UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received this comment/question from the last post on Gold and Silver Confiscation: Anonymous said...Good article and thanks for the link to Silver Monthly as they have good information on that site. I see that the Survival Movement is really common sense and not the radical militia thinking that some news organizations make it out to be. I am convinced that I need to better prepared and want to buy some Gold and Silver before it is no longer on option. Would you say that Gold and Silver are more important than some guns for self protection?
UrbanMan replies: Yes Sir, Silver Monthly, that is http://www.silvermonthly.com, is a very good site for information. It, as well as others, should be routinely visited by you in order to put together your "pending collapse indicators" and hence be more prepared to events to rapidly unfold.
The Survival Prepping movement is main stream and hinges on common sense. The same idea in other "cultures" such as the Church of Latter Day Saints" and even government websites such as the Homeland Security Federal Web site and State web sites such as Texas Prepares which have taken away much of the camo clad, gun toting, far right wing stereotype on Survivalists.
To meet your question, I would not say that Gold and Silver is more important than firearms. My first priorities would be to have a Bug Out Plan - where am I going to go when I need to and how am I going to get there, planning Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency routes and modes of travel; to have a Bug Out Bag to support this travel and survival; to have adequate firearms for protection.
Once I have met this immediate need, I would then start procuring survival gear, material and equipment to support long term survival. This would include clothing, long term food, field gear, and Gold and/or Silver. At this stage I would procure equally across the board rather than work off a list, as this would be like procuring a firearm piece by piece only to have the collapse hit when you were still a few pieces short of a full gun.
If you have, say a bunch of wool blankets and tarps, then maybe a good sleeping bag could be prioritized further down your list, because the wool blankets and tarps will work for now - not the best arrangement, but will work in a pinch. So prioritize based on your needs. Long term food, such as dehydrated food, is a priority for me, but I didn't buy a one year supply first before I solved other critical Survival Gear and Equipment needs. I bought a case here and there. See EarthWaveLiving for good deals on dehydrated foods, heirloom seeds and other survival items.
If I had a decent handgun and shotgun, I would probably start procuring other Survival items, including Gold and Silver purchasing, before I re-visited getting better guns. I think you see my message. Be safe and be ready my friend.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Urban Survival Planning - Gold and Silver Buying and the Confiscation Debate
An Anonymous Reader has left a comment on a previous post concerning the how the Government's new requirement on sellers issuing 1099's for commodities purchases over $600 can be used basically to "register" Gold and Silver for future easy confisciation by the Government. Anonymous said....."I'm sure this was accidental and they have no intention on confiscating your gold after TSHTF. As a famous person once said "We have to pass the bill so we can find out what is in the bill"! LOL"
Another Anonymous Reader, not realizing the LOL (Laugh Out Load) sign off, said........"I disagree with the above statement. Just remember Argentina. They confiscated gold, silver, savings accounts, retirement accounts. They stated that they would then redistribute the total funds in a monthly payment equal to everyone. Even those that had nothing to begin with. If you didnt take the offer you would not get anything. Hmmm,... wonder why Our government has been studying Argentina's actions. In todays state of policies and affairs you can not ever trust the Government to do whats Right, they do whats best for them and the government."
You have to understand how and why Gold was confiscated in the past in order to make a determination if it is possible in the future. My point is if you don't want anyone to take it away, then don't let them know about it in the first place...hence the purchasing of Gold and Silver in small amounts from multiple sources.
The shortest route to understanding possible Government Confiscation of Gold and Silver is through an excellent short article published on http://www.silvermonthly.com/ entitled: "Government Confiscation of Gold: It Happened Before — Could It Happen Again?" Some of that article is posted below:
Confiscation all dates back to the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) of 1917. That year, President Woodrow Wilson signed the “TWEA” into law, forbidding American individuals and businesses from engaging in trade with “enemy nations.” The world’s functional gold standard, which had overseen tremendous global economic growth in the early years of the twentieth century, was effectively halted by the outbreak of World War I, and the stage was thus set for the Great Depression and World War II.
Shortly after taking office sixteen years later, Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102 into law, prohibiting the “hoarding” of gold. Under this executive order, Americans were prohibited from owning more than $100 worth of gold coins, and all “hoarders” (i.e. people who owned more than $100 worth of gold) were forced, by law, to sell their “excess” gold to the government at the prevailing price of $20.67 per ounce.
Then, once the government had all the gold, FDR revalued the dollar relative to gold so that gold was now worth $35 an ounce. By simple decree, the government had thereby robbed millions of American citizens at a rate of $14.33 per ounce of confiscated gold, which is why most historians agree that the Gold Confiscation of 1933 is the single most draconian economic act in the history of the United States.
Like inflation, deflation also begets (perpetuates) more of itself, and as prices dropped, it became wiser for the possessors of money to hold it rather than spend it, since prices would be lower the next day — and even lower the day after that — ad infinitum.
Since no one was spending money, businesses went under and people were out of the work, thus making the situation worse. In response, FDR knew what needed to be done — prices needed to be stabilized. On this, few would disagree. The exception economists take is with the implementation the president chose to pursue.
UrbanMan's comment: See any similarity to today's economy?
Under FDR, private ownership of gold was effectively barred. The only exceptions were coinage worth $100 or less, or collectible coins, industrial uses, and jewelry. Gold could not be “hoarded” as a significant investment, and all “hoarders” were made to sell their gold to the government.
The Federal Reserve itself — a private banking cartel more so than an arm of government — was not excluded from this requirement either, as made clear by the Gold Reserve Act of 1934. That legislation required the Fed to surrender all gold and gold certificates held, to the United States Treasury.
Finally, the dollar was revalued, and U.S. Dollars was then redeemable at a rate of $35 an ounce, as opposed to the old gold standard of $20.67. However, it’s important to note that only foreign bankers and international governments could redeem their dollars for gold — private gold ownership was still illegal in the U.S. until the end of 1974.
The effect revaluation had on the U.S. dollar was an instant depreciation of 41%. Thus, prices were pushed back up again, in nominal terms, at least. What the long-term effects of this action would have been in the absence of World War II will never be known, but within a few years, the U.S. war economy was humming.
Following the end of the second great war, the U.S. stood alone as an economic super power, virtually untouched by the Axis or Allies, while most of Europe lay in ruins. It all made Roosevelt’s coercive and unconstitutional acts look ingenious, but scholars from the left and right continue to debate whether they were truly wise or if the New Deal was bailed out by global externalities.
Gold Confiscation: Could it Happen Again?
Although the U.S. dollar is constantly under pressure, the U.S. government continues to stockpile debt, and impossible-to-fulfill entitlement commitments loom on the horizon, the idea that the U.S. government would try to confiscate citizens’ gold today or anytime in the foreseeable future certainly seems spurious at best. After all, the government did so in the past in order to recalibrate the gold standard, which we have not been on since 1972.
However, our government has become increasingly bold in its refusal to be restrained by the Constitution, and following the return to limited government (at least in rhetoric) by the Reagan administration in the eighties, the Constitution has been all but ignored by subsequent administrations and congresses.
The government might want to reenact gold confiscation, and most congressmen would feel no moral compunction about doing so, but logistically, it would seem virtually impossible in today’s globally interdependent and well-connected economy.
Investors might need to beware, however, if certain interest groups on the left and right get their way and begin building walls, both literally and figuratively, around the country in an effort to block that global interdependence. Protectionism and higher taxes led to the greatest depression in U.S. history, and along with it came gold confiscation. It would probably take a similar impetus for such a sequence of events to happen again.
Another Anonymous Reader, not realizing the LOL (Laugh Out Load) sign off, said........"I disagree with the above statement. Just remember Argentina. They confiscated gold, silver, savings accounts, retirement accounts. They stated that they would then redistribute the total funds in a monthly payment equal to everyone. Even those that had nothing to begin with. If you didnt take the offer you would not get anything. Hmmm,... wonder why Our government has been studying Argentina's actions. In todays state of policies and affairs you can not ever trust the Government to do whats Right, they do whats best for them and the government."
You have to understand how and why Gold was confiscated in the past in order to make a determination if it is possible in the future. My point is if you don't want anyone to take it away, then don't let them know about it in the first place...hence the purchasing of Gold and Silver in small amounts from multiple sources.
The shortest route to understanding possible Government Confiscation of Gold and Silver is through an excellent short article published on http://www.silvermonthly.com/ entitled: "Government Confiscation of Gold: It Happened Before — Could It Happen Again?" Some of that article is posted below:
Confiscation all dates back to the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) of 1917. That year, President Woodrow Wilson signed the “TWEA” into law, forbidding American individuals and businesses from engaging in trade with “enemy nations.” The world’s functional gold standard, which had overseen tremendous global economic growth in the early years of the twentieth century, was effectively halted by the outbreak of World War I, and the stage was thus set for the Great Depression and World War II.
Shortly after taking office sixteen years later, Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102 into law, prohibiting the “hoarding” of gold. Under this executive order, Americans were prohibited from owning more than $100 worth of gold coins, and all “hoarders” (i.e. people who owned more than $100 worth of gold) were forced, by law, to sell their “excess” gold to the government at the prevailing price of $20.67 per ounce.
Then, once the government had all the gold, FDR revalued the dollar relative to gold so that gold was now worth $35 an ounce. By simple decree, the government had thereby robbed millions of American citizens at a rate of $14.33 per ounce of confiscated gold, which is why most historians agree that the Gold Confiscation of 1933 is the single most draconian economic act in the history of the United States.
Like inflation, deflation also begets (perpetuates) more of itself, and as prices dropped, it became wiser for the possessors of money to hold it rather than spend it, since prices would be lower the next day — and even lower the day after that — ad infinitum.
Since no one was spending money, businesses went under and people were out of the work, thus making the situation worse. In response, FDR knew what needed to be done — prices needed to be stabilized. On this, few would disagree. The exception economists take is with the implementation the president chose to pursue.
UrbanMan's comment: See any similarity to today's economy?
Under FDR, private ownership of gold was effectively barred. The only exceptions were coinage worth $100 or less, or collectible coins, industrial uses, and jewelry. Gold could not be “hoarded” as a significant investment, and all “hoarders” were made to sell their gold to the government.
The Federal Reserve itself — a private banking cartel more so than an arm of government — was not excluded from this requirement either, as made clear by the Gold Reserve Act of 1934. That legislation required the Fed to surrender all gold and gold certificates held, to the United States Treasury.
Finally, the dollar was revalued, and U.S. Dollars was then redeemable at a rate of $35 an ounce, as opposed to the old gold standard of $20.67. However, it’s important to note that only foreign bankers and international governments could redeem their dollars for gold — private gold ownership was still illegal in the U.S. until the end of 1974.
The effect revaluation had on the U.S. dollar was an instant depreciation of 41%. Thus, prices were pushed back up again, in nominal terms, at least. What the long-term effects of this action would have been in the absence of World War II will never be known, but within a few years, the U.S. war economy was humming.
Following the end of the second great war, the U.S. stood alone as an economic super power, virtually untouched by the Axis or Allies, while most of Europe lay in ruins. It all made Roosevelt’s coercive and unconstitutional acts look ingenious, but scholars from the left and right continue to debate whether they were truly wise or if the New Deal was bailed out by global externalities.
Gold Confiscation: Could it Happen Again?
Although the U.S. dollar is constantly under pressure, the U.S. government continues to stockpile debt, and impossible-to-fulfill entitlement commitments loom on the horizon, the idea that the U.S. government would try to confiscate citizens’ gold today or anytime in the foreseeable future certainly seems spurious at best. After all, the government did so in the past in order to recalibrate the gold standard, which we have not been on since 1972.
However, our government has become increasingly bold in its refusal to be restrained by the Constitution, and following the return to limited government (at least in rhetoric) by the Reagan administration in the eighties, the Constitution has been all but ignored by subsequent administrations and congresses.
The government might want to reenact gold confiscation, and most congressmen would feel no moral compunction about doing so, but logistically, it would seem virtually impossible in today’s globally interdependent and well-connected economy.
Investors might need to beware, however, if certain interest groups on the left and right get their way and begin building walls, both literally and figuratively, around the country in an effort to block that global interdependence. Protectionism and higher taxes led to the greatest depression in U.S. history, and along with it came gold confiscation. It would probably take a similar impetus for such a sequence of events to happen again.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Urban Survival Equipment - Reader Comment on 5.11 Tactical Pants
UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received this comment from Outlander777 on the recent post concerning 5.11 Tactical Pants,...."I have not worn the 5.11 tactical pants. I have though worn their class (a) police office uniform pants. I have recently purchased several pairs of their class (B) officer duty pants for winter wear (camping/hiking/fishing/treking and for my Bug Out Bag). They are 60 poly and 40 wool. Great weight for winter and when colder just add long johns under them. They have taken a lot of abuse and just wash them and wear/dry them. The crease stays in they don't scream military or cop just look good. So with you review I will purchase a pair of the tactical pants and give them a try. Thanks for the review. (side note 5.11 is having a clearance on many items. I got my pants for 5.99 each)."
UrbanMan replies: Outlander 777 I hope you think the 5.11 Tactical pants or the TDU pants are worth it,...I think at $5.99 you got a deal. I get mine free as an issued item, but don't wear them too much. I like your comment "they don't scream military or cop", as I think this would be an issue during a collapse with various agencies and organization running around; groups or mobs maybe looking for government targets, etc. Just doesn't pay to draw attention to yourself.
I also think plain old Wrangler or Levi pants in tan, brown or green are good choices for durable wear as well. Just not a whole lot of big pockets!
A little know fact is that recon teams in Vietnam used to wear blue jeans dyed black due to their durability in heavy brush as well as the black color maybe giving them a second or two of cover when they ran into their black pajama clad enemy counterparts on a remote trail.
I have a set of green 5.11 TDU pants vacuum packed and in my BOB. I rolled up a set of good socks and a t-shirt inside the pair of pants then used a food saver to vacuum pack them to reduce the size. This works well. Be safe.
UrbanMan replies: Outlander 777 I hope you think the 5.11 Tactical pants or the TDU pants are worth it,...I think at $5.99 you got a deal. I get mine free as an issued item, but don't wear them too much. I like your comment "they don't scream military or cop", as I think this would be an issue during a collapse with various agencies and organization running around; groups or mobs maybe looking for government targets, etc. Just doesn't pay to draw attention to yourself.
I also think plain old Wrangler or Levi pants in tan, brown or green are good choices for durable wear as well. Just not a whole lot of big pockets!
A little know fact is that recon teams in Vietnam used to wear blue jeans dyed black due to their durability in heavy brush as well as the black color maybe giving them a second or two of cover when they ran into their black pajama clad enemy counterparts on a remote trail.
I have a set of green 5.11 TDU pants vacuum packed and in my BOB. I rolled up a set of good socks and a t-shirt inside the pair of pants then used a food saver to vacuum pack them to reduce the size. This works well. Be safe.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Question on Survival Techinques, Tactics and Procedures for Drone Attacks
I have had very little to do with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's or drones), and absolutely nothing to do with the type of armed drones that wreck the occasional havoc on Islamic Fundamentalists in Waziristan that we read about from time to time.
But, okay, I'll bite on this hypothetical question on what would I do to combat drones if used against me by a rogue government or if this country was taken over by foreign forces.
I believe it was in the excellent Survival series "Enemies: Foreign and Domestic", drones were used by an oppressive government, and then sometimes in support of foreign troops on U.S. soil to combat "rebels", who were of course U.S. Citizens desiring a measure of peace and the opportunity to live with unalienable freedoms that Americans have came to know, and in some cases, take for granted.
If I remember correctly, the "rebels" in this series used a combination of Techniques, Tactics and Procedures (TTP's) to lessen the effectiveness of the drone attacks. Some of those TTP's included: having informants in the ranks of the rogue government to pass information on drone capabilities and current focus on aerial patrols and targets; using covert and clandestine surveillance on drone launch sites to alert when drones were becoming airborne and when they have landed; and, target (direct action against) drone operators or the drone operations centers/launch airfields.
Using the best covered and or concealed routes for movement and locations for base camps; using heavy duty vinyl ponchos and rain suits to minimize thermal signature to neutralize the drone's thermal cameras; get real good at traveling undercover of a legitimate activity.
Other than that my friend, what can you do? If anybody has some TTP's on drone defense that is applicable to an open and unclassified forum like this, then there are probably many of us who would like to hear from you.
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