Tag: War

Secrets Of Street Survival – Israeli Style

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Israeli self-defense and small arms specialist Eugene Sockut presents hard-learned survival tactics, including adopting the right mind-set, using “hot” and “cold” weapons, securing your home and surviving a riot.

I found Secrets Of Street Survival to offer some interesting insight into personal preparedness. This is because concept in this book are based around Israeli settlers who are surrounded by Palestinians. Because these Palestinians can go from “friendly” employees and co-workers to attempting to kill the Israeli settlers in an instant and without warning Settlers have some specific issues worth studying.

If you have thought about the see-saw of being too hesitant and too aggressive. It is hard to determine action points in such a situation. This is especially true when those coworkers appear friendly but who are liable to turn on you in an instant. Furthermore, you can’t pull your gun on everybody for any reason, there are political, moral, and legal issues to face.

No where else in the world does an individual face the types of situations that Sockut describes, this makes it interesting. Similarly, the lessons learned in this book can translate to disaster situations. Therefore, I feel that is becoming increasing important as America is becoming less permissive and more anti-gun.

I found the concepts in this book very useful to my teaching. I used it extensively in my Introduction to Terrorism course, as well as in various firearm courses.

Paladin Press labeled this book For academic study only, and it is definitely worthy of study.

March 23, 2018
On Killing

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It is no secret that I am a fan of Lt. Col. Grossman’s work. I think it fills a niche that has been lacking in the field of martialism. If you deal with firearms for self defense then you owe it to yourself to understand that there is more to it than being proficient with your chosen gun.

There is a cost to using violence to solve problems – sometimes that cost is worth paying – but you need to be informed so that you are able to make those split second decisions under stress.

On Killing is more about the general public as a whole than on combat. I learned more about the tools I might use during and after a deadly force incident in On Combat, but I learned more about society in On Killing. Personally I felt that On Combat was a better book, like I thought Steven Hunter’s Point of Impact was better than his book Black Light – but both were well worth the read and I am glad I own then both.

This can be a difficult read if you have issues with interpersonal conflict being resolved with lethal force. The entire book is devoted to the concept of killing and its impact on the human mind – with a special emphasis on how to make our sheepdogs better at it so they can protect us (society) from the wolves.

January 25, 2018
On War

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On War is considered to be one of the best military strategy books in existance – everyone has heard of it, but few actually take time to read it.

That is a shame as Carl von Clausewitz was a 19th century military theorist who drew many of his ideas from his own experience as a Prussian soldier.

Clausewitz’s conception of war is strikingly unique: characterizing it as a Hegelian dialectic of opposing factors which interact and build upon each other,

Clausewitz’s theories are also surprisingly romantic. Nevertheless, the author stresses war as a political action that must be ruthless and uncompromising in its annihilation of the enemy. This sounds bad, until you recognize that it is necessary for war to be brutal so war can be won. Wars end faster when they are won decisively.

I like the book On War because it sets forth the ways wars should be fought. In my mind this means, only when other means are not appropriate and then fought as quickly, brutally, and strategically as possible.While totally devoting a countries entire industrial output to completely destroy another countries ability and will to resist sounds brutal, but in the end, it causes less total suffering and hardship.

What is better to sacrifice a lot for a short time, or half as much for three times as long? To me (and to General Von Clausewitz) it is simple math. On War is the formula.

October 1, 2015