[Luigis Mushroom]

First of all I think people like us that are getting prepared now will have a responsibility to those that end up getting caught in the hysteria. Obviously this is within the boundaries of our own reach and security, but when thinking about various scenarios you first have to wonder how much attention should be paid on survival against the elements, and how much should be paid on survival against militia. Tips for self sustainable living and building communities are great, but it's kind of in the long run. I mean, first you got your basics (Water, Shelter, Fire, Food) but after that the primary concern for me personally would be maintaining awareness of who's in my territory, establishing networks with other people in order to create safe zones and escorting people through these safe zones.

Take South America into account during the 70s and 80s when nationalists started a fight against their own Federal Militia and United States Imperialism. On the Urban Level, they could hit hard and surprise the militia to do a lot of damage, but the feds need only capture one person and torture him in order to be able to round up all the rest and disappear them.

On the rural level, people all needed to congregate in communities, and again if the feds could kidnap just one, they could find the site and wipe everybody out.

And there's the question as to what degree of offense should be taken. People talk about bringing lot's of ammunitions into the wilderness and setting up castles or big communities, but what is that point in that? In the wilderness they can find you and bomb you to smitherines without any concern.

But in the urban areas, would-be insurgants are screwed the same, they may be able to pull off a couple good hits but they'll be found eventually. Take it from me, you can't play cat and mouse forever, eventually the cat always wins. There's no point in playing the prey the whole time.

So for those planning aggressive activities, firstly I recommend to spend most of your time in the wilderness and don't try to enter Federally Controlled Zones. In the wilderness, the most important thing is simply awareness of who's in the area, and because of that it's important to establish a network and type of communication with other settlers in the area. It's also important to train as many people as possible in combat. Furthermore, large communities in permanent dwellings are a bad idea. It's pretty much one or the other, if you choose to dwell permanently then maintain contact with other networks but keep a very low, non-assertive profile. If you choose to go with a large community, stay mobile.

Both would be necessary, one as a lookout and checkpoint for people escaping federal zones, the other for offensive purposes.

Networking is the key to maintaining security and a successive offensive, if you can't contact other people, you're just wandering around the woods with a bunch of guns. Remember to be devoted to a higher purpose, this is not you vs the world, it's the world vs the cancer that's developed on it.