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Created a new page to fill the void left when Wikipedia deleted their biography page on Rawles--because the wiki editors deemed Rawles "non-notable."
'''James Wesley Rawles''' (born 1960) is a [[non-fiction]] author,
[[survivalist]]-fiction author, [[economist]], [[blogger]], and [[Retreat (survivalism)|survival retreat]] consultant. 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 how to survive major social and economic changes or catastrophes that could go on for years or decades, which is something he predicts will happen.<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/13/MNIL1008L2.DTL</ref> Rawles is a Christian who regards himself as a conservative, [[Constitutionalism|constitutionalist]] [[Libertarianism|libertarian]].<ref name="blogbio">[http://www.survivalblog.com/biographies.html SurvivalBlog Staff Biographies]</ref>
==Biography==
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.<ref>[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.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 West of the Rockies". <ref>[http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/AUVJYOISOM0TT]</ref>
He once owned a British [[Ferret armoured car|"Ferret" Mk IV Scout Car]]. <ref>[http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/reader_rides/1267481.html 24th Annual Military Vehicle Preservation Association Convention] by Scott R. Gourley, Popular Mechanics, November 1999</ref>
He is now a freelance writer, blogger and [[Retreat (survivalism)|retreat]] consultant. His children are [[home school]]ed.<ref name="blogbio"/>
==Philosophical and political views==
Rawles is an outspoken proponent of family preparedness, especially regarding food storage and his advocacy of relocating to lightly populated rural "retreat" areas.
Rawles was one of the many individuals warning about possible disasters related to the [[Year 2000 problem]] (Y2K).<ref>[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SB&p_theme=sb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1& p_text_direct-0=0EB0477D786595EE&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM THURSDAY OFFERS A MINI-Y2K SITUATION, EXPERTS SAY] The Sacramento Bee, September 8, 1999</ref><ref>[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</ref><ref>"Do you live in fear of the millennium?", South China Morning Post, April 6, 1999</ref>
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>
==Economic views==
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 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>
As of January, 2008, Rawles stills sees silver and gold in "primary bull markets."<ref>[http://www.survivalblog.com/2008/01/the_precious_metals_bull_charg.html]</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>
==Blog presence==
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 71,000 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 preparing for the multitude of possible threaths toward society. He has warned against socio-economic collapse, Avian Flu, the Y2K problem and terrorism attacks. 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 [[food storage|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 (survivalism)|survival retreats]]. Rawles believes (as of his 2005-2008 writings) that the United States is headed for a [[hyperinflation]]ary [[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>
==Published works==
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.<ref>[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 method to teach survival techniques in an interesting manner.<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. The novel reflects a conservative interpretation of [[Christianity]] combined with a stereotypical approach to "the Good" and "the Bad" (Good Christians versus Biker-looter gangs). 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.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>
His second book, ''Rawles on Retreats and Relocation'', was [[non-fiction]]. It describes how to geographically select a [[Retreat (survivalism)|survival retreat]] and stock it with key logistics.
His third book, ''SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog, Volume 1'', was [[non-fiction]]. It is a compendium of posts and letters from the first six months of SurvivalBlog.
He also authored an action-adventure [[screenplay]], loosely based on his novel ''Patriots''.
Rawles also co-authored the ''Rawles Gets You Ready'' preparedness course, released in August, 2006.
He is also the author of numerous Internet FAQs, primarily on firearms topics.
===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'' from [[CafePress]], No ISBN (January 2007)
*''SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog, Volume 1'' from [[CafePress]], No ISBN (February 2007)
===Screenplays===
* ''Pulling Through'' (A feature-length action-adventure "spec" [[screenplay]]) WGAw ([[WGA script registration service]]) #714352 (April, 2007) <ref>[http://www.rawles.to/Screenplay.html "Pulling Through" Screenplay]</ref>
=== Courseware===
*''Rawles Gets You Ready'' from Arbogast Publishing, No ISBN (August 2006)
===Articles===
Some Internet FAQs and Reference Articles by Rawles.<ref>[http://www.survivalblog.com/faqs.html SurvivalBlog.com FAQ list]</ref>
*[http://www.rawles.to/AR-15_M16_Magazine_FAQ.html ''AR-15 Magazine FAQ''] <ref>[http://www.fulton-armory.com/ARMags.htm The Lowdown on AR-15/M16 Magazines] by James Wesley Rawles, Fulton Armory</ref>
*[http://www.rawles.to/http://www.rawles.to/M1_Carbine_Mag_FAQ.html ''M1 Carbine Magazine FAQ''] <ref>[http://www.fulton-armory.com/Carbinemags.htm The Lowdown on M1 Carbine Magazines] by James Wesley Rawles, Fulton Armory, February 1998</ref>
*[http://www.rawles.to/M1911_Mag_FAQ.html ''M1911 Magazine FAQ'']
*[http://www.rawles.to/M14%20Magazine_FAQ.html ''M14/M1A Magazine FAQ'']
*[http://www.rawles.to/FAL_FAQ.html ''The FN/FAL & L1A1 FAQ'']
*[http://www.rawles.to/Mauser_FAQ.html ''The Mauser Bolt Rifle FAQ'']
*[http://www.rawles.to/Pre-1899_FAQ.html ''The Pre-1899 Antique Guns FAQ'']
*[http://www.rawles.to/Euro_Box_FAQ.html ''European Ammo Box Translations''] (editor)
*[http://www.survivalblog.com/noncorrosive.html ''Noncorrosive Priming Information for U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition''](editor)
*[http://www.survivalblog.com/asianflu.html ''Protecting Your Family From an Influenza Pandemic'']
*[http://www.survivalblog.com/retreatareas.html ''Recommended Retreat Areas'']
*[http://www.survivalblog.com/profiles.html ''Retreat Owner Profiles'']
*[http://www.survivalblog.com/survivalguns.html ''Survival Gun Selection'']
*[http://www.survivalblog.com/derivatives.html ''Derivatives'']
*[http://www.survivalblog.com/nais.html ''The National Animal Identification System (NAIS)'']
*[http://www.survivalblog.com/peakoil.html ''Peak Oil: Implications for Preparedness and Self-Sufficiency'']
Other articles by Rawles:
*[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
==See also==
*[[Survivalism]]
*[[Retreat (survivalism)]]
*[[Survival kit]]
*[[Survival skills]]
==References==
{{reflist}}