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restoring with a new secondary reference. The comma can also be plain be seen on his book covers, and that is NOT original research. It is self-evident.
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|education = [[San Jose State University]]
|education = [[San Jose State University]]
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'''James Wesley Rawles''' is a [[survivalist]]-fiction author, [[blogger]], and [[retreat (survivalism)|survival retreat]] consultant.<ref name="SP5-26-09">{{cite web|author=Gillian Flaccus |url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/may/26/fears-spark-new-set-of-survivalists/ |title=Fears spark new set of survivalists |publisher=Spokesman.com |date=2009-05-26 |accessdate=2010-02-21}}</ref> Rawles is a Christian conservative.<ref name="msnbc" /> He is the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, a [[blog]] on survival and preparedness topics.<ref name="SP5-26-09" />
'''James Wesley Rawles''' or '''James Wesley, Rawles'''<ref>http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-15/the-most-dangerous-novel-in-america/
</ref> (with the comma) is a [[survivalist]]-fiction author, [[blogger]], and [[retreat (survivalism)|survival retreat]] consultant.<ref name="SP5-26-09">{{cite web|author=Gillian Flaccus |url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/may/26/fears-spark-new-set-of-survivalists/ |title=Fears spark new set of survivalists |publisher=Spokesman.com |date=2009-05-26 |accessdate=2010-02-21}}</ref> Rawles is a Christian conservative.<ref name="msnbc" /> He is the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, a [[blog]] on survival and preparedness topics.<ref name="SP5-26-09" />
==Biography==
==Biography==
Rawles was born in [[Livermore, California]] in 1960 and received a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] degree from [[San Jose State University]]. He was a [[United States Army]] [[Military Intelligence]] officer, serving from 1984 to 1993.<ref name=miobc>[http://www.rawles.to/miobc/index.html A webpage hosted on Rawles's personal website, for a Military Intelligence Officer's Basic Course, Class 85-6 "Virtual Reunion"<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He resigned his commission as an Army [[Captain (United States uniformed services)|Captain]], immediately after [[Bill Clinton]] was sworn in as President of the United States.<ref name=miobc/> Rawles worked as an Associate Editor and Regional Editor (for the Western U.S.) with ''Defense Electronics'' magazine in the late 1980s and early 1990s<ref>''Defense Electronics'' magazine masthead (p. 7) - James W. Rawles, Associate Editor, EW Communications, Palo Alto, CA, August, 1987 (Vol. 19, No. 8) to November, 1988 (Vol. 20, No. 12);''Defense Electronics'' magazine masthead (p. 7) - James W. Rawles, Associate Editor, Cardiff Publishing, Englewood, CO. December, 1988 (Vol. 20, No. 13) to September 1990 (Vol. 22, No. 9); ''Defense Electronics'' magazine masthead (p. 7) - James W. Rawles, Regional Editor (Western U.S.) Cardiff Publishing, Englewood, CO. October 1990 (Vol. 22, No. 10) to April 1991 (Vol. 23, No. 4); James W. Rawles, Associate Editor, EW Communications, Palo Alto, CA, January/February 1988 (Vol. 1 No. 1) to May/June 1988 (Vol. 1, No. 3)</ref> and concurrently was Managing Editor of ''The International Countermeasures Handbook.''<ref>''The International Countermeasures Handbook'' (14th Edition, 1989). masthead (p. 388) James W. Rawles, Managing Editor</ref> He worked as a technical writer through most of the 1990s with a variety of electronics and software companies<ref name=miobc /> including [[Oracle Corporation]].<ref>[http://download-uk.oracle.com/docs/cd/A91202_01/901_doc/appdev.901/a89865/title.htm Oracle Corp. Pro*COBOL Precompiler Programmer's Guide - Masthead Page]</ref> In 2005 he began full-time blogging and mail order sales of survivalist gear.<ref name="SP5-26-09" />
Rawles was born in [[Livermore, California]] in 1960 and received a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] degree from [[San Jose State University]]. He was a [[United States Army]] [[Military Intelligence]] officer, serving from 1984 to 1993.<ref name=miobc>[http://www.rawles.to/miobc/index.html A webpage hosted on Rawles's personal website, for a Military Intelligence Officer's Basic Course, Class 85-6 "Virtual Reunion"<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He resigned his commission as an Army [[Captain (United States uniformed services)|Captain]], immediately after [[Bill Clinton]] was sworn in as President of the United States.<ref name=miobc/> Rawles worked as an Associate Editor and Regional Editor (for the Western U.S.) with ''Defense Electronics'' magazine in the late 1980s and early 1990s<ref>''Defense Electronics'' magazine masthead (p. 7) - James W. Rawles, Associate Editor, EW Communications, Palo Alto, CA, August, 1987 (Vol. 19, No. 8) to November, 1988 (Vol. 20, No. 12);''Defense Electronics'' magazine masthead (p. 7) - James W. Rawles, Associate Editor, Cardiff Publishing, Englewood, CO. December, 1988 (Vol. 20, No. 13) to September 1990 (Vol. 22, No. 9); ''Defense Electronics'' magazine masthead (p. 7) - James W. Rawles, Regional Editor (Western U.S.) Cardiff Publishing, Englewood, CO. October 1990 (Vol. 22, No. 10) to April 1991 (Vol. 23, No. 4); James W. Rawles, Associate Editor, EW Communications, Palo Alto, CA, January/February 1988 (Vol. 1 No. 1) to May/June 1988 (Vol. 1, No. 3)</ref> and concurrently was Managing Editor of ''The International Countermeasures Handbook.''<ref>''The International Countermeasures Handbook'' (14th Edition, 1989). masthead (p. 388) James W. Rawles, Managing Editor</ref> He worked as a technical writer through most of the 1990s with a variety of electronics and software companies<ref name=miobc /> including [[Oracle Corporation]].<ref>[http://download-uk.oracle.com/docs/cd/A91202_01/901_doc/appdev.901/a89865/title.htm Oracle Corp. Pro*COBOL Precompiler Programmer's Guide - Masthead Page]</ref> In 2005 he began full-time blogging and mail order sales of survivalist gear.<ref name="SP5-26-09" />

Revision as of 20:05, 26 February 2010

James Wesley Rawles
Born1960
Livermore, California, United States
Nationality United States
EducationSan Jose State University
OccupationNovelist
Websitehttp://www.survivalblog.com

James Wesley Rawles or James Wesley, Rawles[1] (with the comma) is a survivalist-fiction author, blogger, and survival retreat consultant.[2] Rawles is a Christian conservative.[3] He is the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, a blog on survival and preparedness topics.[2]

Biography

Rawles was born in Livermore, California in 1960 and received a BA degree from San Jose State University. He was a United States Army Military Intelligence officer, serving from 1984 to 1993.[4] He resigned his commission as an Army Captain, immediately after Bill Clinton was sworn in as President of the United States.[4] Rawles worked as an Associate Editor and Regional Editor (for the Western U.S.) with Defense Electronics magazine in the late 1980s and early 1990s[5] and concurrently was Managing Editor of The International Countermeasures Handbook.[6] He worked as a technical writer through most of the 1990s with a variety of electronics and software companies[4] including Oracle Corporation.[7] In 2005 he began full-time blogging and mail order sales of survivalist gear.[2]

He is now a freelance writer, blogger and retreat consultant.[2] He has been called a "survival guru."[3] Rawles is best known as the author of the survivalist novel Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse. On April 8, 2009, shortly after its release, it was ranked #6 in Amazon.com's overall book sales rankings. The book's popularity caught librarians unprepared because the book was considered a niche title, and had not been reviewed by the major book review publications. According to Library Journal, the topic struck a chord with "...a small but vociferous group of people concerned with survivalism" who share a sense of societal anxiety associated with the economic recession. The journal went on to say that Patriots was "reportedly originally conceived as a nonfiction guide. According to a number of Amazon.com reviewers, the novel won’t win any literary prizes; its strength lies in its practical reassurances, focus on guns, and Christian ideology." Librarians then scrambled to purchase copies of the book to meet the unanticipated demand.[8]

Rawles is known and as a survivalism expert.[9][3][2][10][11][12][13][14] In 2009, he was quoted as saying: "There's so many people who are concerned about the economy that there's a huge interest in preparedness, and it pretty much crosses all lines, social, economic, political and religious. There's a steep learning curve going on right now."[2]

Blog presence and consulting

Rawles is the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, a popular blog on survival and preparedness topics.[15] The blog is supported by advertisers that sell a variety of survival gear and storage food.[16] According to an Associated Press article from May, 2009, SurvivalBlog had about 137,000 unique visitors per week.[2] The main focus of his blog is preparing for the multitude of possible threats toward society.[9] In his various writings, Rawles has warned about socio-economic collapse,[17][18] terrorist attacks,[19][20] and food shortages. As a consultant, Rawles advises his clients primarily via telephone on emergency preparedness.[2]

Survivalist writings

His first book was a work of speculative fiction set in a near future period of hyperinflation and socio-economic collapse first titled: Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse, and later re-titled: Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse. The book was originally released in draft form as shareware[21] in the early 1990s but was later printed by the Christian partner publisher Huntington House. After Huntington House went out of business, the book was re-released by Xlibris, a "print on demand" publisher. Starting in April, 2009, the novel went back into wide circulation, in a 400-page trade paperback edition, published by Ulysses Press, Berkeley, California. This new edition was updated and expanded to include a glossary and index.

In April 2009, Rawles announced that he had signed a contract with the Atria and Pocket Books Divisions of Simon & Schuster to write two sequels to Patriots. Rawles described the project: "Unlike traditional sequels, the storylines of these novels will be contemporaneous with the economic collapse and invasion described in the first novel. There will be some overlap of characters, but most of the action will take place in different locales. My goal is to use these two books to write about a lot of different tactics, techniques, and technologies for survival." Release of the two sequels is scheduled for 2010 and 2011.[22]

Starting in the early 1990s, he also authored or co-authored 17 Internet FAQ reference pages, primarily on firearms topics, such as one on antique guns that is often cited.[23] More recently, Rawles has self-published two non-fiction books, and Penguin Books published his book How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It.[24] The book was released in September 2009 and quickly jumped into Amazon's Top Ten.

Philosophical, political and economic views

Rawles is an outspoken proponent of family preparedness, especially regarding food storage[25] and his advocacy of relocating to lightly populated rural "retreat" areas. His preparedness philosophy emphasizes the fragility of modern society, the value of silver and other tangibles for barter, recognition of moral absolutes, being well armed, maintaining a "deep larder", relocation to rural retreats, and Christian charity.[26] In an interview for an opinion editorial at The New York Times, Rawles describes his experience as a writer of a survivalist blog among a large group of bloggers focusing on the sprawling national discussion about the hard economic times and referred to himself as a "guns and groceries" survivalist.[27]

Rawles is a strong proponent of the right to keep and bear arms, even going so far as to say that people are "merely exercising a pre-existing right" when they carry firearms to public events such as political rallies. When he was asked about open carry, "but...without a permit?", he replied, "We have a permit--it is called the Second Amendment,"[28]

The Survivalist hypothesis

A central premise of the survivalist movement, of which Rawles is a leading spokesman, are concerns about the risk of a coming societal meltdown coupled with an urgency of preparedness to cope with the repercussions. Outlining a large number of doomsday scenarios, ranging from climate change to economic collapse, this message resonates with a growing number of people. Traditionally, survivalists have been seen as coming from the far-right "lunatic fringe". But Rawles claims that this media image is a distortion of the "true message" of survivalism. He prefers to focus instead on "family preparedness" and "personal freedom". Rawles explains that the typical survivalist does not actually live in a rural area, but is rather is a city dweller worried about the collapse of society who views the rural lifestyle as idyllic. Speaking from his experience, Rawles cautions that rural self-sufficiency actually involves "a lot of hard work". [29]

Bibliography

  • Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse from Huntington House Publishers, ISBN 978-1563841552 (November 1998)
  • Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse (33 chapter expanded edition) from Xlibris, ISBN 978-1425734077 (December 2006)
  • Rawles on Retreats and Relocation, Print on demand from CafePress, No ISBN (January 2007)
  • SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog, Volume 1, Print on demand from CafePress, No ISBN (February 2007)
  • Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse, a re-titled 33 chapter edition with glossary and index, from Ulysses Press, Berkeley, California, ISBN 978-1569755990 (April 2009)
  • How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It, Plume, New York, ISBN 978-0452295834, (September 2009)

References

  1. ^ http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-15/the-most-dangerous-novel-in-america/
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Gillian Flaccus (2009-05-26). "Fears spark new set of survivalists". Spokesman.com. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  3. ^ a b c Kari Huus (2008-10-21). "In hard times, some flirt with survivalism". MSNBC. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  4. ^ a b c A webpage hosted on Rawles's personal website, for a Military Intelligence Officer's Basic Course, Class 85-6 "Virtual Reunion"
  5. ^ Defense Electronics magazine masthead (p. 7) - James W. Rawles, Associate Editor, EW Communications, Palo Alto, CA, August, 1987 (Vol. 19, No. 8) to November, 1988 (Vol. 20, No. 12);Defense Electronics magazine masthead (p. 7) - James W. Rawles, Associate Editor, Cardiff Publishing, Englewood, CO. December, 1988 (Vol. 20, No. 13) to September 1990 (Vol. 22, No. 9); Defense Electronics magazine masthead (p. 7) - James W. Rawles, Regional Editor (Western U.S.) Cardiff Publishing, Englewood, CO. October 1990 (Vol. 22, No. 10) to April 1991 (Vol. 23, No. 4); James W. Rawles, Associate Editor, EW Communications, Palo Alto, CA, January/February 1988 (Vol. 1 No. 1) to May/June 1988 (Vol. 1, No. 3)
  6. ^ The International Countermeasures Handbook (14th Edition, 1989). masthead (p. 388) James W. Rawles, Managing Editor
  7. ^ Oracle Corp. Pro*COBOL Precompiler Programmer's Guide - Masthead Page
  8. ^ "Survivalist Novel Patriots Rates High in Amazon, Not Libraries". Library Journal. 2009-04-14. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  9. ^ a b http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/opinion/05thu3.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Rawles&st=cse
  10. ^ "Meltdown survival clinic". Straitstimes.com. 2009-02-01. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  11. ^ Nicholas K. Geranios (2008-12-01). "Americans turning to survivalists for advice". Seattlepi.com. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  12. ^ Richard Cockle (2009-09-05). "The new survivalists: Oregon 'preppers' stockpile guns and food in fear of calamity". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  13. ^ http://www.faz.net/s/Rub48A3E114E72543C4938ADBB2DCEE2108/Doc%7EE340491DBEDE94C4E9DF01F07365C1827%7EATpl%7EEcommon%7EScontent.html
  14. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/fashion/06survival.html?_r=2&oref=slogin
  15. ^ SurvivalBlog.com on Technorati
  16. ^ http://www.survivalblog.com/advertise.html
  17. ^ Book review of TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World as We Know It)
  18. ^ Survivalists get ready for meltdown - CNN.com
  19. ^ "High Technology Terrorism." Defense Electronics magazine, January 1990, p.74.
  20. ^ http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/cyber/docs/npgs/biblio.htm
  21. ^ On-line Underground. The Spokesman-Review (Spokane). December 3, 1995, page H7
  22. ^ "SurvivalBlog.com". SurvivalBlog.com. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  23. ^ SurvivalBlog.com FAQs Page
  24. ^ How to Survive The End of the World as We Know It, Plume (Division of Penguin Books), New York, 2009, p. iv. Dewey Decimal Code 613.6/9 (Nonfiction)
  25. ^ Josh Gerstein (2008-04-21). "Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World". Nysun.com. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  26. ^ Precepts of Rawlesian Survivalist Philosophy
  27. ^ "Editorial Observer - Out of Work? Read a Recession Blog. Or, Better Yet, Write One. - NYTimes.com". Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  28. ^ "Right to Protest ... With a Gun?". FOXBusiness.com. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  29. ^ "Survivalists get ready for meltdown - CNN.com". Retrieved 2010-02-22. Of course, none of this kind of talk is that new. The nature of the threat may have changed but groups of various descriptions have been predicting a breakdown of society since biblical times -- and very occasionally they've been right.

External links

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