The Q&A portion of the Wild Bunch Dispatch will be held on this page from 6pm to 8pm (Mountain Time) today. Any questions you might have on the 51st issue please post here and I will try to answer them to the best of my ability. Some ground rules:
1) Please stick to the subject matter of the newsletter.
2) This is not a debate forum. If you have some concerns I’m happy to address them, but I can’t get into a long circular debate while other people have questions.
3) If I do not respond to your question immediately, don’t freak out. I’ll get to it, don’t worry.
4) Try to keep to one or two questions each time you write a post. Please refrain from essay-long multi-question posts. It is much appreciated.
I will begin discussion at exactly 6pm Mountain time. Looking forward to your questions and thoughts on the Wild Bunch Issue #51. The next issue of the newsletter will be released on March 27th. If you missed out on this discussion you can still subscribe for the next issue and participate. For more information on how to subscribe, visit the link HERE.
Regards,
Brandon Smith, Founder of Alt-Market.us
Sorry folks, my computer clock was wrong due to the time change. Discussion on Issue #51 is open now.
How long do you think it would take to get a large community group started if I scheduled a first meeting soon? How much time do we have?
It took me about 4 months with meetings twice a month to get the word out around the community. I think it depends on how much effort you put into advertising it, how connected people are in your area and also how bad things are going in the world. The worse things get, the more people are going to get off their couches and start organizing. MY hope is that we have a year left to get prepared; but at this stage ANYTHING could happen. I don’t think they will try to initiate another lockdown for at least another two months. They still have to build up the covid mutation narrative before they try again.
For a farming community like mine a good topic of discussion would be food production. Even though cotton is our main crop we do occasionally produce wheat. As for venues for discussion do you think townhall meeting are good place to host them, that way the city council will be encouraged to get on board?
Never give your local city council the ability to interfere or shut down your meeting. Trying to get access to the townhall may be very difficult unless the entire council is conservative and on your side. They will tell you to fill out the paperwork and then drag out the application process for months just to make you go away. All it takes is a couple poison pill leftists in the council to sabotage the whole thing. I would hold your meeting at a venue YOU control and then invite the town council. Make sure it’s a place the community is familiar with. Don’t hold your meeting at someone’s private homestead. Look for restaurants with large wedding-type rooms or a local church.
Is there way to identify informants or feds at meetings?
Yes, to a point. Anyone that starts talking about planning specific violent actions and tries to get you or others to join the conversation is probably a fed. They will say something like: “What would we do about the police dept. when the economy collapses? What plan should we use to deal with them? What if they were worried about their families? Then they would leave us alone, right…?” Talk like this is definitely a fed or a paid informant. They are trying to collect evidence of “conspiracy” to commit a crime. This is why you have to keep control over the direction of group discussion; to prevent infiltrators from hijacking it. Make sure that you say loudly that “this discussion is hypothetical and nothing to do with real life” if people start talking about potentially illegal activities, and avoid specifics as much as possible. I wouldn’t worry too much about feds, though. When the SHTF, they will disappear. They aren’t going to stick around to inform on you in the middle of a collapse. They aren’t that dedicated, or stupid.
I will extend the discussion to 8pm Mountain Time since I was late to get things started.
What are some of the skills you are teaching those who come?
How are you determining which skills you choose to teach or have others teach? (seeing as some skills are very technical – such as HAM radios – and difficult to learn in one sitting)
How are projects developed out of your group? Organically as the group sees issues and begins discussing possible solutions or more systematically by presenting projects?
Do you have a way in which you are leading and/or assisting these projects? (i.e. what is your leadership stance within the preparedness group?)
Basically any standard prepper skill or survival skill, as well as discussions on combat and self defense tactics. If it fits into one of those categories then I’ll cover it in the meetings or someone else with expertise can cover it. Using a ham radio is easy to learn in one sitting. Getting your ham license takes a lot more time and study. When you take charge of running these meetings it’s part of your job to offer tangible projects that people can pursue. You can also take suggestions, but don’t let the discussion devolve into bickering over what the right project is or how it should be done. I think you have to start with basics – Challenge people to bring one new person with them to the next meeting. Ask them to talk with any business owners they know in the area about the meetings. Get local businesses on board with a non-compliance initiative. Challenge members to shop at stores that are liberty owned instead of Walmart or Costco. Set up training days for people interested in rifle marksmanship, etc. You have to lead by example and set the tone for the meetings. They should not be a free-for-all, or the whole thing will fall apart very quickly.
In our town (one blinking light), venues are in short supply. There’s a park, and the fire department. Most members of the fd lean conservative to the point that they came to a meeting armed because of threats that blm were coming.
The larger, county seat town pretty much ignores our part of the county.
Would it be more wise to meet in our town since it is the more immediate (albeit blue) area or in the larger town to potentially get a better response? Our town council is decidedly left and requires masks, sanitizer, and temperature checks just to enter the building. Even renting the shelter at the park would be a source of contention and consternation. (I was leaning toward the fire department.)
If the town is that small then the public park is probably your best bet. If the town council tries to interfere tell them to pound sand; there’s nothing they can do about it as long as it’s public property. If the local sheriff is on the same page that makes things easier. If the larger town is within a 20-30 minute drive then you might want to hold it there, because you’ll have access to more venues. The main thing is finding a venue that is owned by liberty minded people. If you can’t, then the public park is the next best thing as long as the weather allows it.
Thanks for the response Brandon.
Having dealt with a narcissist before, I know that they aren’t ones you deal with through logical arguments. What are ways in which you would handle narcissists/sociopaths/narcopaths?
There is only one way to deal with them: Get rid of them as quickly as possible once you have identified them. People who consistently hijack the discussion, talk for way too long, act belligerent with other members for no reason, act as if the know-it-all when they clearly know very little, and people who try to target you as the person running the meeting, seeking to undermine your management of the meetings, these are probably narcissists. Tell them they are not invited back to the meetings and that you will remove them personally if they show up again. They will try to argue with you endlessly; but don’t bother. Tell them your decision stands and there is nothing more to discuss. They will then try to sabotage your meetings by trash talking you to others, ignore it and move on. When someone asks why the person was removed, tell them the exact reason: That person is a narcissist and narcissists are poison.
Would you consider creating a recommended books/media list for various topics such as small unit tactics, guerrilla warfare, intel collection/analysis, etc.?
Possibly. It would take some time. I actually think you can learn most of that information from YouTube creators these days. There’s a lot of solid channels right now with combat info. Also, if you know a veteran with RECENT combat experience (within the past 15 years), he is going to be the best source of information possible.
Discussion is now closed on Issue #51. Thanks to all those subscribers who participated. If you missed out on this issue or would like to subscribe to The Wild Bunch Dispatch to receive future issues, visit the subscription page HERE:
http://www.alt-market.com/articles/3702-the-wild-bunch-dispatch-alt-markets-exclusive-newsletter-on-fighting-globalism
Issue #52 will be released on March 27th. Back issues of The Wild Bunch are available for ANYONE to purchase here:
https://www.alt-market.com/articles/3790-back-issues-of-the-wild-bunch-dispatch-available-for-purchase
For those of us who missed this discussion session (bummer).
What Brandon is saying about creating a group is very accurate, we are experiencing pretty much all of the pro’s and con’s, including our strengths and weaknesses, triumphs and failures.
We hold meetings at our counsel members houses, obviously there’s some negatives in this but we live in an already tight community so it’s an option if you don’t have a venue.
Examples of classes we have begun is seed starting, bug out/get home bag building. Upcoming classes are first aid, canning and hopefully hosting an Appleseed rifle training.
I have just recently had initial success with building a community garden, our town council was very receptive and is aiding our efforts.
Long and short, just go for it, use Brandon’s advice, know you will both succeed and fail, constantly reevaluate and improve, be decisive. Create a council and make it happen. Be open and positive but also show good leadership, keeping things on track/task is a must or it will devolve into useless, unproductive chatter overtaken by the “one” who knows it all and loves to hear themselves talk.
Sorry I missed this one, people want this, you gotta just put yourselves out there and take the chance.
Thanks Brandon, your time is greatly appreciated.