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Posted on October 8, 2024October 4, 2024 by barbarianadmin

Barbarian Book Club #2: Barbarian Fitness

8 Weeks to SEALFIT: An Expedition into Barbarian Fitness and Self-Reliance

I have used a variety of programs and fitness books over the years. I still will switch it up depending on the situation at hand. However in the realm of high level fitness and books that promise transformation. 8 Weeks to SEALFIT by Mark Divine, a retired Navy SEAL, is one that will not only boost your strength but your endurance and work capacity as well. If you can do it.

I will routinely return to this program to get back to basics or when I want to evaluate my ability after trying something else. With a mix of stern military discipline and a dash eastern philosophy. This is by no means the program that you start with if you are only starting your fitness journey. Though it is one that will kick you up to the next level if you stick with it. There is also a “run up” program for anyone that cannont quite complete the actual program yet, or that just want to build up and prepare you for it.

The Serious Stuff

Physical Preparedness: Divine doesn’t just throw you into the deep end; he teaches you to swim first. The book outlines a comprehensive fitness regime that includes strength, stamina, endurance, and even the less glamorous but crucial flexibility. Each week ramps up in intensity, but it’s structured in such a way that it is not over whelming.

Mental Toughness: Here’s where the book might be different then others you have read. With a blend of Zen and warrior ethos. He talks about “Kokoro,” the merging of heart and mind in action, which is as much about mental resilience as it is about physical prowess. You learn breathing techniques, visualization, help “stay in the fight” when your brain is screaming to quit.

For the Scouts

Adaptability: Divine’s training philosophy isn’t confined to the gym. It’s immensely applicable to outdoor enthusiasts. The exercises and mental training prepare you for unpredictable environments, from scaling a mountain to enduring a long hike. The workouts get progressively harder you may feel like you are making no progress. The first time that I ran through his program, I had no idea how much my level of fitness was increasing. Until I deployed on a roll out for a wild fire. Once we hit the line and started to get to work, I noticed that I was not getting winded or tired like I normally would. I moved with much more ease even with my ruck on than I had on previous fires. I went longer and harder with less needed rest and less overall felt stress.

Self-Reliance: The book subtly instills a sense of independence. By the end of it, you’re not just fitter; you’re more capable of handling yourself. This aspect should resonates deeply with those who love wilderness adventures and combat sports. As well as thoughs who want to be an asset in an emergency and not a liability.

Teamwork and Leadership: Even though the focus is on personal development, Divine never lets you forget the importance of team dynamics. Crucial for anyone planning group expeditions, is part of a team or is simply wanting to lead in their community or family.

Conclusion

The foundation of a free life is. healthy body. Without that you can do nothing else. “8 Weeks to SEALFIT” isn’t just a book; it’s a crucible in its own rite. How many people do you see getting old and can barely move becuase their muscles have deterioated to the point of no return. How many young people barely move to begin with and already have a list of health problems.

For those who love the outdoors, value survival skills, and strive for a self-reliant life, this book serves as both a manual and a memoir of what human potential looks like when pushed to its limits with a smile. It’s serious about making you tough both physically and mentally. Two traits that we will all need in the coming years.

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Posted on August 23, 2024 by barbarianadmin

Subversion and the Stages of Collapse

The American empire is collapsing. Depending on how you look at it this is a good thing or a bad thing. Many say America and think of what the founding fathers started in 1776. While they ignore the reality of America today. In this mind set the collapse is bad.

My dear friends, I think you are in big trouble. Whether you believe it or not, YOU ARE AT WAR. And you may lose this war very soon, together with all your affluence and freedoms, unless you start defending yourselves.

I hope you have noticed on your color televisions that there is in fact war going on right now all over this planet. This war has many faces, but it’s all the same, it’s war. Some call it “national liberation “, some title it “class struggle” or “political terrorism”. Others call it “anti-colonialism” or “struggle for majority rule”. Some even come up with such fancy names as “war of patriotic forces” or “peace movement”

The driving force of this war. has very little to do with natural aspirations of people for better lives and greater freedoms. If at all, these aspirations are being used and taken advantage of by the manipulators and progenitors of the war. The real driving force of this war of aggression is IDEOLOGY something you cannot eat, wear or store for a “rainy day”.

An integral part of this war of ideology is IDEOLOGICAL SUBVERSION the process of changing the perception of reality in the minds of millions of peoples all over the world.

~Yuri Bezmenov 1984

Others see what America has become and see the collapse as good. As a chance to pull the country back to the ideals of freedom it started out with. In this mind set the collapse still may not be great but the possible outcome may be better. Optimism in the dark times I guess, but how did it get to this point?

Some will say its the natural course of empires which is true, most don’t last this long as it is. Others will say it’s getting destroyed. This could also be true the natural cycle of things sure can get helped along.

The “help.” The art of tricking the masses into doing things to hurt themselves and making them believe it is good for them. Is called subversion. This is not a new trick but is as ancient as mankind itself.

In 1984, in the form of a letter addressed to the American people. Yuri wrote a booklet under a pseudonym that talked about Soviet subversion. Subversion that was then under way against the United States. He was former KGB who defected to the United States. He wrote it from the perspective of the USSR vs the United States as that is what he knew.

Now if you read enough history you’ll see the subversion of the United States has been going on long before that.

The subversion started, for all intents and purposes, the moment independence was declared. Some wanted freedom and others wanted to be king them selves or the new equivalent. However many more, only wanted it to fail.

Though without doubt the subversion started as early as 1794. That is when George Washington was convinced by Alexander Hamilton to disregard the founding values and laws, and use the United States military against the citizens. Some refer to this the first civil war but is know as the whiskey rebellion.

Hamilton created legal definitions and precedents at this time that were never challenged. Definitions that undermined the founding documents. Precedents that started the slide down the slope into what the country has become today. Though that is only the earliest I have found. This subversion has continued through out America’s history and still continues today. Though the groups behind it may have changed, or have they?

Who is doing the subverting?

There are many theories and suspects depending on who you talk to. Most come down to a group or groups working together who yearn for totalitarianism. This is the shadowy heart of many movements over the decades.

Yuri blamed The USSR and Communism as that was the world view of the time and that was his first hand experience. As we know the USSR is no longer, how ever Communism does still remain. Though today like it was back then, communism is only the front ideology to push the masses. The group or groups behind want little more than power and control. That is their ideology all the rest is different flavoring for the masses.

I refer to this group by the term coined by Jack Donovan as the Empire of Nothing. He describes it as a collection of self interested and self perpetuating groups. This group includes banking institutions, the military, governments, unions, special interests groups, the entertainment industry, corporations, the media, and so on.

While this definition is accurate. I believe there is more cooperation, intent, and subtle steering of the Empire and its actions. This group and its individual parts do have their own goals. However they all benefit from an increase in centralized control and power.

The founding of the original United States, it’s values and then ideology flew in the face of all of that. I say the original founding because if you look around today the United States is no where near what the founding fathers had envisioned. It could be argued that it in fact has already been subverted.

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Posted on August 20, 2024 by barbarianadmin

Barbarian Scout

This be the start of the new Scout catagory .

The scout catagory will be content based around wilderness skills such as survival and preparedness, tracking, wilderness medicine, and other topics having to do with non urban environments.

Scout topics will also be posted under the barbarian tradecraft instagram and will have its own section on substack for the full length articles and as usual will show up to different degrees on all other Modern Barbarian accounts/pages.

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Posted on June 29, 2024June 24, 2024 by barbarianadmin

The Granite Mountain Hotshots

The Granite Mountain Hotshots got their start as a fuels mitigation crew for the city of Prescott. They would go and clean up and clear brush and burnable materials making the likely hood of large fires less so.

They then transitioned to a type 2 hand crew by 2004. Soon after the crews Superintendent Eric Marsh fought for the team to become certified as a Hotshot crew.

Marsh had become frustrated about the crew’s role or relative lack there of on numerous fires, In 2008, after a bit of a struggle the crew earned the distinction as the first municipal hotshot crew in the nation.

Hotshots are small crews of elite wildland firefighters trained to fight fires directly, and in remote back country terrain with limited resources limited by only what they can carry or have air dropped in when available.

The Yarnell Hill Fire

Started near Yarnell, Arizona was one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires since the 1991 Oakland Hills fire. Ignited by dry lightning on June 28, 2013. This is when a thunderstorm rolls through an area but drops no rain with it. Two days later on June 30, it overran and killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. Only one of the the crew members survived, posted as a lookout for the crew when he was forced to evacuate his own position due to fire activity, he was not with the others when the fire overtook them. His Instagram

McDonough hiked out on foot when he was located by Brian Frisby, superintendent of the Blue Ridge Hotshots, who was monitoring the radio communications of McDonough and his crew. Frisby and McDonough moved the Granite Mountains crew vehicles to a safer location. During this time is when radio communications were lost.

After moving the vehicles, Frisby and members of the Blue Ridge Hotshots attempted to rescue the Granite Mountain Hotshots, but were forced back by the fire. Driving through the streets of Yarnell, the Blue Ridge Hotshots was able to evacuate several residents who had failed to evacuate. At approximately 4:42 p.m., the fire overtook the Granite Mountain Hotshots.

The Yarnell fire killed more firefighters than any incident since 9/11, is the sixth-deadliest American firefighter disaster in history, and the deadliest wildfire ever in the state of Arizona.

The tragedy is primarily attributed to an extreme and sudden shift in weather patterns, that caused the fire activity to rapidly increase and cut off the firefighters route as they were escaping. As well as the terrain surrounding the escape route, which may have blocked the crews view of the fire limiting their situational awareness and problems with radio communications.

The Workout

My department/crew had a couple of members that worked very closely with the Grainte Mountain Hotshots that helped them along their path to gaining their certification. So this fire hit close to home for us.

Crews always have there own ways of remembering those they have lost and ours was always workouts. Crossfit has a long history of dedicating workouts to those deserving of it and the Granite mountain 19 are no exception. Though I had not seen one until checking again recently I am not sure when this work out was dedicated to them.

You can find more info and scaling info HERE

6 Rounds For Time (Goal of < 40 Minutes)
30 Air Squats
19 Power Cleans (135/95 lb)
7 Strict Pull-Ups
400 meter Run

With a running clock, as fast as possible perform 6 rounds of the work in the order written: 30 Air Squats, 19 Power Cleans, 7 Strict Pull-Ups, and then a 400 meter Run.

Score is the time it takes to complete the 6 rounds.

Movement Standards

Strict Pull-Ups: Begin with your hands on the pull up bar just outside your shoulders, arms fully extended. Without any help/momentum from the lower body (no kip), pull so your chin gets higher than the bar. Complete at full arm extension.

Good Score for “Hotshots 19” (estimated)
– Beginner: 35+ minutes
– Intermediate: 30-34 minutes
– Advanced: 25-29 minutes
– Elite: <24 minutes

The reps may seem arbitrary but every number has significance.

June 30th — 6 rounds/30 Air Squats

19 hotshots — 19 Power Cleans

7:40pm — 7 Pull-Ups / 400m Run

It’s not about finishing or times or records, it’s about enduring the struggle. No matter what hurts, no matter how strenuous. It’s nothing compared to what the fallen and their families have gone through.

I have no one to do the work out with anymore so if you do the work out tomorrow, lets compare our times.

Posted on June 10, 2024 by barbarianadmin

Barbarian Working Dogs

Dogs have played a key role in human life for longer than they haven’t and for some of you, your dog very well may be the most loyal and devoted being in your life. Though just like with people you need to repay that in kind. Don’t be a user whether its with people or with animals. The dog handler relationship is symbiotic. Though you need to approach it as a partnership you do need to maintain a pack leader position as well. The best way I have come to describe it is, the good team leader. The one in charge, but cares about the team and is still in the action with them.

I always liked watching military dogs, especially the special operations dogs Work because they were very versatile. They are considered multipurpose working dogs. A working dog is trained in a single discipline and a multi purpose working dog is trained in multiple disciplines. Up until the time that I noticed these dogs I had only know dogs that’s did one thing. Hunting dogs found birds, police dogs bite bad guys, herding dogs move sheep etc. So when I found dogs that were of such a caliber that they could do 2 or more jobs I was hooked that’s when I got my first Malinois.

I had already had a German Shepherd but he had no aptitude for any discipline let alone multiple though he was a great companion. This first mal how ever was and with him I started developing how I would train my dogs from then on. I have given the plan multiple titles over the years for ease of conversation so I will do so again here and it will from no on be known as….

The Barbarian Working Dog Program

All of these disciplines can be started almost on day one, and should be started early, they just need to be tailored to a young dog like you would teaching a child.

Prey-drive and protection work

I knew I wanted the dog to be protection trained because despite what most dog owners think, no your dog will not likely protect you unless its trained to. Just like a person if you don’t teach them how to fight, if they do step into the ring and not run away, they are not likely to be successful.

Though I do not subscribe to the drive theory per say anymore, the characteristics for protection work, (there are many but many trainers focus solely on prey drive) is something you need to screen for from the time they are puppies. You also want to look for confidence, defensive behaviors, and more.

I do not recommend that you try and train your dog in any protection sport/discipline without the help of someone who knows what they are doing. There are consequences and liability involved if done wrong or poorly and not only you but your dog will suffer the consequences if something goes wrong.

Obstacles

If you are a hiker, it is important not necessarily to train them but expose them to obstacles to help them build confidence. This will not only help them hiking but it will build trust between you, and the confidence will also translate into all the other disciplines. I then take this to another level as they grow up and expose them to rappelling and hoisting.

I grew up in the Rockies and always like having my dog go where I do so If I need to rappel out of a situation I want my dog to be able to do it as well. This does require rated equipment in order to do it safely and only a few companies make rappel rated dog equipment so you have to do your research.

Scent work

I had no use for, my dogs to be trained for drugs or bombs. I also had no desire to deal with the licensing required to get the materials needed to train them. Though the same discipline and techniques can be used for many other things such as search and rescue and hunting and that’s the direction I went.

I took the methods used for tracking suspects and lost people and simply changed the scents used. There is a host of animal scents that you can purchase for this. Check the legality in your area for what animals that you can hunt with dog. In some states you can only use dogs to track already downed game and some places its only for small game so do your research.

I then also used the methods for bomb and drug detection dogs and used them to train shed antler retrieval.

Mushing/load hauling

Now last but not least and the most recent addition to their training is mushing/sled pulling.

Now whether they are working together on the same line or they have their own small sled(polk) this offers great fitness benefits for the dogs as well as makes carrying their own gear when adventuring much easier on their back and hips.

The only energy I am going to expend talking about PETA and the propaganda they spew against mushing and all dog sports in general. Is this they have never worked a dog or ridden in a sled to understand anything about what they talk about. There are bad people in any industry or sport that cause problems but that do not represent the whole. A fact they love to use in their own defense but forget when they are attacking others. Many of the dogs love mushing and running the trails in the winter more than their other disciplines. You couldn’t force these dogs to do this if they didn’t want to.

The techniques and methods used for training are always evolving but these are the disciplines that most of the training we do revolves around.

Posted on May 24, 2024May 22, 2024 by barbarianadmin

The Barbarian Village

The nuclear family is not enough any more, just as it hasn’t been enough through out history. It has been know historically and now again that multi generational homes have longer healthier life spans that those isolated into single generational ones. It is important don’t get me wrong the nuclear family is the main building block but if you are limiting your self to that your setting you self up for failure and to be manipulated and controlled by The Empire. It makes you dependent on the The Empire, its products and systems. You cannot depend on The Empire for community or support. Everything that it provides comes at a cost, whether its your health, your money, or your soul. Sometimes modern problems require ancient solutions the only way you are going to not only survive but thrive is return to a more tribal way of living. Small self sufficient decentralized barbarian communities built around your extended relatives, common beliefs and/or views. Working together for both the modern and ancient definitions of survival.

The Basics

The two main ways thoughts on this are intentional community or Multi generational living. The basic idea is the same with the only difference being that multi generational living is typically built around a group of blood relatives, where intentional communities are built around ideas or a certain way of living and different people or families come together to live together. I believe ideally it would be a little bit of both. Multiple groups of blood relatives with shared views and beliefs but either way the end results are basically the same. For the modern barbarian, family does not mean blood related so it simply means you and your tribe are circling the wagons.

Technically this doesn’t need to be on one piece of land or even adjacent plots but they need to be within close distance of each other. Community is built around proximity so ideally you would all be within in walking distance. Ideally this would be on a single large plot of land or multiple adjacent ones (depending on how you want to structure the purchase) in order to facilitate that community and belonging. Even multiple houses in the same neighborhood would work but I would recommend getting out of the city to do this more effectively and safely. You will want to consult an expert on trusts/legal structures to structure the land purchase in a way that protects everyone involved.

So what would a modern barbarian village look like?

It would start with a true brotherhood. A group of men that can depend on each other and want whats best for each other. This brotherhood should have common views and beliefs that bring them together. They should participate in some form of martial art or fight sport as this will not only strengthen their bond but their mental fortitude, and ability to defend themselves and each other In times of crisis. Starting here at the brotherhood would be easiest because it will likely be easier to find a group of individuals with like minds than multiple families all at once, thought that still wont be as easy as we might think. Starting small and building out. Their common views would imply that their families likely have similar views as well. This brotherhood would be the back bone of the village.

The brotherhood would then start having get together involving their close families. BBQs, camping trips, whatever fits their lifestyles and views. Letting the brothers meet each others families as well as the families meeting each other. Making sure there would be no deal breakers or conflicts that they are not able to over come. After a while the brothers would bring up the topic of building the village and consolidating resources with their respective families and move forward if they are open to it.

They would want to decide before hand on how problems and disagreements will be solved and what the general plans and goals the people would want to accomplish. How the purchase will be made of the land or plots of land and resources will be pooled how everyone will contribute and how much.

Next they get the land, maybe they buy one plot of land in a trust and build separate houses or maybe they build neighboring plots individually if you want to keep the purchases more separate.

Working together

The group came together to pool resources and work to thrive, so what does that look like?

Finances and the war band

When financially pooling resources you not only reduce and consolidate bills reducing the cost of each family, you add income streams to allow for wealth generation and growth at a faster rate. They would have decided before hand how much contribution each family will need to make to cover the shared bills such as mortgage if there is one or property taxes as well as what is to be contributed regularly if anything for village projects or if this is to be done on a per project basis.

The war band does the business which we covered HERE, Ideally they will be more entrepreneur minded for the sake of self sufficiency. The war band build businesses and other income streams maybe pool money for investments held by the trust to ensure future financial well being of the village or other future projects/events etc. If they are more entrepreneur minded or many work from home you could have a communal “office” space to get together to work and collaborate more effectively or maybe they just have a group of people who work day jobs and pool a portion of the money allowing others to stay home and contribute in other ways Such as……

Food

We know they cannot trust the food in the grocery store much any more but when you have a whole tribe around, Growing their own food can be easier. As much food as possible should be self produced through garden or livestock. This sets them up best for both health and survival, as well as having a potential income stream of any excess that could be sold or bartered. The food would be stored in a community cellar or storage of some kind which would become the village “grocery store.” Shifts could be worked in the gardens by everyone or if anyone likes gardening or working with animals more could take responsibility. What ever works.

Education

The public and most private school systems are a joke and more and more families are finding the benefits of home schooling. With resources pooled allowing some tribe members to stay home, Homeschooling the children would be on a great step toward self sufficiency. This could be done on individual house hold basis or they could take turns teaching subjects that different members excel at. Beyond typical school topics survival skills, food production, finance, investments and business should all be covered in lessons to name a few, as well as martial arts and physical fitness, health and nutrition. Depending on how they decide to structure the education, they could have a “school house” or maybe they just go to each person house on different days .

Private and communal areas

Their homes and living spaces should obviously be private to the immediate families. How ever their could be a dorm like set up if children want to move out but stay with the tribe or tribal held money could be set aside for additional cabins or neighboring properties to be purchased etc.

Anything that multiple families need or want could have a community version. We have covered “office space” already but other ideas could be a community gym with equipment and space for the martial arts training. For the sake of community a large fire pit area and or dinning hall would be a great addition for regular tribal gatherings. Especially important or useful if the their is shared religious views, or common holidays.

This just sounds like a city whats the point?

In most ways it is. You are essentially building a small town in some ways like the frontiers man of old, except the barbarian village is private. The group came together themselves and formed this group. They can allow people to join if they want or they can keep it exclusive. If they do allow new members they can set any kind of restrictions or requirements they want.

One other key difference Is Its size. Humans are not meant to live in such large numbers as is evident by Dunbar’s number. Philosophies such as the golden rule or treat others like you want to be treated only work in small tribal settings. Small groups where everyone pulls their own weight and at least somewhat knows each other. They do not work in cities where you know fewer people than you don’t. Cities where their are no shared beliefs across the population.

The barbarian village shares values, and beliefs, and only those within the tribe have a say in its future but they all also have to pull their own weight. They decided at its inception how group decision would be made. The size is small enough that everyone’s voices can in fact be heard and a consensus system can be used. No one is dragged along for the ride by decisions that they had no say in or don’t agree with like majority rule systems used by larger cities today which is basically polite mob rule.

How many people do you hear talk about what America’s values used to be? and how Americans don’t share those views or values any more? Well unfortunately they are not coming back any time soon. As we covered HERE Its a cultural problem the culture allowed those views and beliefs to die out or be killed off. So your only option to try and build them back your self, no one is going to do it for us and its not going to be possible if you allow the culture as it is today to raise the future generations for us.

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Posted on May 20, 2024May 15, 2024 by barbarianadmin

Barbarian book club #1 : A Chase Hughes two-fer on human behavior

I learned more about human behavior and psychology in reading this one book than I did in two semesters of college psych courses. Its in depth but still understandable by the average person.

The second book Six Minute X-ray that is a great add on to Ellipsis if you start there, or its a great place to start for those starting from scratch.

While Ellipsis has everything from human behavior, profiling, influence, and much more. Six Minute X-ray focuses entirely on the profiling system Chase Hughes developed.

Why is all this important?

Having an understanding of human behavior can be a game changer in just about any aspect of life……

From the business stand point it can improve your sales or negotiations by being able to gain some more insight into what might be going on in the head of the person sitting across the desk from you, as well as giving you some skills to influence people to direct them toward your way of thinking, to get them to help you accomplish your goals or simply improve your team management.

From the security and tradecraft stand point, it will help you be able to under stand the baseline of the world around you so that you can more effectively figure out when something is off. You will be able to more easily identify threats and or deception.

Deception detection is also very important for doctors in order for them to decide if a patient is truly in pain or just trying to scam drugs.

If nothing else The Ellipsis Manual will pry open your eyes as to how easy a human being can be manipulated with out their knowledge and on a wide scale. It can be quite frightening but by simply becoming aware to that fact, it sets you up in a better place to defend against it. You can’t defend against what you don’t know about.

So what is the book that is better than these for human behavior? I was able to get my hands on a limited release book from Chase Hughes called the Ops Manual that you could call the Bible of human behavior and influence. It is as thick as a phone book and I am still reading through it so I will cover it its own post when I actually get al the way through it.

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Posted on May 17, 2024May 15, 2024 by barbarianadmin

Is there anything left to fight for?

There is lots of talk these days that we need to fight. Most people saying that we need to fight can’t usually even tell you what we need to fight for beyond maybe parroting what ever the last thing they heard on their brainwashing of choice was. You hear it from everywhere and everyone for one reason or another. “Fight to save the country” “fight to save democracy” “Fight to save freedom” “fight for your country” “fight to tear it down” “fight for this” “fight for that” If you ask them to elaborate, or present alternative evidence or even an alternative view point, you will get a blank stare, at best, but looking around I don’t see much worth fighting for anymore.

The country? What is the country? Is it the land? The land has been here long before we were here and will be here long after were gone. Is it the people? Which people cause there is not one group of people to call Americans anymore, identity politics saw to that. It doesn’t matter what your views are for any topic, politically or otherwise, but about half of the people today want you dead or in camps, and if you don’t subscribe to either side they both are against you.

How about society? The society of rampant materialism, where nothing is made to last so that you have to constantly be buying something. Where families no longer talk because they worship different celebrities or political figures. Where the health and reproductive potential of children are being irreparably changed or destroyed before they are old enough to understand whats happening. Where people have become so disconnected and divided that no one knows each other or cares about each other. A society of constant hostility and no sense of belonging. Food that is slowly poisoning you, medicine that makes you sicker than the sickness your trying to fix. Where naturally occurring plants are illegal, but artificial poisons are legally pumped into the water. Where your told that the only way to succeed is to pile on debt at a college for a degree that won’t help you just so that you can get out get in more debt to buy a house so that you are forced to work your life away until you maybe get 10 years of retirement “freedom” before you’re put in a facility because you are deemed nothing but a burden? A facility where statistically they are to be abused or neglected for the last years of their lives. Do you look around right now and think to your self yeah this perfect, I feel free! we need to fight to keep this going?

Shepherds, Sheep, and the Empire

Most of this is in reference to the sheep, not the shepherds. The shepherds are the celebrities, the CEOs, politicians, marketing departments and so on. They are the Empire’s talking heads and are all pandering to and trying to manipulate the sheep for their own gains, especially when they call to fight against or for something. They are not dumb and know exactly what they are doing.

The sheep are the people hearing the call. The ones that you know who come at you in conversation and parrot what their chosen shepherds are saying. That’s why when you question them they get taken back and usually get angry. Even if you ask them something as simple as why. They cant figure out why cause they never thought about it. They just took the call at face value and are angry that you are not doing the same.

They don’t take a moment to think about what they are being told to fight or fight for or if it actually serves them, their tribe or hell even their city or country they supposedly ‘“belong.” They at large don’t know what they are doing, and that is who this article is ultimately referring to, because the Empire is going to keep doing it’s thing with the shepherds screaming from the hill tops, but the sheep are who you have to ultimately deal with In your life.

They are the foot soldiers for the shepherds all be it unwittingly usually. You can try to change them but your not likely to succeed at least not in the short term. Now people love to blame the government for everyone’s problems but the problem is The Empire, The Empire of Nothing is everywhere, the government is only one of the tools within its system. One tentacle on the octopus that is the Empire.

Fat, lazy, dependent, consumers that are just smart enough to work the machines and not ask questions until AI or automation can take over the job completely is all The Empire needs or wants. The alternative means competition if not directly as a competing company then just from the point that less people need their products, services and “solutions.” They don’t want strong, self reliant thinkers, because then they will sell less “solutions” when people can fix things for them selves. This applies to all industries. If they can fix a car they don’t need to buy a new one. If they can fix their own health then why do they need pharmaceutical companies. Its all competition in sense and the Empire doesn’t like competition.

It’s a culture problem

What ever your culture allows to happen will happen. If your culture is weak it will allow it self to be pushed around. If it tolerates laziness you will get laziness. If it rewards strength you will get strength. If your culture is strong and others weak yours will typically prevail. The Empire manipulates this situation to its own end usually financial reward and or control for its self and its higher ups. People won’t want to hear this because it is not going to be a quick fix but it is the problem that we ultimately have and the Empire exploits it.

The Empire only can do what the people allow, people mistake this power with the ability to vote. While voting is supposed to play a role in the government proceedings, the weight the peoples vote carries cannot out weigh the money that the Empire throws around after someone is elected. Voting takes no effect directly on the empire. This is where the old saying “vote with your wallet” become applicable. This will at least more directly effect the Empire. This power more directly stems from what the people and its culture will allow but you have to participate, If you don’t like something stop buying it or supporting it and support the alternative.

Ultimately it doesn’t matter who is in control of “the system” if the culture is opposed to it. You cannot force opposing views on a culture and you cannot change a culture by force, eventually it will fight back or go under ground. However culture naturally adopts and changes over time and that can be manipulated and the people themselves manipulated to change the culture. You have to be aware of this in order to not let it happen to you. You have to allow some change because somethings shouldn’t continue, but you shouldn’t let the good get changed and thrown out with the bad.

Through a desire for a utopian world that should be, rather than living in the world that actually is, along side a desire to be 100 percent safe, at the expense of everything else, cultural manipulation has nudged the culture to drift away from freedom and toward tyranny. It has the strong being demonized and the weak to being put on a pedestal. Through cultural manipulation wedges have been driven between every group, belief, race, and every other demographic on the list. It has shifted importance from facts and to emotions. People are encouraged to sleep walk through life and their inconsistency in their values has allowed for the culture to be manipulated against them. Allowing hypocrisy and rampant weakness to take over. That weakness has allowed everything else we now face. Many of the problems we face today could have been handled by a strong culture and a strong people simply saying no in the beginning.

Can it be saved or should we let it burn?

I am not going to lie, I am burnt out on the fighting, the division, and all the sheep that play right into it.

Just about everything people scream to fight to save is part of what is enslaving or killing them. The shepherds scream fight to save the system and the sheep repeat it thinking its right. They are fighting to stay in the status quo because people don’t like change even If the status quo is killing them. It comes out of convenience and ease and unwillingness to do the hard right instead of the easy wrong. Maybe saving the Empire of Nothing is not whats best for people.

The only thing I see worth fighting for is freedom and liberty, to bad most people don’t understand what that is anymore. They will shout freedom as they pass more laws. Most people say they want freedom but they don’t want others to have it too. They want to be free to live how they want but don’t want others to live how they want to live. They want their way to be right and for everyone to have to live their way. They say they want freedom but really they want tyranny that they agree with.

But hey maybe the culture can be turned around and we can regain what we have lost and therefor fix the system. Though I am not optimistic. The system was built to operate exactly how it has which has gotten us to this very moment. More likely we will have to rebuild like the phoenix from the ashes of the previous culture. The division is too great at this point, no groups seem wiling to live and let live. Everyone wants to control the other side. Its already collapsing all around us, maybe its already fallen and just everyone hasn’t caught on to the fact yet. Maybe that is whats better in the long run.

Maybe the Empire needs to burn, through fire the forest is rejuvenated. This is the most artificial and mentally, physically, and spiritually unhealthy environments ever created. There is no solidifying culture anymore and in all honestly with the population so big and with the wide spread geographical differences there can’t and shouldn’t be. Humans were never meant to live in populations this big. cities this big are simply feed lots for human tax cattle.

Wolves don’t need shepherds

Many regenerative farmers and perma-culturists like to bring up that if every one changed their grass lawns over to food producing plants, there would be no food crisis. We wouldn’t need near as much industrial/commercial farming of food that is in most cases making us sick. This is what decentralization can do.

Now imagine if you pooled your resources, with your family, friends, or tribe and bought a couple of acres together. If done correctly you could likely produce all the food you need or at least the majority of it. You would no doubt be healthier for it if nothing else. Financially you would be in a better place because its a lot easier to cover bills for one property with 12 people contributing than just 2 or 1 as it is in most cases. Not to mention the homeschooling and other opportunities it would provide.

Sometimes modern problems require ancient solutions, we need to get smaller and decentralize in just about every sense in order to simply survive these days not to mention to take back your power from the Empire of Nothing. We need to bring back our tribes. Stop worrying about the world, or the country, your state or even your city as it most likely is still too big. Most if not all of this worry is used as a way to manipulate and control you. Worry about your family, and friends and your tribe.

Build your tribe and cultivate your own culture of strength, independence, and understanding of rights and what freedom actually is. Become a tribe of wolves, be fit willing and able to defend yourself because no one else is coming to save you. Put your energy into that instead of fighting for something that doesn’t benefit you or your tribe any way. If you feel you must fight fight for true liberty and freedom which usually is not what others are calling freedom. Wolves can take care of them selves, that’s why they don’t need shepherds.

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Posted on May 13, 2024May 15, 2024 by barbarianadmin

Barbarian K9s: Raising Dogs

This is the first article for a new series/section of articles I am going to be doing around dogs and specifically working K9s of all kinds. You will occasionally see articles covering dogs, their training, health, as well as philosophy surrounding them and how they integrate into our Modern Barbarian lives. I used to run an other account specifically for this topic but I learned one thing before I shut it down. The dog and dog training community is second only to the horse show community in the levels of its toxicity so I will post this regularly but not as frequently as other topics.

The foundation of how I raise dogs is the same general idea that I use for health and nutrition decisions. What is the most natural and most inline with genetics, or natural behavior. Did humans evolve drinking sugar ladened sodas or chemically laced and manufactured food like products? No, they ate whole foods they found in nature.

From that foundation this is a rough philosophy around raising dogs.

Nutrition

I am a big fan of raw feeding. The healthiest dogs I have ever had I have fed raw. They have far less health problems than any of the kibble fed dogs we have owned. The same problems we have in healthcare with food companies funding and sponsoring medical schools and health organizations you see in veterinary medicine. Dog food companies fund vet schools and give kick backs to vet clinics that sell their food.

Feeding raw is much more than just throwing burger in a bowl for your dog so make sure you do your research

Forever Dog – A great book that covers dog health and nutrition as well as the dog food industry. Forever Dog Book

Barf diet – Raw feeding primer. Barf Diet Book

Now I do feed raw and I have some dogs that I feed kibble by following the check list in her book to make it the best kibble that I can but I would feed all my dogs raw if I could.

Breeding

Breeding has gotten a bad name in recent years with all of the animals in shelters and I do get it and if you are only looking for a pet/companion dog you 100% should go to a shelter. Plenty of dogs there will bond harder and and longer than any dog you have ever seen and would make great companions.

But when you need a working dog, your only real option is breeding or buying from a breeder. You have a much higher chance of getting the kind of dog you need than if you roll the dice at shelter. With that you have to vet your breeders and make sure that you are supporting good responsible breeders. Any responsible breeder will let you meet or see the parents, will tell you how many litters a year they breed as well as their general breeding philosophy. If they don’t want to tell you anything, you should look for a new breeder. Just because they are AKC registered does not mean that they are healthy dogs or that the breeders are responsible.

Closed book pure bread only breeding is horrible for dogs health. It limits the gene pool and long term will degrade the over all health and quality of breeds as no new genetic material is ever introduced into the gene pool. To that end I am a firm believer in strong breeding which in short means that you occasionally breed dogs into your lines that are not the same breed but have the same working characteristics and traits that you are looking for. This produces healthier, and longer living dogs.

To this end I am not a fan of AKC or any kennel clubs as they go directly against this philosophy as well as breed for looks and not working ability which results in unhealthy breeds. The german shepherd being one of the recent many breeds that has been run into the ground health and work wise because

Training

I firmly believe that the owner of the dog needs to do the training of the dog. Many trainers will work with the owners and tech them how to do it properly. This is because a bond forms through the training that you just don’t get if you send the dog off to a trainer for ti to be done for you. You also don’t learn how to maintain the training properly and the training will degrade and go away eventually.

No one training system will work on every dog out there. Just like humans every dog is different. So where do you start?

How does a mother dog raise(train) their pups? With corrections. She growls at them, mouths them, and if needed snaps at or bites them, usually in the scruff. The closest a human can get to this behavior while maintaining the safety of them and the dog is a pinch collar and verbal correction.

I train using a balanced approach of marker and reward training and corrections either verbally or with a pinch collar depending on what the dog and their temperament requires. Training collars and devices get a bad wrap because of people who have no clue how to use them and people who have never trained a dog in their life weighing in.

Marker training comes in because we know dogs respond to rewards as well even though it may or may not be completely inline evolutionarily. Though if you use only this method you often get dogs that wont listen unless you have treats in your hand. So you need to balance it out. Marker training is also where I start with puppies. Because at 8 wks old building a bond is more important than spot on training.

As they grow, the bond strengthens, and their temperament and personality develops and comes out more you can start to determine what the specific dog requires in terms of training methodology.

All their training starts on a leash, and then ounce their training progresses I move them to a long line. This especially is beneficial for recall training as they get more freedom but you can still remain in control so they cannot ignore the recall command. Then once I am firmly confident in their recall they progress to off leash training.

You have to Know what your dog is capable of

Not just training wise but physically. A corgey is not able of clearing a 6 foot wall no matter how much training you do. You also need to clearly communicate your expectations. This doesn’t mean explaining it to the dog. This is done through consistency. If your dog is not to get on the couch, then you can’t let him on the couch some times. If they are to bark at intruders or warn you of danger you can’t correct them when they do.

Sit down and think about what you want from the dog and think about how you and your family will need to act in order to foster that behavior. If you want the dog to warn of danger but your wife yells at it every time it barks its going to get confused.

The most important thing when it comes to corrections is to never correct the dog of it doesn’t understand the command in the first place. If you are training Sit for the first time, and you correct it when the dog doesn’t know sit your not accomplishing anything.

Great books on training your own dog are

Team dog – Written by seal team dog trainer Mike Ritland. Team Dog Book

Team dog online – Mike Ritland’s online training resource. https://teamdog.pet/

Fortress k9 online – Another online training resource from fortress K9. http://k9academyonline.com/

Dog man book series – These are the two that cover the most of his training philosophy. I do not agree with everything in there but a lot of it is good information.

Dog Man 1

Dog Man 2

Conclusion

That is the basic foundation and philosophy of how I raise dogs. The specifics will change slightly depending on what disciplines or combinations of them each dog is doing.

Posted on May 10, 2024April 29, 2024 by barbarianadmin

Barbarian Networking

Your network is your tribe, and networking is how you grow that tribe.

The word networking has gained a bad name over the years that stems out of networking events where people show up and throw business cards at each other and/or try to sell to each other. Neither of that is what networking is. Networking is essentially just relationship building. This seems weird for many as building relationships has always been a secondary or unintentional consequences of other activities such as work and school. You go to work you get relationships with your coworkers. You go to school, you get “friends.”

Networking just takes an intentional approach to building and maintaining relationships in your life. For many this is natural but for just as many it is not. Whether they are more introverted or shy (not the same thing), or they are just a busy person, they need to take a more intentional view at it to make sure it gets done.

This relationship building is one of the corner stones that HUMINT (Human Intelligence) operations are built on. whether it’s an intel operative in a foreign country or a patrol officer working his own city. One of the first things they do is start developing relationships. These relationships allow them to keep a finger on the pulse of the area they are working. For a homesteader this could be meeting and becoming friends with other people at the farmers market so they can trade produce, or other products but whether it’s for business, intelligence, or your personal life, if you want to be successful at anything you need to be deliberate in your actions.

Pretty simple in theory

Build relationships right? Most of us can do this naturally if all the conditions are right or the situations are forced on us like work or school but for most, when they set out to do it deliberately, if they ever do, it tends to not work out as well.

This is because most people don’t fully understand the patterns and behaviors that are established in our instincts when it comes to building relationships Or they try to build relationships with the wrong people.

Like so many things it starts with research and planning. Map it out if you have to and start there, write down the people you know, how many of them do you consider friends, and how many family, Then You need to know what your goals are for your network, which of these people line up with that goal, have a similar goal themselves, or might be able to help you out in some way?

If your goal is just to expand your personal network this makes that easy as the only requirement may be they share at least one interest or view point or maybe you have more requirements for your personal network, but that would be the bare minimum.

If it’s for business what are your business goals, who can help you achieve them and if you don’t know the people who can help you, who do you know that knows those people?

Now if its simply for friendship and personal networks, What are your interests, who do you know that shares those interests. If you don’t already know anyone that is similarly minded to you or shares interests, where are some places those type of people frequent(Where do you frequent is a good place to start.) or where could they frequent? Are their stores for your interests, or clubs, or businesses offering services to your interests in your area? Think gyms, martial arts schools, hobby related stores and so on.

Now whether your trying to expand your business network or make friends go into it trying to make friends. Even if your goals are business related. Start from the mind set of starting a personal relationship, the business can/will come later. Just have a conversation. It might seem like dating and in a lot of ways it is which is what makes it feel weird or some people but building relationships takes the same things whether its romantic, or plutonic.

A network is not a digital asset

Now that is not to say that the same principles and tactics don’t apply, or can’t be used on social media, because they can and you can always use social media to find local groups or individuals but it should not stop there.

You could have the max number of friends on social media and still not have a network. Social media facilitates communication, but it is not the network it self. You still need to have coffee with people, meet up in person, take interest in their lives beyond just what you need or want out of them, otherwise you are just a user.

Many of the problems people face today can be traced back to disconnection and that is facilitated by social media and online pseudo relationships, get back to meeting and hanging out with people in person. You cant hug someone thought he internet. You cant pull them off the ledge through facebook. Human beings need in person contact.

Barbarian Networks

You are likely to have multiple networks, at the minimum you will probably have a work network and personal network, regardless most networks no matter how they are categorized by you are going to consist of three kinds of people.

The inner circle

Your most trusted friends, your long term and vetted contacts. People that will look out for you and you them. Your kindred spirits and those with common goals. This is where your brothers, those you consider family, and at least some of your tribe will be, this might be your whole tribe if it is small. They go here because your inner circle needs to be guarded and exclusive. Only the best of the best that you have vetted, and trust with that which is most important to you. These relationships need to take priority.

The outer circle

Your friends, relatives, acquaintances and other short term contacts are here these are those you have partially vetted and given strategic positions in your network. They may be business partners, friends, and relatives. Some of your tribe will likely fall here such as wives of brothers or kids of brothers, relationships like that. These are the people that you have recently met, maybe they are not the type of person you are looking for or you just don’t know them well enough or haven’t vetted them completely enough to bring them into your inner circle.

You wont spend as much time or effort maintaining the relationship with these contacts but they are good to keep in some contact with as you never know when you might have a need they can help you with, vice versa, or how they could wind up as a long term contact someday.

Outsiders

Everyone that you don’t know or know minimally. There is obviously no relationship to maintain here but you should always be looking for people who fit your goals, tribe, potential friends what ever your network goals may be. People today are far to disconnected from each other and that needs to change.

Don’t forget to branch out

Don’t stick to just your industry or circle. If you are a programmer, make sure your network consists of more than other programmers. You never know when you might be able to help someone by knowing someone else in another industry.

A sales guy could have a potential sale walking out the door that mentions they are hungry. Maybe he refers them to a local restaurant thats hard to get into where he knows the hostess and tells them to mention his name and she will get them in. He didn’t make the meal but the client will remember he facilitated it if he comes back later to make the purchase. If he didn’t know the hostess and only knows sales guys he wouldn’t be able to do that.

Super Connectors

You should always be on the look out for and strive to have at least one super connector in your network. Especially when you’re growing a business network. Super connectors are people that either intentionally or as a side effect of their situation (profession or socially) are connected to a large number of individuals in a variety of bubbles (industry or location), professions, or social circumstances.

A prime example that can be both personal or business related is a bar tender, if the bar is an “industry” bar. You may have heard someone talk about thats a cop bar, or fire fighter bar or lawyer bar and so on. Bartenders have to be social for their job, and they meet a lot of people both on the customer side and the vender, service, business side. You never know who they could introduce you to if you need them to.

Another example could be an instructor at a course for one of your interests. They spend their whole days with people related to your interests or profession and can probably introduce you or at least point you in the right direction of people who you might want or need to meet.

Mindset shift

The best mindset shift you can make for intentional networking is adopting a mind set of generosity. An easy way to look at this is anytime someone does something for your find something you can do for them. Whether thats a thank you gift, or doing them a favor in return.

The next step is to start helping people with no expectation of reward. Do the favors first and keep in contact. More than likely it will come back around to you in someway later on. You help someone on the side of the road and turns out they are the hiring manager at a company you applied for. Events like that happen every day. Could be as small as letting someone bum a cigarette or recommending a product or person to someone you met on the subway.

At a minimum if you meet someone, and don’t get their info but you are likely to see them again at least remember their name so you can strike up a conversation when you see them again.

Environment is key

Join clubs, go to specialty venues, conferences related to your interests, goals, or industry. If you looking for farmers go to the farmers market not the grocery store. If your looking for high end clients don’t go to McDonalds, this is even more important for business.

Bottom line

What is your networking goal? Where will those people hang out? Now go there and Strike up a conversation. If there is events or classes that are applicable go there first as it will be easier to meet people under those situations. Then if you meet someone set up another meet up or something and just try to stay in contact and maintain a relationship. Now I will say that it sounds easy on paper, but the reason i say go to classes or events more so then just going to stores is that if you go to a store built around your hobby or where the people like you go, they are less likely to able to take time to just talk they are probably busy and have other errands to run. People going to events plan to be there for a longer time frame and are more in the proper mind set.

A side note for employees and job seekers

This all still applies to you. You are not hired by a company, you are being hired by a person. If the person doesn’t like you your not getting hired. All opportunity flows through people, being able to network as an employee is just as important as it is for business owners.