Poor Man Survival
Self Reliance tools for
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A Digest of Urban
Survival Resources
In a year that has experienced a
global pandemic, Depression-level job losses, a bevy of large-scale natural
disasters from wildfires to Cat 4 hurricanes to derechos, the #1 current
concern we're now hearing from our readers isn't any of these. Instead,
it's the danger of social unrest breaking out in
their local community.
Our cities are being destroyed and Democrat mayors
and officials are defunding the police and encouraging the vandals and the
arsonists, calling them “peaceful protesters.”
This new civil war now pits those of us who love our
country and want a Constitutional government, as envisioned by our
Founders, against those who would destroy our very civilization and
freedoms.
Can our military prevent a 2nd Civil War?
Divided
loyalties within the armed forces could put the answer in doubt.
What would
America look like if its military split into hostile factions? What would
happen if thousands of American troops refused to carry out the orders of their
commander in chief—or even took up arms against him? Nothing like this has
happened in the United States since the Civil War. But today, more and more
former defense officials are publicly accusing President Donald Trump of
betraying his oath of office.
James Mattis, who is not only a prominent retired Marine Corps
general but was also President Trump’s secretary of defense, had largely kept
with the historic military tradition of not publicizing personal political
views. On June 3, he broke his silence and issued a public statement condemning
the president.
“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not
try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try,” Mattis said in
a statement obtained by cnn. “Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the
consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the
consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without
him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be
easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to
past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”
What prompted this outburst? Mattis was upset that the president
had threatened to bring federal forces to confront the riots and lawlessness
plaguing American cities. “Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming
law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled,” he had
announced. “If a city or a state refuses to take the actions that are necessary
to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the
United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”
For President Trump to use the military to disperse rioters
would require him to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807. This was specifically
what Gen. Mattis criticized. This power was last used in 1992, when President
George H. W. Bush used U.S. Marines to stop race riots in Los Angeles,
California; Mattis was a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps at the time. In
his view there was apparently nothing controversial about invoking that act at
the time. But today, Mattis claims Trump is the first president in his lifetime
to divide people.
Whatever your views on President Trump, General Mattis,
President Bush, the Insurrection Act or the United States itself, sharp
divisions between the commander in chief and the military during a time of
national turmoil represent a threat to the stability of the nation—and of the
world.
Law and Order
Other top retired generals and admirals are also condemning the
use of military force to restore law and order to American streets: Army Gen.
Colin Powell, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen and Air Force
Gen. Richard Myers. Their condemnations have been joined by those of former
defense secretaries Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel, Ashton Carter and William Cohen.
All totaled, 89 former national security leaders have accused the president of
“betraying” his oath of office by mentioning the Insurrection Act.
The current rioting in America may not be bad enough to require
sending in federal troops. Still, the Insurrection Act has been invoked 11
times in the past century. It is both legal and constitutional for the
president to use federal troops to put down “an insurrection in any state
against its government … upon the request of its legislature or of its governor
if the legislature cannot be convened.”
Deploying troops into America’s streets is a serious step.
Overusing this measure would indeed threaten what is left of the U.S.
Constitution. Understandably, citizens want to be sure that action is
necessary. But the fact that so many former defense officials are openly accusing
President Trump of sowing division in the nation illustrates that the U.S.
military is divided.
The irony of Colin Powell’s condemnation of President Trump is
that Powell was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1992 Los
Angeles riots. He reportedly told President Bush, “All you’ve got to do is say
it.” He oversaw the deployment of 4,500 marines and soldiers into the city. But
today, he says President Trump has “drifted away” from the U.S. Constitution
for suggesting he would do the same thing.
Many political analysts are warning that political division in
the U.S. is worse now than at any point since the Civil War. Other analysts say
a conflict as devastating as the Civil War could not happen to the U.S. again,
because the military would quickly put down the rebellion.
“Anybody unwise enough to seriously take up arms against Uncle
Sam on home turf would be crushed overnight by the full might of our armed
forces, which have 1.3 million men and women on active duty,” security expert
John Schindler wrote in the Observer. “Unlike
in 1861, our states lack their own freestanding militias—despite lip service to
state authority, our National Guard is fully integrated into the U.S.
military—so there’s no force to even rebel against Washington. The notion that
anybody could get even a brigade’s worth of organized troops to rebel against the
feds is an online hothouse fantasy, not political or military reality” (July 4,
2018).
This assessment assumes that the U.S. military and National
Guard are united and under the authority of the president. But is that true?
Would America’s 1.3 million active-duty soldiers fight “anybody unwise enough
to seriously take up arms against Uncle Sam on home turf”? Or would some of
them like to see regime change?
Polarized Military
During his first five years in office, former President Barack
Obama fired at least 197 military officers, leading to speculation by active
and retired military personnel that he was purging the military of ideological
dissenters. Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely told Investors Business Daily in
2013 that Obama was “intentionally weakening and gutting our military, Pentagon
and reducing us as a superpower, and anyone in the ranks who disagrees or
speaks out is being purged” (Oct. 13, 2013).
It is hard to quantify political division in the U.S. military
because officers generally do not publicly criticize their commander in chief
until after they have retired. But a 2019 survey of 1,630 active-duty troops
conducted by Syracuse University found that 50 percent of respondents had an
“unfavorable” opinion of President Trump, compared to only 42 percent who had a
favorable impression. The same poll found President Trump more popular among
the enlisted troops than among officers, with 43 percent of enlisted soldiers
having a favorable opinion of the president, compared to only 33 percent of
officers.
As
Democratic politicians are encouraging race riots and former generals are
accusing the president of betraying the Constitution, this division represents
a severe strategic vulnerability: disunity.
A 2018 survey of 829 active-duty troops conducted by the Military Times found
President Trump’s support was highest among marines. Over 65 percent of Marine
Corps respondents approved of President Trump’s job performance, compared to 49
percent of Navy respondents, 38 percent of Army respondents, and 36 percent of
Air Force respondents. The overall military was slightly more conservative than
the general public.
The fact that half the military disapproves of President Trump’s
job performance is probably rather standard for American politics. But at a
time when Democratic politicians are encouraging race riots and former generals
are accusing the president of betraying the Constitution for suggesting that
the military could help put down those riots, this division represents a severe
strategic vulnerability: disunity. This disunity is between the military and
its elected commander in chief, and between the solders within the military
itself.
Some of the groups behind the riots—like Antifa, Refuse Fascism,
and the Revolutionary Communist Party usa—have openly stated their goal to overthrow the United States
government. What if these agitators stir up an insurrection so large that
military troops are required to preserve America’s constitutional form of
government? These groups are trying to tear down America’s constitutional
system of government because they can’t build another one until that happens.
Therefore they are trying to dissolve the glue of society by dividing the
police from the people, the military from the people, the military from the
commander in chief, the officers from the enlisted men, and the enlisted men
from each other. The fact that 89 former national security leaders are publicly
speaking against President Trump is a much more significant victory for these
agitators than the establishment of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in
Seattle, Washington.
Is it true that anyone “unwise enough to seriously take up arms
against Uncle Sam on home turf would be crushed overnight by the full might of
our armed forces,” as John Schindler suggested? Or would certain troops sit
this fight out or even take up arms on behalf of the protesters?
America is bitterly divided. Prominent observers are discussing
the possibility of civil war, and one 2019 Georgetown University poll showed that
two thirds of Americans believe the U.S. is “on the edge of civil war.”
Think about that for a moment. The Civil War took 620,000
American lives, about 2 percent of the nation’s population, and more deaths
than all other American wars from the American Revolution to the Korean War
combined. Could America be on the edge of another such catastrophe? Our
technological capacity to kill is much higher now than it was in 1865. If the
military split into hostile factions, the potential for mass violence is much
higher today.
Civil War
You can see the fault lines of this seismic conflict forming.
Some people trust America’s military to preserve peace; others
join right-wing militias or radically left groups like Antifa and the
Democratic Socialists of America, which want to replace, rewrite or ignore the
Constitution. As these trends unfold, tensions are building and the rule of law
is breaking down. For 100 million Americans to die in a civil war, the nation’s
military will have to be broken.
Civil War President Abraham Lincoln once stated, “All the armies
of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the Earth (our
own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could
not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a
trial of a thousand years. … If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be
its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time
or die by suicide.”
Sidebars of note:
Democrats Say Trump Responsible for
Violence in Democrat-Run Cities
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How to Create a Home Defense Plan
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The number of
firearm sales have skyrocketed given the current situation that’s taken over
our lives. Many people are now first-time gun owners solely for protection
purposes. To me, this correlates to a need for education. Just having a
firearm in your home for protection in no way means you’re “suddenly
safe”.
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Trump has been the most supportive POTUS of our military in
years…despite that, some in the military support socialist Biden?!
As Trump’s popularity slips in
latest Military Times poll, more troops say they’ll vote for Biden
(Military Times) The latest Military Times poll shows a continued decline in active-duty service members’ views of President Donald Trump and a slight but significant preference for former Vice President Joe Biden in the upcoming November election among troops surveyed.
(Military Times) The latest Military Times poll shows a continued decline in active-duty service members’ views of President Donald Trump and a slight but significant preference for former Vice President Joe Biden in the upcoming November election among troops surveyed.
BONUS
FEATURES!
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How prepared
are you to survive a world-changing disaster? As Canadian Prepper explains
in this video, you may not be as prepared as you think you are.
He lists ten
reasons you may not survive what’s coming. Here they are:
1. Poor Physical Health -
A majority of people are simply not physically fit in this day and age. This is
also one of the most overlooked aspects of prepping. Few things will test your
physical health and stamina as much as a major cataclysmic disaster.
2. Bad Medical Issues - If
there are any medical procedures that you have been postponing, the time to get
those things done is now. Whether it’s an eye problem, surgery, or dental work,
if things get bad you may not have another chance to get those things fixed...
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