James Wesley Rawles

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James Wesley Rawles (born 1960) is a non-fiction author, survivalist-fiction author, blogger, and survival retreat consultant. Rawles is a Christian who regards himself as a conservative, constitutionalist libertarian.[1]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Rawles was born in Livermore, California in 1960 and received a BA degree from San Jose State University. He was a United States Army Military Intelligence officer, serving from 1984 to 1993.[2] He resigned his commission as an army Captain, immediately after Bill Clinton was sworn in as President of the United States.[2] Rawles worked as an Associate Editor and Regional Editor (for the Western U.S.) with Defense Electronics magazine in the late 1980s and early 1990s [3] and concurrently was Managing Editor of The International Countermeasures Handbook.[4] He worked as a technical writer through most of the 1990s with a variety of electronics and software companies[5] including Oracle Corporation[6]. In 2005 he began full-time blogging.

He is now a freelance writer, blogger and retreat consultant[7].

[edit] Philosophical, political and economic views

Rawles is an outspoken proponent of family preparedness, especially regarding food storage and his advocacy of relocating to lightly populated rural "retreat" areas.[8][9] His preparedness philosophy emphasizes the fragility of modern society, the value of silver and other tangibles for barter, recognition of moral absolutes, being well armed, maintaining a "deep larder", relocation to rural retreats, and Christian charity.[10]

Rawles does not make specific buy or sell recommendations for particular stocks nor attempt to "time" particular markets. But he has specifically advised buying gold and silver at particular market dips.[11] In January, 2006, when silver was $14.75 per ounce, he predicted a major upward move in the price of silver: "After a short term correction, look for some volatile moves upward in the near future!"[12]. In the next 14 months, silver prices rose to more than $20 per ounce.[13] In August of 2007, he made a long term prediction for the spot price of silver, writing: "We are still witnessing the opening phase of a bull market that will propel silver past $50 per ounce."[14] He is a proponent of silver as an investment and as a barter currency in the event of circumstances that would destroy the value of fiat currencies. [15][16][17]

One of his long-standing investment recommendations is rolling over IRAs and 401(k) accounts into American Eagle gold coin IRAs.[18]

Without setting a specific timeframe, Rawles predicted the end of the housing bubble in the United States, urging his readers on August 14, 2005 to "Sell any rental or non-retreat vacation houses that you own. Take your profit now. It is better to be a year too early than a day too late. Keep that money on the sidelines, with at least a portion of it in precious metals. Then after the bubble bursts, you'll have the chance to step in with cash and buy at perhaps as low as 40 cents on the dollar versus the currently over-inflated prices. When you eventually do decide to buy, concentrate on productive farm land in a lightly populated rural region."[19]. In August, 2005, Rawles correctly predicted mortgage holders "walking away" from houses and turning in the house keys to their bankers--what has now been dubbed "jingle mail"[20]: "When the bubble does burst, watch out. Things could get ugly. I predict that people that are caught "upside down" in their mortgages will just turn in the keys at the bank and walk away from their houses. This has happened before--most notably in Texas in the 1980s when the Houston Oil Boom fell apart and took the real estate market for the region with it."[21]

Rawles has warned about the global derivatives market as a potential trigger for an economic catastrophe.[22]

As early as September, 2005, Rawles urged SurvivalBlog readers to stock up on diesel fuel, bulk grains, and ammunition, both as hedges against consumer price inflation, and as physical preparedness measures--anticipating future shortgaes. On September 27, 2005, he wrote: "It is safe to assume that inflation will continue, and will only get worse, especially with commodities. Oil will likely double in the next 18 months. So that means corresponding increases in gas, diesel, and home heating oil. Wheat, rice, and other commodities will also jump up in price. They too, may double soon. Protect yourself from inflation. Stock up on tangibles. Not only is it wise to be prepared physically, but you can also consider these tangibles a prudent investment." [23] Those predictions were generally accurate, but mostly premature. In fact, wheat prices doubled between October of 2007 and March of 2008.[24], rice prices doubled in the first six months of 2008[25], and ammunition prices doubled between 2006 and 2008.[26]

Rawles was one of the many individuals that warned about possible disasters related to the Year 2000 problem (Y2K). Because the risks were mitigated by intensive work by computer programmers in 1998 and 1999, his warnings turned out to unfounded.[27][28][29]

Rawles credits Mel Tappan as his inspiration for launching SurvivalBlog.com[30]. Rawles was quoted by the New York Times in April of 2008 that "interest in the survivalist movement 'is experiencing its largest growth since the late 1970s'". He also stated that his blog's conservative core readership has been supplemented with "an increasing number of stridently green and left-of-center readers."[31][32]

[edit] Blog presence

Rawles is the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, a blog on survival and preparedness topics.[33] Survivalblog has more than 82,000 unique visitors per week[34]. The main focus of his blog is preparing for the multitude of possible threats toward society. In his various writings, Rawles has warned about the Year 2000 problem (Y2K)[35][36], socio-economic collapse[37][38], a pandemic arising from a mutation of the Asian Avian Flu[39], terrorist attacks.[40][41], Peak Oil[42], and food shortages.[43][44]

[edit] Survivalist fiction

His first book was a work of speculative fiction set in a near future period of hyperinflation and socio-economic collapse entitled: Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse. The book was originally released in draft form as shareware[45] in the early 1990s but was later printed by the Christian[46], partner publisher[47] Huntington House. After Huntington House went out of business, the book was re-released by Xlibris, a "print on demand" self-publishing firm[48], in 2006. World Net Daily reviewed the first printing and found the non-fiction information provided about survivalist techniques fascinating but the fiction elements "[not] exactly subtle".[49] The publisher's synopsis describes the novel as "distinctly pro-Christian, pro-preparedness, pro-gun ownership, and anti-racist." [50]

Starting in the early 1990s, he also authored or co-authored 17 Internet FAQ reference pages, primarily on firearms topics.[51] More recently, Rawles has self-published two non-fiction books.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Books

  • Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse from Huntington House Publishers, ISBN 978-1563841552 (November 1998)
  • Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse (33 chapter expanded edition) from Xlibris, ISBN 978-1425734077 (December 2006)
  • Rawles on Retreats and Relocation, CafePress, No ISBN (January 2007)
  • SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog, Volume 1, CafePress, No ISBN (February 2007)


[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ SurvivalBlog Staff Biographies
  2. ^ a b MIOBC Class 85-6 Virtual Reunion
  3. ^ Defense Electronics magazine masthead (p. 7) - James W. Rawles, Associate Editor, EW Communications, Palo Alto, CA, Aug., 1987 (Vol. 19, No. 8) to November, 1988 (Vol. 20, No. 12);Defense Electronics magazine masthead (p. 7) - James W. Rawles, Associate Editor, Cardiff Publishing, Englewood, CO. December, 1988 (Vol. 20, No. 13) to Sept. 1990 (Vol. 22, No. 9); Defense Electronics magazine masthead (p. 7) - James W. Rawles, Regional Editor (Western U.S.) Cardiff Publishing, Englewood, CO. Oct. 1990 (Vol. 22, No. 10) to Apr. 1991 (Vol. 23, No. 4); James W. Rawles, Associate Editor, EW Communications, Palo Alto, CA, Jan./Feb. 1988 (Vol. 1 No. 1) to May/June 1988 (Vol. 1, No. 3)
  4. ^ The International Countermeasures Handbook (14th Edition, 1989). masthead (p. 388) James W. Rawles, Managing Editor
  5. ^ MIOBC Class 85-6 Virtual Reunion
  6. ^ Oracle Corp. Pro*COBOL Precompiler Programmer's Guide - Masthead Page
  7. ^ SurvivalBlog.com Contact Page
  8. ^ Duck and Cover: It’s the New Survivalism - New York Times
  9. ^ Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World - April 21, 2008 - The New York Sun
  10. ^ Precepts of Rawlesian Survivalist Philosophy
  11. ^ http://www.survivalblog.com/2006/06/odds_n_sods_85.html
  12. ^ http://www.survivalblog.com/2006/01/still_more_about_silvers_immin.html
  13. ^ http://news.silverseek.com/SilverSeek/1204520709.php
  14. ^ http://www.survivalblog.com/2007/07/odds_n_sods_471.html
  15. ^ Some store food, gold, guns in case Y2K brings chaos. The Sacramento Bee, December 29, 1998, p. 1.
  16. ^ http://www.survivalblog.com/2006/02/two_more_letters_re_how_to_buy.html
  17. ^ SurvivalBlog.com
  18. ^ http://www.survivalblog.com/2006/03/letter_re_investing_in_tangibl.html
  19. ^ http://www.survivalblog.com/archiveddata.html
  20. ^ http://www.azcentral.com/realestate/articles/0421walkaway0421.html
  21. ^ http://www.survivalblog.com/archiveddata.html
  22. ^ SurvivalBlog.com - Derivatives
  23. ^ SurvivalBlog.com
  24. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business/worldbusiness/09crop.html?_r=3&scp=1&sq=A+global+Need+for+grain+that+farms+can't+fill&st=nyt&oref=login&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
  25. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7324596.stm
  26. ^ http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20070816&slug=ammo16
  27. ^ GETTING IN TOUCH WITH Y2K AND THE PROPHETS OF DOOM Press-Telegram, January 7, 1999
  28. ^ Some store food, gold, guns in case Y2K brings chaos. The Sacramento Bee, December 29, 1998, p. 1.
  29. ^ How America Uses The Net (Subsection Profile: [James Rawles] The Y2K Survivalist) Yahoo! Internet Life magazine, September, 1999, p. 108-109.
  30. ^ SurvivalBlog.com Acknowledgments Page
  31. ^ Duck and Cover: It’s the New Survivalism - New York Times
  32. ^ SurvivalBlog.com
  33. ^ SurvivalBlog.com on Technorati
  34. ^ Natural born survivors | Environment | The Guardian newspaper
  35. ^ Some store food, gold, guns in case Y2K brings chaos. The Sacramento Bee, December 29, 1998, p. 1.
  36. ^ How America Uses The Net (Subsection Profile: [James Rawles] The Y2K Survivalist) Yahoo! Internet Life magazine, September, 1999, p. 108-109.
  37. ^ Book review of TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World as We Know It)
  38. ^ Survivalists get ready for meltdown - CNN.com
  39. ^ Asian Avian Flu
  40. ^ "High Technology Terrorism." Defense Electronics magazine, January 1990, p.74.
  41. ^ http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/cyber/docs/npgs/biblio.htm
  42. ^ SurvivalBlog.com piece on Peak Oil
  43. ^ Duck and Cover: It’s the New Survivalism - New York Times
  44. ^ Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World - April 21, 2008 - The New York Sun
  45. ^ On-line Underground. The Spokesman-Review (Spokane). Dec. 3, 1995, page H7
  46. ^ Alphabetical List of Christian book publishers Christian Online Community
  47. ^ Tom Horn A personal word from Tom Horn How Getting Published Could Change The Course Of Your Life Anomalos Publishing
  48. ^ Rachel Donadio: You’re an Author? Me Too! The New York Times, April 27, 2008
  49. ^ WND Commentary Five novels of freedom by Claire Wolfe, WorldNetDaily, September 30, 1999
  50. ^ Powell's Books - Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse by James Wesley Rawles
  51. ^ SurvivalBlog.com FAQs Page


[edit] External links