The ShieldWall Network
What we believe:

    The political and cultural divisions in America are deepening and widening, leading towards a now inevitable civil war. This coming conflict will result in the breakup of the United States into several independent countries, or ethnostates, called ‘balkanization’.
    It is in the best interests of White Americans to move out of majority nonWhite areas and into majority White regions of the country, before this occurs. For this reason we encourage a voluntary migration of the United States’ founding people from racially diverse multicultural areas to homogeneous rural areas of the country.
    In order to be good citizens as well as to promote theirs and their family’s best interests, Whites should work to become active persons of influence in our communities, including finding and networking with like-minded people near us and working together to secure the existence of our people and a future for White children.

ShieldWall Network affiliation is open to all heterosexual Whites who support the idea of independent White ethnostates. In order to protect the security and anonymity of those who associate with us, subsequent to your initial vetting, where you will be met and asked to present  legal identification, you may choose to associate with us under a nom de guerre alias. Those who prefer not to participate in public activism will not be identified or photographed. If you would like to be put in touch with other White Nationalist preppers in your area, for in real life networking before SHTF, email roper_billy@yahoo.com.
THE SHIELDWALL NETWORK
Community Grassroots Patriotic Outreach and Organization
What is The ShieldWall Network?

by Billy Roper

Whether you are a member of a patriotic organization, or independent, we invite you to take part in this locally-focused, grassroots endeavor. No membership fees or dues are required, but a commitment is needed. Become a part of a ShieldWall in your area. Think racially, take a stand locally.

The ShieldWall began in classical Greek civilization, when the courageous Spartans and other Greek warriors, such as Leonidas and his 300 at Thermopylae, linked their shields together against the invaders. It is in honor of them that the Spartan lambda shield is the symbol of The ShieldWall Network. Later, the brave Roman legions emulated the Greek ShieldWall with their ‘tortoise’. For our northern European ancestors, one of the most effective defensive tactics employed was the ShieldWall. Vikings, Angles, and Saxons alike, as well as kindred tribes, often stood shoulder to shoulder, side by side, with the rims of their shields overlapping. In a ShieldWall, every man is responsible for protecting the man to his left with their shield, held in their left hand, covering their neighbor on that side, and attacking the enemy with their right hand spear. To that end all members of the shield wall are equally reliant and dependent on one another. If one fails to do his duty, his neighbors suffer for it, first. If the ShieldWall is broken, then the enemy can penetrate the defensive lines and wreak havoc among those the ShieldWall defends. Thus, trust and loyalty are important traits for warriors in the ShieldWall.

The kind of grassroots, community level networking we want to promote for each member of The Shieldwall Network requires a similar level of mutual trust and dependence. Contrary to the lone wolf mentality, we are not hermits or individualists, nor do we see that escape from the reality our people face as a solution to the problems threatening us now, and in the future. However, in many of our communities, we may well have to begin grassroots level organizing and networking on our own. Each of us, then, becoming persons  of influence in our communities, can strengthen the ShieldWall as a whole, by eventually bringing more people into it.

How you can expand The ShieldWall Network:

We all have the ability, opportunity, and responsibility to serve as leaders and spokespersons in our communities, using the radical flank effect to shift the Overton Window of acceptable discussion to the right among our peers and friends. That will reinforce, embolden, and encourage them to speak more boldly and forthrightly the things which are ‘politically incorrect’, perhaps, but nonetheless commonly held, unspoken beliefs. At the same time, we can encourage people to prepare themselves psychologically and materially for what is coming. In this way, we can each become persons of influence in our community.

If what many believe is coming arrives, the number of people whom you can trust to stand beside you manning a roadblock barricade to defend your neighborhood will be more important than how many likes you can get on Fakebook, or followers on Tweeter. White America needs grassroots networking, from the ground up. Everyone reading this knows someone they can talk to about our future. Politically, with the nation more polarized and divided than at any time in our lives, now is the perfect time to seek that opening. If you’d like to become a person of influence in your community, and build your own local ShieldWall network, we’d like to tell you how.

Challenge One: Locate meeting places for like-minded people near you: gun shops, shooting ranges, local and County Republican parties, Veteran’s organizations, and Tea Party groups can be cherry-picked for those who are of similar values, and amenable to radicalization.

Challenge Two: Get involved in local community groups, volunteerism, and social events. Become known and accepted as an insider. Attend city council meetings, school board meetings, or any other local civic events, (4H, etc.) especially if you have children. Get to know your local and County police, as many in law enforcement share our values, and may be very useful in the future. Even those who do not, and will not, are still better known, than unknown. The same is true for local elected officials, of course. Remember, we are co-opting them, they are not co-opting us.

Challenge Three: Get to know your neighbors, starting with those closest to you. Be friendly, pick up trash alongside the shared road, invite them over for a barbecue, have play dates between their children and yours, or give them your number to call if there’s anything suspicious going on in the neighborhood that you need to take a united stand on. Make a point to touch base with them regularly. Earn their trust, for future influence.

Challenge Four: Begin feeling them all out for potential radicalization and usefulness as a part of The ShieldWall Network. What resources or skills do they have? What experiences, such as job or military, do they bring to the table? How far along the path can they be brought towards us, ideologically?

Challenge Five: Coordinate with other members of The ShieldWall Network, comparing the available resources and areas of expertise which you’ve located and accessed. Develop a list of desired resources and skill sets which are still lacking in the network, and work to develop a plan to actively seek out and recruit new individuals with those specific assets.

We will be physically meeting once every two months, to share our challenge results and progress. That means that, just as in the shield walls formed by our ancestors, we will all be accountable to one another for working on the network. At those subsequent meetings we will offer advice, assistance, and encouragement, as needed, to one another, as well as share ideas and inspiration. This will help maintain everyone’s focus and direction. Those who are unable to attend, despite their best efforts, should be in communication with the network through e-mail, to achieve the same effect. This will always be a group-driven and guided project, whether face to face or online, whether you are working alone, or as a part of our network. Do not let the shield wall down. Stand with it, and it will stand with you.

For more information on how to start a ShieldWall Network in your area, e-mail roper_billy@yahoo.com.
Local ShieldWall Network Contacts

The ShieldWall Network is a White Nationalist prepper coalition made up of Americans of European ancestry who understand that the collapse of multiracial democracy is inevitable. We accept that another civil war is now unavoidable. However, while the SWN does train and prepare for the balk just as other survivalists do, we limit our association to our own people. In order to prepare for the coming breakup of the United States, Whites are now organizing along racial lines in the areas of the country where we are most likely to maintain our autonomy and freedom as America balkanizes. These still relatively homogeneous areas where traditional values and culture predominate are becoming the seedbeds for future White ethnostates. In fact, the upper south is increasingly such a haven for Whites who immigrate into the area to escape the darkening deep south and other ‘diverse’ regions.

There are no dues requirements to be a part of the ShieldWall Network, and no uniforms except those for Phalanx members, who are a part of our elite defensive and public activism contingents. All donations are strictly voluntary, as is one’s level of commitment. Members may use an alias throughout their participation in the ShieldWall Network, if they so desire.

If you would like to learn more about the ShieldWall Network and get involved, we can help you make friends with your many neighbors who are already learning how to become persons of influence in their local communities. If you think you have what it takes to be a leader of your people, and would like to begin a local SWN franchise, we can help you locate, recruit, radicalize, and network your own ShieldWall unit in your area, from the grassroots level up. Contact roper_billy@yahoo.com via e-mail to be put in touch with the nearest ShieldWall Network regional coordinator in your area, or to become one.

North Arkansas

While the ShieldWall Network has members throughout Arkansas, they recognize that really the state is two separate regions divided diagonally roughly along Interstate 30. Southern and eastern Arkansas is largely black, while northern Arkansas is a seedbed White ethnostate often referred to as ‘Ozarkia’. In northern Arkansas,southern Missouri, and adjacent areas, this region includes over 100 contiguous counties which are over 90% White. For those ShieldWall members in the Phalanx, our public activism opposing Antifa, Communists, Muslims, and militant homosexuals serves to preserve the White identity and conservative values of our homeland. Others, whose professions and occupations are vulnerable to doxxing, are still respected members of our Network, but rather than participating in public protests, they contribute in other ways which are equally valuable, depending on their own preferences, personal resources, and skill sets.

When balkanization occurs, many Whites living in southern and eastern Arkansas may find themselves refugees retreating from the majority nonWhites northwards. The ShieldWall Network’s ‘Project New America’ encourages them to Come Home to Ozarkia now, as many from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas already are, as well, rather than waiting until it may be too late. They and their families are finding refuge and support among the ShieldWall Network of Ozarkia.

East Tennessee

In addition to working to establish a growing community of like-minded Whites throughout the area to benefit themselves and their families both now as well as when balkanization happens, the ShieldWall Network in East Tennessee engages in patriotic activism on behalf of America’s founding people and their traditional values and culture, all of which are under attack, across the southern Appalachians. White flight immigrants from Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, and other nearby states continue to swell our ranks.

Texas

Serving northern and eastern Texas to maintain a corridor to the Atlantic Ocean through the Gulf of Mexico for New America, the largely White region now boasts its own ShieldWall Network chapter.

Coming soon: ShieldWall Network regional chapters in the Midwest!

Only a small percentage of the ShieldWall Network’s members, the Phalanx, actually participate in public activism through rallies, protests, demonstrations, and educational efforts aimed at awakening and organizing our people, but they represent the expanding influence of the ShieldWall among White communities in East Tennessee. Many people in those communities support the values of the ShieldWall Network and are grateful for its leadership and representation of their interests. The SWN actively allies with other pro-White organizations and individuals in their sphere of influence. If you are in the southern Appalachian area, you should take a stand with the ShieldWall Network of East Tennessee!

ShieldWall Network local franchises meet often for educational presentations and activism opportunities as well as social events, all of which reinforce our sense of organic community and solidarity in our common cause. These meetings help create friendships, trust, and comradeship, as well as providing a healthy outlet for families of prepared White Nationalists to interact on a personal level, face to face, in real life. We stand together now, so that we can stand together when we face what is to come. Come stand with us, in the ShieldWall!
Finding Like-Minded People

One of the primary goals of the ShieldWall Network is, instead of just filling up the organization with warm bodies, actively seeking out men and women who see the world largely as we do. Granted, there are going to be few whom we will encounter in our day-to-day ‘cherry-picking’ recruitment forays who are already red-pilled fully, but someone who agrees with us on three-quarters of the issues, so long as they go along with the program, are not our 25% enemy, they are our 75% friend. Obviously, anyone who condones certain behaviors such as homosexuality or miscegenation cannot be a part of the ShieldWall, nor do we want people who use illegal drugs or are otherwise criminals. Those general, common sense caveats aside, though, there are many millions of our people from all walks of life and socio-economic levels who can find a place in the ShieldWall where their strengths can combine with ours. Doctors, teachers, lawyers, plumbers, electricians, construction workers, police officers, and housewives may all have something to offer in our mutual support web. Remember the values and assets we are looking for, and seek them out.

It may be tempting to reach out lazily to our fellow politically active and known patriots, then limit ourselves to that small pool of potential recruits. The truth, though, is that most of our people, even those who largely agree with us and who would be very useful for the ShieldWall Network, are not yet politically active. Most of them are too busy working to pay their bills, or taking care of their families, or simply have never felt motivated to do more politically than vote occasionally, and complain a lot. Our responsibility is to change that, for the ShieldWall Network isn’t solely about prepping, for anticipating and planning  responses to any number of crisis scenarios; it is about creating a grassroots, community-based local connection of persons of influence, and to make persons of influence of each member of the ShieldWall, itself, in their local communities.

One of the methods potentially utilized by members of the ShieldWall to become a person of influence in their local community is to volunteer with your local Republican Party. Granted, only a small percentage of those active on the city and county level of Republican party politics will be amenable to our message, but the ten to twenty percent who are is higher than the same percentage of the general population, especially now.

One of the best books I can recommend describing how to get started in local political networking, one step at a time, was written by science fiction writer Robert Heinlein. Although a libertarian, rather than a Nationalist, his “Take Back Your Government” is as pertinent now for us as it was a half century ago when he wrote it.

Of course, we also will be recruiting ShieldWall Network members at gun and knife shows, hunting expositions, shooting ranges, Tea Party meetings, and dozens of similar locations, all of which are ‘target rich environments’ for the kind of individual we are looking for. Remember, you have a responsibility to the ShieldWall to be on the lookout for the next recruit who will stand beside us. Who have you talked to about the ShieldWall, today?
Shaping How Your Community Thinks: A Practical Guide

    by Tom K.

    Introduction

    Whether you are new to White Nationalism or have been spreading the message for years, this guide is designed to offer ideas on how you can take your ideas and begin using them to shape reality.

    We all recognize how overwhelming it can be to face the media/political/corporate machine that marginalizes our message and persecutes those who support White pride.  Under these conditions, we have found certain methods allow us to break out from this blockade, and allow us to present the observable truth and begin organizing people together to accomplish our shared objectives.

    Please feel free to tailor the basic principles included within to your area and your specific regional flavor.  What works well in one region will not necessarily fit in another, and understanding the general beliefs of your people and the key institutional actors will shape your planning.

    Our hope is this guide serves you well, and we encourage you to share freely and distribute.

    Culture Comes First

    While natural to look for politics for change as so many of the laws which shape our lives emerge from the government, it is worth remembering that politics is always downwind from culture.  Long before gay marriage was being pushed, people were marching in the streets and building networks to support the individuals and businesses who professed these beliefs.  We counted on our institutions to protect us, but we lost the political battle because we lost the cultural battle.

    The modern culture currently stresses diversity at all costs.  People who parrot these lines really have no clue what they mean by saying such slogans, but they know there will be social approval and they’ll avoid the cost of being ostracized.  When you accept the limits of political correctness, you concede the cultural battlefield.  While tact matters greatly, this first concession is the one you must not make.

    Never concede your core beliefs, and be sure to encourage others to share your own

    Before you can think about networking with other groups, unless you intend to be a spy for all that you do, you need to put real thought into how you can authentically present yourself and share your reasons for wanting to protect and preserve your community.  The effort to build these networks often starts very small, within your family or a close circle of friends.

    The interesting thing is people who observe the world and can logically interpret facts are often closer to your position than you would ever realize.  Excepting those who go out of their way to signal their adherence to the popular position, you can begin probing those around you by offering statements about the sort of implicit issues that hint at a potential ally.

    To make this more concrete, your author frequently interacts at dinner parties with people whom I think might be receptive to the White Nationalist message.  My spouse and I will bring over another family, and our conversations start with simpler issues and basic politics.  Pick an issue you think you might share concern with your target and don’t be afraid to make a strong statement.

    If they seem receptive, understand you can shape the opinion by taking the strong position of leadership.  Make a strong value judgment, talk about how your White people don’t behave that way, and share that you want things to change.  Many times, you will be surprised just how liberated people will feel to be able to honestly express their opinion.  The same person who started a conversation virtue signaling about equality might be ranting about niggers within fifteen minutes.

    This skill is incredibly basic, but essential to understanding how you must network if you’re going to build the informal connections that create a culture to undermine the media message.

    Friends Beget Friends

    Although the internet is a great tool for recruiting people and gaining knowledge, its limitations for organizing are also well understood.  Life doesn’t happen online, and political change will not either.  The truth is people have these vast debates and discourses there, but the nuts and bolts of how our society runs are the networking institutions and the governments.  If you can get offline and build the networks, then you can take control of political assets and shift money and resources to aid your effort and the movement.

    Start within your own family and get everyone on board.  That is essential.  An unhappy spouse will make it impossible for you to spend the time and energy to organize.

    Once you’ve done that, then you work slowly and pull people together one, two, or three at a time.  If you can connect to ten families, you now have a nucleus of forty people.  Don’t make the conversations overtly political and don’t make what you talk about into some action plan no one will enjoy.  Just establish a basic bedrock principle that you have families who care about the White race, its plight, and how to protect your own.

    Where we operate, we have found it helpful having put these groups together to have a leader bring them together on a regular basis to gather socially.  Create a space where people feel welcome to express their opinion, remembering that you are empowering your fellow man to know he can speak openly without fear of social ostracism.  These people are your kin, your folk, and the trust you build through proximity will help in good times and bad.

    Taking Your Group to the Next Level

    As your group grows, encourage natural interests that will benefit your people.  Do not try to impose a single plan, but rather articulate common concerns and encourage people to join in efforts to include issues they already care about.

    Where the author operates, local food production is a big thing.  We have people who enjoy working the land, so they work together to help homesteaders find resources and bring food to families who need our help.  Our people gain great satisfactions from that, as volunteers can help Whites in need, and create a positive social perception in the larger community.

    This point is very important because through your virtuous action you’re creating cognitive dissonance.  The narrative you are fighting with your actions is that White Nationalists are bad.  But when the media is promoting its degeneracy from afar, and your people are tending not just to food in your community, but potentially helping provide heat from the cold, leading within your churches, or putting on public displays of pride, the people who are perpetually undecided will be put under great pressure to see you as the virtues they want.

    As a movement, we put far too much effort and resources into thinking a politician will solve our problems or crafting a perfect set of intellectual solutions to given problems.  This is one of the biggest mistakes out there, because we don’t have the ability to effectuate such outcomes at present!  But what we can do is work in our community or our neighborhood, and build a close-knit social network that both spreads the key idea and enriches our lives.

    Working Underneath Scrutiny

    Depending on where you live and how much attention you draw to yourself, the challenge you will begin to face as things go well is the increased scrutiny that will come from those who seek to disrupt your success.  Fortunately, you will catch much less heat than those operating at the political level, but as you calibrate your message for your region, people will take notice.

    Working through implication is one way to minimize the damage done.  Instead of speaking very openly at the public level about White genocide, a very real phenomenon, organizations might instead speak of culture and heritage, promoting a positive European identity.  It’s worth noting as the culture war moves and depending upon how radical your area is, you can be more aggressive, but remember the goal should be that whatever you do is open enough to bring in new people who you need to be allies.  If what you’ve set up only draws the same people, you probably need to reconsider your message.

    Take those people who are most committed, have them work on projects together of greater urgency, and use them in preparation for the long-term betterment and survival of your community.  Good planning will make your lives self-sufficient in good times, so we stress food, energy, security training, and survival skills as key points to share.  But, do not overlook the importance of having fun, so concerts, festivals, handicrafts, and those items are just as important as a source of pride and a way of showing you’re living in the world instead of just waiting for its demise.

    If you trust the people around you and are happy working together at the community level, then you can link to other communities and begin to reclaim your lands one town at a time.  The method has been tested and works so quietly that you don’t even realize it is happening, but the hints are when you see people walking with purpose and pride.  We don’t need to shout to be what we are; we just need to rediscover our proud legacy.

    Then Politics

    Politicians are largely whores.  They cannot help themselves, of course, because you either need a lot of money or a lot of votes to impact policy.  This is why wealthy interests very quickly buy both sides where possible, because it’s a pretty good bargain for their relatively modest contribution to gain control of all the finances a given level of government controls.

    To give you some idea of the scope, even a modest small town of maybe 1,000 people probably has a budget between $1-$5 million per year depending upon how wealthy the area is.  If you have 100 people in your town, and someone you trust to lead, then you’ve just taken control of your first real resources.

    It’s important to understand the limitations of the law and public finance.  At every level of government, much of the money is constrained to basic infrastructure and mandates given by higher levels.  Put differently, you’ll have no choice in how 90% of your money is spent, though how you implement programs can have a big impact.  But if you can operate government in concert with the informal network which makes decisions about what is and is not right for the town, possibilities emerge.

    To offer a concrete example, a mayor in a given town has worked with a local nonprofit to make sure anyone in need gets help without having to use welfare.  Keeping families off the system and into work has kept money in the community and removed government scrutiny.  The organizations work together to make sure families have voluntary housing, avoiding opening up Section 8 locations where Federal rules would force them to accept unwanted people.  The informal network quietly makes sure any unwanted minorities quickly choose to move along through a strategy of exclusion, doing the job the town cannot, but which all agree is necessary.

    As you have successes in your towns and make sure your people sit not just on the Council, but also the School Board and other boards, you can take control of what is taught and what is permitted.  It is a slow and uneven process, but it starts with you seeing where civic opportunities exist, bringing people into your network who are in these roles, or promoting your own if none exist.

    Politicians who understand you control the votes will vote as you demand.  Towns can be won this way and entire counties will follow.  States are a harder role, but having a few state representatives or senators from your team, eventually, ensures the money from the capital flows back for the programs you support.

    One instance that worked well was a town supporting a music festival whose purpose is economic development.  The businesses in town love the extra revenue, the people like the excitement, but the larger cause is served as the event promotes white talent, using subtle cues to white heritage, and it serves as an enormous morale boost and recruiting ground.  Good begets good.

    Who Gives and Why

    A failure of the movement to this point has been being ashamed about money.  While money is highly problematic and represents a means of control used against us, having resources to spend also conveys much needed legitimacy and the ability to promote, outreach, and share and expand what successes you’ve built from the grassroots.  As ungainly as it is, you need to promote your successes and intentions, because you don’t get a chance to put out the simpler pro-white message.

    Government is one side of the coin.  Nonprofits are the other.

    So much of the culture war is fought and won by the White destructionist forces because they’re the only ones out there distributing money.  Organizations exist, largely dependent upon and responsive to government and foundation donors, and they are the means by which ideas are interjected into the community and the larger dialogue.  We have not really competed at this level because the social system has ostracized any pro-White group from public legitimacy.  Yet, we need to realize how that power is exerted, and begin fighting back.

    Some observations from having been involved in these fights is that having dual purpose organizations are extremely helpful.  You can get that check for $5-$10k just as easily as these horrible organizations do with some local organization and a few friendly letters.  These are your government tax dollars – work to get them for things that benefit your group and your community.  Make sure they have a good public face, and where possible, support anonymous donations.

    It is also good where you can have membership organizations and you encourage your own people to give.  It is a challenge that is off putting to many people, however, so the more you can have someone else foot the bill, the easier you might find success to achieve.

    How It Pulls Together

    This vision offers some guideposts of ideas in execution and that have worked to build a foundation to improve your community in a way sincere to white nationalist beliefs.  It goes without saying that you need to be intelligent about whom you trust and what you share, and always keep in mind success also breeds envy.

    But if you start with your family, and connect a few families together, you’ll have the core of a group to make change happen.  Be open about your beliefs, back each other up, and build strength in that core.  Embrace your interests and those civic avenues open to you, whether in the public sector, or whether they be community organizations or a local church.  Win some successes, earn the respect of your community, and you will find people seeking your advice and politicians asking for your support.  Set your prices reasonably, use government to push your cause both financially and legally as the other side has done, and you will be better prepared to face all challenges ahead.

    Additional Ideas

    Another path forward is to support local businesses, but also to create businesses that cover needs valuable to the movement, and find employment for your people.  Having those sorts of relationships can sometimes complicate how people connect, but putting wealth into the pockets of people locally creates redundancy for meeting needs in a pinch, and hopefully opportunity for more of your people.  Having these people on board very much strengthens your informal social networks and your political clout.

    Do not be afraid to jump back and forth from going online to build what you’re trying to accomplish.  It might take working through 100 people to find 1 who is useful, but that still has value in terms of showing energy and the few people you collect.  Take your people you find online, work geographically where possible, and work to bring them into the circle of real people.  Have meetings, and keep in mind it only takes one connection to succeed.

    Conclusion

    The struggle ahead of us is hard, but it’s important to remember history has been shaped with those who have the will to create their own futures.  Our shared American heritage is of people who stood up and took charge when the strongest and best of us decided we had suffered too much.  We must prepare ourselves for that same call, so as you organize, consider always what will be helpful in a good situation and essential in a critical one.  All the things people think they think will fade away against that stark reality, and if you are well-prepared, not only will you survive, but you will become the leaders of your community who make decisions and take charge.

    Until that day comes, all we can do is gather our strength, and work in unity.  You likely won’t like everyone with whom you work, and there will always be conflicts of interest.  Settle them through compromise or peaceful separation where possible, remembering there is a bigger cause, time is not our friend, and what motivated you to fight for your future.

    Lastly, ask for help if you need it.  Ask from your brothers here and heaven above.  We all need that.

The Role of the ShieldWall Phalanx

by Billy Roper

As many of you already know, the ShieldWall Network was envisioned as a White Nationalist preppers network, to put racially conscious people in touch with one another locally and regionally and foster real world friendships in order to build trust and personal relationships for mutual aid and assistance now, and when we all face what is coming. As such, it encourages grassroots organizing and local coordination, as well as each of us working on becoming persons of influence in our communities while we prepare for the inevitable.

Within the looser confederation of White Nationalists of different religious faiths, political preferences, and levels of public activism which all make up the ShieldWall Network, are the more tightly bound, unified, and disciplined ranks of the ShieldWall Phalanx. These men wear the uniform of the ShieldWall Network and display its symbol with pride because they have volunteered to step forward and accept a larger, more serious commitment: the responsibility of protecting one another, as well as their families and friends, as a warrior in the ShieldWall.

With this honor comes the duty of taking an oath to support and defend the ShieldWall Network, their fellow Phalanx members, and their families and friends, as well as to uphold the heirarchy and chain of command of the organization by voluntarily submitting to the discipline necessary of a defensive arm for the ShieldWall Network.

Heterosexual White men who are reasonably physically fit, not averse to defending themselves and others when necessary, and willing to take on the responsibility and duty of standing in the front line against our enemies, are eligible for membership in the ShieldWall Phalanx.

Not everyone in the ShieldWall Network should seek membership in the Phalanx, and not everyone who seeks admission to the Phalanx, which is granted only by invitation from the ShieldWall Network’s officers and the nomination of another ShieldWall Phalanx member, will be granted it. For MOST ShieldWall Network members, being a part of our White Nationalist prepper’s coalition, and helping to lengthen and deepen the ShieldWall through their volunteerism, financial support of charitable projects, and behind the scenes activism will be all that is ever asked or required.

There is no shame involved in not being eligible for ShieldWall Phalanx membership, as we need as many or more anonymous supporters, internet activists, financial and material contributors, and quiet workers, as we do warriors in our network. Everyone has something they can contribute to our ShieldWall family.

You can find out more about the ShieldWall Phalanx, and the ShieldWall Network itself, at our website HERE, or at our next scheduled meeting.
ShieldWall Phalanx Tactics: Learning from Law Enforcement

As many anti-government patriots learned in both the 1770s and the 1860s, we can learn a lot from those who may defend tyranny. To quote  a dissenting opinion from the late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis in a 1928 wiretapping case, “‘Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill it teaches the people by its example.’ For the purposes of the kind of events which the ShieldWall Phalanx will initially be deployed, that is, public rallies, protests, and demonstrations, a study of law enforcement small unit tactics, particularly those of riot police in crowd control, are more immediately appropriate than a study of small unit infantry tactics.

Moving in formation, as a unit, listening for and obeying commands without question or hesitation, and disciplined entry and withdrawal from conflict theaters are integral aspects of ShieldWall Phalanx training.

For examples, if one member of the group is attacked, those ShieldWall Phalanx nearest to them will respond. If a Phalanx member or ally is pulled out of the group by contact with the enemy, a shielded ‘flying wedge’ formation will penetrate the opposing crowd, regain their comrade, and withdraw back to the main body in formation. Likewise, if the ShieldWall is penetrated by an enemy attacker, it will open a gap, close back around the enemy in envelopment by both flanks moving up to surround them, deal with the attacker, and then briefly open again to expel them. (We aren’t exercising arrests.)

In the accompanying diagram of how riot police operate in small units, the formation is described: “When a riot is in full swing, police will deploy in a square formation with a command team at the center. The command team is protected on all four sides by echelons of troops deployed in groups of 10 or 12 officers. There is also an arrest team at the center of the square.”

For ShieldWall Phalanx purposes, the designated  “gas officers” will be replaced by security for leadership, and the “arresting officers” will serve as reserves to react to any enemy which penetrates the front or rear echelons. In that way, both the front and rear echelon ShieldWalls can remain solid and unbroken, and penetration issues be dealt with by the reserves. This is how law enforcement riot police tactics, which are really just adaptations of ancient Greek, Roman, and Northern European infantry warfare, can be tweaked for ShieldWall Phalanx use.

I encourage ShieldWall Phalanx members to read the referenced article and think about how these tactics can be applied to our formations and actions.

This tactical unit is very mobile and able to adapt on the fly to changes in the situation. If a threat suddenly appears behind or to one side of the unit, then the echelon facing that direction is designated the front of the unit. The entire team can then change the direction it’s facing without a lot of maneuvering. Also, the echelons can cover each other when the team moves to take advanced positions. If the unit is under attack, the whole team does not move together: One echelon moves while the others provide covering fire or an actual physical screen (with riot shields). Then another echelon moves up into position.

How the ShieldWall Phalanx can train: In addition to learning the above pictured formation, and how to move in that formation, the ShieldWall Phalanx will practice using the formation in drills.
Riot Scrimmage

To train in the use of their gear and to gain confidence in the protection it provides, crowd control units have “practice riots.” The Cheektowaga Police Department uses an abandoned hockey arena for theirs. The unit is split into two teams — the Crowd Management Unit and the rioters. The rioters spend a few minutes throwing whatever is handy at their fully armored fellow officers, including 2x4s, hockey pucks, rocks and bricks. Once the officers have learned that their protective gear really works, they get to “control” the rioters. One officer admitted that while the practice is valuable for many reasons, “it’s also pretty fun.”
What is the ShieldWall Network Plan? Project New America.

Project New America

by Billy Roper

Some interested people, potential activists and supporters, have asked me what the ultimate plan and goal of the ShieldWall Network is. They want to see all of my cards laid out on the table, face up, before they will truly commit themselves and their primary personal loyalty to the ShieldWall.

I understand their hesitancy to join the growing ShieldWall, and make it their top loyalty by jumping on board, without knowing where the driver is headed. At the same time, there’s always a risk in telegraphing your punches. It ruins the surprise.

Okay. I give. Here’s the super secret, diabolical, confidential plan: I don’t mind telling you, because it’s gonna happen, anyway, whether you’re a part of it or not, and whether everybody hears about it, or not.

Really, you don’t have to plan nature, God has already done a pretty good job of doing that for us. Any plan made by man should take advantage of the natural processes already put into motion by God, in order to be assured of success…at least, we’d be wise to not purposefully run counter to His revealed will and intent, if we want to succeed. The ShieldWall Plan is organic and natural. There are very real, observable, documented natural processes at work in America today. They simply follow human nature, and don’t require cajoling or browbeating or convincing people to follow them. I’m not trying to sell this plan, it already sells itself, because it’s what our people WANT to do, and what they ALREADY are doing, right now.

Those ongoing natural processes already at work in America lend themselves to division, polarization, and ultimately, balkanization. It is now inevitable that even an authoritarian establishment cannot maintain the multiracial empire in perpetuity. A breakup is coming. As the demographic changes which are a part of that natural and ongoing process continue to accelerate, migrations of people to separate and settle out isn’t something that has to be preached about, cheerled, begged, or forced. It’s already happening, through voluntary, regional White flight.

There is, as many of you know, the Northwest Plan, aiming to entice White Nationalists into moving to the Pacific Northwest. It may be a feasible idea for the interior of that region, but not likely for the liberal coastal enclaves which govern it and whose presence is often forwarded as a prime promotional attribute of the area. That idea presupposes that building a White mini-state in the most liberal part of the country made up of the most left-wing people and with a rising Asian population facing Asia across what will be, when America balkanizes, a Chinese lake, is a recipe for success. There are, however, alternatives, alternatives which simply take advantage of voluntary migrations already happening as people vote with their feet. It’s not that there is only ONLY alternative. There also is the planned New Albion in upper New England, and even PLEs, Pioneer Little Europes, out west in the high plains. Ultimately, I wish them ALL success, and despite our personal preferences or even our disagreements on location, I’d love to see multiple White ethnostates arise as allies and confederates. In that regard, it’s not a competition. That having been said, allow me to present the case for Ozarkia and East Tennessee.

Blacks are moving back to the deep south from midwestern and northeastern cities, and combined with the higher comparative birth rate of blacks increasing their numbers there, Whites are responding by moving from the darkening deep south to the White upper south. Herein lies the essence of the ShieldWall Plan.

The ShieldWall Plan: continue to evacuate Whites from darkening Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and south Arkansas to the Ozarks. Gain influence and power in the over one hundred contiguous counties there, straddling the Arkansas and Missouri border, that are already over 90% White and very conservative by becoming active, involved persons of influence in those communities. Similarly, encourage White flight from Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, and other neighboring states around southern Appalachia to East Tennessee, where the surrounding region likewise enjoys one hundred contiguous counties which are over 90% White. Gain access to city and county governments, institutions, and organizations. Build the ethnostate(s).  In sharp contrast to other areas of the country, Whites moving to the Ozarks and East Tennessee from the darkening deep south (as well as some from other regions of the country such as the upper midwest) are causing the White percentage in Ozarkia and East Tennessee to INCREASE.

The seeds of this plan were planted in my fictional ‘Hasten The Day’ trilogy a few years ago. The demographic trends and population change models were quantified and the data supporting the ongoing process were updated, explained, and published in the nonfiction ‘The Balk’ a year later. Things have only accelerated since then.

Our new ethnostates will not be small. They will not be isolated. They will not be landlocked, contrary to popular belief. They will grow to be a superpower. After a relatively short period of establishment and coalescence while our multiracial and nonWhite neighbors regress and collapse, New America will expand again, like a nuclear explosion pushing outwards once the atoms are bound together and compressed, their energy collected, and then released. Boom, baby. We will take it all back.

The Heartland, the red states, what coastal liberals call ‘flyover country’, will be New America, when the balkanization happens. After the United States breaks up, the large nonWhite enclaves such as St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago, and Memphis will be reduced through negotiation, evacuation, siege, conflict, and cleansing. Smaller islands of color in the Midwest’s sea of White will be drowned, as well, following the pattern most recently demonstrated in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. New America will coalesce and congeal from the Appalachians to the Rockies, from the Great Lakes to the Texas Coast. But it begins here. It starts with us, in the ShieldWall.

We need people who are able to, to move to the Ozarks and East Tennessee to join us. We need those of you here, and outside the core, to network with one another and with us. We need you, throughout the Midwest and the West and the Upper South, to begin forming your own local ShieldWall Network franchises of activists and preppers in your area. We have the experience and expertise to help teach you how to organize, find and cherry pick and radicalize like-minded Whites all around you. Next, we will guide you in becoming a leader of your peers, and help you establish outposts which will grow into vehicles of local and regional control and government when the illegitimate federal government abdicates and is removed from power by the coming balkanization.

That’s the plan. I call it ‘Project New America‘. We even have a theme song. In my mind, it is clear and concise, natural and organic, and most important of all, it is already happening. Don’t mess with mother nature. Ride the tiger. This is happening. We’re headed to our future. Climb on board with the ShieldWall.

This three part Strategic Relocation article series, now available on The ShieldWall Network website, gives concise yet detailed advice on following the SWN plan: Project New America.
STRATEGIC RELOCATION: ARE YOU MISSING OUT?

The concept of strategic relocation is not new, but it’s recently become more popular, as more and more liberty-loving folks get tired of being crammed into crowded public transportation or spending hours on the road in the daily snail-pace commute. For many, the thought of leaving everything can be a bit terrifying, and if you have a family who doesn’t want to leave, you might be thinking that your Big Move is more of a pipe dream than a real possibility, even though you see the death grip on your everyday freedoms tightening by the day. Here’s the truth: it can be done. And yes, you can be amazingly happy in a new location that is more conducive to the type of life you want to live.

Just like changing your physical condition requires time, discipline, and effort, so does changing your permanent residence. Add to that a lot of planning, and you’ll see yet another reason why a lot of people don’t do it. Before we get into how to effectively and efficiently plan such a move, however, let’s look at why you might choose that path — or at least, why you’re probably interested in the idea. Over the next few days we’ll go through the process of aligning your thought process, getting down to brass tacks, and even what you should be doing when you get to your new location.
WHY MOVE?

Maybe you live in a high-crime neighborhood. Contrary to what society will tell you these days, moving because you don’t want to deal with crime, homeless camps, drug addicts, or other social problems and vices does not make you a racist. If you want a safer environment for your family, then moving might be your best bet. When I first purchased my home in a quiet lake community north of Seattle, it was a great environment for my kid to grow up, with lots of opportunities. A few short years later, within a five block radius, there was a convicted rapist, a chop shop, a meth house, two shootings, and a hotbed of criminal activity on the next corner. That’s not counting the commute, which more than doubled in time due to exploding population. It was time to go, and I don’t regret making that move one bit. It was hard — and it continues to be. For us, it’s worth it, and we would never even consider leaving our little farm.

There is a long list of reasons why moving out of the city is an excellent choice; if you’re already considering it, then you’ve probably already thought of at least some of these:

    Crowds
    Crime
    Traffic/Long commutes
    Nosy neighbors
    Inability to become truly sustainable
    Lack of room for storing preps or other necessities
    Higher prices and cost of living
    Draconian HOAs and suburban “beautification” organizations
    Gun laws
    Overregulation, ordinances, taxes, levies, and all the related idiocy
    Wanting to get your kids out of public schools
    Lack of like-minded attitudes or political/religious ideals

Another thing you might be dealing with in your area is the locale’s natural disaster type. Everything is a trade, and while preparing for natural disaster is somewhat the same regardless of where you live, each area has its own specific challenges that you might not be okay with.

If you live in an urban or even suburban area, you might also find that you’re having a hard time finding people who believe as you do, whether that be your worldview, politics, or religious belief. Like it or not, harassment is a very real thing—and not in the ways the media would have you believe. Being liberty-minded, religious, or even just the wrong color in certain areas can get you in big trouble—and that goes for anyone. Regardless of what race you are, there are places you aren’t welcome.

The reasons to move are many, and the bottom line is that you don’t need to justify those reasons to anyone. What matters is what’s best for you and your family, and if that means pulling stakes, then so be it. If you’re set on moving, let’s talk about how to make it happen.
CHOOSING A LOCATION

Once you’ve outlined your reasons for moving (thereby outlining what you’d need in a new location), you’ll need to figure out where to go. Do you just move to a different neighborhood? Out of the city into a nearby suburb? Do you stay in the same state but move to a rural locale? Or do you go all out and move to a different part of the country?

A lot of this will depend on what your reasons for moving are. If state gun laws are an issue for you, for instance, then you’ll probably need to move out of state. If you just want to be able to see your kids go to a less violent or better school, you may be able to get away with just moving to a different neighborhood. If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at homesteading, you’ll be looking at states where that’s being done successfully.

If you use social media, you can look at groups that are local to the area you’re interested in moving to, to get a feel for the culture. Read their local paper, maybe even pull up the radio frequencies for their local police and fire and listen to the type of calls they’re dealing with on a daily basis. Are they getting a lot of overdoses? Shootings? What area of the town or county are the calls coming from? Are they places you can avoid? Is the crime location-based (such as a specific block or business) or is it widespread all over the county? If you notice over the course of a few weeks of paying attention that a specific street gets a lot of calls, or maybe the cops get called to a certain bar for fights, you can avoid that problem by simply not going to that location.

Look up the laws in your proposed new locale and see what’s considered legal and what’s not. You may very well choose to ignore certain laws in your quest for more freedom, but you should at least be able to make an informed decision about what you’re choosing, and what the potential consequences are so you can mitigate any potential fallout.

Check the county zoning laws and building permit requirements, too. One person I know found the perfect off-grid home—only to find that it was sitting just on the wrong side of the county line, in a location where the county wanted permits for everything and lots of taxes and fees. They chose to pass on that house and went to a county where there are no building permits, and no one cares what they do on their land.

Before choosing a location, you can also pull up all manner of data on everything from average income and education level to demographics, home prices, economic growth, and anything else you’d like to know. It all depends on what kinds of information you seek, and whether you’re willing to do the research. You’re never going to find the perfect place; you can, however, find something that fits the non-negotiables. Check out the local weather too, and keep in mind what will be expected in that area. Are you choosing a place with hard winters? Super-hot summers? Higher altitude? Before you throw out the idea of living in a place with rough winter, for instance, keep in mind that there are positives to everything. Snow runoff, for instance, can help you water your garden months later during a drought if you’ve thought ahead in terms of collection. And after the busyness of spring and summer, you’ll look forward to winter, when you have a freezer full of meat, shelves and root cellar packed with food, enough firewood to keep the house warm, and lots of time to work on indoor projects or study new skills in preparation for spring thaw.

One more thing—be aware of any tourist attractions, natural wonders, or other curiosities in your area. They draw crowds and everything that goes with them. You might have your heart set on living in the mountains of Wyoming—only to later realize that you moved too close to Yellowstone National Park and now have tens of thousands of people clogging your local area for half the year.
TAKING THE NEXT STEP

Once you’ve decided on a location (or at least narrowed it down to 2), it’s time to talk funding. Look at average rents/mortgage payment amounts. You may need to rent a smaller place until you can buy. You may want a bit of land to raise animals. You may choose to live remotely or in a small town near a larger area. If your ultimate goal is to get as off-grid as possible, understand that you’re not going to want to go directly from an urban or suburban environment directly to a place where you have no electricity and have to haul water. You and your family will get frustrated very fast, and you’ll be tempted to move back. Start small; rent a place with a well and power.

Above all, be realistic about how it’ll be. The first year is really, really hard. The second year is a bit easier but it’s still difficult. Don’t be tempted to show up and assume you’ll be able to be fully sustainable within a year. You’ll learn some hard lessons; those lessons, however, will not only make you stronger, but you’ll find that you’re able to adapt better for the next situation. You’ll learn to use what you have instead of running to the store for everything. Depending on where you end up, you may find that certain times of the year require you to prepare, or forego certain activities in favor of making your life easier later. You’ll learn that at least part of each season is spent preparing for the next one, or getting done various tasks that need doing. There’s a routine to it, however, and over time you’ll also find that you are emotionally attached and invested in your homestead. It’s something you’ve worked on and sweated over, and it helps you survive. If you can find your spot in a state or area that is also more liberty-minded than where you are, you’re doubly blessed.

If you’ve read this far and aren’t interested in taking the leap of faith, that’s fine too — there are those who believe that freedom can be found anywhere. Ultimately, it’s your choice, and you don’t have to defend that to anyone either. For those who can smell the fresh air and imagine a different life for yourself and your family, however, stay tuned. Tomorrow we’ll talk about where you’ll find the money to make it happen.

http://www.americanpartisan.org/2018/08/strategic-relocation-are-you-missing-out/
Help Strengthen The ShieldWall
STRATEGIC RELOCATION: PLANNING THE MOVE

Yesterday we looked at the idea of relocating to a different location, and whether that’s something you’ve already been thinking about or are just starting to wake up to, there are a lot of good reasons to do so. Once you’ve decided to take the plunge and move, there’s the (not so) little matter of funding. Moving is expensive, but there are ways to fund your quest if you’re willing to put work in and get creative.
RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS AND SAVINGS

One way to fund your move is by cashing in your 401(k) or other retirement accounts. While many would gasp at such a notion, let’s parse it out a moment. It wasn’t until the last 100 years that the concept of “retiring” was even a thing. People worked until they couldn’t, and in most cases their families took care of them in their twilight years. If they couldn’t farm or engage in manual labor anymore, they did other things, such as helping raise the children or doing smaller tasks within the family structure. The idea that at some point you stop working entirely and live off of Social Security or retirement accounts is a fairly new idea, comparatively speaking.

If your goal with retirement was to buy a nice RV and travel the countryside, move to Florida or Arizona, and generally enjoy not working, then getting rid of your retirement funds is probably a bad idea. If, however, you’re chasing the freedom of sustainability and a greater liberty in your own life, or if you believe that you NEED to get out of the location you’re in, then it’s an option. Liberty is a harder existence, to be sure, full of hard work and effort. You’ll simply need to ask yourself what you’re willing to do in order to make it all happen.

I’m not advising that you willy-nilly cash everything in and go on a spending spree for preparedness. There is, however, an argument for using at least some of the funds to get started in your new place. Keep in mind, however, that the more complete and realistic your plan is, the better this works. If you have enough in your retirement to also pay off any outstanding credit card debt, student loans, or auto loans, pay those off FIRST, before your move. In addition, if you do decide to cash some funds in, you’ll need to figure out any penalties and/or taxes you’ll need to pay for next year and set that aside right off the top.
SAVING UP

If you can’t bring yourself to cash in retirement accounts, then you may need to simply start budgeting for it. Forego your family vacation and put the money toward your planned move. Start making your coffee at home and pass on the daily latte. Even if you’re getting only one $4 coffee per day, and only on weekdays, you’re spending almost $1000 a year. In some rural locations, that’s rent on a piece of property, or several months of groceries. That’s more than a quarter side of beef, which translates to a few months of meat for your family.

Go through your bank accounts, add up all of your subscriptions and auto-debits, and then take a hard look at them. How much of it do you really need? You might be surprised to see that between the cable TV, the streaming services, the Candy Crush, and other “nickel and dime” stuff, you could be paying out $200 a month that could be going toward your move.

Cutting back on certain conveniences you may be used to, such as dining out, pizza delivery, or your various shopping habits will not only save you money and get you to your goal quicker, but they’ll also be good practice for your new location, which may not have these things. When I made the move from the greater Seattle area to rural Montana, I ended up giving up a lot of things I was used to—pizza delivery was a big one. It also changed how I cook and shop for groceries. Instead of deciding what I wanted for dinner and then making a trip to the store for anything I was missing, I was forced to ask, “What can I make with what we have?” As a result, however, we learned to plan our meals, shop local with a plan in mind, and spend more wisely—and that means more money in our pocket and better quality food.
SELLING NONESSENTIALS

Another option is selling the stuff you don’t need. Have a garage sale, put it up on Craigslist, get rid of it. You have more than you need—that’s a guarantee. If you’ve been prepping, obviously keep that stuff, but your TV, video game consoles, extra clothes, your collection of fiction books that don’t teach you anything, and all of the assorted junk you have can all go. Not only will you get money to put towards your move, but you’ll have less stuff TO move later.
BORROWING

If you absolutely cannot get enough money to move, even after all of the things above, you could look into borrowing. It’s not ideal; in fact, it’s a horrible idea in almost all cases. Some families, however, find themselves under a time constraint. Maybe their child is involved with destructive people or activities and they need to get their kids out. Maybe they’ve decided that they want to be moved in time for the next school year. Maybe they want to get in on some lucrative seasonal employment in the new location. Whatever the reason, if you find yourself in need of moving sooner than you can afford, and you have literally no other option, you could borrow or use credit.
FINDING WORK

If you have a specific career, it may or may not translate well to a more rural location. If you have a corporate job that doesn’t really have a rural equivalent, for instance, you might have to either make sure that you’re within commuting distance of someplace that has your particular function—or get creative.

Some skills can find work anywhere. Bartenders, auto mechanics, secretaries and assistants can usually find some kind of work. Even if you’ve never done the work before, if you’re willing to learn and are in good physical shape, sometimes you can get work outside of your regular career path and learn on the job. Keep in mind, however, that you’ll almost certainly be making less than you did in the city. If you’re smart, it won’t be that big a deal; you’ll learn to live on less, and generally the cost of living rural is less than in the city.

Don’t be afraid to look far outside the box for work. Many people who live in rural communities work in the small towns nearest them, or even from home. There are thousands of jobs available to telecommuters of all types, and there’s no rule that says you have to only have one job. Many people raise and sell a specific type of farm animal or use their milk to make homemade soaps for sale. You could also write articles or design websites. People with graphic design experience could open up a virtual firm online and work as a contractor. The sky is truly the limit in terms of what you can do to make money if you’re motivated and have skills to offer. Even if you get a “regular” job in your new location, you can always supplement that income with producing or creating things.

As part of your preparation to move, you might even learn a skill or get certified in something you already know how to do, and start your own business doing it. Here are just a few ideas of things that can supplement your income:

    Gunsmithing
    Writing
    Arts and crafts (crochet, needlepoint, knitting, soapmaking)
    Raising chickens or other livestock
    Painting/building
    Detailing cars
    Seamstress work

Even having a “business” in which you pick up scrap piles or do other odd jobs can be fairly lucrative if you have a strong work ethic and can get some word of mouth built up. Everything takes time—but if you visit a few farmer’s markets or see a couple Etsy shops (crocheted shawls, for example, go for $100-$200 each, easily), you can get some really interesting ideas.

If you’re looking at a move, then you should also be aware that it comes with a lifestyle change, and that’s hard. Everything worth having is. The real work begins when you get to your new location. There’s a lot more to it than just getting into a new place and figuring out where the grocery store is. That’s what we’ll talk about next.

http://www.americanpartisan.org/2018/08/strategic-relocation-planning-the-move/
STRATEGIC RELOCATION: THE NEW LOCATION

This is part 3 of a short series on relocation, such as to the Redoubt or Appalachia, so you might want to check out the first two parts here and here.

At this point, we’re going to assume you picked a spot, and managed to successfully fund your move and show up in the new place. What now? You might be thinking, “What do you mean? It’s like any other move.” Actually, it’s just the beginning. Now is when the real work starts.
NETWORKING

Getting plugged in is important. By yourself, you’re screwed. You’ll need to build relationships and networks. One person we know started joining local groups on social media even before the move, got to know the local society and culture a bit, and contacted a local “neighbors helping neighbors” group. He told them he was planning to move there, and asked what was available for small-time volunteer work. Not only did he get connected to some solid people who were very well-versed in the area and different resources, but they coordinated a neighbor welcome party for his own arrival. When he pulled up to his new house with his trailers and family, folks were there with hot homemade food and a lot of strong backs to help unload and get them settled.

Take the time to get familiar with who the movers and shakers are in your community, too. Here’s just a small sample of things you should do once you get moved. I’ll go into each of them in a bit more detail below.

    Attend a city council meeting. You’ll get a feel for who’s who, and what people care about in your area.
    Find a way to volunteer in the community. This could be anything from donating/staffing the local food bank, to joining a volunteer fire department.
    Spend one early morning a week in the local diner. Talk to the regulars, be polite, and do a lot of listening. Small town diners are excellent places to meet people and get information. They are not, however, good for any kind of clandestine meetings or activities.
    Find out how to get into the bartering community. Rural areas have amazing barter economies, and you can get your hands on some pretty great stuff.

THE CITY COUNCIL

No one’s saying you should get involved in local politics (although there’s a solid argument to be made for doing so, if you have enough people to pull it off in multiple positions). But you should know who’s who, and where they stand on various issues. What are people mad about in your area? Who do they look to, to “do something” about those things, and who’s behind those people? If they have money, where’d they get it? What is the big industry in your area? What’s the underground industry?
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT

Joining your local volunteer FD may be one of the smartest things you can possibly do if you live in a rural area or very small town. Here’s why:

    Free and extensive medical training. Chances are very good that you need more of that, unless you’re already in the profession. If you live remotely, this becomes even more critical.
    Exposure to situations that require quick thinking and decision making, as well as “bad stuff” that can help you train your mind to be able to function in chaos instead of puking behind the nearest bush when you’re needed.
    A(nother) reason to get off your rear end and do PT. Firefighting is hard work.
    You learn to be ready to go at a moment’s notice, and have your ducks in a row when you do. By default, you become more mentally prepared for rapid changes in your environment. After enough 0200 calls, you learn how to wake up quickly, get moving, and be able to get out the door instead of wandering around wondering “where did I put my….?” That skill translates to a lot of different things.
    If you own property with woods, you’ll learn how to manage that property in ways that will help keep your home safe — and your animals, crops, and other things you’ll eventually invest in.
    Access to behind the scenes of disasters and other events that the public doesn’t get. Access and information are key.
    You’ll end up meeting people who are getting the same training (or are already very good at it), and you’ll make associates and allies.
    All of these skills and traits translate to you having value to a group or community. It’s not enough to “just” be a “gun guy,” or “comms guy,” etc. You need more than one skill.

THE DINER

Everywhere in the country — or even in the world — people, at their core, are the same. They get together to eat and chat, and they chat about things that matter to them. Those things should matter to you, too, if you want an understanding of the community you live in (and you do, believe me). Spending some time in the local eatery, whether it be in the early morning when the older farmers are complaining about market prices and weather, or at lunch when the local business people are chatting, you’ll learn all kinds of information. You’ll notice local cultural norms, social cues and even normal dress. You can think this stuff is stupid, but try walking into a tiny diner in Nowhere, Montana dressed like a hipster from Seattle and see how well you’re received. A lot of rural places aren’t interested in newcomers, and don’t trust them. You have a hurdle to get over, and the sooner you can blend in like a native and get tied in for info, the faster that’ll go.
BARTERING

If you’re smart, you’ll spend time on places like Craigslist, noticing what kinds of things are available to barter. Check out local flea markets, small town newspapers, and go back to the diner. There is always someone who wants something you have — and has something you need. As you get to know people, you’ll learn what things people are looking for. If you have chickens, for instance, you can trade your eggs for something else. In the spring, you can run a batch of eggs through a fairly cheap incubator and trade chicks for stuff. Even your junk and animal manure is desirable to someone. Keep your eyes and ears open and you’ll start building contacts…and networks of people who have things to trade. Also be creative about what YOU have to trade; it’s not always a tangible object. A weekend spent helping a neighbor with his car repair or house painting can net huge benefits down the road.

Other things you should consider include getting tied in with local ham groups, understanding law enforcement presence/mindset/capability, and talking to your neighbors to learn what the general attitude is in your immediate area is.
GETTING SETTLED

Once you’re moved in and a bit settled, maybe once you know a few folks, you might want to get involved with raising some animals or doing a bit of farming. Don’t think that you can only start such a venture if you have tons of money or your family’s been doing it forever. The truth is, you CAN go from business-attire-wearing corporate jungle to having a fully functional homestead. It takes a bit of time, a LOT of hard work, and some serious planning and scaling, but it can be done. Start small, with 5 chickens and a rooster. Read books. Watch videos online. There is very little about homesteading that cannot be learned about online—and then you go practice. Talk to local folks who are successfully doing what you want to do. How’d they do it?

If you truly want to get out of where you are, don’t be afraid to start planning it. Be realistic, but be excited. Come outside of your comfort zone. I can tell you from experience—once you’re in your new place, you’ll have setbacks. You’ll sometimes question your sanity. You’ll reach for the phone to call for something you want, only to remember that hay and propane are the only things getting delivered out where you live.

This isn’t meant to be the ultimate guide to relocation. It’s simply meant to get your head thinking of some of the special considerations to moving, especially if your reasons for doing so are to find more freedom. While I can certainly vouch for the fact that you CAN pull off a move like this, and you CAN find more freedom in doing so, you might not want to. That’s okay too, if that’s your call. If you do stay, understand the ramifications and potential consequences of doing so.

Taking the leap of faith to move—especially if you go from suburbia or urban settings to a rural one—isn’t for the weak. It’s hard work. There’s a very good chance, however, that when you look out over your property, see your animals and kids healthy and happy, and know what it’s truly like to do for yourself, with a solid network of people you can count on no matter what, you’ll never want anything different.