Fortitude Ranch Collapse Threat Update and Newsletter: January 2022

A Review of Threats:  China remains a far more dangerous threat of near-term nuclear war than a Russian invasion of Ukraine.   Civil unrest and misuse of new technologies also pose grave risks of a collapse.

Our newsletters usually begin with a report on a specific threat that could lead to a “collapse”—a situation where the economy is not functioning and there is wide spread loss of law and order.  There are so many items to report on now that we’re doing a brief update on a variety of threats that we are watching.

While news today is focused on the Ukraine, China’s firm policy and resolve to capture Taiwan is a far more likely path to a nuclear war involving strikes on the U.S. homeland.  China has been absolutely clear that they will take control of Taiwan, and already has sufficient conventional and nuclear military power to do so.   Their nuclear forces, including battlefield, tactical nuclear weapons which the U.S. foolishly has abandoned, continue to grow, but already are adequate to force a President to back down.

China has been saber rattling and escalating threats to Taiwan that many defense scenarios portray as a likely path to a nuclear war that could escalate to homeland nuclear strikes.  Big advances in Chinese nuclear warheads and ICBMs have been reported in recent months.  The increasing number, capability and speed of nuclear armament in China has alarmed the Pentagon.  But they already have enough in their arsenal to convince a timid POTUS to back down in a crisis—though it may take a few rounds of nuclear exchange to yield this result. 

A Chinese nuclear strike against a U.S. aircraft carrier defending Taiwan is unlikely to yield a retaliatory U.S. nuclear strike on China.  The President would be afraid of Chinese retaliatory nuclear strikes on our soil.  Even if Biden were bold enough to order an initial nuclear strike, he would very likely quit once Chinese nuclear weapons hit U.S. territory.  He would back down.  China can not only afford to lose millions of people in a nuclear game of chicken, but might be better off with a smaller population.  Chinese leaders can be confident that no U.S. President has the stomach to exchange strategic nuclear weapons attacks to bargain for Taiwan.  But Taiwan makes most of the advanced semiconductors (chips) used in cars and electronics around the world.  The loss of Taiwan would cripple our economy.

Chinese backed hackers continue to exploit vulnerabilities in our energy infrastructure, from oil to electricity, that could cripple our economy and trigger a collapse.  The bigger question than when is who will do it—the Chinese face competition from government/terrorist sponsored hackers in Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Tsunamis that wipe out coastal cities, triggered by natural earthquakes, may also be deliberately generated by man.  An underwater nuclear explosion could trigger a tsunami.  A recent article argued that a detonation on a vulnerable spot in the Atlantic, with high explosives, not a nuclear detonation, could yield a massive tsunami. 

Iran continues its nuclear weapons development.  New means to produce nuclear weapons at a lower cost and without the tell-tale signs we now exploit to detect this are likely, so we cannot assume that we are aware of all nuclear weapons development. 

There are many advanced new technologies in development, from nanotechnology to artificial intelligence that could be either deliberately misused or accidentally lead to collapse.

The rapidly growing threat that worries us most is continued advances in biotechnology and the billions of investor dollars and government/terrorist funding flowing into bio engineering and synthetic biology.  We can’t know if it will be an accidental lab release, an unintended consequence of an approved genetic manipulation, or a deliberate bio attack by a nation state, terrorist group, or individual that leads to a bioengineered pandemic that wipes out most of our species.  Biologists and scientists have issued many studies and warnings that it is “inevitable” that we’ll suffer from misuse of this technology.  The key question is will it be an Avian Flu level of lethality–60%!  Your tax dollars financed “gain of function” research to make Avian Flu human to human transmissible.  Researchers were able to make 60% lethal Avian Flu into a new variant that is transmissible between mammals.  Believe it or not, their results were published.  If you want to read more on this bioengineered pandemic threat, this is the article I wrote that was published in The American Interest public policy journal several years ago.

A new documentary on the many threats to our electric system, “Grid Down” will be out soon, so we’ll delay an update on this threat that some refer to as our “Achille’s Heel” since our system is so vulnerable and the consequences of long-term loss of electric power could kill most of the population according to a Congressional study led by a former CIA Director.

The largest hedge fund, Bridgewater, led by Ray Dalio, tracks world threats since a war or big crisis can quickly tank the stock market.  Ray Dalio sees China as our greatest threat, but also fears the dangers of violence, and civil breakdown from our increasingly divided populace.

Many people continue to see the worsening, seemingly irreconcilable split in our country as the most likely trigger of a collapse.  The partisan political divides are far more than just politics, it’s a social divide, with issues and causes that in the past have led to civil wars.  The lessons of history are quite clear in showing how irrational, unanticipated, unintentional violence and wars have resulted from disagreements and causes that no one would argue call for war, but lead to it nonetheless when events and reactions spiral out of control.  Our social media and growing divisions in the country make such a collapse disaster far more likely than in the past.

I don’t discount the damage to our planet and species from global warming, but our government irresponsibility is nowhere more obvious and disheartening than Biden Administration officials chanting that global warming is our worst threat and a priority for billions in spending when there are far worse, more likely, and immediate threats that should be addressed now.  Global warming is indeed bad news, but the “good news” with regards to this threat is that it will likely be solved.  Not by government agreements and regulations, but by a huge drop in the world population when a real pandemic hits, a nuclear war, or other big disaster happens.  With a small surviving population and little economic activity during a collapse, the man-made causes of global warming will be drastically lower.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, the odds of us surviving long enough to suffer the ravages of global warming are probably quite low.

Expect No Help from Police in a Collapse

In a collapse, we all know that the likelihood of police being able to respond to calls for help when marauders are out looting neighborhoods, breaking into homes to steal and kill, is very low.  But you may be surprised to know that even in “good times,” police have no Constitutional duty to protect citizens.

The Supreme Court ruled that police do not have a constitutional duty to protect a person from harm. In lawsuits against police for refusing to enforce protective orders, the Court recognized that police need discretion on what cases they can get involved in.  This is in “normal times” when police have the resources to respond to serious pending criminal acts.  We’ve seen how big protest lootings and violence overwhelm police.  In a collapse situation, police will be permanently overwhelmed.  Their top priority is “continuity of government”—protecting government officials and offices.  Responding to calls of marauder groups attacking your neighborhood will very likely go unanswered.  If a bad pandemic has triggered a collapse, the initial casualties may wipe out most of the police force, with survivors quitting to avoid getting the virus, and to be at home to protect their family during the collapse.  You need to be able to protect yourself in a collapse with no outside support.

Surviving A Collapse Requires a Large Group of People

The “Off-Grid Confidential” newsletter recently published their estimate that in a collapse situation your odds of survival as an individual is just 20% of the survival rate of a group. 

There is no explanation of how they arrived at this number, but all preppers know that a “lone wolf” has far less prospects for survival than a well prepared group. 

Survival Communities have existed in the U.S. for decades, but most do not last long.  It is very difficult to get a large group of people together that will agree to the hundreds of decisions to be made in preparing a survival location and acquiring all the equipment and supplies needed.  Some members will not be able to afford it, others will want to pay for more preparations that they can afford, but others can’t.  A great deal of specialized expertise, from nuclear radiation detection and remediation, to the sustainable food production plan is needed.  Fortitude Ranch is an option to buy into a business that runs the operation.  We believe a minimum of 50 people are needed to defend a survival facility in a collapse—and the more people you have, the less likely a marauder group will consider attacking you.          Forming your own survival community is another option.   The next article describes a source of help if you are interested in forming or improving a survival community.

Survival Housing, prepper consulting and housing solutions

Survival Housing LLC, specializes in survival consulting for individuals or groups looking to start or upgrade their survivability during a national crisis or collapse. We also offer housing solutions through our partners providing Tents, Tiny Homes, Container Homes, and Log Homes for shelter during such an event. 

We believe that being prepared for unforeseen events is paramount during these unprecedented times. With the current pandemic, economic woes, political turmoil, budding civil unrest, and escalating violence not having the ability to survive a crisis or collapse is quickly becoming very dangerous. 

There are many things to consider when you start to develop your plan to survive a national crises or collapse. Food, water and shelter are “The Big Three.” However, sustaining and protecting those capabilities are just as important and the more difficult task.

The most vulnerable are those located in cities. History has shown that cities are most susceptible to violence spiraling out of control, food shortages, dependency on a fresh water source, and traditional housing is easily compromised. We can help you navigate these challenges.

Steven Rene
Alicia Cachuela

Steven Rene, a long time Fortitude Ranch associate, former Army intelligence specialist and Alicia Cachuela, a survival housing and business expert will help you develop a survival community or family preparations that best meet your needs. For more information visit us at survivalhousing.net and fill out our contact page.

Update on Fortitude Ranch Construction

We are always building and expanding at all our FR locations. NV, CO, TX, WI and WV are operational now. We are raising funds to build on the land we have acquired in TN, and to open a northeast USA location. The tall log tower we just built at FR TX lets us see any groups approaching a mile out, and provides both great member rooms, a great common area on the top floor, and safe shooting portals. 8-inch-thick logs are much better at stopping bullets than fiberglass insulation and drywall!

New greenhouse at FR Wisconsin allows year-round plant production.  Propane generator in foreground.  We prefer propane generators since they run better than gas and can safely store a lot more fuel.

A big new building at FR NV features log homes on both ends, metal building in center, over a shared, 100+ foot long basement.  At FR CO we are sold out of luxury rooms, but have economy and spartan rooms available.  We are adding another log home at FR WV.

If interested in joining FR CO or TX, contact Anna at [email protected]

For FR NV, WI and WV, contact Alicia at  [email protected]

Fortitude Ranch now offering Full Time Residence and Vacation Home options at TX, WI and soon TN locations

The standard Fortitude Ranch membership is you get two weeks a year to vacation at any location, and in the event of a collapse, you stay for the duration of the disaster.  We increasingly get requests for people who want to live at our locations full time, or want the option to stay for a few months, like a vacation home.  Government zoning and regulations prohibit this in most states, but at our new central TX location there is no zoning and we are offering the option to lease some land for a private house or RV, and we will be building a “Fortitude Condo” there.  We will also be offering this full time residency option at our new TN location when that opens. 

Another option in the tall log tower at TX is a “vacation home” option.  You can buy a floor of the tall log tower, with private outside deck, and stay there up to two months a year.  Great for snowbirds who want to get some relief from harsh winters.

If this interests you, contact Anna at [email protected] for FR TX, and Alicia at  [email protected] for FR TN and WI.

Schedule a trip to any Fortitude Ranch location next May or June and participate in our Horseshoe Tournament

Plan ahead:  You’ll have two days to participate in a Fortitude Ranch-wide (members only) Horseshoe Tournament on May 28 or June 11.  Go to any FR location from 1pm to 4pm on these dates to compete.  Trophies and Fortitude token awards to top scoring players.  If you want to do a vacation overnight stay, contact the Ranch Manager (or sales associate you’ve worked with) to schedule a visit. 

This is FR Nevada.  High mountain desert, but several springs for crops and trees.

If interested in full or part time employment as a Ranch Manager or Construction Worker at any FR location, contact us!

Work opportunities at most of our locations, full or part time, long or short term.  Do not need to have construction experience to do construction work; we train and supervise.  We are also looking for “Assistant Ranch Managers” who work a few weeks a year at their “home fort” to get reduced price FR membership.

Contact [email protected]

Fortitude Ranch the ideal hedge investment

When the next pandemic or bad collapse hits, the stock market will tank and many businesses will never recover.  Fortitude Ranch is an “anti-fragile” business—we thrive when disasters strike, making us an ideal hedge investment.  Due to ridiculous Securities Exchange Commission regulations, we are limited to “accredited investors” a dishonest government term for rich people, those with at least a million dollars in net worth.  If you qualify and would like to invest, contact [email protected]