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survivalist-fiction author, [[economist]], blogger, and [[Retreat|survival retreat]] consultant. He has appeared many times on the [[Alex Jones]] show InfoWars. He has been called an expert<ref>[http://derekclontz.wordpress.com/2007/09/10/second-great-depression-just-weeks-away-warns-expert/ Second Great Depression just weeks away, warns expert] by Derek Clontz</ref> on survival and preparedness topics.<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/13/MNIL1008L2.DTL]</ref> Rawles is a [[Christian]] who is a [[conservative]], [constitutionalist [[Libertarianism|libertarian]].<ref name="blogbio">[http://www.survivalblog.com/biographies.html SurvivalBlog Staff Biographies]</ref>

Rawles was born in Livermore, California in 1960 and received a Bachelor of Arts|BA degree from San Jose State University. He was a [[United States Army]] Military Intelligence officer, serving from 1984 to 1993.<refname="rawles.to">[http://www.rawles.to/miobc/index.html]</ref> He resigned his commission as an army Captain, immediately after [[Bill Clinton]] was sworn in as President of the United States.<ref>[http://www.name="rawles.to"/miobc/index.html]</ref> Rawles worked as an Associate Editor with ''Defense Electronics'' magazine in the late 1980s,<ref>[http://www.fas.org/spp/military/docops/operate/ds/signals.htm]</ref>, and was the managing editor of ''The C3I Handbook'' and ''The International Countermeasures Handbook''.<ref>[http://www.mpr.co.uk/scripts/sweb.dll/li_archive_item?method=GET&object=DELEC_1988_20_12_NOV]</ref> He worked as a technical writer through most of the 1990s with a variety of California and Nevada companies including DAZIX, Grass Valley Group, Oracle Corporation,<ref>[http://download-uk.oracle.com/docs/cd/A91202_01/901_doc/appdev.901/a89865/title.htm]</ref>, and Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC). In 2005 he began full-time blogging. <ref>[http://www.cafepress.com/clearwaterpress.112283261]</ref> Sometime after 2001 he relocated to a remote ranch at an undisclosed location "Somewhere in The American Redoubt.”

He is now a freelance writer, blogger and [[Retreat|retreat]] consultant. His children are home schooled.<ref name="blogbio"/>

Rawles credits [[Mel Tappan]] as the primary influence in the development of his survivalist philosophy as well as the impetus for launching SurvivalBlog.com.<ref>[http://www.survivalblog.com/kudos.html SurvivalBlog.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. Rawles has been called "The intellectual heir of Mel Tappan", and has been described as "...the survivalist voice of reason, following in the footsteps of Mel Tappan." <ref>http://www.survivalblog.com/2008/03/four_letters_re_use_of_force_i.html</ref>

Rawles was quoted by the ''New York Times'' in April of 2008 that "interest in the survivalist movement 'is experiencing its largest growth since the late 1970s'”. He also stated that his blog's conservative core readership has been supplemented with "an increasing number of stridently green and left-of-center readers."<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/fashion/06survival.html</ref>

Never mentioned in the Wikipedia article was the fact that there are charges pending against at least seven other members of their “crime fighting” organization: Marcus Hook Mayor [[James Schiliro|James ‘Jay’ Schiliro]] - the “furnishing [[alcohol]] to a minor” charge was just dropped on a technicality, but he still faces [[misdemeanor]] charges of official oppression, recklessly endangering another person, unlawful restraint and false imprisonment, in a bizarre incident where he tried to force a young man to have [[homosexual]] relations, at gunpoint.)",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://survivalblog.com/embarrassing_truths_an_example_of_why_you_shouldnt_trust_wikipedia/|title=Embarrassing Truths: An Example of Why You Shouldn’t Trust Wikipedia|date=September 16, 2013|accessdate=April 10, 2016}}</ref>, <ref name=schiliroscandal>{{cite web|last=Bender|first=William|title=Marcus Hook Mayor arrested, seeking re-election|url=http://articles.philly.com/2013-03-22/news/37940199_1_schiliro-whelan-report-states|publisher=Philly.com}}</ref>

In a [[Usenet]] post in February of 2001, Rawles fairly accurately called the bottom of the two-decade long bear market in the price of silver that had brought silver down from a high of $50 per ounce, to under $5 per ounce.<ref>http://groups.google.com/group/misc.survivalism/browse_thread/thread/91d596201f5f4099/00bfb0230b744507?hl=en&lnk=st&q=Rawles%2BCall%2BBottom%2Bsilver#00bfb0230b744507</ref> In the post, Rawles mentioned a potential low of $4.25 per ounce. It actually bottomed just a few months later (intraday) at $4.03 per ounce.<ref>[http://www.survivalblog.com/2008/01/notes_from_jwr_98.html SurvivalBlog.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Rawles predicts a deep recession or possibly a depression in the near future,<ref>[http://www.survivalblog.com/2008/03/news_from_wall_street_and_capi.html]</ref>, triggered by a housing market collapse and an "implosion" of global credit and the derivatives market.<ref>[http://www.survivalblog.com/derivatives.html SurvivalBlog.com - Derivatives<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Rawles is the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, a very widely-read and cited <ref>[http://charts.technorati.com/blogs/www.survivalblog.com?reactionsdaily]</ref> [[blog]] on survival and preparedness topics. According to its statistics page, it has more than 220,000 unique visitors per week.<ref>[http://www.survivalblog.com/ SurvivalBlog home page]</ref> <ref>[http://www.survivalblog.com/cgi-bin/awstats.pl]</ref> The main focus of his blog is family preparedness for disasters. In his blog writings, Rawles recommends that investors put at least 25% of their portfolios into [[gold]], [[silver]], and [[barter]] goods.<ref>[http://www.survivalblog.com/2007/12/coping_with_inflationsome_stra.html]</ref> He also advises his blog readers to store four year's supply of food<ref>[http://www.survivalblog.com/2008/01/a_honeybee_ccd_disaster_soonbe.html SurvivalBlog.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> in preparation for future hard times, and "double up" with other families<ref>[http://www.shtfblog.com/wealth-war-and-wisdom-by-barton-biggs-a-book-review/]</ref> to establish [[Retreat|survival retreats]]. Rawles believes (as of his 2005-2008 writings) that the United States is headed for a hyperinflationary economic depression.<ref>[http://www.peakoilstore.com/forum/index.php/topic,13888.0.html]</ref> Rawles favors the abolition of the [[fractional-reserve banking system]], and a return to the [[gold standard]].<ref>[http://www.survivalblog.com/2008/02/are_simultaneous_inflation_and.html]</ref> Rawles is also a proponent of [[Home schooling]].<ref>[http://www.survivalblog.com/home_schooling/]</ref>

{{cquote|there's a tremendously large and growing segment of my readership that are left of center, Birkenstock-wearing greenies. There's as much crossover with the folks that are interested in local sustainable agriculture and green building techniques as there is with the tea party movement.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/08/nation/la-na-american-redoubt-20120209/2|title=The American Redoubt, where survivalists plan to survive|date=February 088, 2012|first=Kim|last=Murphy|work=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=March 25, 2016}}</ref>}}

His first book, ''Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse'', a novel, was first released in 1998. It was first released as Internet shareware in the early 1990s, and later published in interim form as ''TEOTWAWKI: The End of The World as We Know It'', in the late 1990s.<refname="weyrich.com">[http://www.weyrich.com/book_reviews/teotwawki.html]</ref> The story is set in the near future and describes a period of hyperinflation and a socio-economic collapse. While it is a fictional story, it is essentially a survival manual dressed as fiction.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=14119 WND Commentary Five novels of freedom] by Claire Wolfe, WorldNetDaily, September 30, 1999</ref> It was re-released in December, 2006 in expanded form. One early reviewer of the novel commented: "While it is true that the protagonists appear to be part of the religious right, it is clearly incorrect to stereotype them as intolerant racists or anti-government zealots.".<ref>[http://www.name="weyrich.com"/book_reviews/teotwawki.html]</ref>. The publisher's synopsis describes the novel as "distinctly pro-Christian, pro-preparedness, pro-gun ownership, and anti-racist." <ref>[http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-1425734073-0]</ref>

* ''[[How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It]] - Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times''', [[New York City|New York]]: [[Plume]]/[[Penguin Books]], 2009. Released September 30, 2009, 336 pages, ISBN-10: 0452295831, ISBN-13: 978-0452295834,

* ''[[Tools for Survival]]: What You Need to [[Survive]] When You’re on Your Own''. [[New York City|New York]]: [[Plume]]/[[Penguin Books]], 2015. Released December 30, 2014, 368 pages, ISBN-10: 0452298121, ISBN-13: 978-0452298125. A detailed book on [[tool]]s for preparedness.

===Articles===

* A recurring theme in western journalism, academia, and collectivist politics is the quaint notion that firearms are intrinsically evil. That is, that they have a will of their own, that somehow inspires their owners to murder and mayhem. I liken this nonsensical belief to voodoo. <refname="survivalblog.com">http://www.survivalblog.com/2013/05/voodoo-in-the-21st-century-evil-guns-and-other-absurd-notions.html</ref><refname="Tools For Survival 2014, p. 149">Tools For Survival, Plume (Division of Penguin Books), New York, 2014, p. 149.</ref>

* Cartridge firearms are compact vehicles for change that have shaped modern history. The righteousness of their use is entirely up to their users, since like any other tool they can be used both for good or for ill. A firearm is just a tool with no volition. A rifle is no different than a claw hammer. To wit: A hammer can be used to build a house, or it can be used to bash in someone’s skull—the choice of uses is entirely up to the owner. A bulldozer can be used to build roads, or to destroy houses. A rifle can be used to drill holes in paper targets, or to dispatch a marauding bear, or to murder your fellow man. Again, the choice of uses is entirely up to the user.<ref>http://www.name="survivalblog.com"/2013/05/voodoo-in-the-21st-century-evil-guns-and-other-absurd-notions.html</ref><ref>name="Tools For Survival, Plume (Division of Penguin Books), New York, 2014, p. 149.<"/ref>

* If a firearm is used by a criminal or psychopath with evil intentions, then it is a tool for evil. But if it is used for good (to defend life and property), then it is a tool for good. A firearm by itself has no sentience, no volition, no moral force, and no politics. The proper term for this is an adiaphorous object--something object—something that is neither good nor evil. A firearm is simply a cleverly-designed construction of metal, wood, and plastic in the form of a precision tool.<ref>http://www.name="survivalblog.com"/2013/05/voodoo-in-the-21st-century-evil-guns-and-other-absurd-notions.html</ref><refname="Tools For Survival 2014, p. 150">Tools For Survival, Plume (Division of Penguin Books), New York, 2014, p. 150.</ref>

* Here it is, in quintessence: You are either a man with a gun, or you are mere human cattle for the slaughter. The choice is yours. I prefer to be armed and vigilant rather than being at the mercy of some would-be slave master. There is no notch in my ear.<ref>http://www.name="survivalblog.com"/2013/05/voodoo-in-the-21st-century-evil-guns-and-other-absurd-notions.html</ref><ref>name="Tools For Survival, Plume (Division of Penguin Books), New York, 2014, p. 150.<"/ref>

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