I find that people in the liberty movement are desperately hungry for solutions to the threat of globalism, but they often feel overwhelmed when confronted with the scale of work required for true success. Many activists and freedom lovers are lured in by “silver bullet” solutions, shortcuts and quick fixes that will not actually work in the long run. Or they get fooled into apathy by false promises that certain politicians will fight the good fight for them while they sit idle at home.
The bottom line is this: No one is coming to save you, and there are no easy answers. The work ahead is arduous, and if globalism is going to be defeated, you are going to have to fight it. The beginning of this work is community organization. Unifying the patriots around you so that they can act together within the community to effectively defy totalitarian measures. The fight starts at home.
Organization is actually a rather simple thing, requiring simple steps and simple planning; if you stick with it long enough and you aren’t an abrasive or unhinged personality, eventually your efforts bear fruit. The key is to persevere.
Organization is of course dependent on a few factors that you will have no control over. For example, there have to be other people in your area that are on the same page as you in terms of basic principles and goals. Most people love their freedoms, and they want to keep them, so there should not be a problem there in the majority of places. If you live in the heart of a place like San Francisco or Chicago, though, you might be out of luck and your only option is to relocate.
When I hear that people are having “difficulties” organizing because “no one will listen to them,” I usually find that these folks are hitting a wall because of their methods, not because there are no patriots living in their town or county. These are some of the biggest mistakes most liberty activists make when trying to organize groups:
Failing before they try
Around half the people I talk to that complain about finding no like-minded preppers and activists in their area never actually put in any effort. They talked to a couple of friends or a family member, get shut down and then they give up. It’s lazy and it’s no excuse. People who prevail almost always start out with failure; they just keep trying until they find a way to push forward. The people who perpetually fail are those that always quit after they hit their first or second obstacle.
Some of these people I find give up not just because they are lazy, but because they have a messiah complex — they secretly like the idea of being the only person in their family, neighborhood or town that knows what is about to happen. They imagine themselves to be tortured prophets, but one day “everyone will see that they were right, and the non-believers will suffer.” It’s truly foolish.
The reality is that there are probably dozens if not hundreds or thousands of preparedness-minded conservatives and moderates within 50 miles of your home. I’ve been working within the liberty movement for over 15 years, and I can say with authority and according to the evidence that there are tens of millions of preppers in the U.S. You are not alone or isolated.
If someone truly lives in a place that is overrun with leftists and there is no chance, then relocation must be pursued if you want to survive what is coming. Otherwise, you likely live in a place that is at least 50/50 conservative and liberal. Half the population is going to be open to your ideas as long as you present them in a rational way.
Overwhelming potential recruits
There is a smart way and a dumb way to approach people about organizing for a national crisis. First, you have to stay on topic when you are discussing the concept. It’s not that hard these days to talk to people about a widespread collapse event or the loss of liberties to tyranny. People see everything that is going on around them right now with the pandemic lockdowns and economic instability. You don’t need to bombard them with your thoughts on 9/11, the Kennedy Assassination, weather modification, etc., etc.
They may be interested in those topics, too. Or they may think you are falling down the rabbit hole without an umbrella. The point is these are peripheral issues to the purpose of organization for a breakdown in rule of law. It does not matter what a person thinks about 9/11 or Kennedy, as long as they agree that preparedness and working together is necessary for survival.
The “Gray Man” mentality
The Gray Man concept is idiotic in the vast majority of survival scenarios. Trying to disguise your preps and blend in with a despondent and desperate population of people and pretend you have nothing is not going to work. In the longer term, you will fail, and the wrong people will eventually discover your preps, and when they do, you will have no one to help you when they come to rob you or kill you and your family.
Organizing with others is the only chance you will have to remain relatively secure during a collapse. Find people who are also prepped. If you really think no one can be trusted, then you are screwed anyway and there is no point in prepping at all.
Selfish motivations
There are some people in the liberty movement (not many, but some) who are not motivated by a desire for freedom for all. Instead, they are driven by an addiction to attention and self-glorification. They fantasize about becoming the next George Washington, but they are too narcissistic to ever actually sacrifice enough to earn that kind of respect. Instead, they sacrifice others while trying to steal and con their way to notoriety and shortcut their way to leadership.
These kinds of people are dangerous because some of them are actually charismatic, and initially, they appear to be leadership material. They are not; they are frauds. And after a while, many people who rallied around them in the beginning start to see that they are not what they originally claimed to be. Eventually, the group breaks apart and everyone becomes skeptical of all future attempts to organize. False leaders are poison to any kind of mobilization.
These people must be removed from group efforts as quickly as possible. They will either sabotage organization efforts due to their selfishness, or they will try to become tin-pot dictators and trample over people who object. Avoid this at all costs. Organize a separate, better group if the group you are in is being run by a narcissist. Eventually, everyone will come to you as the conman drives them away.
The path to a free community
Now that we’ve talked about what not to do, let’s discuss what can be done to start the avalanche that will lead to community organization for a crisis. I realize that in terms of the liberty movement there is very little reference materials out there on organizing. This hasn’t been done for centuries to the scale that must take place in America today to combat the tyranny that is coming. We basically have to reinvent the path to rebellion.
Here are some of the steps I have taken in my own community to build up a growing base of people who are all ready to work and fight for freedom.
Getting the word out on open meetings
Open meetings are the way to go in my opinion. I’ve tried quieter group organizing and it fizzles out every time. You have to be willing to put yourself out there or find someone who has the knack for talking to groups and invite anyone who is interested to attend an open event.
I put up flyers in my town and I also had friends post meeting information to local Facebook pages. Anything to inform people that I was out there providing a place for people to meet and become more informed.
Expect disappointing results in the beginning. You may get a big crowd on the first try, or you might get six people to show up. Don’t lose hope. This is how these things usually start, with a handful of dedicated people. Inviting a big liberty movement speaker to an event might help to bring more people in quickly, but you will still need to hold future meetings based on your own efforts and not big names.
Stick with it, and over time more and more people will become interested. It took me around six months of meetings before the group began to fill up the room I was using. Now I am looking for a larger venue to hold all the people.
Find a venue that is on your side
I initially held my meetings in the local public park because the weather was on the warm side. This worked well to start, though it also drew the attention of leftists within the town council that tried to stop what I was doing through threats of arrest. I stood my ground and of course, they backed off. Leftists are usually blowhards that use intimidation to get what they want rather than action.
I will continue to hold outdoor meetings on occasion at the park, but most of them will be held at indoor venues. Don’t lie about the intent of your meetings, be honest. I tell people that my meetings are discussions on preparedness, firearms and current events. Constitutional discussion could also be included in that.
You might be surprised how many business owners and churches are more than willing to allow you to use their space to have these meetings. There are many conservative small-business owners out there, and plenty of churches that don’t bow to fear of the government or the IRS. You just have to ask around.
Keep your meetings short and to the point
Most people have lives and responsibilities outside of the liberty movement. Their time is valuable to them. Make sure that you show respect for the fact that they are willing to take time out of their busy schedules to attend your meetings.
Yes, you are helping them by providing an organization hub, and yes, they probably don’t fully appreciate all the time and effort you are putting into this, but they will grow to appreciate what you are doing faster if you make your meetings compact and informative.
By “short” or “compact,” I mean two hours or less, and for now I am scheduling meetings twice a month. If global events become more unstable, I will shift to a weekly meeting schedule. I have found that two hours is the maximum amount of time that people will volunteer before their eyes start to glaze over and they want to go home. Running the meetings at a tight pace is the best option. Also, having food and beverages available helps. Running meetings any longer than this is self-indulgent and will result in many people never coming back.
Structure meetings around information
I start meetings with a preparedness discussion where I teach a skill, or I have someone else in the group teach what they know. We have had classes on ham radio, on medical response to gunshot injuries as well as classes on guns and gear. This part of the meeting is usually an hour or less. Then, there is a break for 10 minutes for everyone to use restrooms or stretch their legs. Then, we come back and use the last hour for discussion on current events and how they affect our area.
This structure helps in keeping people involved and interested. It also prevents discussion from meandering around too much on unrelated topics. Don’t let the meeting go off the rails; you want people to be able to voice their views or share information, but there needs to be some guidelines.
Finally, the whole point of the group is to organize people to act on solutions, not simply talk about the problems.
Guidelines
Whenever there are new people at my meetings, I let them know we only have two hard and fast rules:
Rule #1 — Do not talk about violent felony activities within the meetings. This protects everyone from potential government interference. If you give the feds nothing to work with then they can’t sabotage your efforts. Some feds might show up and listen, but who cares? The point is to organize your community to survive, and there is nothing they can do to stop that.
Rule #2 — If someone has a comment or a question, they need to keep it short so that everyone else has a chance to weigh in. The fact is there are some people who just like to bloviate. Some of them don’t know that they do it and they can’t control themselves; others are narcissists that want to hijack the meeting and be the center of attention. These people need to be reminded that they are not the only one in the room. If they refuse to listen, you’ll have to ask them to leave.
Certain people just can’t be reasoned with — narcopaths, in particular, are a cancer within a group. They will continually try to interrupt you and others, they will act belligerent and create unnecessary arguments, they will try to make the meetings all about them, they will seek to undermine your ability to run the meetings, and if they stay, they will take the meetings over and create chaos. These people have to be booted as quickly as possible once they are identified or the group will eventually fall apart due to their presence.
I recommend doing this outside of meetings, not during them. Handle the situation privately if possible.
Goals
There needs to be specific actions presented that your group can take locally to help prepare the ground for the coming crisis. For example, in my community we are working on organizing local businesses to defy any future covid lockdowns. They plan to remain open regardless of what the state or federal government says.
And the community plans to support any and all businesses that defy the mandates. We will not let the government shut them down. Not only that, but we plan to promote the businesses that do join the liberty group and steer as many customers as we can their way. Why shop with a corporate vampire such as Walmart that supports the lockdowns when you can spend your money with a local business that defends your freedoms?
We also plan to train people for community security. Basically, we will be bringing back the concept of the unofficial militia. This will require practice, which I am scheduling to take place in stages over the next few months.
Finally, we also have people who are working on the local political effort. Problems can be defused ahead of time by having more conservatives in local offices. Avoiding conflict altogether is preferable.
Just be sure that your meetings do not only consist of talking about the same threats over and over. You have to take tangible actions to better your community’s future prospects.
Written by Brandon Smith
