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Feeling anxious, stressed, or out of control? It doesn't have to be that way.
Resilience is a mindset. Learn how others have seized their agency and how you can not just live - but thrive.
My new book is now available Resilient Citizens: The People, Perils, and Politics of Modern Preparedness.
Find out more at resilientcitizens.com
From war zones to wildfires, pandemics to power outages, the threats we face today seem bigger, scarier, and more unrelenting than ever before. Why, then, does society take a critical view of those who prepare for the worst while hoping for the best? Why do so many people write them off as crazy, conspiracy-minded “doomsday preppers”?
In Resilient Citizens, Army officer and disaster expert Dr. Chris Ellis challenges the myths, dismisses the fearmongering, and takes a much-needed, long-overdue scholarly look not just at prepper culture in America, but our overall social, physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual health. This isn’t another doomsday prepper guide or government-endorsed emergency brochure. It’s a deep dive into the people, perils, and politics of preparedness—from ranchers in the Rockies to policymakers globally—and a call to action for those who refuse to outsource their safety to luck or bureaucracy.
Unpacking thousands of hours of research, Dr. Ellis will help you—
§ Learn the traits and strategies of those best equipped to survive and thrive amid disaster.
§ Understand the psychological roadblocks that keep people stuck in denial or helplessness.
§ Discover how different belief systems, subcultures, and nations approach long-term resilience.
§ Debunk popular myths about “preppers” and discover the truth behind America’s growing culture of preparedness.
§ Examine the historical and political roots of America’s preparedness paradox.
§ Reveal the number one resilience item every household must own.
Whether you’re a concerned parent, a curious skeptic, or a seasoned survivalist, Resilient Citizens will challenge your assumptions and inspire you to think bigger, prepare smarter, and ensure your own survival in a chaotic world and uncertain future.
Resilience is a mindset. Learn how others have seized their agency and how you can not just live - but thrive.
My new book is now available Resilient Citizens: The People, Perils, and Politics of Modern Preparedness.
Find out more at resilientcitizens.com
From war zones to wildfires, pandemics to power outages, the threats we face today seem bigger, scarier, and more unrelenting than ever before. Why, then, does society take a critical view of those who prepare for the worst while hoping for the best? Why do so many people write them off as crazy, conspiracy-minded “doomsday preppers”?
In Resilient Citizens, Army officer and disaster expert Dr. Chris Ellis challenges the myths, dismisses the fearmongering, and takes a much-needed, long-overdue scholarly look not just at prepper culture in America, but our overall social, physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual health. This isn’t another doomsday prepper guide or government-endorsed emergency brochure. It’s a deep dive into the people, perils, and politics of preparedness—from ranchers in the Rockies to policymakers globally—and a call to action for those who refuse to outsource their safety to luck or bureaucracy.
Unpacking thousands of hours of research, Dr. Ellis will help you—
§ Learn the traits and strategies of those best equipped to survive and thrive amid disaster.
§ Understand the psychological roadblocks that keep people stuck in denial or helplessness.
§ Discover how different belief systems, subcultures, and nations approach long-term resilience.
§ Debunk popular myths about “preppers” and discover the truth behind America’s growing culture of preparedness.
§ Examine the historical and political roots of America’s preparedness paradox.
§ Reveal the number one resilience item every household must own.
Whether you’re a concerned parent, a curious skeptic, or a seasoned survivalist, Resilient Citizens will challenge your assumptions and inspire you to think bigger, prepare smarter, and ensure your own survival in a chaotic world and uncertain future.
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I’ve been watching this phenomenon with this and other metrics (books and keys).
On the whole, it’s an accurate heuristic.
On the whole, it’s an accurate heuristic.
These Ring videos of certain demographics raiding candy bowls on Halloween bring me back to what I like to call the Farm Stand Theory and which I think has been coined elsewhere as the Farm Stand Test.
Most of the neighborhoods I’ve lived in have had a house with an unmanned farm stand. You take fresh produce or eggs and leave the money in a box. It runs entirely on the honor system.
If you are moving and looking for a new community, find one that has a farm stand. The farm stand immediately tells you that the community is safe, neighborly, and high trust. The farm stand reveals more than any other single observable factor ever could. Even if you never use the farm stand, you can rest easy knowing it’s there.
If your neighborhood not only doesn’t have a farm stand but *couldn’t* have one, even in theory, that means you live in a shit hole. It means you can’t even trust the people around you to be minimally civilized and decent.
People who live in the city like to brag about the nice restaurants and stores nearby. But the vast majority of neighborhoods in the vast majority of cities couldn’t sustain a farm stand for even a day. It would be looted and wiped out within about 45 minutes. That makes them shit holes. I don’t care how expensive the houses are or how many restaurants you have nearby. You’re surrounded by dishonorable, deceitful thieves. You live in a dump, I’m sorry to tell you.
But the uncomfortable (for some people, not me) fact about the farm stand is that it also tells you something else: if you have an unmanned farm stand, your community is probably overwhelmingly white. It could also have an Asian population and sustain a farm stand just fine. But that’s about the extent of the “diversity” you’re likely to find if you’re trying to live in a Farm Stand Eligible location, which you should be.
A neighborhood could be wealthy or middle class or lower income and have a farm stand. The farm stand doesn’t tell you much about the average tax bracket of a community. It does tell you something about its demographics. Feel however you want about that fact. But it is a fact.
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If the military is doing this, what is your plan?
How are you organizing, how are you preparing yourself, your family, and your community?
There are multiple pathways, a psychology to understand, and a long history.
I explain them in my pinned tweet.
How are you organizing, how are you preparing yourself, your family, and your community?
There are multiple pathways, a psychology to understand, and a long history.
I explain them in my pinned tweet.
BREAKING: The U.S. is preparing all major US military base to survive at least 90 days completely cut off from outside power, fuel, water and supplies, per Fox News.
The plan, called FORTRESS, is built for a major war that could cripple power grids and break supply chains on American soil.
Bases would run on portable nuclear reactors, large scale batteries and microgrids that can unplug from the civilian grid entirely.
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This was a nice (but intense) chat. A bit more global and macro in its scope than I usually focus on, so a good mental stretch session.
Of note, I appeared strictly in my private capacity.
Of note, I appeared strictly in my private capacity.
Diesel prices are skyrocketing and a massive energy crisis is coming whether we like it or not. The Iran war is about to spiral out of control. I sit down with Active Duty U.S. Officer to break it all down
youtu.be/2j1FGKzfN7s?si…
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Many moons ago, in the age of dragons, people would have to physically show up to a bank teller to withdraw money.
Crazy I know.
Yes, you could still commit fraud, but you had to put in some real leg work and not dial it in. On the plus side, you got your 10,000 steps a day.
Crazy I know.
Yes, you could still commit fraud, but you had to put in some real leg work and not dial it in. On the plus side, you got your 10,000 steps a day.
Digital ID is going global. Bots are the new excuse.
US banks say they can't tell you from an AI agent inside your account.
Meanwhile, Sam Altman's World is selling banks an iris scan as "Proof of Human."
Same guy who sells the bots. x.com/MadisonMills22…
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I’m sitting at a Naval clinic right now. All of the team leads gathered to start the week with the Sailor’s Creed.
WAGMI.
WAGMI.
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This is a positive disaster trend.
- You participate in a group (social cohesion).
- You put your body in a demanding situation (physical exposure).
- You're learning (intellectual stimulus).
- You're in a safe environment that still stimulates a fear response (emotional regulation learning).
All in all, you hit 4/5 domains of a human.
theguardian.com/world/2026/oct…
- You participate in a group (social cohesion).
- You put your body in a demanding situation (physical exposure).
- You're learning (intellectual stimulus).
- You're in a safe environment that still stimulates a fear response (emotional regulation learning).
All in all, you hit 4/5 domains of a human.
theguardian.com/world/2026/oct…
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Prediction:
You are going to hear senior politicians in various countries speak more about national resilience in the future.
A lot more.
You are going to hear senior politicians in various countries speak more about national resilience in the future.
A lot more.
The government is right to be thinking seriously about resilience and growth, because the pressures now building are significant.
We should not underestimate what is happening across the world right now.
There is a convergence of issues that will have global ramifications for some time to come.
• Strait of Hormuz challenged = trade reduced to a trickle
• Red Sea threat increasing = trade severely impacted
• Pipelines disrupted = alternative routes limited
• Conflict affecting the Black Sea = major grain corridor severely impacted
Together, these routes carry a significant proportion of the world’s oil, gas, fertiliser and grain.
The significance is not simply that each is under pressure. It is that these pressures compound one another.
Why does that matter?
Tighter oil and gas supplies mean higher energy costs. But the impact does not stop at the pump or the household energy bill. Energy feeds into transport, freight, manufacturing and the cost of producing almost everything else.
Fertiliser is part of the same chain. Ammonia is a critical input in nitrogen fertiliser. When its movement is disrupted, supply tightens and costs rise. If that pressure persists into planting seasons, farmers face higher input costs and greater pressure on future yields.
At the same time, continued disruption in the Black Sea constrains one of the world’s most important grain-export corridors. Russia and Ukraine together account for around a third of global wheat trade. Less reliable supply means greater pressure on global food prices.
These are not separate shocks. Energy affects fertiliser. Fertiliser affects food production. Energy and conflict affect shipping and freight. All of them ultimately feed through into the cost of the goods, food and energy people rely on every day.
That is why the cost-of-living implications matter — but there is a wider lesson too.
We cannot think about foreign policy, national security, energy security, food security and domestic economic policy as separate silos. They are interconnected parts of the same system.
That system is national resilience: our ability to absorb shocks abroad without allowing them to become crises at home.
It is going to be a tricky 12 months.
That’s why I’m confident our Labour Government will continue to do what it takes to make our country more resilient, protect working families across the UK and face these challenges together.
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BREAKING: The head of the army says the UK's political leaders are about to start a "frank conversation" with the public about the need to prepare for war, per Sky News.
General Sir Roly Walker said every citizen will be asked to make sacrifices and to play their part in the defence of the nation.
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Dr. Chris Ellis retweeted
☣️‼️I’ve now been in contact w/current, highest level mil/intel/diplo/homeland security officials in biological threat arena and report w/authority that USG has all eyes on the plague outbreak in Russia and is not letting up. ☣️
Read BIOLOGICAL WAR: A SCENARIO. All of them have. Get informed. Stay informed.
Read BIOLOGICAL WAR: A SCENARIO. All of them have. Get informed. Stay informed.
🚨☣️BREAKING: Plague outbreak expands, Russia BSL-3 lab accident - FIVE hospitals now quarantined🚨☣️
The plague outbreak in Siberia, Russia has expanded w/5 hospitals now under QUARANTINE: Irkutsk Hospitals No. 1, No.3, No.10, Ivano-Matreninskaya Children's Hospital, and an tal (Lyudi Baikala news, Moscow Times).
Quarantine is NOT voluntary. Even in the U.S., quarantine is among the most extraordinary measures gov't can impose on American citizens who haven't been convicted, or even accused, of committing a crime. Quarantine means being forcibly confined and medically examined by law. U.S. quarantine can be imposed on anyone infected by a legally quarantinable disease listed below (this can change). One should assume Russia's quarantine protocols are even more severe. As of 2026, under Executive Order 14047, legally quarantinable diseases in the U.S. are:
■ Plague
■ Smallpox
■ Viral hemorrhagic fevers
■ Cholera
■ Diphtheria
■ Yellow fever
■ Infectious tuberculosis
■ Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
■ Flu that can cause a pandemic
■ Measles
Photo: Russia’s RKhBZ defense troops perform nuclear, biological, and chemical defense training (w/permission from the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation) — from BIOLOGICAL WAR: A SCENARIO by Annie Jacobsen (Dutton, 2026).
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This is a good way to think about tiered responsibility in disaster planning.
🏠 How much of a home’s resilience is in a household’s hands?
🏛️ Governments shape planning
🏗️ Businesses invest in resilience
👨👩👧👦 Households prepare & act
🤝 Safer homes are a shared responsibility.
Take part ➡️ ow.ly/298s50ZTNGe
#ResilienceStartsAtHome #DRRDay
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FORTRESS America is not a new concept. We are returning to the mean as a country and as a globe.
I trace the origins of Fortress America, its pinnacle, and it's fall in my book Resilient Citizens: The People, Perils, and Politics of Modern Preparedness.
The best way to going is to know where we have been.
I trace the origins of Fortress America, its pinnacle, and it's fall in my book Resilient Citizens: The People, Perils, and Politics of Modern Preparedness.
The best way to going is to know where we have been.
.@SECWAR “Today—at my direction—we are launching FORTRESS America—a national insurance policy for the American homeland.
FORTRESS stands for: Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability.
And here is what FORTRESS calls for:
Every major n America is going to generate its own power. Independent of the civilian grid. If an adversary takes down the grid—by cyberattack, by sabotage, by any means—our bases stay lit. Our aircraft keep flying. Our command centers never go dark.
We are bringing our critical supply chains home. The rare earths, the specialty metals, the semiconductors, the propellants—mined in America, refined in America, built in America, by American workers.”
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I’ve been calling for this for years.
Bring on the microgrids and SMRs.
Now allow more food production on bases: orchards, livestock, bees. Resiliency is multi-dimensional.
Bring on the microgrids and SMRs.
Now allow more food production on bases: orchards, livestock, bees. Resiliency is multi-dimensional.
.@SECWAR “Today—at my direction—we are launching FORTRESS America—a national insurance policy for the American homeland.
FORTRESS stands for: Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability.
And here is what FORTRESS calls for:
Every major n America is going to generate its own power. Independent of the civilian grid. If an adversary takes down the grid—by cyberattack, by sabotage, by any means—our bases stay lit. Our aircraft keep flying. Our command centers never go dark.
We are bringing our critical supply chains home. The rare earths, the specialty metals, the semiconductors, the propellants—mined in America, refined in America, built in America, by American workers.”
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Dr. Chris Ellis retweeted
Fintwit is rife with doomers and people with massive followings who do nothing but promote everything negatively.
If you're sick of this stuff, and want to listen to a legitimate expert who advises people at the top echelons of national security on matters of disaster preparedness, resilience, etc, follow @Prep4Disasters and listen to his interview with @DanielaCambone
youtube.com/watch?v=W9ME5f…
If you're sick of this stuff, and want to listen to a legitimate expert who advises people at the top echelons of national security on matters of disaster preparedness, resilience, etc, follow @Prep4Disasters and listen to his interview with @DanielaCambone
youtube.com/watch?v=W9ME5f…
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