Claire,

I greatly enjoyed your article.

I’ve promoted it on my blog.

Keep up the good work.

Henry Cate III

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Hello Ms. Wolfe,.

I just wanted to contact you to say I really enjoyed your article. We have a 2 year old and planning a 2nd this fall. We have always considered homeschooling.

A peculiar phenomenon has happened as we our daughter grows older…friends and family seem more apt to give their unsolicited opinion on homeschooling which is usually negative.  Secondly, the more research we do on homeschooling the more we are impressed and excited to continue their learning with us.

Rob Burke

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Good job [with the article],

I’ve read about and have ‘adopted’ a strategy in regards to a “Level 4′ type scenario.

Dig In.

Our food/gas/electricity/medicines deliveries are so just-in-time these days, that any lengthy scenario (over a month or two) massive amounts of the general population will die. An on-your-own scenario of six months encompassing the winter months may trim the population by 50%. If this ever happens it will be Mad Max time.

Dig In and be invisible.

After the unprepared population is weeded out, sadly, that may be the reason that calm and reason reappear.
I do disagree with your (and others’) philosophy of massive military and police control in a very bad scenario.

Here is why:

They are us.

In China and other countries we have seen the military and police seem to have a ball beating down their own people. I do not believe that will happen here. I feel this mainly because in other countries the military and police enjoy a certain better standard of living than a majority of the population. In the USA our cops and military are just like you and I. In fact, a great many will probably be in the Dig In mode protecting their own families.

On the other side, I live smack in the middle of Iowa; lol, yep, I can only imagine the coastal populations flocking here……

Dave

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Claire,

Loved your article about homeschooling. My son and daughter were homeschooled, and are now continuing the tradition with eight grandchildren. The grandchildren are so far beyond the “normal” level of education that many people feel they must make excuses “well, your children are obviously geniuses.”

One scene from Alexis de Toqueville’s Democracy in America stood out in my mind: a high school class engaged in debate in the town square, in classical Latin and Greek.

If the event was held in the public square, does this not suggest that the public could appreciate classical Latin and Greek? This was not the geeks speaking to the geeks; this was a set of bright students speaking to the public of which they were a part. Elsewhere, Alexis de Toqueville remarked on how widespread was the understanding of the Constitution.

We greatly underestimate the desire and capacity among children for learning. I taught my 6 year old grandson how to add a series of consecutive integers, starting with an explanation of that old formula n(n+1)/2, which was taught in high school.

I wanted to know how well he could generalize, so I asked the sum of the even numbers from 2 to 50. He had the answer while I was still putting my mind in gear. In the future, I shall have to pre-compute answers to my little test questions, lol.

Thank you for your articles, which I always enjoy.

Regards,

Terry McIntyre

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Dear Ms. Wolfe,

I read your article with great enjoyment and approval. I agree with everything you said. I have two personal observations.

One is that far from being a failure, the public indoctrination system (why grace the system with the word “schools”, which has a very positive connotation) is a brilliant success. The object never was to teach literacy, but to inculcate the qualities of an obedient and docile underclass, unable to think critically, intellectually dead, subservient, and worshipful of authority.

There is a brilliant young 6th grade student who lives across the street. I talk to her occasionally, and a few days ago we discussed what the children were learning in school. It happened to be the “Civil” War (I explained what a civil war is and disabused her of the notion that the War for Southern Independence was fought to wrest control of the central government), how Lincoln “freed the slaves” (again, another discussion),etc. Our conversation illustrates that what the children learn in the indoctrination camps is propanganda, pure and simple. That and worship of the State (the Pledge of Allegiance, the deification practiced by the Lincoln Cult, etc.) and the habit of subservience and obedience (“Teacher, can I go to the bathroom?”).

My second point is that once the indoctrination is complete, it takes a massive effort to reverse it. After all, the basic tool to do so, the power of critical thinking, has been suppressed almost to the point of disappearance.

My own view is, that is largely responsible for the fact that in the midst of the greatest economic catastrophe in modern times, mos
people remain cheerfully distracted by “American Idol”, the latest football team standings, and the latest Hollywood celebrity scandal, none of which personally impact most of us in the least extent.

So keep up your good work. A quality education is the path to liberation.

John Sampson

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Dear Claire:

I am an information technology consultant who has moved out of America to the Czech Republic.   Six months ago, I met a Russian sociologist, Tatyana Kosyaeva, who spent three years in St Louis on post-doctoral research on American education.

She confirms John Taylor Gatto’s evaluation of America’s educational system.  She confirmed yours.  She never heard of either of you; she drew the conclusions independently.

Regards,

Robert B. Slobins

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Hi Claire.

Thanks for your article titled Ten Real Inspirations.  I wasn’t aware that Vince Miller had passed away last year.  I’m sorry to hear it.

Years ago I helped set up the first BBS system for Vince in his ISIL bookstore in San Francisco.  As I recall, we used an old Wildcat BBS software program in order to keep the system as simple as possible.

In exchange for my help, Vince offered me $100.00 worth of books from his store.  One of the books I selected was a collection of works by Lysander Spooner.  That book was my first real introduction to Spooner and what were, to me, several “new” concepts that conflicted with public school teaching.  Spooner has been a major influence in my thinking since that time.

Thanks again.

Simon Jester

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Claire,

I read your article. My strategy is somewhat different. I do use my credit card; the only one I’ve ever had since 1990, to buy virtually everything. Then I pay it off each month. They never make interest money on me so I couldn’t even tell you what the rate is. It never applies to me. Plus I accumulate cash back dollars which gets me around $100 back per year. More importantly it gives me a statement record to keep.

But the biggest thing I do is to carry miscellaneous spending accounts. I started doing this in 1996 as a 28 year old man who wasn’t making a lot and couldn’t seem to know what I could save as every month the car would break down, I needed a new pair of slacks, Christmas around the corner, ect. So I estimated everything over and above weekly spending money that I may spend each month and over a year. From birthdays to Mother’s day to x-mas, light bulbs, oil changes, vacation trips, quarters for the laundry mat, yearly car registration fees, fishing license fees and on and on. I’d get a yearly total and divide by twelve. Then each month that amount goes into this account. As I use it I take it out. When each credit card bill comes I deduct the car gas, food and other charges that are already budgeted. Then I’d total the amount considered miscellaneous spending and I’d then “pay myself back” from this account.

Through the years of course inflation has slowly raised the cost of everything so the monthly transfer to this account has gone up since 1996. The account itself is a plain old local bank statement savings account. I could care less about what interest I’m earning since that’s pocket change and there is never more than $2,000 in the account at any one time. I also lump my car insurance into this account since that is something which a charge with interest would accumulate monthly if I didn’t pay for it all at once out of this account.

Recently I became a first time home buyer and opened up a second miscellaneous account for the expenses associated with this home. I judged the life expectancy of all my appliances, estimated maintenance and repair costs for them, and replacement values, threw in monthly and yearly ordinary structure maintenance items and came up with a monthly figure of $145. To this I add my home insurance like I do for my car in the other account. Unlike the other account however this one will tend to accumulate cash over the long term as I may not need to replace my furnace for 10 years. Though it will hold cash I’m not too concerned about it having the same low interest rate of my other account. This account will act as a back up to my emergency cash fund which holds 4 months of salary instead of the normally recommended 6.

So what I have budgeted for REAL savings every month becomes just that. It get’s stashed away for good barring an extreme unforeseen emergency. No cashing in mutual funds to pay for car repairs. My Roth IRA remains untouched.

That’s my system but as you can see it does take a little time and planning. The good thing though is it allows you to plan your real savings on a yearly basis and be very accurate with it. I don’t think there has been one year when I didn’t save for the long term what I planned to save. It also forces you to budget everything and to have a realistic idea of the true cost of living expenses; something many home buyers of the last few years didn’t do and then got caught in a trap.

William Turner

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I wandered to your site somehow, and find it absolutely amazing.

I have two cast iron fry pans, which I love. I plan to try the 200 degree seasoning method. I do clean them with salt and a nylon scrubbie and they are wonderful!

That was a pleasant article, but the one about civil unrest I found quite disturbing, mostly because it put into words things I have been thinking about for some time.  I also have read something about how the United States is currently divided into five districts with special military units and directives for each area, should the citizenry get out of line.  Pretty frightening stuff.  We personally are sure not prepared to deal with something like this, but have started to work toward putting in a wood stove, and stocking up on emergency supplies.

Again, thanks for addressing issues that most people don’t want to think about—but should.

I will visit your site often.

Brenda Halverson

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Claire Wolfe,

Below is an excerpt from your article on the Backwoods web page. [Kick the credit card habit and Learn to stash cash]

Worst of all we now face the threat of having our savings stolen by police officers, who can, without any other evidence, call all our cash “evidence of drug dealing” and take it from us without due process. This is a far worse crime than freelance thefts by kids or drug-abusing nephews, but it’s also a modern American reality.

As a police officer, I find your comment way off base. Can you quote any cases where money was taken off a self-reliant person who wasn’t involved in the drug trade? What is your experience in this matter? It disappoints me when I read or hear people write stuff like the above. I am not here to say all police are good. We have our bad apples like every other job, profession, race, religion, etc. For the most part, police officers are honest, hard working and have taken an oath to enforce the law. It is one of the few professions that you can take a life, save a life or give your life.

Also the money is used as evidence and usually has tested positive for controlled substances residue by wipe or certified drug dog. It the person is found not guilty and the money has no residue, the money will be returned to the defendant. If there is residue it is turned over to the county and used for a variety of things. None if the money is given to the officer. It may be used to buy equipment for the department.

I hope in the future you will refrain from the above excerpt. If you spend some time researching you will find out it is not a “modern reality”. I look forward to hearing about your experiences of innocent people have their hard earned money taken by the rogue police officers.

Franklin G. Harvey
CPT, IN
Chief of Operations

Good heavens, Cpt. Harvey. Your message is so filled with misinformation and misconceptions, I scarcely know where to begin.

First, do you really believe that all money that has “tested positive for controlled substances residue by wipe or certified drug dog” should be confiscated by the police? Then I suggest that you go to the nearest police station ASAP and turn your money in.

Why? Because money circulates rapidly from person to person, and various studies over the years have shown that as much as 82 percent of ALL U.S. currency is thus “tainted.”

Percentages for these chemical findings vary; the 82 percent figure was from the heyday of cocaine. But although the percentage of “contaminated” money changes, one fact remains absolute: having money with drug residue on it is NOT evidence that the possessor of the money has committed any crime.

As for it having been tested by a “certified drug dog”? Are you aware that a) drug dogs are wrong nearly 50 percent of the time and b) police have been known to carry drugs in their pockets to rub the scent on car trunks and other surfaces to provoke drug dogs to react? “Testing by a certified drug dog” is virtually meaningless.

And a dog-sniff is certainly not legal proof of guilt.

Second, you state that “It (sic) the person is found not guilty and the money has no residue, the money will be returned to the defendant.” Where on earth did you ever get that idea? It couldn’t be more false — and false on several counts.

You call victims of asset forfeiture “defendants.” Are you truly unaware that in the vast majority of cases, people whose money is taken under asset forfeiture statutes are never even charged with a crime?

And you say the money is given back? Nonsense! Money confiscated under asset forfeiture statutes is rarely ever returned unless the victim sues to get it back. And most people can’t even afford to attempt that. The court costs often run higher than the value of the seized asset.

Worse, when a person tries to get his possessions back, he discovers himself to be in an Alice-in-Wonderland world in which the property — yes, the money, or the car, or the house, or the jewelry — is considered guilty until proven innocent. How do you prove that your possessions are innocent of a crime?

Are some of the targets of asset forfeiture drug dealers? Maybe. But if so, why are police and prosecutors rarely ever willing to actually prove that in court?

In a free society, the burden of proof is on the police and courts, not on some hapless sap who’s just had his life savings taken from him.

You further state: “If there is residue it is turned over to the county and used for a variety of things. None if the money is given to the officer. It may be used to buy equipment for the department.”

Well, in a few cases, a portion of forfeited money IS given to individual officers. (The town of Helper, Utah, for instance, passed such a law a few years ago.) But yes, usually some portion of the forfeited money does go to the police department that seized it. And don’t you perceive a conflict of interest in that? Here you have officers trying to increase their own department budgets rather than trying to protect the public. And what are the results?

In the years since the drug war (the main excuse for asset forfeiture) began, the rate of closure for serious, violent crimes has plummeted. For instance, in 1950, some 90 percent of all murders were solved in the U.S. Today, it’s more like 50 percent. Really. Why go after violent criminals when you can have an easier job, win political points from your superiors, and get perks for your department by taking money off people who can’t fight back?

And I notice that you scarcely even mention the concept of due process, except in your shockingly erroneous assertion that everybody whose assets are seized gets a criminal trial. The very idea that the state should have to prove its case through rigorous standards set out in the Bill of Rights seems to escape you.

Wow. It appears you are both ill-informed and extremely scary for someone tasked with enforcing the law.

And as to those innocent victims you claim don’t exist? I suggest you Google “asset forfeiture victims” or visit the Forfeiture Endangers American Rights Foundation website and click on “Victim’s Stories.”    Or look up Donald Scott, Tina Bennis, Luther and Meredith Ricks, or Willie Jones — just to name a few out of thousands.

And as to your request that I “refrain from the above excerpt” and “spend some time researching” … I’ve researched asset forfeiture over the years and I’ll shout to the rooftops about the horrors it has caused and continues to cause. It has damaged countless people and corrupted both policing and the very concept of law and justice from sea to polluted sea.

Now I suggest you do some research and get your facts straight.

Claire

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Claire

I read with interest your article. It is a shame that no one considers an overseas venue in which to live.

I have lived and worked in many different countries. Certain Latin American countries (eg Chile, etc) and Asian countries (eg Thailand,Philippines, etc) are great places to live. Despite the government power plays that take place these regimes generally leave the general population alone. The power plays, laws and regulations are battles among the ruling elites and attempts to meet international standards which qualify for international private or government loans or grants. For the most part the middle and lower classes are left alone to function in an informal economy (also called a black market) in which the government seldom intrudes.

Trading in this informal economy is usually by barter or cash. Just about anything can be purchased or sold except for large capital projects requiring formal loans (since living in a cash society leaves little if any footprints of credit history for lenders to review). Thus homes are built as the cash becomes available. Other than that just about anything goes – your reputation in the community, honoring of your promise and hand shake are the most important requirements for surviving in this society.

Jacob Steelman
Australia

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Claire

I loved your article…it really opened my eyes to the obvious…but you stated it so well.

I intend to utilize much or your advice for my own search…..although I may never leave where I am, at least I am more aware of my own power.

Thanks.

Alan Kovin

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Claire,

Just an observation, not a criticism.

Vermont for instance is beautiful.   It was once a friendly conservative place. I have visited many times and always enjoyed being there.

But I am from South Carolina.   Although it is not free, is highly regulated and is as politically correct as anywhere else; it is also warm, hot, humid, sultry, leafy for ten months in most areas, full of strange reptiles and bugs, fire ant ridden, mountainous and flat, stormy (tornadoes and hurricanes), full of many acccents (some slow, some unintelligible to outsiders), interupted by ominous dark colored rivers and creeks, thick with diverse dangerous wildlife, crawling with spiders, swampy, floored with red sticky clay or sand that will not hold moisture, hung with ivy, vines, poison plants and grey Spanish moss, etc. I Love it here and there are just a few less people who judge me for my way of life.

Why would I want to live in Vermont or someplace else in a free state project where it is mostly cool to cold and boasts less biodiversity (some places have bigger beasts but we have the most and strangest species).  I’ll just stay here and visit the rest of the world on occasion.  I have satellite and can view and hear the world and can read almost any English language (And French) book or journal ever published thanks to Amazon and Google.

And I will not contest anyone’s choice to live elsewhere, Y’all.

Cordially and most respectfully,

T. Simmons
Columbia, SC

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Claire,

We moved to Guatemala and have found everything on your list.  It’s not without it’s headaches, but the top 10 is here, plus gorgeous year-round weather on top of it!

Mark Francis

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Hello Claire.

I was just reading your information on civil unrest.

I live in Indiana and tonight over the airwaves I heard the following:

“This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System, this is only a test, if this had been an actual emergency such as a tornado, flash flood or
civil unrest…”

I could not take in anymore because my heart stopped beating for a moment. I have NEVER heard them say Civil Unrest before.

Just thought you might want to know about it and see if it comes up on the airwaves in your area.

Thanks for your posts! I have to get some sleep but I will read more tomorrow.

Mimi Burns

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Claire,

I just re-read your article Preparing for civil unrest and I wanted to thank you for your thoughtful and well written piece.

I did have a follow up question – can you please share the advice on the back of the card that you are carrying from your lawyer?

In the meantime, applying your observations to the situation in Iran might not be a bad idea- It seems they went from 1 to 5 in a matter of minutes after the election.

I can also foresee your scenarios taking place in the US of A without too much imagination.

Again, thank you. Please keep up the great work!

Steve Szymke

Steve,

The lawyer’s advice has been added at the end of the article. Click the link above.

–Dave

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Hello.

I am new to you and your writing, But I was attracted to the title of your article “Finding your own freedom“.

I have been working on this topic for a while, and have an answer, though it is obviously not the only one possible.

Freedom will not be possible unless the environment in which we live is free of the dominating overbearing authority of any “body” which has the power to “make laws” , “change laws”, and impose its will through force of law and using the power of the state (police and military). Freedom is not possible unless there is a majority that accepts the right of each person to live ones life according to ones own dictates, as long as nothing that one does violates the rights of others.

I propose the “BIG” model.

Should this be of interest to you, it is available on you-tube (search “why do we have to live in fear like this” and view part 7)

If we are serious about freedom, we have to learn to accept the freedom of others as a starting point.

NC Kamdar
South Africa

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Dear Claire:

It is so great to see you writing again!  Glad to see Hardyville still exists.  I used to enjoy your articles on WorldNetDaily, during the early 1990s.  That seems like forever ago.

Anyway, the Finding Your Own Freedom article was exceptional.  You still have that unique style that is so rare; wise, brutally honest, right to the point!

Nice job on the article.  And welcome back!

All the best,

Bob Whitmer

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Dear Ms Wolfe:

Just read your article on civil unrest.

As much as I admit the possibility (probability?), the subject never fails to rachet up my heart rate.

Your observations are both realistic and very welcome.

Thanks, and best of luck in the future.

Bill Byford
Harriman,  TN

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Claire,

[Regarding your article]

I wish we lived next door to you, or at the most just around the corner or across the back fence.  Both my wife and I just love the way you write — it would be so much fun to meet and talk from time to time.

Good going and God Bless you.

Tim Richardson

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