I assess that violence, perhaps even an incipient insurgency is possible after the election in the US. If a reactionary movement congeals an outright civil war is not an impossibility. In all the scenarios I look at, something transformative, chaotic, and perhaps even violent occurs within the next twenty-six months. We are in the danger window, a black swan or outlier event could exacerbate or expedite what is occurring. It is time to take practical steps, right now, to get ready. Do not wait until election night or after!
If you see the need and want to get started now, take a look at four short videos dealing with planning factors for preppers. Do not go at this half-cocked.
This is not a political post, yet I suspect some will not see the difference. It is too late to change this, or even convince many what is happening. I hope to convince somebody that this is all very dangerous and places us all in danger. We need to get ready and prepare.
I am not defending Trump. My gosh, he could have handled that entire debate differently, perhaps like Reagan with some smiles and a few “well Mr. Biden’s”. Yet as much as I disdain his approach, I actually have empathy for his anger.
That entire event was just a hot mess. Trump debated two men. All of the questions were just odd. Biden called Trump a racist. As I look across his life before office, and now, I see no evidence of that, and much to indicate he is not a racist. Biden was not challenged on a thing he said, nothing in a real way.
Any honest person that separates themselves from their individual political bias and preferences sees this. It was a shame. I am not excusing Trump for being so difficult. However, I suppose that if last night was essentially my life since the day he became the nominee in 2016, I too would be angry.
If we can just agree on one-point, last night makes no sense. Biden was never asked why he has ‘called in sick’ so many days, never asked hard questions at all about anything. Nothing about his role in Libya, Ukraine, nothing...Why?
Media bias? That is the simple answer. However, if we take this into account with all of the other weird and obvious media deceptions this year does it make sense to just dismiss it so simply?
Many of the things said last night are dangerous and inflammatory speech. The president is a racist, that is said out loud in a debate and goes unchallenged? Trump is called on to denounce ‘white supremacist’, yet there is zero real proof that such folks are doing any of the violence and burning in America. How does that make sense? How is it safe usage of language? How does it not ensure we are further divided?
Literal proof of illegal activity conducted against Trump has come out in recent days, it was not even mentioned last night. This is simply an absurd level of gaslighting at this point.
Every day I see more proof that we are being subjected to a color revolution attempt. Every day the narrative of division and hate goes unchallenged, it is spoken now as if it were Holy truth delivered on tablets from a mountain. The media is complicit in this, by the resistance media and controlled opposition, both designed to divide, confuse, and control. Every day it is more obvious that we are in the midst of our own color revolution (see an explanation of what a color revolution is).
Fox News is just as compromised as CNN or MSNBC. They are controlled opposition. (see an odd video here) Tucker Carlson may be one of the few exceptions.
Color revolutions, by design, have to create and amplify division. One of the goals is to get people in the street and angry, to use that anger to force a crisis, and to use that crisis to seize political power. It is an extremely dangerous game to play in a place multi-racial, heavily armed nation like the US. In Georgia and Ukraine, there was essentially one ethnicity and one shared religion. Their color revolutions came and went without the violence spreading. In the Middle-east, in nations that have been subjected to color revolutions, things went more poorly. The Sunni/Shiite divide is large, the small Christian minorities were especially vulnerable. We know what has occurred in Libya, Syria, and Egypt.
America has the potential to be far worse. By making this a black versus white conflict, those that have deluded and confused so many have provided perfect and readily identifiable teams. Think of villages in Yugoslavia where Muslims and Christians had lived side by side in peace for generations suddenly turning on one another.
Color revolutions fail as often as they succeed, and ‘success’ is often fleeting at best. Often after failure civil war follows. It is exceedingly possible that whether those that have done this to us, ‘they’, succeed or fail this year in seizing power that they will not be able to then turn off the growing division and hate. An open insurgency seems more plausible and likely each day.
I can only beg you at this point. Wake up and look around. We cannot stop this, we cannot even fully know all that are involved. We should be able to see with open eyes that this is all very odd and dangerous.
I invite you to join me in thinking now about how we prepare in our homes, hearts, and local communities for what is highly likely to come this fall.
We hear the rumblings daily, from mainstream outlets now. There is even a news and opinion aggregator that tracks articles written about America’s next (new/ongoing/upcoming) civil war.
In a very real and profound sense, America is nowhere near civil war. No more than the war in 1861-1865 was an actual civil war. America is in the final stages of a proto-insurgency (an insurrection). We are close to teetering into an open phase I insurgency, but not a civil war, not yet.
Mine is not a mere argument of semantics, this is not word-play. It is entirely possible that America could enter a civil war, but not yet.
The following is the US Government official description of some key indicators or a proto-insurgency moving to a phase one insurgency (Incipient Conflict Stage) (from Guide to the Analysis of Insurgency 2012, USG pp 10-11)
I wrote back in 2018, that America was more divided than at any point since 1850. I even indicated that I believed we crossed the line into a bloody Kansas phase after the shooting of Republican congressmen in 2017. I used ‘civil war’ language and analogies. I stand by the analogies; I do not even believe that the folks currently claiming that we are headed for such an event are wrong entirely. However, some things have changed, the polarization in America has not been even on each side. One side still believes that the system can work, that voting will work. The most radical on the other side no longer believe this.
Seldom does real and honest dialogue occur across the poles at this point. However, last Saturday I watched a fascinating interview between two such people. They talked about issues, philosophy, they were respectful and dialogued. However, in the end, the individual representing the radical elements asked the following; “What do you do when you cannot vote yourself our of your people being murdered by the government on the street?”
You may disagree that this question is based upon reality, but whether you agree or not is irrelevant. A growing minority believes this; they feel this way, this is their reality.
COL Robert Jones designed a methodology in 2012 [link] that further illuminates what gives rise to an insurgency. He outlines four factors:
Illegitimacy (a growing minority views the government as illegitimate)
Injustice (they see injustice done toward their group)
Disrespect (they perceive disrespect from the ‘system’)
Hopelessness (they have lost hope in changing the system via the normal rules)
We can see all four factors present in the BLM movement. These same views are also present in ANTIFA and other ideological groups. Many have simply given up on changing the system from within.
Lastly, in Jones’ model, we have seen an increased societal tolerance for violence. As this tolerance increases and the other indicators of a growing insurgency increase, a nation-state inevitably transitions to an Incipient Conflict Stage.
There are two primary reasons that this will likely not develop initially as a civil war.
The State (in general) is still capable of acting in unison to oppose an open insurrection.
Despite media reports claiming otherwise, there is no real organized counter-radical organization(s).
There are numerous scenarios by which the solidity of the state could be threatened. It would not take a long period of time for a counter-force to rise to face the insurgents. All of this could become civil war-like, but it is not a forgone conclusion.
There is one additional point to consider. It is highly likely that The United States has been undergoing a color revolution, culminating in 2020. (see definition of color revolutions) The very nature of a color revolution is to sew chaos and violence before the crescendo, those that foment these activities attempt to usurp elements of the institution of the state. Our system of federalism makes this easier in some ways that in unitary executive nations. We have already seen signs in 2020 that some jurisdictions have indeed been turned. It is possible that if the color revolution fails, the damage of division and usurpation created to bring it about might have damaged our systems to such a degree that the state is incapable of effectively opposing an insurrection. In that case, regular people will rise to fill the void – a civil war will ensure. That is a possible scenario.
The election matter of course, if Trump wins the insurrection kicks off much sooner, but make no mistake, even with Biden, the most radical will very quickly lose patience that even the Democratic party cannot dismantle the old fast enough. Violence comes either way.
What is likely, come sometime around November 3rd until it is resolved or put down, is that we move into an Incipient Crises phase of an insurrection. I discuss that in the video below.
Five planning factors for preppers (prepping in a hurry for the unprepared). As we approach almost certain increased chaos and violence this fall, we all need to prepare. Before you rush into this process willy-nilly, step back, breathe, strategize, and operationalize your efforts. This begins by taking an inventory of facts and assumptions.
Below are a couple of items that may assist you in tackling the factors mention in this video.
If all of the events of 2020 have not awakened your sense of fragility in an uncertain world, perhaps what comes next will. Whether you believe this to be a color revolution that passes relatively quickly, an insurrection, or the beginning of a civil war, or a Fourth Turning, most of us now realize that increased uncertainty, chaos, and violence is coming.
You still have time to prepare for the chaos that is coming, you can still get ready no matter what your current status is. Below are some items you might think about. your situation, location, and all that dictate what you can or need to do. But you need to do something. Be prepared (I was a Boy Scout and those are good words).
Here is a couple of previous post on this subject:
I am not positive that the book above (written by me) is worth your time. I am not grifting or trying to sell you something. I offer it for your consideration (the idea of it, not so much the book itself). I am wrong about many things, there is much I do not know. I got 2020 right and I suspect I am right about what is coming. This manifested faster than I perhaps thought, but not entirely so. My first and clearest articulation of this was in July of 2018 (America’s Great Cultural and Political Divide).
I am not suggesting you buy my book, I am suggesting that churches need to think about the issues covered there and think about how little communities stick together in what is to come. Old ways will no longer work. THIS IS NOT JUST A MOMENT.
We are not simply guaranteed to continue as we were, tax exemption for authentic Christian churches is not a given anymore. The culture war was lost rather quickly, things exploded after that. 'Christian' churches just down the street went along with all of this - they will be fine; for a while. If your church does not kowtow, you are much less safe. Elections matter, maybe this is all pushed off for a few years, but things have changed, drastically. Don't underestimate the hatred for authentic Christianity in the air.
Retrenchment dealt with how authentic Christianity and traditional communities survive in the aftermath of the revolution against the old 'hegemony' going on right now. The cultural war was a mere precursor, just preliminary skirmishes. Traditionalism lost at every stage of those battles, but those losses will pale in comparison to what is coming. The fact is, no matter the result of the 2020 election and all related to that, the ideology that propels the angst in the street, supported by millions of Americans, will not go away. The desire for change, the sense of emergency, the desperation will only increase - no matter who wins in 2020.
It is fairly clear at this point, that the cultural war against the hegemony is being leveraged by interests that seek to fundamentally change the balance of power in a permanent way are attempting a color revolution. Color revolution attempts have a poor history of sticking, they sometimes succeed in seizing power, but seldom stick. A month ago I thought the color revolution against the US had a significant chance of initial success, I would venture to say that chance is only moderate now. The threat is still very real. When color revolutions fail, often chaos of another sort follows.
Some speak of civil war, calling into the mind the idea of neighbor fighting neighbor. That is possible but unlikely. Violence is almost a certainty in our future, but it will be sporadic, greater in some locations, and almost absent in others. Anarcho-tyranny, the sort where mass violence is ignored and ordinary individuals are punished for small infractions is more likely. Poverty, shortage, and uncertainty are highly likely.
The only thing I would change in that book is my treatment of the 'community' element of the mega-church. I stated there that I had not directly observed heretical behavior in the megachurch, I had suspicions, but that I had observed how effective they were at the community building. In 2020, my suspicions about the megachurch were confirmed, it is just what Peter Drucker envisioned. I would delete or edit those few pages to reflect reality. (see my position of the megachurch's role in all this)
I was originally inspired to write Retrenchment in part by Rod Dreher's book The Benedict Option. I, like many others, saw some good arguments there, and some glaring weaknesses. Dreher is an odd bird, a man that claims to stand on principles and to see the utter collapse and danger around us. Yet, for the last four years he, and the magazine he writes for, has been incapable of seeing that Trump was a useful and necessary plug in the dam. Dreher threw rocks, cried (almost literally at times) that "Trump was not nice", Dreher acted basically as a prissy-con, not a man operating from real principles (in my observation). He is now shilling a new book to tell us all how to really weather the coming storm, a storm he was not willing to stand a post and fight against in a meaningful way. I would not recommend Live Not By Lies, Dreher lost his credibility. He has proven incapable of dialoguing with those that would correct him, he lives in a sheltered bubble, not the sort to listen to in the times that are coming.
I can, whole-heartedly, recommend The Fourth Turning. Much of one of my first books, The Philosophy of Commonsense, was inspired by the implications suggested by Strauss and Howe. Their generational theory is not perfect, but it is proving more accurate than simply applying histography, sociology, or economics to trend analysis. If the cycles they describe are real, and things have historically aligned, much of what we see going on today makes sense.
Other, random things you ought to purchase and read:
A provocative title that probably puts a lot of people off with visions of zombie hordes and bunkers. This book is simply written, well-organized, and useful. It contains not just zombie-level information, but stuff that is applicable to what is coming (shortages of stuff, increased crime, and greater uncertainty).
Everybody ought to know more about critical medical skills, for many reasons. Don't be put off by the word 'prepper' in the title, all rational people should be prepared for all manner of things. I have said before, and often, everybody needs to know things like how to put on a tourniquet and to treat a sucking chest wound. This book will teach you that and more.
BTW, buy stuff to treat wounds that will kill you and those you love quickly, learn to use it, and keep it on hand.
I did a video last April and suggested that 2020 was a good time to practice gardening skills. I think I was right. It is not too late to learn, the book to the left will help. It is a good time to buy up some non-hybrid seeds also.
I spent more time in my life than I care to remember living with, training and fighting beside fledging armies in the middle-east. There is nothing more eye-opening than living on some small camp with just a handful of Americans and hundreds of guys that you do not know, cannot fully communicate with and you have no real idea why they are there (what motivates them). It is simply an act of trust to hand them a rifle and ammunition and to go to sleep at night knowing that if enough of them wanted you dead it would be an easy task.
There is a lot of talk of our coming civil war (or insurrection/violence/troubles) that many now believe are almost a matter of fact to materialize in the next 50 days (hint it is a color revolution). I know people that have gone to Portland, I hear others say 'big and bold things' on the internet. The first is foolish, the latter is just stupid. Recently, a couple of men that I know began to work toward putting something together, based in part on some of the experiences we shared training armies in other lands.
I entertained this thought, have gone along, only because I know these to be reasonable, cool-headed, and common-sensical men. They do not want to go out and be some sort of revolutionary militia. It seems to me, based upon observations, things confirmed to me by others with more access, that there are radical revolutionary groups planning for violence. Organizing, planning and talking not so quietly about dark plans. It seems prudent if there are those that would, based upon all of their demonstrated previous behavior, to at least consider the possibility that there is a moral obligation to consider preparing for that eventuality.
These are complex things to think about. Many of us, those with red blood at least, have spent most of our lives looking favorably upon the patriots in our revolution in the 1770s. Most of us have always said tyranny and oppression can never reign here in free America, by God, real Americans will not tolerate it. There were a couple of assumptions, these assumptions were always falsely embedded in that belief.
Most always assumed that if tyranny came, it would either be 1) the government against the people and the people would stand together against it OR 2) it would come from the outside and the people and the government would stand together.
Did we ever, in our wildest dreams, imagine that the real crisis would come with entire elements of the government, most of the media, a vocal yet violent minority on the streets, an entire political party, and millions of 'ordinary' Americans that are now so lost in their worldview as to support, outright the revolutionary change that will bring about authoritarianism and tyranny. Many are so lost to absurd ideologies, false notions of the Christian message, nihilism, and a dozen other -isms that they cannot even see that authoritarianism and tyranny are even possible at the end of the road they now want to tread.
How do you fight that? Should you?
I know, many keyboard warriors seem to believe they have the answer. They talk big but they have never seen an insurgency at work. Insurgencies are never purely ideological, and even in their ideology, they are never homogeneous. They almost always comprise ethnic, cultural, class, and economic factors. They are complex. General Petraeus sold a bill of goods to the US military in his theory of Counter-Insurgency Operations (COIN). I attended a COIN academy, I later trained it and actively employed it on deployments. It does not work. (ask me about the time I sat across for Petraeus with an Admiral and he gave me $25million to throw at a problem)
However, if COIN did work, if you could win hearts and minds by getting the disaffected to 'buy into" the system how would that work in the US? We are the land of opportunity, before all of these troubles this year we had innumerable programs yet many never 'bought-in". Apparently, none of that worked. There are clearly people that believe the system is not for them, and millions more that tacitly agree with them. COIN operations could never fix this. What does that leave?
We could look at the Romans. There is nothing new under the Sun, Rome dealt with all of these issues. Carthage was never going away, and they could not be turned to 'buy-in" so Rome razed their cities and sowed salt on their fields - the Cathagians disappeared. The "barbarians" in the west were easier, they actually bought in to a degree, the Germans essentially never. In the end, Rome was reduced to appeasing its own population with bread and circuses.
Obviously, the first option is no option at all. We have tried the last and are now faced with "Germans" that will not embrace the system. So I ask again, how do you fight this, and should you? If COIN does not work, the most radicalized have rejected the system, if we fight are we prepared for the Scipio Africanus option?
Of course not, not me. I can see no morality in that option. Freedom is important, rights are important, but not as important as higher law.
I do not have the answer to this. Laying down seems very un-American. Fighting against an insurgency that will not die unless most of its adherents were either killed or imprisoned seems extreme and immoral. Who the hell would one fight in any event? No matter where you live, you are surrounded by both absurd thinkers and traditional Americans. I do not have the answer. The only thing I can come up with is to pray, work, take care of your own, and prepare. What folks ought not be doing is taking to the street to face the radicals.
So back to my acquaintances that want to prepare more deliberately. They are attempting to build a large organization of folks. I joined them and offered to build a supporting group more locally (see here). The initial interest in both of these groups reminds me of the recruits in the Afghan and Iraqi armies. Hell, maybe these sorts of things are won by the side that can field the least idiotic army. I have not been encouraged over the last two days, better men than those fools throwing Molotov cocktails but...
I am also discouraged by talks I have had with a local police chief and a nearby county sheriff. Neither of these men understands that we are approaching a time that their departments alone cannot stand what is coming, they need good men to stand beside them. The time to build those relationships and authorities is now. Neither of these fellows really gets the big picture right now.
I have no idea what all this will become. I am not certain there is anything I, personally will or would fight for at this point (other than my home and those I love). I never thought I would say that. Perhaps I feel a bit like Mel Gibson's character in The Patriot - leave me alone, I will not fight this. I know what is right, I am not sure what is moral (considering what trying to do what is right looks like).
I will stand with my companion's effort, I will try to find reasonable, moral men to partner with, folks that see how serious these questions are. To this point, all I find are hot-head wanna-be's, and I will not deal with those types. I have trained amateurs that could not be trusted, I will not do it again.
What happened to my country? How did so many so easily embrace absurd and wrong ideas? Perhaps what is coming is our destiny and our punishment.
The time of making arguments that we are headed for violent chaos unseen in two-hundred and fifty years has passed, for me. If a person uses the discernment that God gifted us with, looks around, observes the trends, and tests the spirit of discontent in the air it is obvious. I have made the argument, in a serious way, that this day was coming since 2018. At this point, one either sees the world as it is, or they are still intent in arguing that is is just a moment.
None of This is About Politics
It is hard for most people to divorce what is occurring right now from politics. Some, probably all politicians and both parties are certainly 'playing politics' with all the events, that is true. However, at the core of all of this, it is not politics. It is not the old, and probably now irrelevant, divide between 'right' and 'left'. The chaos brewing is something else entirely.
There is a significant point to consider.
The democratic party as a whole has ignored the observable and provable truth related to the riots, looting, murder, and violence. Only very recently has Biden said anything related to stopping the violence. In a very real and tangible way, the violent agitators have become the paramilitary wing of the Democratic party. The problem is, much like Northern Ireland in the 1980s, the political wing is not always able to control the paramilitary wing. The democrats have enabled and unleashed something terrible they cannot control.
You may hate Trump and think his style is abrasive. You may even disagree with his policies. But he is essentially the only hope to restore order right now. I know, I get it, he will force vaccines on us and if he puts down this insurrection and gets the economy going he will be a hero and can do just about anything we might otherwise not tolerate. it could all be a plan, a big trojan horse.
When faced with a Sophie's Choice, one can only choose the path that has a chance of leading to the most moral solution. Stopping the violence and restoring order is more moral than anything else on the table right now, it is more important morally than all other issues. That is simple and all real Christians know that.
How Will This Play Out
It is impossible to tell, nobody can predict the future. Black Swan events can change everything. Here is a pretty good guess, based upon what we see and perhaps comparing that to the history of 1930s Spain, 1917 Russia and a little bit of 1790s France.
Biden Wins the Election
This assumes there is no 'big surprise' that replaces Biden as the candidate prior to the election; although that may not really make a difference in the outcome. As mentioned, it appears the Democratic party is not fully in charge of the paramilitary agitators. It is also pretty clear that within ANTIFA and BLM there is a lot of internal conflicts. You can watch the live streams of them physically fighting each other at times. The agitators themselves have very little that cements them together other than being "against" everything. That is not the sort of glue that works well once you win, simply look at the Republicans in Spain and the Revolutionaries in France to see what I mean. When diverse and loosely aligned movements take power the expectation of each sect to get their ideas expressed is great. Often there is conflict. Generally, there is a lot of turning on each other and more violence as the movement eats its own and becomes increasingly radical until one sect dominates. Neither Biden nor Harris will be able to control all of those passions, the best they can do is coddle them. You will see a sort of anarcho-tyranny of the sort we have witnessed in Portland for the last 90 days where the government sits to the side and allows lawlessness to reign but punishes ordinary citizens for violating mundane laws.
It is not about politics, but nothing good comes from a Democratic victory. That party has openly supported the violence and called it peaceful. The democrats will not bring peace, they cannot control the monster they have unleashed.
Trump Wins
It is predictable that a Trump election will see an increase in rioting and violence. The agitators will have nothing left to hope for other than total revolution. Some fear this and think the coddling method of the Democrats is the more moral option. That merely prolongs the chaos and likely cause more death and suffering. A Trump election forces all of the evil to come to the surface. It enables the Federal government to use all the resources that have not yet been employed. The trail of money and how all of these mobs are financed can be traced and people arrested for domestic terrorism. Dry up the money and much of the crowd goes away.
I get the objections. I understand the naivety of those that do not understand how deeply embedded the ideological fire is on the street. It is easy to think it is just protest. That is a flawed view, many in those groups are ideological warriors. None of this goes away until the organizations, the structure, leadership, and money are eradicated. That and some program that refocuses us all toward something else other than hate and division. The last part is hard, but you have to stop the violence and crush the movement before you can get to phase two.
I also get the argument that Trump will become a dictator fighting all of this. Those sorts of things do happen historically. That is a battle we fight when and if that happens. However, remember, Spain was far better under Franco for 25 years than the Communist dystopia the 'Republicans' and Anarchist tried to enact. (controversial but true! I am not calling for a Franco, we will fight that, but this violence has to stop, it is immoral).
Truth Hurts
If all of that is painful. If you still think you are going to not vote or vote third party because you are cool and want to be in the middle or worse, if you think a morally-minded Christian that reads the entire Bible can vote Democratic this fall, we will forever disagree. I cannot and will not try to convince you further. Look around on my site here, I spent a lot of time making the argument that progressivism was going to lead to debauchery, immorality, death, and suffering.
We have to vote this November, and people of goodwill, real Christians have to vote for Trump. We can push for all of the love thy neighbor stuff after we get to a point where our neighbors are not dying and suffering. 2020 has been more devastating to all people, and minorities in particular, than anything people are supposedly protesting and rioting about.
Don't Get Too Wrapped Up
None of this is about politics. Politics merely determines how this is resolved, how long it takes, and how much death and destruction ensue. The ideological spirit that runs through all of this chaos is with us. Only a real revival, only a movement of and by God can truly change this. The chaos can be suppressed, the violence reduced but the bad ideology that rejects truth at the core of all of this is with us. The best we can hope for, without divine intervention, is space and time - a break from all of this that perhaps gives us time to become a better society.
So don't get too wrapped up in hope related to a political solution. Real action has to happen right now in our hearts, homes, and communities. Hopefully, the very last of those that completely disagree with my worldview stopped reading above. The following is for people that see the world as it is. Christians that use common-sense and discernment and apply the full narrative of the Bible to understand the world are our only hope. The following recommendations are for you.
What You Need to Do Right Now
Move your investments out of stocks, particularly Twitter, Google, Facebook, and news and media companies. A full-throated insurrection will crash the market. A counter-reaction to the insurrection is likely to find all the media companies in deep civil and criminal trouble. (time it right, leverage this bubble as long as you can for profits but don't get caught when it drops soon)
Obviously, buy a gun. Not just a gun, but, within your capability level, a pistol and a battle rifle or a personal defense carbine. PRACTICE, not just at the range but at home, handling it, clearing it, drawing it. Carry it on your person and make it an extension of your reactions.
Standardize ammunition, this is not the time to buy cool guns in different calibers, Lockdown to the items you can carry and use, and then buy the ammunition for those guns. If you are late to the game, this is more expensive and harder to do. It is ok to settle for range ammunition if that is all you can get.
Don't think you cannot afford body armor or that you do not need it. If you do not want to spend a lot of money buy this plate carrier and place these plates in it (Just under $200 for rifle level protection). I am not suggesting you go out and fight. Just have it on hand - because. If you want concealable stuff, most suppliers say 12 to 14 week wait time now for NIJ certified stuff. Safelite Defense says 4-6 weeks for level III+ comparable concealable.
Clearly, stock up on food. Not because you think the world will stop, it will not. Rather, think about things being more expensive and more difficult to get and perhaps things being chaotic and you not wanting to go out. Buy staple food, don't waste money on buckets of storable food, and all that.
Make a few Dollar Tree runs and stock up on stuff like toothpaste and such, for the same reasons at #5. You will use it regardless.
Lumber and hardware (screws) - it can be cheap non-treated stuff, it can be 2x3's, but buy some extra lumber and have it on hand.
A couple of cans of petroleum while getting in the habit of keeping all the tanks full. This is just smart regular practice.
An extra propane tank or two fro the grill.
(Should have been #1) Build high trust relationships. It is time to talk candidly with folks in your circle and figure out who has a clue, who can be clued in and who is lost. You cannot afford people that are unreliable, untrustworthy, selfish or otherwise bad or even intentionally confused.
Develop and reinforce supporting relationships, folks outside of the high-trust circle that you can help and that can be of help to you and yours.
(Controversial) I say if your church has been confused about what is truly Biblical and moral this year, you should find another, or if you cannot do that I would save up my tithes until this all settles down. 2020 has been the biggest crisis Christianity has faced in 500 years and most of the organized church has failed. Something better will follow, save God's money, and support that when it appears. Let those false preachers find real work and those false churches shut down. But keep the good part of the community. Start a home Bible study.
I think it is implied, but be wise with your money. Things will get more expensive and historically when these things are over property taxes are horrible. Most of the 'old' families that own land in the South got it at tax auctions. Be smart don't lose it all in 2022. It is ok to forego some pleasure now, postpone or cancel a vacation, and all that. Buy things that are useful instead or pay off debt.
(Maybe this ought to be #1) Stay away from trouble. Don't protest, don't wave flags and make yourself a target, don't try to out yell unstable people. We are past all of that. You will not convince anyone. Be smart when and where you show any political support.
Keep your head on a swivel. There is too much video evidence of people getting sucker-punched from behind. Never assume anything about a strange encounter now. There is an odd spirit of violence in the air. Be aware and not naive. Keep your mouth shut, no need for a street fight over someone saying something offensive. Walk away, this is not the time for 'manning up' (but get out of the habit of turning your back to a sketchy person that is acting even slightly aggressive).
When it gets weird, get gone. I don't care if you just ordered your food and just sat down. If an angry crowd shows up, be ready to leave.
Don't think of a crowd in terms of what you would do or your morality. There are too many videos of these crowds turning increasingly violent on individuals for no apparent reason - avoid the crowd and if ever surrounded know how deadly it might be.
Take time to get some situational awareness. Take walks in your neighborhood. Start to notice patterns. Speak and wave at people. Observe your neighbors, both to see patterns and oddities. Be vigilant.
Go attend those meetings you stopped going to, VFW etc. Take time to reconnect with people local to you with common- interests and backgrounds.
Don't be afraid. Historically, even in the worst-case examples, these things come to a conclusion. People suffer, others die but life goes on. It will get worse, don't fool yourself but for most this is manageable and survivable. How and if, really depends upon luck, divine protection, preparedness, and how smart you are in your actions.
Bonus - if you are a man, learn to throw a freaking punch. It is incredible the sissy-fighting on videos out there. Learn to throw a punch. It is much better than catfighting or shooting someone.
Last Thoughts
If and when this all blows up into a full-blown insurrection/revolution/civil war (whatever it becomes) don't assume that the violence will be evenly distributed everywhere. Clearly there will be areas of more and less violence. There has been something developing that ought to inform us of what this all might look like in 'regular' places. Outside of the riots, there has been an increase in just regular violence. I watched a video of a man attack three police officers because one of them placed a traffic citation on his parked car. In my little part of the world, there has been a marked increase in shootings, all unrelated and all seemingly random. It just appears people are becoming more violent. If this thing kicks off for real, this sort of violence - random, senseless, unconnected, ubiquitous - will increase everywhere.
Don't assume that just because where you live is less likely to be affected by mass violence that you will be unaffected. The US transportation network would not be hard to disrupt by enough people dedicated to making that happen. Everything you buy and eat comes in a truck! And shortages cause violence of another kind.
Don't assume because most of what you see on the streets seem to be transvestites, severely obese women with very bad attitudes and meth heads that there is nothing dangerous in these movements. Behind all of that, we can already detect elements that are much more dangerous. Based upon the level of funding that is obviously present to keep this rolling for almost four months, the degree of organization that must be present and the tell-tale signs that there are folks with military experience involved in some of their operations I do not discount the fact that what we have seen on the streets is really just cannon fodder.
Beyond that, in times of chaos gangs and organized and semi-organized crime operate more overtly. That is already a reality in some of the major cities, it would become more normal where you live as police forces struggled to contain events.
Don't assume that the government would be aligned toward a common goal of stopping this, no matter who wins the presidency. Somebody has funded and enabled this and ran propaganda cover for it. There are powerful forces at work. Much of the chaos to come will be the result of localities resiting Federal action, elements of the Federal government half-heartedly executing orders, and some elements likely actively opposing. The propaganda arm of the agitators will not just go away unless something draconian like a Lincoln shutting down newspapers occurs, and that would have positive and negative ramifications.
