The liberty community has undergone some pretty wonderful changes for the most part since 2019. I remember when we were all about getting everyone a basic rifleman setup and some basic weapons classes along with some very rudimentary medical training (essentially an advanced basic first aid course), then evolved into talking about best carry guns for every day, best optics to put on a rifle, best lights to mount on said weapon, and eventually the eternal debate on plate carrier versus chest rig.
We went from needing to get better at defending our person in everyday life to organizing second amendment sanctuary counties in Virginia, debating best camo patterns, and learning small unit tactics. To shaming the fudds and cringey militia types out of the spotlight and seeing the ever brief but hilarious boogaloo movement become supplanted by a narrative of the mainstream medias to turn it from a great opportunity into a fringe group. The three-percenter militia has gone by the wayside and the community defense network of the minutemen came into being (and got meme’d by myself and others as the minutemaid’s because once again moronic thinking and pointless crap took hold).
Now everyone has their “tribe” which I won’t make fun of because it’s the closest to reality. There are some “militias” style movements out there that deserve appreciation for things they do, but I am hard pressed to find one. [ This area was initially dedicated to one that had put out a good PR campaign of things they claimed to have done, but upon further investigation and speaking with former members I have redacted this area. I will not name them, but you will know who they are from future articles.]
Maybe it’s the ex-law enforcement officer in me (yes, cringe, I know) but I can’t really be serious about groups that dictate extremely over their members. Wearing a specific uniform is alright but when you tell someone they can’t join your shooting club because they wear the wrong brand of boots, have the wrong chest rig, or can’t have a beard beyond a certain length, makes you look like a bunch of faggots. Stop playing dress up and start helping the communities you swore to protect. You are going to be loved by those people if you cook a pancake breakfast, organizing a trash pickup day, host a community cookout, or volunteer with your local rec department to assist with setting up and breaking down stuff for parades and community events rather than only ever showing up somewhere looking like you’re getting ready to go into Fallujah. Yes, we need to normalize civilian riflemen culture, but we also need to normalize being normal citizens.
Which brings me to my next point. The homestead. The “end game” of the majority of the liberty community and preppers. Hell, one of our best meme’s was “Achievement unlocked – Finished the main storyline” and it shows John Marston’s home. Everyone always talks about when they get their piece of land – their 40 acres and mule. Everyone always talks about how they want to move and buy some land and start their homestead and begin their quiet life. I am lucky enough to have been able to “finish the main storyline” this past January when my wife and I bought our place. Is it EVERYTHING we wanted? No, but we have a good chunk of land with a decent house for a price that wasn’t bad and an interest rate that is pretty great. We have A LOT of work left to do on it before we can sit back and live in “maintenance mode” but we got the most important part – the land.
I talk about this a lot with people in my discord and just other preppers and liberty minded folks when I can. Your expensive kit, your door kicker mentality is great – but in the “hard times ahead” you are just going to be my source of unskilled labor. We absolutely will need riflemen and people who are door kickers, but you need to ask yourself how often you are actually going to be kicking that door. Do you think it will be red dawn, where the bad guys are clearly in control of the town, and you are hiding in a national forest conducting hit and run attacks on supply convoys? Do you think it will be a Hollywood clean cut scenario where the federal government is in control of the cities, and you are “inawoods” conducting recce’s for resistance forces? Do you really think that YOU are going to be the full-time combatant?
Do you know what all of these movies have in common? It’s a pretty clear point that if you study guerilla warfare should know – if you make an area hot enough, eventually the opfor will dedicate a force to annihilate you. In Red Dawn, after the failed assault in the snow causes the wolverines to egress to a new AO then they are picked up by HINDS who come in and clean them up – that was a consequence of their resistance activity. In Patriot Dawn (a decent book by Max Velocity Tactical), the Federales organize a battle group and a ranger company to wipe out the partisans. In Defiance with Daniel Craig, the Germans deployed a company of infantry with air and armor support to wipe out the Bielski partisans after it was determined they were becoming a real thorn in the side of the occupiers. In Poland, the Germans essentially raised Warsaw to the ground for its uprising to oust the Germans.
Resistance activities will draw lots of attention to you and unless you are able to upgun, upsize, and establish higher headquarters your 25 man “Regiment” will get shwacked and will be lucky to become a minor footnote in future histories. The movement of the liberty community into becoming self-sufficient homesteaders is the evolution the movement needed. Because in the end, you can’t eat lead.
I still have hundreds of followers that are fighting to get to the point in their lives when they can get their own homestead. Plenty of friends that are in the similar boat who I would welcome with open arms at my place in an “shit hits the fan scenario” because I know what I am getting with them, and they don’t have a homestead of their own. We don’t have the biggest place; just shy of 9 acres, but we have plans to expand in the future. And this is what got me thinking.
If the “event” occurred tomorrow, whatever it is, and my buddies and their families made their way out to me, how long could we make those 9 acres become sufficient for essentially 10 or more people? How long before we decide that we need to expand before the carrying capacity of my ridge has been exceeded?
Now I knew a little about homesteading, but honestly my parents did not, and I had to learn almost everything I know on my own. My wife is lucky enough to have older family still alive that “know the old ways” and we learn from them every chance we can. I have gotten where I am because I hunger for knowledge, I talk with other homesteaders, I love to read, and the internet is a wonderful resource. I can go on youtube, right now, and look up a video on how to do essentially ANYTHING and can learn it. If I could put all youtube on vhs, I would.
When wanting to learn about farming, I could have interned with a local farm, but I didn’t have the time really. I couldn’t cut out of my normal day to go there and work. I wish I had some ability to learn the things I know now, long before I bought my homestead so I could hit the ground running. We are always talking about finding our tribe and building your team, so why not turn your homestead into a hubstead?
The idea is similar to that of a national guard armory (in principle, don’t crucify me please). A local place where people in your circle can meet, train, fall back to, and learn the trades. If someone is living in an apartment, they are most likely hard up for space and can’t do very much homesteading. But if they live within an hour of you, why can’t they come learn from you – the homesteader? More often than not, you know a little bit more than the average non-homeowner and have plenty of projects to work on at the house. You can conduct this exchange – come work on my homestead this weekend where I will teach you XYZ and feed you, and you provide the labor. Then when it comes time for the apartment dweller to buy their homestead, they have a good base of knowledge on how to accomplish tasks.
When it’s time to get your garden cleared out or build and repair raised beds – have your apprentice come assist you and offer them a spot to make their own, smaller, raised bed on the property that is going to be where they plant what they want and learn how to grow stuff fully on their own (if they’re an hour away, chances are you may have to do the daily upkeep with it for them throughout the week but it is THEIR bed by all accounts so any big issues they need to notice, determine the course of action, and follow it). In theory these apprentices will also be the people who you are going to rely upon in a post apocalipstick event and having them practicing homesteading techniques helps improve your own homestead and gets them ready to help take on responsibilities there if they have to bug in with you.
This brings us to another area of discussion – The principle of Six Riflemen
Roughly based off of how small fire team’s operated in Vietnam under the Studies and Operations Group. You need a minimum of six people to run patrols. You need a team leader, a medic, a coms/tech guy, a “weapons” guy, someone for engineering/transport, and an intel/ops/ assistant team leader. Now let’s pivot this to the off-grid model. These are the people who will make up your core group. They are your phone call. Your wives get along, your kids are friends. This is a level of understanding that is built over time because you essentially form your tribe with these people. This list I am about to come up with has more that 6 people, but know you can have more than 6, you just need at least the 6 if you plan to survive.
You have a medic who should, in the perfect world, be modeled after material such as “The Herbal Medic” and “Where there is no doctor”. Trauma medicine is always good, but can they perform their job without modern medicine? Does their entire medical training attach itself to the modern, plugged in CVS pharmacy world where you can get what you need in 20 minutes? Do they know the healing benefits of ginseng, or what herbs to mix into a tea to help deal with the pain from a dislocated shoulder?
Individuals you should consider for this role are medical professionals. A professional EMT, or nurse. 68 W (US Army Combat Medic), 18D (Special Forces Medical Sergeant) or an actual doctor, preferably with significant trauma and surgical experience. You can also look at veterinarians. While their practice is on animals, often it can transition easily to people. Look at them this way was well – they are the primary care provider, the emergency surgeon, the dentist, the gastrologist, the everything for your animal. They know how to fix what hurts in those who cannot tell us what hurts.
Next person you have is your weapons/Security specialist. Ideally this person should be able to run not only their equipment but a vast variety of the same. The AR, AK, FAL, M1A, and SKS platforms ideally. Their job is not only to be able to put holes in people at varying distances, but to be able to train you and your people to do the same. They will be responsible for training your personnel in a defensive posture to make your group a cohesive fighting unit should you need to pick up your weapon and fight.
Individuals you should consider for this role are Law Enforcement or former military as they are your hubstead’s security professional. These personnel must be able to train others to be proficient on various weapons systems, how to conduct a security checkpoint, how to establish operational and physical security measures for the group. This person must assume the point role of security related to your group. They will need to be able to maintain your inventory of weapons, reloading ammunition, and getting the right gear for the right job. This person would benefit greatly from being a certified armorer and/or an instructor for their agency.
Moving on we reach our communications technician who will be responsible for the technical side of thing’s. For those of you too dense to understand who that would be, it’s the person who was playing with hamm radio in high school while you were busy chasing Mary-jane rottencrotch on the bleachers. They are probably your boss by now if you work in the IT world, honestly. Their job is going to be to make sure you and your people can communicate with each other, how you can get various electrical system’s operational, how to make your digital world survive in the coming return of the analog age.
Individuals you should consider for this role are IT personnel and technological consultants. People who are capable of maintaining a security system for information storage as well as general communications systems hardware and software.
Next, we come to the handyman or engineer role. This is a person who can work on a car or patch drywall or do general maintenance work with less stuff than is optimal for them to do it. They are the people who will keep your homestead running by keeping your equipment in operational condition, they will help you expand it by building new structures and can be a general handyman.
Individuals that you can look at from this come from a few different areas, so let’s begin with probably the most common and most rounded of them – The General Contractor Super. The CG Super has a base knowledge in many fields of construction and is able to disseminate how to accomplish various unskilled labor projects. When you want to do anything on your home that requires more than a few days’ work, most people call a CG Super.
Next, we have an electrician or an electrical engineer. The Electrician or EE that is capable of establishing a grid with the provided materials and maintaining that grid is going to be worth their weight in gold. Big extra points if they have experience working on generators or solar arrays.
Then there is the mechanic or mechanical engineer. They will be able to repair internal combustion engines of both gasoline and diesel power. They will also be able to ensure the structural security of any building projects that the CGS undertakes. Look for someone that has fabrication experience as a plus.
Now we move into farming. You should look for someone with a background in industrial level wheat or corn. It might be a benefit to find an older farmer or someone who still practice’s older agricultural methods as much of the industry has become reliant upon modern technology. An industrial farmer will be able to provide a base knowledge of how large-scale farms operate for maximum efficiency and profit in order to make the limited ground opportunities more efficient. You should also look for someone that has a background in 4H so they can add in livestock and domesticated work animals.
A forester/environmental conservationist will also be a happy addition to your group as they will be able to provide assessments and reports on the sustainability of land, have a general knowledge base of timber, edible vegetation, animal migration patterns, and know other various environmental related fronts that could impact the wellbeing of the community. You will be best served if this person has a knowledge of geology and naturally occurring chemistry. In ley man’s term’s, you need someone that is going to make sure you don’t turn your homestead into the verdun countryside of 1916 by doing your projects.
Now this next selection might make some people’s skin crawl, but they are necessary, and I will do my best as to why they are. An accountant/lawyer. This person is needed to ensure that the proper documentation is assembled and filled out for the purposes of preserving the community from a financial and contractual standpoint. They can also serve as a mediator should the need arise in making decisions for the betterment of the community. This person will also serve as the official records keeper for the group – taking count of all supplies, group assets, information related to all group members (next of kin, medical records, etc.), and a group information hub (supported in conjunction with the IT/Tech consultant) in order to provide the group with resources on a diverse subject pool. If you can find someone with auditing experience, records management, or courtroom oration you will be well served.
Now we have the professional North American Hunter/Fisher. They are needed for their diverse knowledge base of both large and small game in the continental US (best if they are region specific to you). This person will work in conjunction with the security person to support firearms related training and safety within the group. Additionally, this role will maintain traps, process game, maintain hunting and fishing gear, and to work to eliminate predatory animals in the region of your hubstead. They should have more than just firearm’s knowledge and should be able to hunt with a bow (and a spear if possible), should be able to do fly and conventional fishing, has butchered a variety of game and has experience in guiding hunts.
If you can add a pilot into your mix, do so. Someone with both fixed and rotary wing aviation time is a benefit and you will be golden if they also know how to maintain these aircraft.
If your group can support it, add in a plumber or oilman. Someone who has knowledge of a fluid system and how to maintain it will be a godsend. If they have a background in HVAC or fluid dynamics, then you have struck paydirt with this person.
The important thing for all these roles is the ability to teach. If you have someone with these skills but is unable to pass them onto anyone else in the group, you are not going to make it. If that person dies, or that person has a disagreement then leaves the group and never taught you how to do their role then you lost a vital support column for your hubstead. The “good enough” attitude should be avoided since these roles will determine if your tribe thrives or dies.
Hopefully you take what I have written to heart. I don’t mean to sound like a dick though it sometimes comes off that way. To most of the liberty community, homesteading isn’t as sexy as the noveske rifle with the lpvo or acog. Planting potatoes isn’t nearly as cool as debating how you don’t look like an absolute tool in your multicam black spiritus rig. How installing a waterline for your chickens to have a better source of water isn’t as interesting as installing a pair of ten thousand dollar or more night vision goggles to your team wendy bump helmet. Or that you watched the latest garand thumb video (flannel daddy is king, don’t get me wrong) and have to throw out your piece of crap micro rig because you are no longer recce ready and it’s a far cooler that buying a tractor (okay maybe it’s not, tractors are cool as fuck). I get it. It’s more important to you to be able to have great split times and know how to fight a guerilla war thanks to modern military manuals that stress foreign national support, air support, and vehicles..oh wait, did that hit too close to home?
To myself and thankfully a bunch of others, the sexy side of the liberty movement IS the new water line you installed, the chicken tractor you built, or what crop yield you are getting. To you door kickers, when you are hungry and cold, know that you can always get a meal at one of our places after providing a full day of hard labor because your bump helmet money should have been spent on a Polyface farm’s trip instead.
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Anyway, rant over. I hope you enjoyed. The credit to creating the list of hubstead tribal personnel goes not to myself, but to my buddies in discord. We talk about this stuff all the time. We debate it and talk about its merits. If you want to contribute to the conversation, or just join a bunch of like-minded people, then follow the link in my Instagram bio to find the invite link to discord. You will get bullied, especially if you act like a fucking weirdo moron. But know we do it out of a place of hate. Because we hate weirdo morons. If you’re not a weirdo moron, join the discord and help contribute to interesting discussions such as the one we had above or help us make fun of cringy militia regiments of 12 guys.
Thanks
- Smokey
A+
Excellent article Smokey.