Difference between revisions of "Survivalism"

Latest revision as of 17:54, 29 April 2015

Survivalism is a commonly used term (too often in an undeservedly derogatory sense) for both the preparedness strategy for possible future disruptions in the local, regional, national, or even international social/political order and culture of individuals/groups anticipating and making those events and preparations.

Unlike the improvident, the survivalist actively prepares for this anticipated disruption by learning vital skills (like emergency medical training), stockpiling food and water, preparing for self-defense, and self-sufficiency. Many also choose (if resources and locale permit) to build structures that will help them to either weather out the situation where they are, or else to "disappear off the radar" to a remote safe locale (such as an underground shelter or other retreat).

The proper specific preparations made by the survivalist are necessarily dependent upon the nature of the anticipated disruption(s), geographic locale, climate, and other vital considerations. The more factors taken into account, the better and more effective the preparations will be. Some of the more commonly anticipated scenarios are:

1. Natural disaster clusters, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards, severe thunderstorms, etc.
2. A disaster brought about by human activities: chemical spills, release of radioactive materials, nuclear or conventional war, or an oppressive government.
3. General collapse of society, resulting from the unavailability of electricity, fuel, food, water, or other vital resources.
4. Monetary disruption or economic collapse, possibly stemming from monetary manipulation, hyperinflation, deflation, and/or worldwide economic depression.
5. Widespread chaos due to some other unexplained (and likely unforeseen) apocalyptic event.

[edit] History

The roots of the modern Survivalist movement in the United States and Britain can be traced to several sources including, but by no means limited to, questionable government policies, threats of nuclear warfare, religious beliefs, writers warning of social or economic collapse, (post-)apocalyptic fiction, observations of previous events, and climate change.

A Duck & Cover movie poster

A copy of Survival Under Atomic Attack, a Civil Defense publication

The Cold War era government Civil Defense programs promoted public atomic bomb shelters, personal fallout shelters, and training for children, such as the "Duck and cover" films. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has long directed its members to store a year's worth of food for themselves and their families in preparation for such possibilities.^[1] Also, the Scout movement lives by the motto: Be Prepared!

The Great Depression that is associated with the stock market crash on October 29, 1929 and the contraction of the money supply that followed is often cited by survivalists as an example of the need to be prepared.

[edit] 1960s

With the increasing inflation of the 1960s and the impending US monetary devaluation (predicted by Harry Browne in his 1970 book How You Can Profit from the Coming Devaluation), as well as the continuing concern over a possible nuclear exchange between the US and the Soviet Union, and the increasing vulnerability of urban centers to supply shortages and other systems failures, a number of primarily conservative and libertarian thinkers began suggesting that individual preparations would be wise. Browne began offering seminars on how to survive a monetary collapse in 1967, with Don Stephens, an architect, providing input on how to build and equip a remote Survival retreat. He provided a copy of his original Retreater's Bibliography for each seminar participant.

Articles on the subject appeared in such small-distribution libertarian publications as The Innovator and Atlantis Quarterly. It was also from this period that Robert D. Kephart began publishing Inflation Survival Letter (later renamed Personal Finance). The newsletter included a continuing section on personal preparedness by Stephens for several years. It promoted expensive seminars around the US on the same cautionary topics. Stephens participated, along with James McKeever and other defensive investing, "hard money" advocates.

[edit] 1970s

In the next decade Howard Ruff also warned about socio-economic collapse in his 1974 book Famine and Survival in America. Ruff's book was published during a period of rampant inflation in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. Most of the elements of survivalism can be found there, including advice on storage of food. The book also championed the claim that precious metals, such as gold (such as South African Krugerrands) and silver, have an intrinsic worth that makes them more usable in the event of a socioeconomic collapse than fiat currency (money declared by a government to be legal tender). Ruff later published milder variations on the same themes, such as How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years, a best-seller in 1979.

A wave of newsletters and books on the topic of survival followed the publication of Ruff's first book. In 1975, Kurt Saxon began publishing a tabloid-size newsletter called The Survivor, which combined Saxon's editorials with reprints of 19th century and early 20th century writings on various pioneer skills and old technologies. Kurt Saxon used the term "survivalist" to describe the movement, and he claims to have coined the term.^[2]

In the previous decade, preparedness consultant, survival bookseller and author Don Stephens from California, had popularized the term "retreater" to describe those in the movement, referring to their preparations to leave the cities for a remote haven or survival retreat when/if society breaks down. In 1976, before moving to the Inland Northwest, he and his wife authored and published The Survivor's Primer & Up-dated Retreater's Bibliography.

For a time in the 1970s, the terms "survivalist" and "retreater" were used interchangeably. While the term "retreater" eventually "fell below the public radar", many who subscribed to it saw "retreating" as the more rational, conflict-avoidance, remote "invisibility" approach. "Survivalism", on the other hand, became saddled with a more media-sensationalized, combative, "shoot-it-out-with-the-looters" image.^[3]

One of the most important newsletters on survivalism and survivalist retreats in the 1970s was the Personal Survival ("P.S.") Letter (circa 1977-1982) published by Mel Tappan, who also authored the books Survival Guns and Tappan on Survival. The newsletter included columns from Tappan himself as well from Jeff Cooper, Al J. Venter, Bill Pier, Bruce D. Clayton, Rick Fines, Nancy Mack Tappan, J.B. Wood, Dr. Carl Kirsch, Charles Avery, Karl Hess, Eugene A. Barron, Janet Groene, Dean Ing, Bob Taylor, Reginald Bretnor, C.G. Cobb, and several other writers, some under pen names. The majority of this newsletter revolved around selecting, constructing and logistically equipping survival retreats.^[4] Following Tappan's death in 1980, Karl Hess took over publishing the newsletter, eventually renaming it Survival Tomorrow.

In 1980, John Pugsley published the book The Alpha Strategy. It was on the New York Times bestseller list for nine weeks in 1981. Even after 29 years in circulation, The Alpha Strategy is considered a standard reference on stocking up on food and household supplies as a hedge against inflation and future shortages. This has made the book popular with survivalists.^[5]

In addition to hard copy newsletters, in the 1970s survivalists got their first online presence with BBS and Usenet forums dedicated to survivalism and survival retreats (see Links below).

[edit] 1980s

Interest in the first wave of the survivalist movement peaked in the early 1980s, on the momentum of Ruff's How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years and the publication in 1980 of the book Life After Doomsday by Bruce D. Clayton. Clayton's book, coinciding with a renewed arms race between the United States and Soviet Union, marked a shift in emphasis in preparations made by survivalists away from economic collapse, famine, and energy shortages which were concerns in the 1970s to nuclear war. Also in the early 1980s, science fiction writer Jerry Pournelle was an editor and columnist for Survive, a survivalist magazine, and he was considered influential in the survivalist movement.^[6] Ragnar Benson's 1982 book Live Off The Land In The City And Country suggested rural survival retreats as both a preparedness measure and as a conscious change of lifestyle.

[edit] 1990s

Interest in the movement peaked again in 1999 in its second wave, triggered by fears of the Y2K computer bug. Before extensive efforts were made to rewrite computer programming code to mitigate the effects, some writers such as Gary North, Ed Yourdon, James Howard Kunstler^[7], and Ed Yardeni anticipated widespread power outages, food and gasoline shortages, and other emergencies to occur. North and others raised the alarm because they perceived that Y2K code fixes were not being made quickly enough. While a range of authors responded to this wave of concern, two of the most survival-focused offerings were Boston on Y2K (1998) by Boston T. Party, and The Hippy Survival Guide to Y2K by Mike Oehler. The latter is an underground living advocate, who also authored The $50 and Up Underground House Book which has long been popular in survivalist circles.

[edit] 2000-present

The third and most recent wave of the Survivalist movement began after the September 11, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001 and similar attacks in Bali, Madrid , and London. This resurgence of interest in survivalism appears to be as strong as the first wave in the 1970s. The fear of war, combined with an increase in awareness of environmental disasters and global climate change, energy shortages, economic uncertainty, coupled with the vulnerability of humanity after the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean and Hurricane Katrina on the U.S. Gulf Coast and avian influenza has once again made survivalism popular. Preparedness is once more paramount in the concerns of many people, who now seek to stockpile or cache supplies, gain useful skills, develop contacts with others of similar outlooks and gather as much advice and information as possible.

Many books have been published in the past few years offering survival advice for various potential disasters, ranging from an energy shortage and crash to nuclear or biological terrorism. In addition to reading the 1970s-era books on survivalism, blogs (such as SurvivalBlog) and Internet forums are popular ways of passing along survivalism information. Online survival websites and blogs discuss survival vehicles, survival retreats and emerging threats, and list survivalist groups.^[8]

Economic troubles emerging from the credit collapse triggered by the 2007 US subprime mortgage lending fiasco and global grain shortages^[9][10][11] have prompted a wider cross-section of the populace to get prepared.^[11][12] James Wesley Rawles, the editor of SurvivalBlog and author of the survivalist novel Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse was quoted by the New York Times in April 2008 as saying that "interest in the survivalist movement 'is experiencing its largest growth since the late 1970s'”. In 2009, he was also quoted by the Associated Press as stating: "There's so many people who are concerned about the economy that there's a huge interest in preparedness, and it pretty much crosses all lines, social, economic, political and religious. There's a steep learning curve going on right now."^[13]

The advent of H1N1 Swine Flu in 2009 ratcheted up interest in survivalism even further, and significantly boosted sales of preparedness books, and made survivalism more mainstream.^[14] Recent events such as the 2010 Haitian earthquake, the BP oil spill, and the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami have revitalized the survivalist community.

These developments led Gerald Celente, founder of the Trends Research Institute, to identify a trend that he calls "Neo-Survivalism". He explained this phenomenon in a radio interview^[15] with Jim Puplava on December 18, 2009:

"When you go back to the last depressing days when we were in a survival mode, the last one the Y2K of course, before the 1970's, what had happened was you only saw this one element of survivalist, you know, the caricature, the guy with the AK-47 heading to the hills with enough ammunition and pork and beans to ride out the storm. This is a very different one from that: you're seeing average people taking smart moves and moving in intelligent directions to prepare for the worst. (...) So survivalism in every way possible. Growing your own, self-sustaining, doing as much as you can to make it as best as you can on your own and it can happen in urban area, sub-urban area or the ex-urbans. And it also means becoming more and more tightly committed to your neighbours, your neighbourhood, working together and understanding that we're all in this together and that when we help each other out that's going to be the best way forward."

This last aspect is highlighted in The Trends Research Journal^[16]: "Communal spirit intelligently deployed is the core value of Neo-Survivalism".

[edit] Survivalist scenarios and outlooks

Survivalism is approached by its adherents in a wide array of different ways, depending on their circumstances, their mindsets, and their particular concerns for the future.^[17] The following are some examples (ranging from the perfectly sensible to the downright loopy), although many survivalists fit into more than one category or orientation:

Safety Preparedness Oriented - Learns principles and techniques needed for surviving life-threatening situations that can occur anytime or anywhere. Makes preparations for such common calamities as structure fires, dog attacks, physical confrontations, snake bites, lightning strikes, car breakdowns, Third World travel problems, bear encounters, flash floods, home invasions and even train wrecks.^[18]

Wilderness Survival Emphasis - Stresses being able to stay alive for indefinite periods in life threatening wilderness scenarios. These can include: plane crashes, shipwrecks, being lost in the woods. Concerns are: thirst, hunger, climate, terrain, health, stress, fear.^[18] Prepares with: knowledge, training and practice. Survival kit often includes: water purifiers, shelter, fire starters, clothing, food, medical supplies, navigation and signaling gear.

Self-Defense Driven - Individuals concerned with surviving brief encounters of violent activity. Focus is on personal protection and its legal ramifications, danger awareness, Boyd's cycle (also known as the OODA cycle - observe, orient, decide and act), martial arts, self defense tactics and tools (both lethal and less-than-lethal).

Brief Natural Disaster - People that live in tornado, hurricane, flood, wildfire, earthquake or heavy snowfall areas and want to be prepared for the inevitable.^[19] Investment in material for fortifying structures and tools for rebuilding and constructing temporary shelter, perhaps have a custom built shelter, food, water, medicine, and supplies, enough to get by until contact with the rest of the world resumes.^[18]

Longer Term Natural Disaster - Concerned about long term weather cycles of 2-10 years, unusually cold or warm periods, that have happened on and off for thousands of years, and that cause crop failures.^[10] Might stock several tons of food per family member and have a heavy duty greenhouse with canned non-hybrid seeds..^[20]

Indefinite/Multi-Generational Natural Disaster - Possible scenarios include: severe global warming and the possible ensuing ice age, the greenhouse-effect-gone-wild, environmental degradation^[11], warming/cooling of gulf steam waters, large meteor strike^[21], shift in earth's axis or reversal of geo-magnetic fields.

Bio-Chem Scenario - Concerned with the spread of fatal diseases and terrorist use of biological agents and nerve gases. Examples: Swine flu, E.Coli 0157, Solanum, Botulism, Dengue Fever, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, SARS, Rabies, Hantavirus, Anthrax, Plague, Cholera, HIV, Ebola, Marburg virus, Lhasa virus, Sarin, and VX.^[21] Might own NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) full-face respirators, polyethylene coveralls, PVC boots, Nitrile gloves, plastic sheeting and duct tape.

Technological Mass Destruction Concerns - Concerned with unintended consequences of genetic manipulation, nano-technology, transgenic crops, psychological engineering, genome hybridized cloning, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, engineered organisms, self-replicating molecular robotic assemblers (“gray goo problem”).

Malthusian - Soaring increase in world's uncontrolled human population growth impacts available fresh water, food, health-care, environment, economics, consumerism, spread of diseases and just about every other facet of life. Projections indicate that world population of 6.6 billion may again double in fifty years. Some warn that this will result in a Malthusian population crash.

Monetary Disaster Investors - Believe the Federal Reserve system is anything from just untrustworthy to downright evil. Newsletters suggest hard assets of gold and silver bullion or coins and in some cases other precious-metal oriented investments such as mining shares. They are preparing for paper money to become worthless through hyperinflation. This is presently a very popular scenario.

Biblical Eschatologist - These individuals study End Times prophecy and believe the Saviour is going to return soon, and that the final battle with Satan on the Plains of Meggido might well occur within their lifetime.^[22] Most believe that the rapture will follow a period of Tribulation, though a smaller number believe that the rapture is imminent and will precede the Tribulation. ("Pre-Trib rapture".) There is a very wide range of beliefs and attitudes in this group. They run the gamut from pacifist to armed camp, and from no food stockpiles (leaving their sustenance up to God's providence) to decades of food storage. A small subset are Messianic Jews, and an even smaller fringe subset follow a charismatic leader's interpretations of the Bible. The Branch Davidians were one such sect.

Peak Oil Doomer - The Doomers are convinced that Peak Oil is a genuine threat^[23], and take appropriate measures^[24], usually involving relocation to a Survival retreat region that is agriculturally self-sufficient.^[25]

Rawlesian - Adherents of James Wesley Rawles (the editor of SurvivalBlog and author of the survivalist novel Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse) often prepare for multiple scenarios with fortified and well-equipped remote rural survival retreats. Most (but by no means all) are politically conservative or libertarian. Nearly all place an emphasis on both being well-armed as well as being ready to dispense charity in the event of a disaster. Most take a "deep larder" approach and store multiple years of food. They also emphasize practical self-sufficiency and homesteading skills.^[26]

Medical Crisis Oriented - Has very complete medical pack in house and in car.^[18] Donates blood and is active in the Red Cross. Has taken CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), paramedic EMT, and CPR courses, knows vital signs, stockpiles medicines, etc. Concerned with vehicle accidents and emergencies involving injuries. Focus is on helping family, friends and community survive medical emergencies.

[edit] Common preparations

Common preparations sometimes include preparing a clandestine or defensible 'retreat' or 'safe place' (aka Bug Out Location or BOL) and stockpiling non-perishable food, water, water-purification equipment, clothing, seed, firewood, defensive/hunting weapons, ammunition, and agricultural equipment. Many survivalists do not make such extensive preparations but instead merely incorporate a "Be Prepared" outlook into their everyday life.

Many survivalists also have a bag of gear that is often referred to as a Bug Out Bag (BOB) or Get Out Of Dodge (G.O.O.D.) kit, holding basic necessities and useful items, weighing anywhere up to as much as the owner can carry.

Others assemble what is commonly called a "72-hour kit". In most community emergency situations, it can often take at least three days (72 hours) for help from outside the community to arrive. Therefore, there should be three days worth of food, water, and personal items for each member of the family. The 72-hour survival kit also includes first aid kit, small toys, important numbers and papers, as well as a plan for outside of the community contact and meeting location. There are also 72 hour isolation kits that include a 5-gallon bucket for use as a toilet in the absence of running water, tablets for water purification, and addressing hygiene issues.

The most ardent Survivalists aim to remain self-sufficient for the duration of any breakdown of social order, or perhaps indefinitely if the breakdown is predicted to be permanent (a "Third Dark Age"), a possibility popularized in the 1960s by Roberto Vacca of the Club of Rome. Some survivalists allow for the contingency that they cannot prevent this breakdown, and prepare to survive in small communal groups ("group retreats") or "covenant communities."

[edit] Changing concerns and preparations

Over the years, survivalists' concerns and preparations have changed in direct relation to both changes in the world and in the nature of potential threats. During the 1970s, survivalists were primarily concerned with economic collapse, hyperinflation, and famine, and prepared by storing food and constructing survival retreats in the country which could be farmed. Some survivalists stockpiled precious metals and barterable goods (such as common caliber ammunition) because they concluded that paper currency would become worthless. During the early 1980s, nuclear war became a common fear once again, and some survivalists constructed fallout shelters.

In 1999, many people (who would not have thought of themselves as survivalists before or since) purchased electric generators, water purifiers, and several months or even years worth of food in anticipation of widespread power outages because of the Y2K computer-bug.

Instead of moving or making such preparations at home, many people also make plans to remain in their current locations until an actual breakdown occurs, when they will "bug out" or "get out of Dodge" to a safer location.

[edit] Religious beliefs

Other survivalists have more specialized concerns, sometimes related to an adherence to apocalyptic religious beliefs. Some New Agers anticipate a forthcoming arrival of catastrophic earth changes and prepare to survive them. Some evangelical Christians hold to an interpretation of Bible prophecy known as a post-tribulation rapture, in which Christians will have to go through a seven-year period of war and global dictatorship known as the "Great Tribulation." Jim McKeever helped popularize survival preparations among this branch of evangelical Christians with his 1978 book Christians Will Go Through the Tribulation, and How To Prepare For It (ISBN 0-931608-02-3).

The Mormons have an official policy of food storage for their members.^[27] Some very small religious sects have also been known for their belief in a coming apocalypse and the adoption of some survivalist practices. Among the best known of these groups are the Branch Davidians, an offshoot of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

There is also the Mayan Doomsday prediction for December 21, 2012, which has mystical/religious underpinnings. Promotion by The History Channel has given rise to a mystical belief that the Mayans were able to predict cataclysmic events or even the end of the world at this date. December 21, 2012 is the end of the Mayan Long Count Calendar.

[edit] Mainstream emergency preparations

People who are not part of survivalist groups or apocalyptic-oriented religious groups also make preparations for emergencies. This can include, depending on the location, preparing for earthquakes, floods, power outages, blizzards, avalanches, wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes and even hazardous material spills or nuclear power plant containment breeches (whether through accident or terrorist activity). These preparations can be as simple as following Red Cross and FEMA recommendations by keeping a first aid kit, shovel, and extra clothes in the car, or maintaining a small kit of emergency supplies in the home and car, containing emergency food, water, a space blanket and other essentials.

Mainstream economist and financial adviser Barton Biggs is a proponent of preparedness. In his 2008 book Wealth, War and Wisdom, Biggs has a gloomy outlook for the economic future, and suggests that investors take survivalist measures. In the book, Biggs recommends that his readers should “assume the possibility of a breakdown of the civilized infrastructure,” and goes so far as to recommend setting up survival retreats^[28]: “Your safe haven must be self-sufficient and capable of growing some kind of food,” Mr. Biggs writes. “It should be well-stocked with seed, fertilizer, canned food, wine, medicine, clothes, etc. Think Swiss Family Robinson. Even in America and Europe there could be moments of riot and rebellion when law and order temporarily completely breaks down.”^[11] Some people, even many who are otherwise very critical of Biggs' works, cite the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the chaos in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as proof of Biggs being correct in this area.

[edit] Survivalist terminology

Survivalists tend toward using military acronyms such as OPSEC and SOP, and terminology common to the gun culture, but they also frequently use acronyms and terms that are fairly unique to their own lexicon. A few of these cross over with those used by Peak Oil adherents. While the following list is obviously not complete, some of the more popular survivalist terms and acronyms include:

• Alpha Strategy: The practice of storing extra consumable items, as a hedge against inflation, and for use in barter and charity. Coined by John Pugsley
• Ballistic wampum: Ammunition and ammunition components stored for barter purposes rather than personal use. Coined by Jeff Cooper.
• BOB: Bug-out bag.^[29]
• BOL: Bug-out location.^[30]
• BOV: Bug-out vehicle.^[31]
• Contrapreneur: Someone who foolishly invests in a declining market. Coined by James Wesley Rawles.
• Crunch, the: A general term for a major, long-term disaster.
• Doomer: A Peak Oil adherent who believes in a Malthusian-scale societal collapse.
• EOTW: End of the world.
• Goblin: A criminal miscreant. Coined (in the survivalist context) by Jeff Cooper.^[32]
• Golden Horde: The "anticipated large mixed horde of refugees and looters that will pour out of the metropolitan regions WTSHTF." Coined (in the survivalist context) by James Wesley Rawles.
• G.O.O.D.: Get Out of Dodge (City). Fleeing urban areas in the event of a disaster. Acronym coined by James Wesley Rawles.^[33]
• G.O.O.D. Kit: Get Out of Dodge Kit. Synonymous with Bug-Out Bag (BOB).^[34]
• INCH Bag: "I'm never coming home bag" Designed to support the life of its owner indefinitely as opposed to other BOBs which are oriented torward sustaining life for a fixed length of time and perhaps an advantage if something unexpected happens.
• Pollyanna or Polly: Someone who is in denial about the disruption that might be caused by the advent of a large scale disaster.
• Prepper: A synonym for survivalist that has come into common usage since the late 1990s. Used interchangeably with survivalist much as Retreater was in the 1970s. Refers to one being prepared or making preparations.^[35]
• SHTF: Shit Hits The Fan. A term used generically by survivalists to describe disaster situations.
• TEOTWAWKI The End of the World as We Know It. Acronym coined by Mike Medintz.^[36]
• WTSHTF: When the shit hits the fan. A term used generically by survivalists to describe disaster situations.
• YOYO: You're on your own. Not a good place to be.

[edit] Perceived extremism

In the popular culture, survivalism has often been associated with paramilitary activities. Some survivalists do take active defensive preparations that have military roots and that involve firearms, and this is sometimes emphasized by the mass media, often for the sake of sensationalism.

Kurt Saxon is one proponent of this approach to survivalism. Saxon's writings on survival tend toward social Darwinism and eugenics, with survivalism defined by Saxon as "Looking out for #1" and a need to be sufficiently armed to defend one's refuge and belongings from hungry people who might demand that others share them if society breaks down.

The potential for Societal collapse is often cited as motivation for being well-armed. Thus, some non-militaristic survivalists often have developed an unintended militaristic image. Nevertheless, its prominence in popular depictions results in the term "survivalism" being sometimes used interchangeably with right-wing reactionary paramilitary activities. In particular, the mainstream media tends to loosely label many militants and miscellaneous extremists as "survivalists", whether or not they are actively preparing to survive, and regardless of having any formal survival training, or any firm affiliation with survivalist groups.

[edit] Government preparedness efforts and training

Some governments have encouraged citizens to prepare for emergency situations, including a situation which would result in breakdown of the infrastructure. The government of Switzerland with its long-standing militia system, mandatory construction of fallout shelters in all newly-constructed multi-unit housing, and its network of reduit fortresses is one of the best prepared. An earlier civil defense effort in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s fell into disrepair by the 1970s. These included the designation of structures as official fallout shelters, and duck and cover drills in schools. A booklet released by the office of the Executive Office of the President of the United States shortly after the start of the cold war called Survival Under Atomic Attack depicts the nature of the early civil defense initiatives.

The U.S. government civil defense program was minimal during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, despite efforts by a few including Christian writer Gary North to lobby the government to resume civil defense efforts and build fallout shelters. Gary North co-wrote a book, Fighting Chance to advocate for the return of the civil defense program. A renewal of U.S. government interest in preparedness and training did not happen until after the September 11th attacks and Hurricane Katrina. This renewed interest is typified by Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) organizations.

Official government preparedness training has often been ridiculed or discounted by those in the survivalist movement. This goes in particular for the 1950s/1960s era duck and cover drills. One main tenet of the survivalist movement has been that people should prepare on their own or with like-minded people, not rely on the government to take care of them in emergencies.

[edit] Survivalism worldwide

Individual survivalist preparedness and survivalist groups and forums—both formal and informal—are popular worldwide, most visibly in Australia,^[37][38] Belgium, Canada, France, Germany^[39] (often organized under the guise of "adventuresport" clubs), New Zealand^[40], Norway, Russia^[41], Sweden, the United Kingdom^[42] and the United States.^[11]

[edit] Other groups related to survivalism

Adherents of the back-to-the-land movement, which has been sporadically popular in the United States, especially in the 1930s inspired by Helen and Scott Nearing, and more recently in the 1970s, as exemplified by The Mother Earth News magazine, share many of the same interests in self-sufficiency and preparedness with survivalists. They differ from most survivalists in that they have a greater interest in ecology, and sometimes the counterculture, than most survivalists do. The Mother Earth News was, as a result, widely read by survivalists as well as back-to-the-landers during that magazine's early years, and there was some overlap between the two movements.

[edit] In fiction

Portrayals of survivalism, and survivalist themes, have been fictionalised in print, film, and electronic media. The survivalist genre was especially influenced by the advent of nuclear weapons, and the potential for societal collapse in light of a Cold War nuclear conflagration.

[edit] See also

We also have:

• Outdoor Survival Guide
• How to conduct an Opsec Assessment

[edit] Classic survival books

The text of some classic survival books and other writings from the 1950s through the 1980s can be found online:

• Fallout Protection (1961)^[43]
• Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson Kearny (1979, updated 1987 version) ^[44]
• Possum Living by Dolly Freed (1978)
• Survival Under Atomic Attack (1950) ^[45]
• Tappan on Survival by Mel Tappan (1981)^[46]
• Textfiles.com archive of articles that circulated online during the BBS era, includes several Kurt Saxon articles from his old newsletter.

[edit] Links

• The Alpha Strategy (PDF) by John Pugsley (1980)
• The SurvivalBlog Glossary
• Survival Bill: Survival & Bushcraft Forums (Canadian)
• The LATOC Lexicon

[edit] References