James Wesley Rawles

James Wesley Rawles (born 1960) is a non-fiction author,
survivalist-fiction author, blogger, and survival retreat consultant. Rawles is a Christian conservative, constitutionalist libertarian. [http://www.survivalblog.com/biographies.html SurvivalBlog Staff Biographies] ]

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. [http://www.rawles.to/miobc/index.html MIOBC Class 85-6 Virtual Reunion ] ] He resigned his commission as an army Captain, immediately after Bill Clinton was sworn in as President of the United States. 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 ["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)] and concurrently was Managing Editor of "The International Countermeasures Handbook." ["The International Countermeasures Handbook" (14th Edition, 1989). masthead (p. 388) James W. Rawles, Managing Editor] He worked as a technical writer through most of the 1990s with a variety of electronics and software companies including Oracle Corporation [ [http://download-uk.oracle.com/docs/cd/A91202_01/901_doc/appdev.901/a89865/title.htm Oracle Corp. Pro*COBOL Precompiler Programmer's Guide - Masthead Page] ] . In 2005 he began full-time blogging.

He is now a freelance writer, blogger and retreat consultant [ [http://www.survivalblog.com/contact.html SurvivalBlog.com Contact Page] ] .

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. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/fashion/06survival.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Duck and Cover: It’s the New Survivalism - New York Times ] ] [http://www2.nysun.com/article/74994 Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World - April 21, 2008 - The New York Sun ] ] 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. [ [http://www.survivalblog.com/precepts.html Precepts of Rawlesian Survivalist Philosophy ] ]

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. [http://www.survivalblog.com/2006/06/odds_n_sods_85.html] 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!" [http://www.survivalblog.com/2006/01/still_more_about_silvers_immin.html] . In the next 14 months, silver prices did rise to more than $20 per ounce. However, Rawles has fallen short in the timing of some of his predictions: In April of 2006 Rawles wrote: "...I'm still predicting $20 silver by next February ('07), and perhaps even $40 silver by the end of Aught Eight. [2008] ". [ http://www.survivalblog.com/2006/04/the_silver_bull_gains_speed.html] In actuality, spot silver only made it to $14.55 per ounce in February of 2007. [http://66.38.218.33/charts/historicalsilver.html] Spot silver didn't get past $20 per ounce until March of 2008. [ [http://news.silverseek.com/SilverSeek/1204520709.php Silver Price Trades at Record $20 an ounce - SilverSeek.com ] ] 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." [http://www.survivalblog.com/2007/07/odds_n_sods_471.html] The veracity of that claim has yet to be seen. Rawles 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. Some store food, gold, guns in case Y2K brings chaos. The Sacramento Bee, December 29, 1998, p. 1.] [http://www.survivalblog.com/2006/02/two_more_letters_re_how_to_buy.html] [http://www.survivalblog.com/2006/03/letter_re_why_invest_in_gold_o_1.html SurvivalBlog.com ] ]

One of his long-standing investment recommendations is rolling over IRAs and 401(k) accounts into American Eagle gold coin IRAs. [http://www.survivalblog.com/2006/03/letter_re_investing_in_tangibl.html]

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." [http://www.survivalblog.com/archiveddata.html Untitled Document ] ] . 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" [http://www.azcentral.com/realestate/articles/0421walkaway0421.html] : "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."

Rawles has warned about the global derivatives market as a potential trigger for an economic catastrophe. [ [http://www.survivalblog.com/derivatives.html SurvivalBlog.com - Derivatives ] ] In October of 2007 he predicted that hedge funds will fail at a greatly increasing rate, in what he described as "a disaster story that could unfold in quarterly episodes." [ [http://www.survivalblog.com/2007/10/hedge_fundsa_disaster_story_th.html Hedge Funds--A Disaster Story that Could Unfold in Quarterly Episodes]

In March of 2008, Rawles accurately warned that the US government would take the approach of employing what he dubbed a "Mother of All Bailouts" (MOAB) [http://www.survivalblog.com/2008/03/odds_n_sods_728.html] , to counteract the collapse of the global credit market, in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage and credit default swap (CDS) fiasco. Rawles predicted that more and more institutions--both public and private--would be bailed out, and indeed they were. [http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13602.html] He further predicts that this uncontrolled public spending will inevitably result in mass inflation of the US currency. [http://www.survivalblog.com/2008/03/news_from_wall_street_and_capi.html]

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 shortages. 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." [ [http://www.survivalblog.com/archiveddata3.html SurvivalBlog.com ] ] Those predictions were generally accurate, but mostly premature. In fact, wheat prices doubled between October of 2007 and March of 2008. [ [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 NY Times] ] , rice prices doubled in the first six months of 2008 [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7324596.stm BBC NEWS | South Asia | Asian states feel rice pinch ] ] , and ammunition prices doubled between 2006 and 2008. [ [http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20070816&slug=ammo16 Nation & World | Ammo prices shoot up | Seattle Times Newspaper ] ]

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. [ [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LB&p_theme=lb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAE929EEB312718&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM GETTING IN TOUCH WITH Y2K AND THE PROPHETS OF DOOM] Press-Telegram, January 7, 1999] How America Uses The Net (Subsection Profile: [James Rawles] The Y2K Survivalist) "Yahoo! Internet Life" magazine, September, 1999, p. 108-109.]

Rawles credits Mel Tappan as his inspiration for launching SurvivalBlog.com [ [http://www.survivalblog.com/kudos.html SurvivalBlog.com Acknowledgments Page ] ] . Rawles was quoted by the "New York Times" in April 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." [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/fashion/06survival.html Duck and Cover: It’s the New Survivalism - New York Times ] ] [http://www.survivalblog.com/2006/03/letter_re_why_invest_in_gold_o_1.html SurvivalBlog.com ] ]

Rawles has shown in both his fiction and on line articles [ [http://www.survivalblog.com/2008/04/the_precepts_of_my_survivalist.html SurvivalBlog.com ] ] to be strongly anti-racist. He has a regular Jewish Israeli correspondent [ [http://www.survivalblog.com/2006/04/from_david_in_israel_on_passiv.html SurvivalBlog.com ] ] on his blog and he has fielded questions from minorities specifically relating to racism problems during national emergencies. [ [http://www.survivalblog.com/2008/07/letter_re_advice_on_relocation.html SurvivalBlog.com ] ]

Blog presence

Rawles is the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, a blog on survival and preparedness topics. [ [http://charts.technorati.com/blogs/www.survivalblog.com?reactionsdaily SurvivalBlog.com on Technorati ] ] Survivalblog has more than 82,000 unique visitors per week [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/may/02/communities.fossilfuels?gusrc=rss&feed=environment Natural born survivors | Environment | The Guardian newspaper] ] . 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)Some store food, gold, guns in case Y2K brings chaos. The Sacramento Bee, December 29, 1998, p. 1.] How America Uses The Net (Subsection Profile: [James Rawles] The Y2K Survivalist) "Yahoo! Internet Life" magazine, September, 1999, p. 108-109.] , socio-economic collapse [ [http://www.weyrich.com/book_reviews/teotwawki.html Book review of TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World as We Know It) ] ] [ [http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/20/survival.feat/index.html Survivalists get ready for meltdown - CNN.com ] ] , a pandemic arising from a mutation of the Asian Avian Flu [ [http://www.survivalblog.com/asianflu.html Asian Avian Flu ] ] , terrorist attacks. ["High Technology Terrorism." "Defense Electronics" magazine, January 1990, p.74.] [http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/cyber/docs/npgs/biblio.htm] , Peak Oil [ [http://www.survivalblog.com/peakoil.html SurvivalBlog.com piece on Peak Oil] ] , and food shortages.

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 [On-line Underground. The Spokesman-Review (Spokane). Dec. 3, 1995, page H7] in the early 1990s but was later printed by the Christian [ [http://www.colc.com/pubbook/chr-pub.htm Alphabetical List of Christian book publishers] Christian Online Community] , partner publisher [Tom Horn [http://www.anomalospublishing.com/published.htm A personal word from Tom Horn] How Getting Published Could Change The Course Of Your Life Anomalos Publishing] Huntington House. After Huntington House went out of business, the book was re-released by Xlibris, a "print on demand" self-publishing firm [Rachel Donadio: [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/books/review/Donadio-t.html?ref=books You’re an Author? Me Too!] The New York Times, April 27, 2008] , 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". [ [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=14119 WND Commentary Five novels of freedom] by Claire Wolfe, WorldNetDaily, September 30, 1999] The publisher's synopsis describes the novel as "distinctly pro-Christian, pro-preparedness, pro-gun ownership, and anti-racist." [ [http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-1425734073-0 Powell's Books - Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse by James Wesley Rawles] ] Starting in the early 1990s, he also authored or co-authored 17 Internet FAQ reference pages, primarily on firearms topics. [ [http://www.survivalblog.com/faqs.html SurvivalBlog.com FAQs Page] ] More recently, Rawles has self-published two non-fiction books.

Bibliography

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)
*"Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse" (33 chapter edition with glossary and index) from Ulysses Press (scheduled for April 2009)

ee also

*Retreat (survivalism)
*Survivalism
*Survival kit
*Survival skills
*Self-sufficiency
*Joel Skousen
*Mel Tappan
*Antique guns

Notes

External links

* [http://www.survivalblog.com SurvivalBlog.com]
* http://www.Rawles.to
* [http://y2kchaos.entrewave.com/view/y2kchaos/s35p225.htm James Wesley, Rawles on Survival Fire Arms: The End of the World as We Know It] at Y2KChaos