can print out or run over in your mind to be able to follow rule #2.

• Did you preposition assets (food, weapons, money, etc.) at an initial safe location?
• Is that location within walking distance for you and your family?
• Once there, are you and your family secure for at least a 24 – 48-hour period?
• Safe from enemy troops/government “peacekeepers” on the hunt?
• Safe from fallout and/or NBC agents?
• Does it have a food and water supply to sustain all of you for 7 days?
•  If your initial safe location has been compromised, is a duplicate location nearby?
• Do you have a farther (more remote) location that you can reach on foot in 3 days?
• A secure, sustainable location with supplies for at least a month?
• Do you and your family have a handheld method of communication for each member?
• Have you formulated short-term (initial contact, 48 hours, 7 days) plans?
• Have you made long-term (1 month and month-by-month; 6 months and 6-month continuous analysis; 1 year) plans?

Guys and gals, these are just basics.  You must have these things in place in order to give you and your family a fighting chance.  Whether or not it is a foreign invasion or a domestic communist takeover of the United States, you must leave your home in suburbia or you will be rounded up, bringing us forward:

Law 3: You will be leaving your home, permanently or for a long time.

This is survival.  The majority of readers are not living in the mountains or in a remote location.  If you follow these steps and practice them on a dry-run on a regular basis…it will give you the advantage that most people will not have.  You must innovate: come up with ideas that others will not think of.  Do you know of an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town?  Chances are that 90% of others will think the same thing in a grid-down/Red Dawn survival scenario.  You need to find the places that are off the beaten path.  And if there are none?  It may mean that you have to create a place.

How?  By caching your supplies within the walking distances described for each part of the “safe” area.  By finding tunnels, caves, or other sub-structures that can protect you from the elements and at least afford partial protection from radiation.  By being who it is you imagine yourself to be: a prepper…a survivalist…or a survivor.  When you enter any contest, do you enter it to lose?  Do you strive for just “second place” or “second best” in this arena?  Chances are the answer is “no,” but you have to arrive on that conclusion on your own.  All of this is a challenge, and this underlines everything for you if it needs clarification:

Law 4: In survival, there is no silver medal: “second place” means death.

Forget that phrase in “The Hunger Games,” because if you are taken…the odds are not ever in your favor.  We went through a 4-article series on how to escape from the Gulag where I reiterated how important it is for you to stay out of it.  I stand by this concept.  If you are taken captive, the odds aren’t in your favor of getting out…for the duration of it.

And then guess what?  The Germans during WWII as the allies approached began to hide their transgressions by liquidating the camps…basically killing everyone that could bear any type of witness to the atrocities.  Do not think for an instant that it will not happen again.  Look at Holodomor in Ukraine and the starvation tactics the USSR used to follow after the Malthusian model.  Our enemies have very little regard for human life, and the lives they value are of their own people.  If the Chinese communists would run over their own people with tanks and sell their internal organs while they’re still alive, what will they do with us?

Which brings us to the “Malcolm X” rule:

Law 5: You must stay out and survive by any and all means necessary.

Some of you may think “JJ is a little harsh.”  I would rather be hard and harsh now, and enable you, my countrymen, to have some tools at your disposal and a “sharp tack” under the figurative buttocks of your mind to give you the impetus to do something about the situation prior to its occurrence.  The country is “long in the tooth,” and you have to grasp these concepts and act upon them now…not burn off the pages and save them in the survival archives…but use them to inculcate your own, individual plan of action now.

Rule #5 means resolving yourself to do what you must in order to protect yourself from the ravages (and not just possible, but probable death) inside of one of these camps.  These are all basic, “generic” things to begin as a base for your preparations.  This is a form of guerilla warfare!  Avoid the occupiers/oppressors at all cost!  These things will work for you…if you resolve yourself (ves) to do them.  I’ll close with a note on OPSEC (operational security): you better build off of these basics and keep all of them to yourself.

JJ is giving you the basics that you need, without revealing everything of his own plans.  Why?  Because I earned them by paying for them with years of experience and suffering, and it means my family’s survival.  Such measures would run you a lot of money and imagination; such measures come from years of practical experience and the willingness to take chances.  This thought brings us to our final rule, the failure of which means compromise leading to death:

Law 6:  Do not tip your hand or reveal your plans to anyone.

Next installment we will talk about life under occupation, be that by foreign invaders or by totalitarian state that has morphed out of a democracy.  In the meantime, prepare and plan, and when you are reasonably sure, execute a dry run.  The practice does make perfect and affords you a time and trials to iron out all of the glitches in your operations.  Until next time be good to one another and keep up the fight!

You might be living in one of America’s deathzones and not have a clue about it
What if that were you? What would YOU do?

In the next few minutes, I’m going to show you the U.S. Nuclear Target map, where you’ll find out if you’re living in one of America’s Deathzones.

I’m confident that most of you have plenty of food stocked away. Many of you have at least a small vegetable garden, and some of you even have livestock of some sort.

That’s great, but what happens during an extended disaster or a total collapse of society? Eventually, your freeze-dried food and canned goods will run out. You’ll have a tough time getting all the essential amino acids your body needs from plant-based protein sources alone. It’s not impossible, but the volume of plant-based protein you’ll need to consume will quickly whittle away your food supply.)

Fortunately, a little knowledge goes a long way because there are plenty of places to find food—especially protein, during a collapse of society. Here are nine places most people wouldn’t even think to look:

Kennels

We may view dogs and cats as our cuddly little pals here in America, but they are a food source throughout the world. If society collapses and your survival is on the line, you better be ready to get over your emotions and make a meal of Fido. Since most people would be busy fighting over the last pack of Oreos at Walmart, kennels would become a great place to find plenty of fresh meat with little or no competition. The dogs and cats are even tucked into convenient cages, making you job of harvesting them simple.

Pet stores

The same principles apply here, but with a larger selection of choices. (Dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, fish, reptiles, etc.) You’ll find the added benefit of a stockpile of food for the animals and antibiotics used in aquariums and ponds.

I would also recommend taking a few pairs of animals you can breed for a sustainable food source. Rabbits are an ideal choice.

Zoos

I appreciate the beauty of the animals you find at a zoo as much as anyone, but I will happily slaughter a giraffe to feed my family. There are a couple of things to consider here:

1. Nearly every animal in the zoo is larger, stronger, faster, and much more dangerous than you.
2. Nearly every animal in the zoo provides more meat than you can carry or consume before it spoils.

Based on those facts, it’s important that you have a plan, support, and weapons. A semiautomatic rifle capable of efficiently killing the target is essential, along with enough people to quickly butcher that animal. (I recommend nothing smaller than a 5.56, but preferably .308 or larger.)

In the case of predatory animals like lions or tigers, it would be wise to drag it from the cage or pen before butchering so his buddies don’t attack you during the process. Sure, you could shoot them too, but a pride of dead lions would spoil before you could eat the meat, and during a collapse you don’t want to waste anything.

Also be sure to enter with caution and stay alert at all times because you don’t know if any animals have escaped their enclosures.

Aquariums

You’ll probably have to harvest food from aquariums relatively quickly due to potential water contamination. They usually have robust backup generators to keep their filters running, but that is designed for natural disasters like hurricanes that may only last for several days. Once you start stretching into weeks or months, algae, bacteria, and other pathogens can quickly overtake even the largest aquariums, killing of the marine life.

You may be able to harvest some marine life relatively easily, but the larger tanks, like the one we have here at the Tampa Aquarium will require fishing gear—in some cases, heavy-duty fishing gear, to pull the fish out.

Amusement Parks

Speaking of restaurants, there are dozens of them scattered throughout most amusement parks, making them a plentiful and reliable source of food that never crosses most people’s minds.

School cafeterias

You can find a lot of food in school cafeterias and since most of it will be either canned or dehydrated, or frozen in walk-in freezers powered by backup generators, it should be fresh for a long time to come. Keep in mind that this will only be accessible during a total collapse of society. Schools are often used to temporarily house and feed people during short-term disasters.

Grocery Stores

You’ll have to hit your local Publix pretty damn early if you hope to find anything, but even then your chances are pretty slim. People will usually mob the store leading up to the event, whether it’s a hurricane, financial collapse, or something else, and following the event, it’s one of the first targets for the unprepared. So don’t get your hopes up. It’s probably best to avoid this entirely due to the risk of violent encounters.

Restaurants

Like grocery stores, expect restaurants to be picked over pretty quickly, but you might find something.

Distribution Centers

Most people don’t give any thought to how the food gets to their grocery store so they aren’t even aware this exists, making it a step up from your local grocery store. When you take into account the fact that distribution centers are usually located outside of heavily populated areas, they become even more appealing during a collapse.

Situational Awareness is one the most important skills you can learn to master that will contribute significantly to reducing the likelihood you will be become a victim and give you the advantage when something bad happens.  Situational Awareness is the process of making conscious observations of your surroundings and making tentative plans of action if something bad were to happen.  Some might deem you paranoid, others may say you are overly concerned, however, if something bad should happen you will have a tremendous survival advantage over those that think that way.

Plan & Practice

Planning and practice are the two keys to survival.  Each compliments the other.  You can plan, but if you do not practice, you will not have the skills to meet your objective. On the other hand, if you practice, but do not plan, you will not have a coordinated smooth response. Thus each of the above mentioned, planning and practice must go hand in hand to properly implement situational awareness.

Let’s start by understanding situational awareness, how to implement it and use it to your advantage. In general, the first step in determining your future action plans is based on the immediate situation you are in.  For example, are you solo or with a group of people? Being solo has lots of advantages and enable you to make decisions without having to consult or inform anyone else.  So in this case, checking your surroundings and making tentative action plans are simple.  However, on the other hand, if you are in a group this process can become far more complicated.  One of the means to reduce the complication and confusion is to have a predetermined “code” that enables you to gain the attention of all members of your group.  To best protect your family and ensure everyone is aware and ready to properly respond in the event of something bad happening, every family should have a “code word” that when announced every one directs their attention to the family leader.  Once the attention of the group is acquired, the group team leader can give commands and instructions on how to proceed. 

State of Mind

Situational awareness is a state of mind. Thus, it must be practiced constantly to become fluent in its use and implementation.  I cannot emphasize how important it is to practice and use situational awareness all the time. It will most likely be that time when you have failed to use it that you become a victim or caught off guard.  Jeff Cooper adapted a color-coded definition of the human awareness and response to critical situations. Understanding these states of mind and applying them to your everyday life, is vital to survival.

White: Completely unaware of your environment and surroundings. This is clearly the most dangerous condition to be in; you are the most vulnerable in this state. This condition can occur while you are driving, day dreaming, talking on your cell phone, texting, and managing your kids. Naturally, there are many more instances that could be mentioned, that reflect condition White. Again, this is the most dangerous condition to be in, the condition that bad guys like to find you in so they have the advantage. Bad guys in general know how to look for people in this state of mind. While you are distracted they are planning their attack strategy.

Yellow: Is relaxed but alert and in touch with your surroundings.  You are looking around, noting where exits are, watching who is entering the door, determining the lay of the land and considering basic action plans. This can be conducted in a casual manner without anyone knowing what you are doing and not interfering with your current activity. This level of awareness will allow you to notice normal and aberrant events quickly. This is the phase when you will begin to see things you have never noticed before. This is a good thing.

Orange: Your alertness has increased significantly, something is not right, action maybe required, and more formal action planning is required. Examples include people arguing, someone acting inappropriately, someone moving into your personal space, or an actual bad event happening.  This is an action level of awareness; you need to make decisions at this level. It could be leave the area and be non- confrontational.  It could be gather your children or group.  Seriously, consider your personal protection action.  If you have practiced level Yellow well then this phase can be managed without considerable problem. However, if you have not implemented condition Yellow, you and everyone in your group will be caught off guard, confused and disoriented when an untoward event occurs.  And you have significantly increased your likelihood of becoming a victim.

Red: Immediate Action is Required.  This does not necessarily mean intervention is required.  It could mean leaving the location, finding the fastest exit, seeking cover, activating your personal protection plan. It is also a time when, intervention may be needed such as, actively protecting yourself and family members, the use of some form of personal protection device.  Delay in implementing your personal protection plan that involves protecting you, your family, or innocent individuals will result in bad outcome. This is the time when fear, reservation, confusion and lack of planning can place you in greater danger. It is imperative you be assertive at this level. If you have managed level Orange well, then this phase can be somewhat seamless. Since you know what you are going to do. I cannot state enough how practice, practice and practice will be your best friend if you should find yourself in this situation. As mentioned earlier in this paragraph, hesitation, reservation and confusion are not your friends when this type of action is required.

The final condition is controversial. It is Black. In this condition, you may be in a state of shock or confusion. What just happened? This is the level where you must regain your conscious state of mind, organize your thoughts and settle yourself down. Because you may be completely confused after an event occurs in which you had to intervene. It is important that you take the time to regain your thoughts and what happened.  That is why you should not talk to the police after a major intervention event.  Naturally, you should be polite and professional and understand that you are going to be detained and maybe even arrested. But you must clearly state that you wish to speak with your attorney before talking to the police.  They will understand in most cases.  You must have time to get your thoughts together and clearly regain a good picture of how the events transpired.

Professionals in the firearms, personal protection and safety business cannot stress enough about how important training is when it comes to operational success. Thus, to perfect your skills you must train constantly. That means practice making methodical decisions based on good information. Practice situational awareness all the time no matter what environment you are in. Finally, learn how to use your Every Day Carry (EDC) tools effectively and quickly. Practicing these skills are key to success and a positive outcome. It is vital you do this.

Examples

Here are some examples. Train yourself to not make any decision while you angry or emotional. Learn to slow yourself down look at the facts and then make a solid decision. Another practice scenario is more complex and engaging. When at an event observe what is going on around you and try to anticipate the actions of the people you are observing.

Next, learn to plan as you observe. As you enter the restaurant to take a minute and determine: Where are the exits…? Where can I sit so I can observe the door…..? Where is the least crowded area of the restaurant so I can have space…. can I see my car from the restaurant…. As you walk to your seat…. Observe the people eating and what they are wearing… Finally, make a quick plan…. If this happens I am going out this door… or if that should happen I am moving to that location…. Then enjoy yourself and keep a watchful eye on your surroundings.

The next step in this series is to learn how to use you tools very well.  Make sure your phone has a quick button for calling 911. Practice opening a closing your knife, to the point you can do it in the dark safely.  Finally, and most importantly, make sure you know how to use your personal protection tool very well.  This tool may save your life, and thus you need to know how to use it and not have any reservations when the need arises for you to use it.

In summary, Situational Awareness is a mental state of alertness that enables you to be actively aware of your surroundings in the event an untoward incident should happen.  In that case, the proper application of Situational Awareness will enable you to respond quickly and intelligently so you can properly address the aberrant event.  Having the necessary EDC survival tools with you and the comfort and knowledge of their use will enable you to feel secure in your actions.  The ability to respond quickly and affirmatively and the sense of security comes only from practice, practice and practice.

Communism hit center stage with the Russian revolution, as first Vladimir Lenin and then Joseph Stalin remade Russia into the image created by Karl Marx. This didn’t affect us here in the USA much until World War II, when we were uncomfortable allies with Russia. Even then, there were those who saw communism as being the political savior for all mankind. But it wasn’t until World War II ended and the Cold War began, that we clearly saw the juxtaposition of capitalism versus communism in the world.

Ever since then, there have been those in this county who have been pushing for us to become one more socialist country in the world. They hold up socialism as the shining light, where all people are treated equally. The government exists only to make sure that happens.

But even then, there is an elite in any communist government. Someone has to make the decisions about who gets what and those people always take care of themselves first. While socialism or even communism might be a great theory, it requires perfect people; and the world has always had a shortage of those.

Yet there are those in our political system, who still proclaim socialism as the way to go. They make it sound better by calling it “democratic socialism.” But all it takes is a look at other countries who have gone socialist to see what that means; you can vote it in, but you can’t vote it out.

Nevertheless, they try to make their political ideology look good by promising lots of freebies, not letting people know that they are going to have to pay exorbitant taxes to get those freebies. Rather, they claim that the rich, who don’t pay “their fair share” will pay them. Yet every time politicians talk about raising taxes on the rich, it is the middle class who feels the pinch, not the wealthy.

To the low-information voter, especially the low-income, low-information voter, this all sounds good. They get free health care, free birth control, free education, free phones, free food and free income, and someone else has to pay for it. What could be better?

Interestingly enough, over the last century, every socialist or communist government has gotten into power by proclaiming their concern for the poor. This gave them a large pool of low-information voters they could count on, so that they could get voted into office. They lied to their followers regularly, both about their own intentions and those of the opposing party. All that mattered was that they got into power. We could be seeing the same thing happening here.

So, is the United States on its way to becoming a communist country, as some would like?

As I look back over the last 50 years, I can see where we Americans have lost a lot of our freedoms. Every time the government expands, taking over another part of society, it does so at the cost of individual and state freedom. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about the IRS or the EPA; they get their power by stealing our freedom.

In that sense, you can say that we are already on the road towards communism and have been so for quite some time. A major step towards getting us there was Obama’s signature healthcare law. Never intended to work, the Unaffordable Healthcare Act was merely supposed to be a stepping stone towards a single-payer healthcare system, which would allow the federal government to take full control of 17.9% of our economy.

Basically all that Obamacare has done for the country is raise the cost of health insurance and medical care. Yes, it did give some people who were previously denied health insurance coverage by insurance companies the legal right to buy insurance. Yet that could have been done at a much lower cost and without having to hire 30,000 new IRS agents, further bloating an already oppressive government agency, in the process.

Even regulatory agencies like the Department of Education can be seen to be pushing our country towards socialism and then communism. These agencies do nothing more than take the power to make decisions out of the hands of US citizens and our local governments. One of their main ways of doing this is by controlling tax dollars. Money passed out to state and local governments by these agencies always comes with a price; one of toeing the line on some regulation or other.

Part of the problem here is that once a government agency is established, it is all but impossible to shut it down. Take the EPA for example. It can be fairly argued that there was a need for the EPA, when it was founded by President Nixon in 1970. But since then, the majority of the work that the EPA originally did has been taken over by state governments, leaving the bloated federal bureaucracy in place to spend taxpayer money and create stifling regulations.

The new House of Representatives seems to be making a greater push for the government to take over other parts of our economy as well. Some representatives have even gone so far as to float the idea of taking over major corporations, “for the good of the people.” Should this actually happen, it will be the sign that our country is actively being taken over by a communistic government.

If we keep doing that, we’re going to find ourselves backed into a corner; actually several corners. The first corner will be the elimination of our First Amendment freedom of speech. The “PC Police” are already at work on this, using “political correctness” and “hate speech” to silence those who don’t agree with them.

Totalitarian authority can’t handle disagreement, so they have to criminalize that disagreement in order to silence it. Everyone will be forced to toe the party line, saying what they’re supposed to say, as if they believe it. They won’t be satisfied with us being quiet, but rather insist that we say things their way.

Once they’ve accomplished that, it will be easier for them to take the next big roadblock to communism out of the way, our Second Amendment rights. Totalitarian governments must always disarm the people, so that they can keep control. As Mao Zedong, the first communist leader of China said, “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

Without guns, what can any of us do to stop anything the government wants to do? The Second Amendment was given to us for this purpose. If those in power are going to get the power that they want, they have to take it out of our hands. That’s why the gun grabbers always attacks the AR-15 rifle, rather than pistols or shotguns. You can’t fight a war with pistols; you need rifles for that. As long as we are armed with rifles, we are a danger to the totalitarian communist government they crave.

The real question boils down to what we are going to do when they come for our freedom of speech and our freedom to bear arms?

Minority rule” is the latest buzzword emanating out of the Democratic party. Concerned about the likelihood of a 6-3 Republican-appointed majority on the Supreme Court and the possibility of Donald Trump once again winning the presidency sans the popular vote, progressives are indicting America’s republican system of government for impeding their numerical might.

The number-crunchers at FiveThirtyEight concluded that rural areas have two to three times as much representation in the U.S. Senate as do large urban cities, despite the two areas containing about an equal number of voters. “And of course, this has all sorts of other downstream consequences. Since rural areas tend to be whiter, it means the Senate represents a whiter population, too,” writes Nate Silver. It’s as if the upper chamber dials back the demographic clock twenty years. 

“Republicans essentially get bonus points: They can be the less popular party and still get to govern,” complains Seth Masket in The Washington Post. “This is how a government loses its legitimacy…And it’s not a counterargument to say that the advantages the Republicans have today are ‘constitutional.’ In fact, that’s the heart of the problem.”

In The New Yorker, John Cassidy accuses the Republican Party of intensifying “a years-long effort to consolidate minority rule.” He calls it “egregious” that “when you consider the combined influence of the Electoral College and the Senate, both of which amplify the power of Republican voters living in less densely populated parts of the country, the empowerment of the minority—an overwhelmingly white and conservative minority” exercises “a baleful influence” on American society. 

CNN anchor Don Lemon has the solution. “We’re going to have to blow up the entire system,” he told colleague Chris Cuomo. “You’re going to have to get rid of the Electoral College, because the people, the minority in this country decides who the judges are, and they decide who the president is. Is that fair?”

The amendment process makes these constitutional alterations problematic in the short term, but the ultimate goal is clear: the dismantling of institutional barriers to raw, uninhibited majority-rule. The result will be nothing short of the dictation of national policy from New York and California, while the voices and interests of smaller states and communities are smothered. 

Republicans ought to straighten their backs against this fetishization of democracy. And they’ll find guidance in one of the first-rate minds of the nineteenth century. 

John C. Calhoun, in a forty-year political career, served as South Carolina’s congressman and senator, as both Secretary of War and Secretary of State, and as Vice President under two administrations. He began his journey as a fervent nationalist (for whom was coined the term “war hawk”) and ended it a dyed-in-the-cotton sectionalist. One of the “Great Triumvirate”—along with Henry Clay and Daniel Webster—Calhoun’s intellect burned like a furnace behind his piercingly blue eyes in an otherwise cast-iron expression.

“Calhoun’s political thought is more original and more closely reasoned than that of any other American statesman,” wrote Russell Kirk, the dean of modern conservative thought. Even John F. Kennedy praised Calhoun’s “profoundly penetrating and original understanding of the social bases of government [which] has significantly influenced American political theory and practice.”

The most consequential of Calhoun’s works, A Disquisition on Government, was written in the final months of his life as he coughed to death of tuberculosis. Published posthumously in 1851, it describes Calhoun’s vision of a constitutional republic governed by a concurrent majority. 

Far removed from the starting point of John Locke and Thomas Jefferson, Calhoun rejected the natural rights tradition, and believed it was a foolish to subscribe to any theoretical “state of nature.” Instead Calhoun posited that government as an institution was divinely ordained, and that the human race always and forever existed under some form of authority. 

But while God might demand governance, it is the responsibility of man to contrive its form. For Calhoun, that meant a constitutional republic able to balance the spheres of security (a necessity) and liberty (a privilege).

To achieve this harmony, participation from the voting public is essential but not sufficient. “I call the right of suffrage the indispensable and primary principle; for it would be a great and dangerous mistake to suppose, as many do, that it is, of itself, sufficient to form constitutional governments,” wrote Calhoun. 

In an effective popular democracy, a voting majority turns “into an agency, and the rulers into agents, to divest government of all claims to sovereignty and to retain it unimpaired to the community.” But transferring the seat of authority to the masses does nothing to counteract “the tendency of the government to oppression and abuse of its powers.”

Calhoun recognized that every community—especially one as large as a nation—would have a diverse array of interests, pursuits, and situations. When the authority of the state is placed on the mass of people, it will “lead to conflict among its different interests—each striving to obtain possession of its powers, as the means of protecting itself against the others—or of advancing its respective interests, regardless of the interests of others.” 

He accurately describes how political coalitions of expediency are formed, such as our Republican and Democratic parties, as vehicles for power:

For this purpose, a struggle will take place between the various interests to obtain a majority, in order to control the government. If no one interest be strong enough, of itself, to obtain it, a combination will be formed between those whose interests are most alike—each conceding something to the others, until a sufficient number is obtained to make a majority…When once formed, the community will be divided into two great parties—a major and minor—between which there will be incessant struggles on the one side to retain, and on the other to obtain the majority—and, thereby, the control of the government and the advantages it confers.

The purpose of a written constitution, then, is “to prevent any one interest, or combination of interests, from using the powers of government to aggrandize itself at the expense of the others…that is, by the adoption of some restriction or limitation, which shall so effectively prevent any one interest, or combination of interests, from obtaining the exclusive control of the government, as to render hopeless all attempts directed to that end,” wrote Calhoun.

We now arrive at the crux of Calhoun’s essay: forming a concurrent majority whose decisions regard not only a mathematical headcount but competing interests as well. Too often a numerical majority is wrongly identified with representing “the people” as a whole. A majority, even for example 60%, still only represents a portion of the total. A concurrent majority, on the other hand, uses preventative action to achieve compromises that respect all interests. If not, and a majority is able to dictate policy to a minority, you have an absolute government—whether superficially “democratic” or not.

That is why a political minority must possess “a concurrent voice in making and executing the laws, or a veto on their execution,” wrote Calhoun. “It is this negative power—the power of preventing or arresting the action of the government—be it called by what term it may—veto, interposition, nullification, check, or balance of power—which, in fact, forms the constitution.”

When Calhoun conceived of the concurrent majority in the 1830s and 1840s, he had in mind regional interests, whose “negative power” had to rely on nullification, and eventually, secession. Today, Republicans don’t require anything so exceptional; only a defense of the U.S. Senate, electoral college, and other centuries-old institutions that will ensure conservatives continue to have a seat at the governing table. 

Calhoun hoped that a concurrent majority, “by giving to each interest, or portion, the power of self-protection, all strife and struggle between them for ascendency” would be prevented, and social feelings could “unite in one common devotion to country.” Judging from the above statements by the corporate press, who act as a vanguard for the burgeoning majority, Calhoun’s prayer for brighter days seems as fanciful as it once did in 1850. 

Understanding the relevance of Calhoun’s political theory does not require adopting his worldview wholesale; conservatives should not reject natural rights theory or begin treating liberty as “a reward to be earned.” But Republican leadership must ascertain that the voice of their voters matters, and even if demographic trends condemn them to a permanent minority status, that doesn’t require sacrificing their core interests at the altar of majoritarian democracy.

I grew up in upstate New York. The beautiful rolling hills, the Great Lakes. The lovely farm country. I would never go back if you paid me millions of dollars. Never.

But for the better part of a decade I have resided well south of the Mason-Dixon line. In fact, when I spoke to a relative a short time ago from New York State, they were shocked I didn’t sound like a Yankee, or even speak like one. “You’ve gone native,” they told me. Which is well and good in my book.

New York is about as liberal/progressive of a state as you can get. It’s a state that does not honor life, the sanctity of marriage or gun rights. It taxes its residents to death, does not value homeschoolers and has no more respect for Almighty God than does Richard Dawkins. Since I have left, the New York government has only worsened.

Today I’d like to share with you a “3-second survival hack” you can use to skyrocket your chances of protecting your loved ones during ANY crisis.

This technique is so powerful it can give you almost superhuman powers during the ugliest nightmares imaginable….

From natural disasters like earthquakes or tornadoes…

To explosive situations like mass shootings or even nationwide martial law.

And It doesn’t matter if you’re out of shape…

Or have no equipment…

Or even if you’re disabled living in a wheelchair.

This technique has been tested and proven by elite soldiers and real world “miracle” survivors from around the world.

For many of us who homestead and farm on a small scale, we also raise families, own firearms, go to church and desire a quiet life lived in peace. Sadly judging by the moral and political climate in some places in North America, we often have to leave the place we call home in order to find these things. I believe there are still good places out there to put down roots and farm and raise your children, while other places in the USA have gone quite authoritarian.

Here are four areas in the United States for those seeking fair land prices, less government involvement, a religious friendly atmosphere, low taxes, and a place friendly toward gun owners.

South

The land of cotton has changed much in the past half century, but the area is well-known as a bastion of conservative and Christian values in the USA. The land is good for agriculture and there are many homesteaders and small-time farmers who have flocked to this region over the past two to three decades from all over the USA and Canada.

My pick for the southeast:

Tennessee. The state’s motto of “Agriculture and Commerce” speaks of the beautiful and lush farmlands — and low taxes. There is no state income tax in Tennessee. Gun freedoms are very good, and in fact after a recent shooting, Tennessee’s lieutenant governor urged people to go and get their handgun carry permits. No such thing as an “assault weapons ban” or magazine restrictions exist in the Volunteer State. Land prices are expensive toward the Blue Ridge Mountains, but Middle and West Tennessee land prices are affordable. Homeschooling conditions are great for families.

Southwest

Texas. Don’t mess with the Lone Star State. A conservative government, coupled with excellent gun laws, makes Texas one of the top places to live for the small farmer or homesteader. While not as fertile as some states, ranching is big business in Texas. A farm on the Edwards Plateau will provide your family with water from the aquifer with the same name. In the more fertile east, row crop farming as well as vegetable growing does reasonably well.

With the end of the recent drought, Texas received more rainwater this year than it had in seven years. Beware of buying land near the Mexican-US border and stay away from the more progressive cities like Austin or Dallas. Most Texans value liberty and independence, a great thing for the homesteader or farmer.

West

Idaho and Wyoming. Both of these states tie for the best places to live out west. Excellent gun laws, conservative government, a fierce independent spirit, and excellent farm country make these Rocky Mountain states ideal for the homesteader/farmer. Rich soil is available, and land prices are cheap. If you want to be away from people, this is the perfect place for you. You want to hunt and fish? This is the ideal location for the sportsman, with teeming populations of deer, elk, pronghorn and even bison. Idaho is the more temperate state, whereas Wyoming is known for its brutally cold winters.

Northeast

New Hampshire. The last bastion of any freedom in the Northeast is the Granite State, but even this state is slipping slowly toward the liberalism that has transformed the Northeast. If you must live in the North, New Hampshire or perhaps the north woods of Maine are really the only two viable options I see.

You might be living in one of America’s deathzones and not have a clue about it
What if that were you? What would YOU do?

In the next few minutes, I’m going to show you the U.S. Nuclear Target map, where you’ll find out if you’re living in one of America’s Deathzones.

I received my first Ham radio license when I was about 10 years old; the old-timers in the room thought it was pretty amusing to see some young kid coming in to take the tests.

I guess I wasn’t your ordinary ten-year-old kid, even back then I was into survival. I would order Cabelas’ catalogs and fishing magazines, making sure to circle all the gear that I needed to make my great getaway into the wild!

While I never trekked off and escaped into the wilderness, well, not at that age, HAM radio allowed me to take all sorts of wild adventures around the world. I stayed up until the wee hours of the night, using my Grandfather’s radios to talk to and listen to people from around the globe. It was amazing to be able to pick up the mic and talk to someone on the other side of the world.

This may not seem like a big deal to today’s generation who grew up with the internet and iPhones, but when it comes to preparedness Ham Radio is still very relevant and something I would argue is a skill every preparedness-minded person needs to learn.

Why Become a Ham Radio Operator?

When it comes to Survival Communications, Amateur Radio (known affectionally as Ham Radio) is the way to go. It has a number of real-world survival advantages over cell phones, the internet, CB, GMRS, FRS, and other radios or forms of communication.

To begin with, the knowledge that you will gain as a licensed ham radio operator will allow you to listen to and communicate with people throughout the world. While that might not sound important as you are starting at this article on the internet, during a disaster situation where the internet goes down and all other forms of communication fail, do you have a plan for gathering relevant survival-related information or making contact with those in your group or family?

In a survival situation, knowledge is a very valuable asset. The ability to know what’s going on around you will be extremely important in just about any survival situation you might find yourself in. Having this knowledge will definitely give you a leg up in a survival situation.

With little power, and a minimal amount of equipment, Ham Radio allows you to communicate with other Hams, receive radio broadcasts from around the world, and gather important intel during times of crisis – even when cell towers and other forms of communication have failed.

In an emergency situation, you will be able to stay informed on what’s going on locally, nationally, and worldwide. Even in today’s modern age of high-tech gadgets, cell phones, and email, when the grid goes down it’s often HAM Radio operators who still provide emergency communications until things return to normal.

During almost every major disaster, local officials rely heavily on Hams to coordinate rescues and organize search and rescue missions throughout the affected areas. In fact, when regular communications systems like cellular networks, Internet access points, and public safety radio systems are compromised, ham radio can act as a substitute until normal communications have been repaired.

The FCC allows Hams to assist agencies like FEMA, the National Weather Service, and the military during times of crisis. Their ability to communicate when the grid goes down is one of the major reasons I advise our readers to look into Ham Radio.

Requirements to become a Ham Radio Operator:

Unlike when I got my license, The FCC’s new licensing requirements have been simplified and now only require you to pass a single 35-question written exam; no Morse code required (although I do advise you learn it, as it has a number of advantages in an emergency situation).

The tests are made up of questions relating to things like standard operating procedures, identifying radio frequencies, understanding radio propagation, electronic circuits, and electrical principles, antenna theory, equipment repair, non-voice communications, and emergency preparedness.

Why you need to be Licensed:

I often have people ask me if they really need to go through the hassle of becoming a licensed Amateur Radio Operator. Some people argue that during a SHTF situation having a License is meaningless. While this may be true, the knowledge that you’ll obtain while studying to get your license is well worth the time and the effort.

You will learn things like the:

• The basics of how to operate your radio
• Which bands are open during different atmospheric conditions
• How to reliably use your radio during an emergency
• How to build a variety of basic antennas.

In my opinion, studying for the test and going through the process is the only way to ensure you’ll be able to use these skills when it counts.  You will be far better off learning these critical skills now instead of haphazardly trying to figure how to use your radio during an emergency situation.

If you are serious about survival communication, I strongly suggest that you look into becoming a Ham Radio Operator.

Licensing Study Guides and Material

• Ham Radio For Dummies
• The ARRL Antenna Book: The Ultimate Reference for Amateur Radio Antennas
• ARRL Ham Radio License Manual

Other Important Ham Radio Resources:

• Communications Monitoring: The Importance of Radio Monitoring and Intelligence Gathering During Crisis Situations
• Ham Radio FAQs: Everything you need to know about Amateur Radio
• Emergency Communication: Frequencies to Monitor when Things Go Bad
• The ARRL Antenna Book: The Ultimate Reference for Amateur Radio Antennas
• The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual
• Morse Code Teacher

What Ham Radio Gear do you need to ensure your ability to communicate during a disaster?

Once you have your license, you are going to need a couple of things to help ensure your ability to communicate:

• Radios – A VHF/UHF band Radio for Local Coms (Can also be used with linked repeaters for state and regional Coms) and an HF (High Frequency) Radio for local, nationwide and worldwide communications.
• A Power Supply – We suggest having a power supply for your base station, a mobile vehicle setup and some solar/battery setups for bugout situation or field communications.
• Antennas – This is a huge topic in and of itself but all of your radios are going to need antennas and it’s a good idea to learn as much as you can about Antenna Theory and building your own antennas.

Recommended Ham Radios – VHF/UHF band Radios and a Good HF (High Frequency) Radio

Let’s start out with covering our local and statewide coms because when it comes down to the reality of survival communications most disasters that you will face will be local in nature and the ability to get updates on what’s going down in your neck of the woods is going to play a vital role in your ability to survive.

VHF/UHF Band Radios

The first thing you want to do is make sure you have a radio that covers the  2-meter band and 70CM ham bands, these types of radios will usually cover 136-174 MHz & 400-480 MHz FM, where you can find everything from local fire and police, weather radio, and of course the ham bands and repeater networks that you will utilize to communicate locally or regionally through repeater networks that are linked to other areas of the country.

Here are a couple of Dual Band Radios that we like:

• The Yaesu FT-60: This is probably the #1 most recommended radio by Hams. The thing is rock solid dependable and it’s going to be hard to find a better handheld dual-band radio.
• The Yaesu FT-65: While not as good as the FT-60, this radio still rocks and it’s going to be a good option for those watching their budget. You can read our full review on this radio here.
• BaoFeng UV-5R: I thought long and hard on whether or not to include this radio — if you look at my reviews and other articles on this site you know I am not a fan of this radio. That being said they are cheap as hell, they allow you to send on more than just ham bands, and if you’re really broke then they are better than nothing – but I would not trust my life with one!
• Yaesu FT-2980R Mobile Rig: For a vehicle setup or a home base station, the FT-2980R is going to give you a hell of a lot more power than a hand-held rig and is something we recommend having both at home and in your vehicle.

HF (High Frequency) Radio

Now we want to start looking at being able to gather intel from around the world; that’s why we think every good Emergency Communication setup needs to include an HF (High Frequency) Radio – preferable something that covers 6-180 meters. Here you will not only find a number of Ham Bands that will allow you to send and receive information locally, nationwide and worldwide, but you will also find worldwide shortwave broadcasts, military and government stations, and a huge range of emergency broadcasts systems.

The recent global stock market turmoil amid the coronavirus outbreak has left investors panicked and worried. The S&P 500 index has dropped more than 12% in the last couple of weeks. This is nothing compared to what we (and our ancestors) have seen in the past. Here we take a look at the most devastating financial crises that wreaked havoc through modern history.

The financial markets reflect the irrationality, optimism, and panic of market participants. Sometimes extreme optimism causes asset prices to disconnect from the reality, only to fall dramatically when the bubble bursts. Examples include the Tulip Mania (1637) and the South Sea Bubble (1720).

These are the top 10 most devastating financial crises:

10- Argentine economic crisis, 1999

Much like other Latin American nations, the Argentine economy was hit hard by the Latin American debt crisis in the 1980s. Its forex reserves were running low. The rampant corruption, sky high inflation, military dictatorship, and the Falklands debacle drove the Argentine economy to the verge of collapse.

The steep devaluation of the Brazilian currency in 1999 hurt Argentine exports. Soon the Argentine economy was in full-blown recession that lasted three years. Following the dramatic run on banks, the government froze everyone’s bank accounts. Violent protests erupted all over the country. In the absence of cash, people bartered for goods. Two consecutive governments failed to bring the economy out of recession. It took Argentina three years to recover from the crisis.

9- Russian financial crisis, 1998

Five years prior to the financial crisis, Russia issued GKOs – inflation-free treasury bills – to fund its budget deficit. The GKOs attracted a huge number of foreign investors because of high interest rates. The government was using proceeds from GKO sales to pay off interest on existing debts.

But the Russian economy continued to struggle due to corruption, political instability, and lack of economic reforms. The falling oil prices also hit the Russian economy hard. The government owned more than $12 billion in unpaid wages to employees. In 1997, Moscow tried to raise more money by selling GKOs with interest rates of up to 200%!

Eventually, investors lost confidence in the Russian economy, selling the rubles and other Russian securities en masse. The markets tanked more than 60%. Many banks vanished within weeks. The Russian central bank used its forex reserves to stabilize the ruble, but couldn’t. Even an IMF loan proved ineffective. Russia emerged from the crisis when oil prices started rising in 1999.

8- The 1987 crisis

On October 19, 1987, the US stocks tumbled 22.6% in what is now known as Black Monday. No one is entirely sure what caused the Black Monday, but it wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars from the stock markets. By the end of October 1987, the Australian stocks fell 42%, Hong Kong stocks went down 46%, and the UK stocks fell 26.4%.

Some believe the Black Monday crash was caused by the growing influence of computers on the Wall Street. Others blamed monetary policy and inflation. Following the 1987 crisis, many of American’s leading savings & loan entities such as American Savings and Loan, Gibraltar Savings and Loan, and MCorp collapsed.

7- German hyperinflation, 1918-24

The German hyperinflation was not as bad as the Zimbabwe hyperinflation, but it was one of the most devastating financial crises in history. After the First World War, the ‘victors’ blamed Germany for starting the war. They demanded retributions for the cost of war. Whatever land, precious metals, and other assets Germany had wasn’t enough to cover the cost of war.

So, Germany started printing Mark like never before. The exchange rate skyrocketed from 4 German Marks per dollar in 1914 to 1 trillion Marks per dollar in 1923. Inflation was running high. Many countries accused Germany of deliberating sabotaging its economy to avoid the financial retributions of war.

The country tried to control the hyperinflation in 1923 by introducing a new currency called the Rentenmark. It destroyed the middle-class and paved the way for National Socialism in Germany.

6- Asian financial crisis, 1997

During the early 1990s, the Asian Tigers – Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia – had become the hottest investment destinations. Developed countries were pouring billions of dollars into the region. Asset prices shot through the roof. Some of these countries were clocking annual GDP growth rates of above 12%.

Favorable exchange rates made their exports less competitive. Amid extreme optimism, investors failed to notice that the Asian Tigers were also running huge fiscal deficits. The Asian Tigers began facing fierce competition from China in the export market in 1996. The massive debts and falling exports hurt these economies. Panicked investors from developed countries withdrew credit. The asset prices started falling, leading to massive debt defaults.

The crisis began in Thailand and quickly spread to other countries. Regional currencies fell dramatically against the dollar, making dollar-denominated borrowings even more expensive. The International Monetary Fund launched a massive bailout program to help Asian countries bring their economies back on track.

5- OPEC oil crisis, 1973

The United States was sending arms and supplies to Israel during the Fourth Arab-Israel War. The OPEC nations retaliated by stopping the export of oil to the US and its allies. As a result, oil prices jumped significantly in developed countries.

Inflation was running high and the economic growth had stagnated. The NYSE lost $97 billion in value within six weeks. Japanese automakers started selling smaller and more fuel-efficient cars to compete with the American gas-guzzlers.

The oil embargo lasted only five months. But the Arab nations realized the power of oil in the global economy. The US had to enact several regulations to conserve oil. In 1977, the US government created the Department of Energy to build a strategic petroleum reserve.

4- Japan’s Lost Decade, 1991-2000

The Japanese economy witnessed a strong growth after the Second World War, thanks to the country’s high savings rate and sheer hard work. By the 1980s, Japan had become the world’s second largest economy behind the US. Japan was the world’s largest exporter of goods.

The booming economy and record-low interest rates brought prosperity. Consequently, the stock market and real estate valuations shot through the roof in late 1980s. At one point, the Japanese Imperial Palace was worth more than the entire real estate in California. It all ended in 1990s when the speculative bubble burst.

In the 1990s, the Japanese stock market lost more than $2.2 trillion in value while the real estate market declined by more than $8 trillion from the peak. It was a slow rather than a sudden decline. Borrowers failed to repay debts backed by speculative assets. The stock market and real estate bubble burst led to a decade of low growth as the economy stalled. The country is still struggling with low growth and deflation.

3- Dot-com bubble, 2000

Between October 1990 and March 2000, the S&P 500 index gained 417%. Investors had just realized the potential of the Internet Age. The rally was fueled by tech stocks. Even many non-tech companies were adding ‘.com’ to their names to attract investors’ money. In March 2000, the NASDAQ reached a peak market capitalization of $6.6 trillion. Most of the technology companies didn’t have a viable business model back then.

The NASDAQ started declining in March 2000. By 2002, investors lost an estimated $5 trillion as hundreds of technology companies vanished into thin air.

2- The Great Recession, 2007-2009

It was the most devastating financial crisis since the 1929 Great Depression. On the back of low interest rates, excessive leverage, and subprime mortgages, the US housing market was on steroids between 2002 and 2007. People with low or unstable income were able to buy exorbitantly expensive houses with zero down payments.

It was only a matter of time before the borrowers started defaulting on their loans. The S&P 500 index plunged 56.8% between October 2007 and March 2009. It wiped out more than $6.5 trillion from the US stock markets. The effects were felt all over the world. Several financial services giants including Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, and Bear Stearns collapsed during the Great Recession. The US government launched unprecedented bailouts to revive the economy.

1- The Great Depression, 1929

The Great Depression was the most devastating financial crisis in modern history. Prior to the 1929 crash, American experts and economists predicted that the country had entered an era of ‘permanent prosperity.’ People were borrowing money to invest in the booming stock market. Countless middle-class people had turned millionaires.

Investors panicked when the government raised interest rates. On October 29, 1929, investors lost more than $10 billion ($95 billion adjusted for inflation). Within a week, the stock market had lost about $30 billion in value, which was even more than what America had spent on the First World War.

Between 1929 and 1932, the US stocks lost 86% of their value. The Great Depression lasted about a decade. More than one-third of American banks collapsed during the crisis. In 1933, the US government established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to restore people’s faith in the American banking system.

Millions lost their jobs. Unemployment rate reached 25% in 1933. Billionaires went bankrupt. The stock market did not reach its 1929 peak again until 1954.

We Americans are an expressive lot. We like to tell the world how we feel to the world around us. We have recruited an army from China to assure that we can express our thoughts on signs, bumper stickers, and shirts very cheaply.

The things you wear and the signs you hang can affect your life in more ways than just spreading your personal mantra or message. In fact, what you hang and what you wear can make you both liable in certain situations and even make you a target in others!

The Power Of Deterrents

That said, the most powerful tools you can use when setting up real home security are deterrents. Deterrents are usually affordable, and they can be incredibly effective. They are things like cameras, locks, lights and even signs that can be used to keep criminals moving when they happen upon your home.

If your house is a just a little less appealing than your neighbors or another home, they have been casing, well, your deterrents are working. It only takes a little thought to make criminals rethink breaking into your home.

Many Americans use signs for this, but some signs are actually going to make matters worse in a break in. Do you know the five signs to avoid using on your property?

Variability In State Laws

Neither this website nor I, are offering up legal advice in this article. We are not qualified to offer this kind of advice! We are simply pointing out some issues and concerns that come about when you begin hanging certain kinds of signage on your home and property.

These are trying times and we are all looking for a little something that we can do to be more prepared for the future. We must be careful and thorough with what we do.

No Trespassing Violators Will Be Shot

This is a common sign that helps to empower the owner. A sign like this gives you the ability to basically threaten all who might step foot on your property.

Let’s be honest, when we see terrible things happening in the streets of our nation, it is hard not to be scared. Many fill that fear hole with aggression.

What’s important to remember is that you can only shoot in self defense. If you do it for any other reason you are likely going to jail! So, if someone sees your sign and disregards it, they can pretty much take whatever they want off your property and, so long as they are not posing a physical threat to you and yours, you cannot shoot at them.

Where these signs can get you into even more trouble is if you are defending yourself on your property and they can make the legal case that you are a crazy prepper who has been dying to shoot someone with your AR and even hung signs up about it!

Beware Of Dog

One of the more interesting and dangerous signs that you can put up, is the ‘Beware of Dog’ sign.

While you might be able to understand that a sign that says something like “My Rottweiler is the Security System” or something like that, will not help your case, if your dog bites someone.

However, the ‘Beware of Dog’ sign can do as much damage to your case as not having one! This is dependent on the state laws but just understand it could be an issue.

The Takeaway: If you knew your dog was vicious and the sign can prove it, when it bites you have offered up the first bit of evidence by way of signage.

Fake Security Signs

While it might seem enticing to post some fake security signs as a deterrent, be careful with this.

Seasoned criminals will know the difference between a fake sign and a real one. If a criminal spots a fake sign in your yard they will instantly know that you have no security system.

Don’t think that criminals are not well versed in the technology they might face when breaking into a home.

This could embolden someone to take advantage of breaking into your home. They will assume you are unprotected.

What About Bumper Stickers?

In this age of hypersensitivity everyone has something to say and something to hide! This can often manifest itself in the form of tee shirts and bumper stickers.

Even if your home is free of any signs, you can tell people a lot by the things you place on your bumper.

What do you think a criminal sees in an anti-gun bumper sticker? They understand that the homeowner is likely not protected by a firearm.

There are all kinds of things that criminals can deduce from the messages you plaster on the back of your parked car.

Flags

While you might not look at flags as signs, they certainly convey a message about the people who hang the flags.

Don’t believe me? What would you think if you were driving down your street and you saw an ISIS flag flying on one of your neighbor’s home? What about a swastika?

Much like the signs we mentioned, flags can both build a case against you and deter people from making your home a target. I have to imagine if you fly a flag with an AR15 on it you are not going to see a lot of incidences of looting.

It’s the same old story. There is no flag, sign or bumper sticker that gives you legal immunity. The flag you fly tells people a lot about you and you need to be aware of that.

Whether it’s a sign, a bumper sticker, or a flag, when you put a message out to the public you must be thoughtful. While your buddies might think it’s cute to be radical and dangerous in your signage just understand that kind of language can be turned against you.

Simple and effective signing with clear language can be very effective for the property owner. These signs can be used as further proof against someone who might be looting, casing or just sneaking onto your property and wrecking.

In most cases, the less you put out there the better your defense. A simple “No Trespassing” sign establishes your domain and can be used against anyone who decides to ignore the sign and be malicious.

The forces are mounting that will eventually overwhelm most Americans and send their standard of living to unknown depths. Americans that have only known the post WWII prosperity are ill equipped and educated to deal with depression level living. Easy credit and instant gratification have created a nation of whining, self absorbed, entitlement minded people with no moral or mental toughness.

Doug Casey believes we are headed for what he calls a super depression created by the ending of a debt super cycle. The bigger the debt cycle the bigger the depression that follows. That’s how reality works and most people are not prepared for reality.

In this video, i will unearth a long-forgotten secret that helped our ancestors survive famines, wars, economic crisis, diseases, droughts and anything else life trew at them.
So pay chose attention because this video will change your life forever for the good!

When this depression, which has already started, gets momentum, it will overwhelm the plans of a society that is expecting to get things like social security, pensions and payouts from retirement plans they have paid into for many years. All of those things will disappear almost overnight and leave society gasping and stupefied over what to do. Their reactions will be to yell and scream and try to identify who to blame but the only person they should blame is the one in the mirror.

Many very smart people have raised the alarm and done their best to warn the sleeping public, but those slumbering masses have ignored the warnings and hit the snooze button one more time. The masses do not understand economics, do not want to understand economics and they will pay dearly for that ignorance in the coming days.

When the real unemployment rate becomes common knowledge as it increases substantially, people will be left to survive on what resources they have saved up outside the banking system that cannot be stolen by the politicians and bankers. That is a key point here. The assets you have outside the system that cannot be stolen from you with a few key strokes on some computer.

Those hoping for some miraculous event that will send the U.S. back to the days of manufacturing might and jobs for all will never see it happen. Those days are gone. The west line theory tells us our economy will slow down and become more modest as the shipping center of the world moves west to the next powerhouse region which is Asia. This is what history teaches us.

When people suddenly wake up one morning and they have no job, their retirement is gone and they need to care for their family, what will they do? When government services have collapsed and they suddenly realize they are now living in a third world country with few government services, what will they do? When the banks are closed and only a select few connected people have any type of money or access to goods, what will they do?

This is the reality that many people will face in the future and they have no idea how bad it can get. They refuse to contemplate the harsh reality they will be living in and take steps to mitigate the effects. To do so would be to acknowledge it could happen and they are taking personal responsibility. Personal responsibility is a dirty phrase in today’s entitlement society. To see some of the effects one only has to look at the collapse of society in Venezuela today to see what awaits.

When it happens it will all fall back to you to take responsibility for your family and take care of them for the duration. To do that you need to plan now for that eventuality and build up the resources you will need to provide food, shelter, clothing and security when the system fails to do it for you. You need to be Noah on his ark not the people watching as he floated away.

Having resources stored up is a must but it may not get you all the way through if the situation lasts for many years. That is why you need some type of plan to replace those resources as time goes by and have some way to generate some type of income or at least items to trade. Usable goods are for the short term and things like gold ,silver and production equipment are for the long term to help you get through the crisis with the least amount of pain.

Even with proper planning the days ahead will not be easy as the standard of living of society will fall substantially to levels only seen in failed third world countries or old pictures. The assets actually owned by people today is very small compared to how they live. They will default on their home loan, their car loan, and their credit card debt leaving them with very few real possessions and few ways to move what they have left even if they have some place to go. Ultimately these people will become the new serfs to the wealthy class that will take possession of anything of value. Feudalism will once again rule.

The lack of planning by society will make this a reality if it is allowed. What will you do when everything you have worked a lifetime for is suddenly taken away? Do you have a plan to keep what you have? Do you have a plan to make money when you cannot find a job? Do you have a way to take care of your family until things stabilize? Do you have a home you will not lose if the whole system breaks down? What will you do if electricity or fuel is too expensive to buy or not available to the general population? These are the questions you should be asking yourself now and you better have a good answer because your family will be asking them when the greater depression sets in.

Today I’d like to share with you a “3-second survival hack” you can use to skyrocket your chances of protecting your loved ones during ANY crisis.

This technique is so powerful it can give you almost superhuman powers during the ugliest nightmares imaginable….

From natural disasters like earthquakes or tornadoes…

To explosive situations like mass shootings or even nationwide martial law.

And It doesn’t matter if you’re out of shape…

Or have no equipment…

Or even if you’re disabled living in a wheelchair.

This technique has been tested and proven by elite soldiers and real world “miracle” survivors from around the world.