Ex Libris: Basics Of Resistance

h/t WRSA

 

Claire Wolfe ("It's too late to work within the system, and too early to shoot the bastards") and Kit Perez have a new book out.

Excerpt:

In today’s excerpt from our new book Basics of Resistance, we look into Chapter 9: Allies and Associates. By this point, we’ve talked extensively about your core group, its members, and its operations. Now we look at outsiders who may help or hinder you. We pick up after the discussion of close allies and move on to more casual contacts. NOTE: We owe this chapter to a great supporter of our project who prefers to keep a low profile.
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Let’s define an associate as “anyone you know who is neither a known or suspected enemy.” Obviously, that covers a pretty broad range. 

Like who, for instance? 

• The old lady down the street who watches the world go by from her living-room window.
• The guy at the local tire store.
• The kid working evenings at the 7-11.
• Your admin assistant at work.
• Mr. and Mrs. Hu at the Chinese takeout.
• The preacher at the local breakaway Christian church.
• Your cousin who works in the county supervisor’s office.
• The daytime bartender at the tavern downtown.
• The retired business executive down the street.
• The nightshift waitress at the waffle palace over by the Interstate.
• The Johnson boys over at their jackleg garage and scrap yard. 

In other words, virtually everyone you encounter during your daily round is a potential associate (or enemy), and it’s up to you to make an informed, accurate decision whether to trust each one. 

How? By getting to know them and what makes them tick. Nothing more, and nothing less. Even if you’re not a people person, you can improve your interpersonal skills using time-honored basic investigative techniques such as the
following: 

Shop local, shop small: In a Big Box world, it’s getting more difficult to find the little local place for hardware, food, car repair, or any of the other necessities of life. Do it anyway. Be prepared to pay more at the local store than the national chain. Watch your manners. Support local businesses. 

Community service: Do you support the local ambulance corps? What about the firefighters, be they volunteers or paid professionals? Can you do more? Do local emergency services have classes that would benefit you and your group? Most volunteer fire departments have non-firefighter volunteer positions open as well, and those are a great way to not only bolster your credibility in the community, but they also put you in the loop for information not generally available to outsiders. 

Police relations: Take the opportunity to discreetly participate in any community affairs events your local LEOs conduct. Don’t be a badgelicker—but don’t be a gratuitous jerk, either. Get a sense of who the officers and commanders are, not just as the guys who give out speeding tickets, but as actual human beings. What is your local police department’s capability? Weaknesses? Equipment? Personnel levels? Set aside any personal bias and figure out if any of the officers can be used as conduits for information. 

Other government officials: Ditto the advice above. You want to take every opportunity to see how people behave in normal times to better inform your organization’s decisions come hard times. You should also have a copy of and understand your county’s emergency plans; check with your county supervisor’s office on how to get one. If your county offers CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training, sign up; if not, find a nearby county that does. 

Your neighbors: Break the modern paradigm and gradually get to know a little about your neighbors. You will be astonished what you can learn by being interested (but not too interested) in them. See the section on neighborhood barbeques and meet-and-greets. 

Local churches: Sadly, many clergies in modern-day America are closer to government and its objectives than to the Almighty, but it will still benefit you to have a sense of who’s who in your community. Most churches have large kitchens and gathering places, which will be essential community assets in a crisis. Sorting the mammon-worshippers from the truly benevolent is a task in what will ultimately be a battle for hearts and minds. Pay attention to those in the religious community who do a lot of volunteer work; what’s their motivation? If they’re worried about getting credit or need attention, they might not be the best people to work with. 

The homeless: Do you have any in your neighborhood? Do you know? Where do they camp? How many are there? Is there a way to help them help you and your organization? Be creative. If they can’t be used as assets and are merely a risk, do you have a plan for mitigating that risk? 

Medical facilities: Big or small? Is there a hospital auxiliary you or a core member can join? How many doctors? RNs? Other paraprofessionals? Are any medical personnel known personally to you or other members of the core group? Are they willing to teach you? 

Airports: Who do you know there? Runway length and other facility info? LE or military usage?  

Area-specific place/personnel of interest: Do you know anyone at local military or National Guard facilities? What kind? How well do you know them? How well can you get to know them? 

By this time, some reader is wondering what in heaven’s name should be done in all of these situations and places. 

The big-picture answer is simple: Know more this week about every person, place, and thing listed above that you find your community than you knew last week. 

Why? Because your organization has goals that you and your group are fully committed to achieving. And every person, place, and thing above can either help or hinder your group in achieving those objectives. 

By yourself, in a crisis, you’re screwed.

Boys and girls, this is exactly what Sam Culper has been trying to download into people when he talks about reconnaissance of the human terrain in your Areas of Operations and Interest.

It's what Bloghost CA means every time he makes "Meatspace" and "Local, Local, Local" a masthead quote at WRSA.

It's what the clever fellows in Special Forces, for going on 70 years, have called an Area Study (the diligent will want to refer especially to Appendices G and H in that pdf, if you haven't already done this for your local area. How big? Start with just your home county/parrish. Then do it for every adjoining county. Get cracking.)

I'm not going to come help you, and you aren't coming to help me, when times get sporty. The people and alliances you've cultivated in range of where you live will.

Or, not.

Even after the Internet goes down, Darwin Awards will still be handed out. They just won't necessarily be recorded for posterity and comedy relief.
Don't be Those Guys.

When you're ready to reach beyond bare mastery of a subject, you read widely and deeply. That's why, at last look, I have 20-30 different basic first aid texts, and 40-60 different survival manuals.

After getting the basic gist of the subject, you're always looking for two things:
* New ideas, tactics, tips, and procedures, and
* New ways of teaching the tried-and-true ideas, tactics, tips, and procedures.

Because every once in awhile, there's something new under the sun, and there's always a way to make an old subject new to a fresh audience.

If the rest of this book is of the same caliber as this excerpt, it looks to be a valuable addition to anyone's library, and it's on the way to mine.
If it helps you to crack the code of long-thought doctrine on a subject that is becoming more practical and less academic every passing day, you may wish to do likewise.

And in case you're still not sold, there are additional excerpts to peruse.

I would suggest you buy this book.
$11.69 in grid-down paperback copy, and only $0.99 through tomorrow for kindle readers.
And as a review by James Wesley ,Rawles (SurvivalBlog) suggests, you might want to consider extra copies as handout gifts to Like Minded Individuals.

Get. Read. Do. Pass To Others. Repeat.

Because as noted in the excerpt, "By yourself, in a crisis, you're screwed."