Prepping Up with the Jones’: Collapse Happens!
Listen to “NBC Guy- Collapse Happens!” on Spreaker.
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1 (1m 2s):
Post tyranny and fight for the rights. Our creator bestowed us in the United States constitution. We all the prep rule broadcasting.
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Well, hello, everyone out there in internet radio land. This is Dave Jones, the NBC guy. How are you doing tonight? Huh? It is Friday before the nation’s birthday. Lots of preparations going on. I hope you have plans. Don’t don’t, you know, don’t stay locked in, celebrated in some way, whatever way possible. Okay. Let it, let it be recognized for what it is.
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A noble experiment. An idea that I believe was inspired by God. And as, as our little intro there says our rights were given by God. And that’s what our constitution says, that you know, a right for people to be free to self determine to celebrate their independence.
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Anyway, geesh, where do I go from here? Right. I hope everybody’s doing okay. And I got three really great interviews. Now the one with Fernando, the audio is a little rough, a little rough. So, and I was, I was on my way back from fortitude ranch. I’m in the mountains of West Virginia.
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OK. So the internet, this coverage was a little spotty. So I pulled over to the side of the road because he’s in Spain and it was
2 (3m 0s):
Only after he got off work and it was 10 o’clock at night for him. So I appreciate him taking the time to talk to us because he lived through the Argentine collapse, the financial collapse of Argentina. Okay. So this was the largest country to ever default at the time. I think there’s been larger ones since, but this was 2001 and he can tell you what happened.
2 (3m 32s):
Okay. I’ll let him explain it all. This is one of the things we prepped for an intercourse. I have my lovely wife, Maria telling us about the communist collapse and how that all went. It’s kind of funny. Actually, the interview’s kind of funny. Yes. The lady of my life and the mother of my children, although she may not have, well, I think that was divinely inspired to, because geesh, I mean, when you look at the statistics, how did that even happen?
2 (4m 18s):
I was 50. I was 50. And when we had our first child and she has, you know, internal problems and several doctors from two different countries told her she could never have children. And then Deanna came along about that. Yes. And then five years later, David, David was a total surprise. I actually thought angels would come and appear before me and say there was an immaculate conception, David.
2 (4m 60s):
Anyway, that’s enough about my kids. I hope you’re having a good laugh out there at my expense. Let’s see. How about if I tee up this first interview and we’ll go with the Fernando first, because I’m going to have to turn the volume up all the way if I can. So here’s, here’s Fernando’s interview. Okay. I am here with,
3 (5m 31s):
Yeah.
2 (5m 31s):
Hi Fernando. How are you doing?
3 (5m 35s):
Doing very well. How about you, David? How, how are you doing
2 (5m 39s):
Well? I’m doing good. I’m getting ready for the 4th of July. Hey, and we have a few times, right? Oh yeah, absolutely. We’ve got a big celebration planned up on the mountain. So we have a mutual friend, Jen Gibson, and he told me that you have an interesting
4 (5m 58s):
Story about Argentina and your travels around. And I wanted to get you on the show because I’m kind of doing a show on oppressed people and governments that, you know, take control and the difference between that and the United States. And then some of the similarities that you may see going on right now in the United States. So let, let’s start with your background.
4 (6m 30s):
Where are you from?
5 (6m 31s):
Sure. Well, I was born in Indiana, lived there most of my life, pretty typical middle class, maybe even a little bit of an upper middle class, so to speak. So all in all quite good. I did live in the United States for a few years when I was a little kid, lived in Boston for, for a couple years and then moved back to Indiana and yeah, most spend most of my life in, in
5 (7m 11s):
I wrote my first book, which is called the model survival manual, which is based on the 2001, a collapse of the Argentina economy. That’s when everything went, went down and the government, it fell apart. The president resigned, we had a meltdown of the economy. They banks froze people accounts. And since 2001, it’s been a pretty different reality for people that I can deal with them.
5 (7m 42s):
A lot of it related to these leftist governments, these socialists, a government, so of one flavor or the other, but they’re all very similar. And that has been quite awful for the people of Arcadena since then.
4 (7m 58s):
So you actually lived through one of the things that we prep for.
5 (8m 5s):
Yes, yes. It was a, it was a full blown economic collapse because the country, the government defaulted on its national debt at the time, it was towards the biggest, eh, defaulted in history from a country was $132 billion that they could repay. And all of a sudden they, the conversion rate was the conversion rate was $1 to one Argent type based. So that made life pretty good for the middle class like myself. And then again, Dina, you were making more money as middle class in Kadena than the United States, which was quite surprising for a lot of people, but that’s how things were then.
5 (8m 46s):
It’s when, when the country went down, the conversion rates went from one, two, one, two, one, two, four two, then one, two, three, basically in, in just a few weeks, they currency loss a over 66%, almost 70% of its value and prices went through the roof almost instantly. It was pretty chaotic.
4 (9m 9s):
Well, yeah. And you also do a podcast, right?
5 (9m 16s):
Yeah. I have a, my, my YouTube channel is called the model survivalist as well. I have a website, same name, the motor survivalist.com and yeah, I write books as well. My last one is called street survival skills, which is very much related to the kind of things you’re seeing these days with violence on the streets that are rioting, how you kind of have to be very careful and how to protect yourself,
4 (9m 42s):
All that situational awareness and gray man strategy. Hey, so how do they get ahold of your books? Let’s do the plug upfront.
5 (9m 52s):
The books are available in Amazon. It’s very simple. Just look me up in Amazon. You put for Fallon and you get my three books pretty easily.
4 (10m 0s):
Great. And then, so when you were in Argentina, what was that like now that you traveled around a lot as a kid, what did your dad do?
5 (10m 11s):
Well, my dad was a banker. He worked in banking. That’s why we traveled quite a bit. And one of the things I appreciated growing up with my folks, a, it took us all over the world. Like I, by the time I was 10, I had already gone to a little ride, had lived in, in a, in a, in a couple of different countries at seek a little bit of the world. And that it gives you a different perspective of things. But before everything went down, it was, I don’t get it.
5 (10m 42s):
Dina was like the better off country in South America. It had more of a stable middle class. You, you had a good education still. There is some of that left, at least that cultural appreciation for w for education college, that sort of thing. It was, it was one of the better countries, maybe that the best country in Latin America in that regard and well, all of that changed because it became very violent, very fast.
5 (11m 17s):
The level of crime grew immediately. It used to be that you’d look up places like Columbia. And, and you’d say, Oh, these are people that are used to kidnappings and murder on the streets. A Dina had lots of crime, but nothing like that from that moment on, it became very difficult and incrementally each year, it seems to be getting worse. It is, it is unbelievable that the level of crime that people are dealing with, and a lot of this has to do with this leftist government that sees criminals as victims of the society, which is kind of ridiculous.
5 (11m 56s):
But amazingly enough, you’re seeing it in the United States right now.
4 (11m 59s):
Right? So which came first, the crime or the collapse
5 (12m 5s):
First came the economic collapse. It was, it was quite noticeable. Imagine David, and imagine overnight you call your bank and well, they just don’t answer the phone anymore. They just don’t open the doors anymore and you want your money and they’re not giving it because they froze accounts. And what they did was because the conversion rate was what two would people had? I don’t know, $50,000 saved events, or, you know, I like saving a hundred thousand, 200,000 us dollars.
5 (12m 36s):
All of a sudden that was converted to basis, which were, we’re only 33% of what dollars were worth. So they basically took your life savings overnight. And if people, one of the things I like people to understand is these are the same banks that operate all over the world. It’s not as if the, they would hesitate to do this anywhere else. They will do what if they were allowed to do it. And usually bankers banks run most of the governments because they have politicians in their pocket.
4 (13m 8s):
All right, well, I’ll tell you our Tuesday night guys on Patriot power hour, one of them’s called Ben the breaker of banksters and he, he would love to hear this. So I gotta give a shout out to Ben. He’s probably drooling right now, listening. Every word you’re saying. So your dad being in the banking, did he lose everything?
5 (13m 35s):
Well, Dina had already been a country of certain instability. The eighties had already been pretty, pretty shaky as well. So, well, both of my, my parents being a County state, they were very much aware of how fragile the economy was. So they made preparations for that stress to not get caught. But a lot of people, people have a very short term memory and they forget that banks take, you know, these things had happened before. They certainly ended up in Dena.
5 (14m 6s):
So people just were surprised to notice that they didn’t have access to that anymore. I actually had a little bit of money in an account, my, myself and my sister. And as soon as we saw these things going down, we went with my mother to the bank to close the accounts. And it was like, I thought it was a bucks. I thought it was in us dollars. Right. And the woman in the bank said, Oh, we don’t have that kind of money here. You will have to come back tomorrow.
5 (14m 38s):
And we were like, you don’t have a thousand bucks in the entire bank, a thousand dollars. You don’t have that. No, no. Just come back tomorrow. Well, that same day we went to a different, to the main branch and closed the accounts. The following day, they just froze everyone’s accounts that they didn’t give money to anyone else. They just, so people that were working in banking kind of knew that if you were an app and anything above and you know, managing position and as such, but most people were caught empty handed.
5 (15m 8s):
Yeah.
4 (15m 9s):
Well, and you say that your parents took precautions. What kind of precautions did they take? Did they move money out of the country or,
5 (15m 19s):
Yeah, I will diversifying the assets and investing more in brick and mortar. You know, something that it’s actually solid at, not as easily taking away from you, then money in the bank, that kind of thing. And yes, you know, if you have a different tools available, I always recommend using them these days. You have a, and I’m talking about precious metals, I’m talking about Bitcoin, which is another thing that I really like. It has several advantages once, you know, how it works and investing in it.
5 (15m 51s):
It’s something that is more solid, like, like property real estate. That’s also a good idea. So just being smart about all of this,
4 (15m 59s):
Right. And right now you’re in Spain. Huh? Whereabouts in Spain?
5 (16m 4s):
Yeah. In the South of Spain, I was also living in Northern Ireland for a while. So yeah, a little bit all over the place, but just, I’m used to traveling and living in different places. So it’s actually something that I enjoyed.
4 (16m 19s):
Wow. That’s nice. So now let’s talk a little bit about what life was like after the collapse and how you coped with it.
5 (16m 31s):
Well, I wasn’t really interested in, in preparing it’s survival from a very early age, around 10 years old. I got my first survival knife and started reading articles. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Well, I started reading a magazines and gun magazines stuff that came with articles about wildness survival, building shelters. And I asked where my folks were off for a night for my 10th birthday. Oh, IDs, Rambo knives.
5 (17m 2s):
You know, they went with a hollow handle and how to use that. And later on, I became interested in firearms. I had the, I had the privilege really to get a real proper if I was trading from a very early age, the, from a couple of military folks that had opened a range, they kind of close to where I was living and they passed it on my way to school. And I couldn’t resist. I actually convinced my mother that if I got good enough grades, she signed me up for a class where these two guys and they had just opened the club.
5 (17m 36s):
There was no, I was the only student in that class. And it had two guys teaching when I was about three months worth, of course, some firearms. So it was a great position to, in, at that age, 15 years old.
4 (17m 51s):
Oh my gosh. Well, you were at, you had a calling then early in life to do this work.
5 (17m 60s):
I guess I hadn’t, you know, look at it on a very defined interests. I knew that I liked firearms. So, so I was interested in that and I knew I wanted to get a proper training. Of course, things change. It was more of a Weaver, says that the things you see these days, but, you know, learning from one of these guys was mayor a major in the military. The other one was also pretty well ranked. So these were two guys that had quite a bit of, of knowledge to share.
5 (18m 30s):
And they were eager to share that. And unfortunately their business idea that it worked very well because I was the only student in that class. But for me, it was a great opportunity when things started getting dangerous in 2001, a lot of that came a quite had DNA kept on taking more classes, more trainings since then, of course, yeah.
4 (18m 54s):
We’re now what was like LA LA, like what was life like after the collapse? Could you get the food? Was there, you know, it was grocery stores.
5 (19m 7s):
Yeah. Well, one of the things you started seeing, well, it was people. I imagined this people losing their jobs, talking about 25% of the employment, 25 and 25% unemployment with no safety net whatsoever at that time. So people were becoming desperate pretty fast. And that’s when the eluding started like black lives matter, like what you see now, but people really going at it. Of course you had, you always have criminals that also know you have people that are desperate for food.
5 (19m 40s):
You also have a lot of criminal just taking advantage of the opportunity as, as it usually happens. But it is true that there were a lot of desperate people because of, Oh, the economic collapse. That’s also a certainty. There was also a political background in terms of the guy that was present back then, if he was more of a conservative center, right guy, and you know that there was this myth that only the Peronist party, the left wing nationalist socialist left wing party is the only one that is able to rule the country.
5 (20m 19s):
And these were the guys that as soon as they saw the alluding star, the fuel that they just threw gasoline at it and they made sure that rioting became rampant across the country. So it’s very similar. These things are always similar. That’s why you see it happening in NSA boy, right now, these movements, these, these people just waiting for the right opportunity to just a, take a, take a shot at democracy,
3 (20m 48s):
Achieved through violence, what they couldn’t achieve through votes. It is the oldest trick in the book.
6 (20m 54s):
Well, yeah. And I said all the time, they were just waiting for a video like this. They had legions of people ready to go into action to all these cities because you don’t see spontaneous demonstrations in 120 cities nationwide at the same time. It just doesn’t happen.
3 (21m 19s):
Yeah. And, and it’s not as if you know, this was, I mean, I, I, man, that was yes, of course there was a unaccessible of use of force by the police. No one argues that, but it’s is this really what breaks the camel’s back? Is this really what sends the entire world up in flames? You know, at the end of the day, it is just one more, one more bad thing that happens everywhere every single day, every single day, something horrible happens to someone.
3 (21m 52s):
And it’s often maybe even a little kid that had nothing, you know, he was not a big guy resisting arrest or anything like that. Just a seven year old black girl. Like it happened just a few days. I go, yeah, they got shot in the head by, at recently released a black man as well. No one even mentioned that seven year old little girl getting shot in the head that didn’t yet get this other incident since up the world up in flames. It just doesn’t make any sense. And you know, this is all very well orchestrated.
3 (22m 25s):
It is an attack on democracy. No doubt about it.
6 (22m 28s):
Yeah. And, and they have to be against the police because they’re the only ones that’s holding the line. Everybody else can be, you know? Yeah. And they’re not fragmented. And I mean, the militia groups, everybody, and it takes time to call up the national guard. So if you target the police, there goes law and order all over everywhere.
3 (22m 56s):
And besides how come all of a sudden, a group of people make demands and the government immediately complies without any kinds of a coat of the rest of the population. Why is it that a bunch of people, a very minimal percentage, less than 0.0, 1% of people, it’s their actual representation. It making a demand. So as to remove monuments and the politicians comply with that immediately without having a vote on the rest of the population, what if 80% of the poverty statute that they tore down?
3 (23m 32s):
What if 90% of the population was happy with that? And didn’t want to destroy exactly who bothered to check with them.
6 (23m 40s):
Yeah. They’re, they’re meeting very little resistance on any, any front and, and that only makes them go more.
3 (23m 51s):
Yeah. Yeah. And it doesn’t make any sense because if you want to make such changes like this, if you want to change your entire culture, if you want to change the face of your city at the minimum, you should have a kind of vote from the people and have a better idea of what the majority actually wants. I take that into account. Just some guy going on online with a microphone and shouting out loud that they want monuments tore down and you just comply with that immediately.
3 (24m 22s):
Just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. It is simply not true that this is all just a big coincidence.
6 (24m 31s):
Yeah. And then the, a, they take over six square city blocks in Seattle and the mayor just lets some do it. Hey, and did you also notice that she only took back those six square blocks after they attacked her house?
3 (24m 50s):
Yeah. Well at least, you know what? I think that they, that she, she went back onto her because she said it was going to be a summer of love. Imagine what a nonsense. I think that most of all, it wasn’t the moment of people that were getting killed and raped in that place. I was a complete joke of her statement.
6 (25m 9s):
Yeah. And how many lawsuits are going to be filed against the city of Seattle? Because they did not respond that year.
3 (25m 18s):
Imagine taking over a police department and getting away with that for days like they did. Yeah.
6 (25m 24s):
And were they able to empty out the armory before they left? Did they get all those weapons that are in, you know, a police station G
3 (25m 34s):
There there’s footage, there’s footage of a guy doing security for Fox that he goes with his own gun and disarms and takes two AR fifteens that were being stolen by a, from the patrol vehicles. Imagine the kind of loot they got from the actual police station.
6 (25m 50s):
Absolutely. Hell. They probably got hanger, UNAIDS, dead cord, you know, tear gas, grenade, law.
3 (25m 57s):
They were giving, they weren’t giving goes away that the leader of brass something, the leader of a, of a chest was giving away. There’s also footage of this. He was giving away AR fifteens on guns too, to his soldiers. It’s, it’s amazing that it got to this point, really?
6 (26m 14s):
Yeah. And now where are those guns now? You know, they’re gonna, they’re going to end up in some other crime. Hey, but we’re getting way off the track here. So yeah. I just wanted to know what your life was like after the collapse and what did your family have to do? How did their lives change once the collapse occurred?
3 (26m 43s):
Well, was a big change for, for everyone. And for me as well, we had to change lots of things. Lots of people lost their jobs. They were, you know, just trying to find whatever a lot of people that had very stable jobs, like 20, 20 years managing. And all of a sudden, they’re just begging for a job, just driving a truck or whatever, you know, just anything that drops into their lap, they will take it. So that was very, very trying, very difficult. The way prices would skyrocket the inflation just destroys and destroys it, the famous social pyramid of lower class, middle class and people on top.
3 (27m 22s):
It just makes a huge chunk of most of that. Middle-class to poor because all of a sudden, probably this art imagine, how would you deal with, if everything just double or triple in price for you right now, how would you cope with that? A lot of people just can’t. It was, I met her becoming very resourceful. I, I managed to get the jobs right in the middle of this stuff. It just, by being very positive about it, just being proactive. And, you know, there was a time in which I was looking for work and it just a couple, a couple of weeks, I got two solid job job offers just because of the attitude they can do mentality.
3 (28m 6s):
One of the things that I would have a interviewer said it was, they asked if I knew how to use a program that was needed for, for, you know, for architecture, planning and such. And I was honest, I told them, you know what? I don’t know this one in particular, but you know, it’s no big deal. It’s something that I’ll figure out in just a very short period of time, because this is not a problem for me. And I’ll figure it out quickly enough. And that according to her salary. Yeah. So there was, it was pretty rough with a lot of folks.
3 (28m 39s):
Then of course it was the crime way. That was a big deal because you can do with that a little bit less money, you know, you kind of do with that. If you have family, if you have, you know, friends, if you have a network that somewhat supports you you’ll get by it. But when, when someone, when a loved one gets shot, where you get hurt, one of your kids that is, you know, there was no going back for that. So that was one of the main concerns. Anyone that I can Deena, you ask, even today, the main, the main concerns, first of all, it’s the crime, you know, getting hurt, something like that happening.
3 (29m 15s):
And second is the economy. Those two are the big keys to is big kind of mess. And then there’s a political aspect, which unfortunately you guys now are seeing, like we were just talking about, but this has been going on in Indiana for, you know, since 2001, it’s been the, these, these people, they are very good at getting into the education system and making sure that they change entire generations to come. This is exactly what happened in United States. When, when you saw all these left wing college professors or in the people in the education system, little by little, you know, chop, chop, chop a little by little, doing that little, a grain of sand at a time of work.
3 (29m 59s):
Now they’re reaping all of their hard labor in terms of supporting the street. That is something that happened in only right now. You are still dealing with that kind of, of corrupt political a elite.
6 (30m 18s):
Well, yeah, you can hear it, but I’m shaking my hand. So I I’m, well, you know, every once in a while, you’ll fade out a little bit, but I’m, I’m traveling between four to tude ranch and my home. And I’m stopped in the mountains of West Virginia to try and get a cell signal. And I’m putting the phone up at the, up at the window. So four to, to the ranch is our plan B here. If we ever have to evacuate our house, that’s where we’re going.
6 (30m 52s):
So I wanted to ask you, what steps did you take to make? I mean, I guess there’s a lot of preppers now in Argentina because
3 (31m 7s):
Well, you don’t go through something like that. It used to be, yeah, go ahead. Yeah, it, it, didn’t used to be that there were that many of the, of us now there’s quite a bit of a following. I actually that the translation of my last book, my latest book, I did it in Spanish as well. It’s been very well received. I have a Spanish channel as well. It’s called
3 (31m 42s):
It was more of a, of a natural, organic thing to do, to prepare for bad things, especially in Indiana being used to, you know, crisis’s or the back in the day, you know, military coops as well. These were all things that have happened before. So in Latin America, in general, you have to be a little bit more rugged and more, more flexible and adapt to what’s happening.
6 (32m 9s):
Yeah. Yeah. I could see that military coups, earthquakes, you know?
3 (32m 16s):
Yes. Bad economies.
6 (32m 20s):
Yeah. So I guess you’re a product of your environment and
3 (32m 25s):
Yes. In a way, yes you are. To that. Yeah.
6 (32m 29s):
In the United States have to wake up. I think between the pandemic and all the civil unrest, people are starting to wake up cause they sure found our channel. Hey, Fernando, I really want to thank you for coming on the show and I hope you have a great 4th of July weekend. Are you going to do anything?
3 (32m 54s):
Well, I’ll, I’ll certainly have our little celebration here because even though we’re not Americans, we, we do appreciate the sentiment it is. And it’s something we, we definitely support. So yeah. We’ll probably do something here. I mean, my family as well,
6 (33m 10s):
It’s, you know, it’s our independence day, but the way I look at it is for a society to prosper, you have to have a free people. And, and when you unleash the freedom in people, you get Unbound initiative and innovation. When you free up the mind, there’s unlimited potential.
3 (33m 39s):
Yeah. And one of the things I’ve learned, especially traveling like I do, and not only dismantling, but I’m actually living in different places. Yeah. Culture always can add up, you know what I mean, culture can add up. I, you know, we, we like it Thanksgiving day. We like Halloween. We, we had some of the best Halloweens and in Harland, which is where it originally comes from. Anything that’s positive, anything that that’s good, anything that adds value to their life. It doesn’t matter where it’s from, you know, take it, make it your own as well.
3 (34m 13s):
Anything that’s negative? Anything that is resentful, hatred, just part with it because it does you no good. And certainly no one else.
6 (34m 21s):
That is a great sediment right there. So on the 4th of July, it’s freedom days. So it’s freedom, no matter where you are in the world.
3 (34m 31s):
Okay. Absolutely.
6 (34m 33s):
Okay. Thanks a lot, Fernando. Well, there you have it. How about that, boy? I have to tell you, I got a phone call while the interview was playing and it was the Intrepid commander and we talked a boom, a good 10, 15 minutes. I mean, we made a lot of good points here. Hey, and Fernando was talking about Halloween that they have the best Halloween. When Maria first came to the United States, they, her and Alex didn’t believe me.
6 (35m 8s):
When I explained Halloween to them, they thought I was joking and trying to get Alex to dress up and go around, knock on doors for a candy. But now they, they love it. And Maria loves it. And it’s all about that going. Yeah, it was my phone. Chia should have put it on quiet. It’s all about that culture adding up, you know, the, the, the good traditions and the good culture
2 (35m 39s):
Adds up like Thanksgiving, you know, and for the Intrepid commander, we got to talking about what if the United States wasn’t on earth? What would the planet be like? And I said, well, it would be pure. Hell. I mean, when you think about it, it would be hell here on earth because, and, and the commander says it would be like a global scale gang war, you know, because who would be trying to take over.
2 (36m 17s):
And, and if the United States never existed, because really we have peace in this world because of the United States. Okay. And all these people are saying we’re such a terrible country. The only reason people are saying that is because people are trying to tear this country apart and tear it down. They don’t want the United States in the picture.
2 (36m 50s):
And, and I mean, think back world war one was a terrible, horrible thing. And it didn’t end until the United States got in there and stopped it. Hitler would, would stall and be fighting Hitler right now. You know what I mean? Because they both want to take over the world. And China, you think China would care about any other country. They don’t even care about their own people.
2 (37m 21s):
So it’s almost like the United States is keeping the peace worldwide just by existing. Anyway, it would have been ruthless. Yep. Maria points out
7 (37m 36s):
All the time
2 (37m 39s):
Because she gets into arguments with her sister in Romania. She said the United States is the only country that will be the first in to help other countries. They send their young men and young women to go and, and free other people. And we don’t, you know, Bush was supposed to be taken gas. We didn’t take any gas. We freed their Rocky people from a brutal dictator at the cost of what the Intrepid commander says.
2 (38m 14s):
We have such a good life here in the United States that people can’t even comprehend the sacrifices that were made to make this life so good and life on the planet. So on this 4th of July, let’s have a freedom.
0 (38m 37s):
Let’s celebrate everybody’s freedom all around the world, not just ours. Okay. I guess that that was quite a phone call. I got half a page of notes just from talking to him, man, I’m going to set up this next. But before I do that, let’s listen to this here at the prepper broadcasting network, our mission has expanded and we have decided to use our influence to aid in disaster recovery PBN is offering up our airwaves to nonprofits and boots on the ground organizations that are affecting disaster recovery.
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1 (40m 19s):
Those tyranny and fight for the rights. Our creator bestowed us in the United States constitution. We all the prep rule costing network.
0 (40m 31s):
Okay. I had to make a couple more notes. So I asked the Intrepid commander, what are we going to do? You know, now that big tech censored us. I mean, if you caught the daily audio cache, our discord channel was deleted. It wasn’t just suspended. We got thrown off. So he thinks someone probably reported us. I don’t know, reported us for what? I’m not sure, but, and discord never, never even looked either that, or they didn’t like one of the articles that were posted, but we didn’t make things up.
0 (41m 8s):
We just put the stuff on, you know, shared information basically. So I don’t know, but he said, we will never go back to a platform that kicks us off. So there you go. He’s made the decision. Discord will never come back and we’re going to go onto something else for the EUC. So there you go. Okay. I got to keep moving. Cause this
2 (41m 34s):
Is how this is going to be a big show, a really big shoe tonight. This next interview is my wife, Maria. And as you’ve heard her in the past, now she talks about what life was like when she was a little girl growing up school, the fall of the communist party in Romania and how they got along. So here you go on.
2 (42m 6s):
Okay. I am here with my wife and love of my life, Maria Jones. And we’re going to find out what life was like in a communist country, growing up in economists country and after it fell. So how you doing? Fantastic. OK. Is first of all, I want to ask you, what was life like in a communist country?
2 (42m 36s):
Like in elementary school, up through high school? What was the school like?
8 (42m 43s):
Well, from what I remember in the elementary school, many times you have to participate on those parades for childcare school, which we go as kids and my dad went and everyone will have a team or even just going there with a flag, but you have to participate. And then on the school started that wasn’t September for two or three weeks, you will have like a, this community thing and the school, you have to go collect the grapes, the apples, the plumes.
8 (43m 16s):
And that was, you were saying mandatory
2 (43m 20s):
Kids would go pick up all the plums to take them to a large distillery where they would make the moonshine.
8 (43m 27s):
Well, that was exactly behind my mom house, but you have to go collect it. And it wasn’t just there. This happened also later in high school until charges went out of his camps. And second grade, I remember you supposed to receive the bandana with the, you know, the flag Carlos and the hammer and sickle. Yes. So we have a test and I was the only one which pass out.
8 (43m 57s):
And I cannot remember because the kids get mad. I received, you know, the, the bond and I, and then after we released to go home, they tried to beat me out. They don’t succeed, but I cannot forget that because I didn’t do anything wrong. You know, I, yeah,
2 (44m 15s):
You were a good communist, ah, wet.
8 (44m 20s):
And the high school, it became a little bit more painful. The teachers, they were asking us to buy the Congress speeches of deal with. And remember, I look all over the city and I couldn’t find the Congress books. And I went to the teacher and I say, I’ll pay their data out. And she put me zero, zero. Yeah. I almost failed for not having that book. And I couldn’t find it. I was too late.
9 (44m 49s):
So you were tested on what the president’s speeches?
8 (44m 54s):
Well, it went that far that on geography, right? That’s a long story, but I’ll make sure, even in geography, instead of having the test about geography, they put me to put the, I don’t know which Congress of child share school. And of course I knew them letter for letter work toward and the principal have to come. And of course he was a little bit surprised, but they went that high too, you know, you know, to explore, to, to make money. And then on Ceausescu die, we have to have this exam on the 10th grade, which was big, big thing for us.
8 (45m 30s):
And the history, they say, it’s a lie. And now they were arguing. Why are the kids going to do? We are like one month or two before exams. And they say, do they gonna go with the, you know, fakes? He studied all the truth, which we didn’t have time to layer. So we go with a fake history to be able to pass the exams. Wow.
9 (45m 51s):
Does that sound familiar about what’s going on today? Changing history? Hey, so when the communists, I remember our first trip there and I saw all these large cattle, livestock pens and things like that. And they were all falling in and Dick dilapidated. And I said, why doesn’t someone take those and, and run them. And Maria explained to me that when the communists came in, they took everybody’s land and they don’t.
9 (46m 26s):
Yeah.
8 (46m 27s):
They took the bulls with the carrier just in the back, because that was a kind of transportation, all the land. And I will give you an example. Okay.
9 (46m 39s):
My question was, did your parents lose their land? Yes. And did they get it back after the communist film?
8 (46m 48s):
Well, yes, my mom, she has from her family five hectares, which will be, how do you eat
9 (46m 57s):
Quite a bit of hectares?
8 (46m 59s):
And she she’s quite proud of it because one was the farm in Romania after the war, they, their parents, they, they live on nothing just to don’t sell the land. And she, she kind of, you know, health here that she has to lose it, but they took it. You don’t have a chance. And if you don’t agree to work for 90 days per year on the CYP, which was, you know, like the communist party yeah.
8 (47m 30s):
In the, you know, to do 90 days, exactly. They will give you 32 acres to be able to plant and, you know, grow food. If not, you, our house will be one of 500 square meters. And that was the land you will plant in. That’s why I want to go to Romania at my mom. You’ll see every little inch. Yeah. It’s planted. You don’t have where to put food because it’s, it was a child. She has coughing. But my mom, she did work for 90 days and just cultivating a stamp.
8 (48m 4s):
She remind me that I went and help her with painting the barns. They have all those farms with ships and chickens and cows and everything. So she has to count for that. And she was very proud that she got five late for us as kids, my sister and me, which it’s like a dollar and a quarter as a elementary pension for the kids and the patient, the first patient, after 32 years, working on the communist party, just to have that 32 acres to be able to plant.
8 (48m 40s):
She got 150 lay, which is about 30. I think it’s even less, it’s less. But anyway, she worked also as a, in a factory making dresses and a machine for kids from, you know, between one area and five years. And I started to help her as five years old, doing those dresses. Now, what did your dad do? My dad was a mechanic for a factory, which was specially designed to work export with Iraq, with bulldozer and staffs.
8 (49m 17s):
He was very good. They try to change your kind of machines. He stopped working one. He has an accident. He wasn’t his fault. Then he all his job, a machine, you know, hit him in the face and his job, all, he could have been dead and then give up the work. And they put him in disciplinary and he took very little patient because of that. After Ceausescu died, my mom, she got like a little bit more money, like around $75 pension from the 32 years of working in the fields.
9 (49m 56s):
Now let me ask you this. So if you didn’t work, they put you to work
8 (50m 2s):
Well after eight o’clock.
9 (50m 4s):
Yeah. You told me that you had to show your papers, your ID card.
8 (50m 7s):
Yeah. If you are out on the streets after eight o’clock at night, right? The poor list will be everywhere. So they will stop you. They will get your ID. And if you don’t have a job, they will take you by force and bring you to the mines. So you’ll get a job.
9 (50m 22s):
You had a job. So everybody worked and it was hard,
8 (50m 25s):
You know, we we’re kind of kind. So education was free. Health care was free. They even give you an apartment, which we live in Ash in the city, in an apartment because my dad worked in that factory. He got, you know,
9 (50m 41s):
How many rooms was the apartment
8 (50m 44s):
Three bedrooms? Well, it was like two bedrooms and a big salad on, in the kitchen and the hallway and two, one half bathroom and one big bathroom. But yeah, the hot water was just for an hour. Then what I remember from my childhood was still a vision. We have this black and white TV and that was the only entertainment we have. Okay. So then when you have, or you are in the middle of the movie, they will close the electricity.
8 (51m 15s):
So the electricity would just stop. And the excuse was that we have a depth to other countries and we have to save. So I grow up with those lamps with petrol. Yeah. My mom will put them there. We get, he was, it was these peacock girls, like Kenny miss stuff. And I never get to see the end. And it was so interesting because they get electricity out all the time.
8 (51m 47s):
Did you even know about the United States? Well, at around four and a half, I saw this movie, the Elvis with those girls in this red car and Las Vegas and we, those live the same stuff. And so they allowed that kind of movie. Yes. You know, they put just that they one as a Carter’s it was this thing, you know, a little girl called me higher was a drawing thingy. But when I saw that movie with Las Vegas, I have a feeling when I was lately, you know, to cope with stress and all that, you know, staff was around, I’ll go to bed and then I’ll make my own dreams.
8 (52m 28s):
And I dream, I was in that red car, this guy looking like
9 (52m 54s):
Did you ever hear radio free of
8 (52m 57s):
Yes we did, but you are not allowed. You’ll go to jail. My dad used to put that in the evening and they will say, this is the voice of America. Then he started to hear all this stuff and Oh my gosh, my pot and of listen. And they will say, it’s going to come a war and any, did he did the revolution come later?
9 (53m 19s):
Yeah. So let’s see if I, Oh, I to, I wanted to ask you about the food when the food started getting scares, because here’s how I found out about this. We were running through, we, we were going to hunt and we were running to our hunting spot in this state game lands. We had, we had slept in and we ran and Maria says, Oh my gosh, we’re running like to lose the milk.
9 (53m 50s):
And I said, running to lose the milk. What does that mean? So now tell them, tell them about running to lose the milk.
8 (53m 60s):
Well, let me start from the childhood. Okay? Okay. So the food was always a problem for mania. My, well, we didn’t know better. We didn’t know that you can have what NGS has many as you can. We have oranges one. He had family per head of family at Christmas time. And you have to stay in a line of orange. No, you will get like four, if you have four person, but you have to stay in a line of 240 people.
8 (54m 33s):
And that was one at Christmas time. So that was the only time for, to get water. And you see if we decide to stay in that line, so we didn’t have this, you know, luxury food, like it’s here in America. You know, my mom will make cakes. We’ll make all this kind of stuff. My dad, you are not allowed to calculate your own CARF. Okay. So my dad will go to those little villages and get those carves. You know, we cheer the communist party couldn’t preach to, and they didn’t know.
8 (55m 6s):
And wildlife 20 kilometers, one way, 20 kilometers back ways. Then we go another 10 kilometers in the forest to kill the calf, to have the meat. When kitty is pieces back in the box, and then you go with your feet up, don’t go into DTS and you’ll fall in the DTS anyway, because it’s that PHN, you cannot use a light
9 (55m 31s):
By a calf that wasn’t registered with the communist party just to butcher it so you can have food. Yeah. So did he sell any of the meat?
8 (55m 41s):
Well, some of them it, we sell, but we never sell it for a profit. We sell it, you know, just to make enough to pay for the car. And the people who’s bought it is happy because there was nothing in the stores to be able to buy that kind of stuff. So
9 (55m 59s):
You told me that when we went into the supermarket one time, this is early on. And she said, no, imagine a supermarket this big. And there’s only one thing in the store. And it was those noodles that you put in oil and they pop out these rifles,
8 (56m 18s):
The latest days, you know, like three, four years before childcare school and the top, the food start to come less and less. He always come out in the Congress, thinks and say, we have depth to those countries. We have to keep, you know, to pay out there. That’s why we don’t have, you know, enough on the shelves. And we have those little like cards. You’ll get a kilogram of flower, ration cards, a kilogram of voice.
8 (56m 49s):
And if you eat more, you can. But you know, that was plenty. We were quite skinny and Romania at that time. Now they start to fatter and democracy. But a later one, the food was worn out. We have those lines for milk. This is what he was saying. Those poor old people they’ll stay alive at one 30 at night. And we were living in this apartment and the, the grocery was under the apartments. And you hear clinging the glass bottles.
8 (57m 20s):
I, we didn’t, I didn’t stay much in that line because my parents had a cow and we have milk, but everything was Eva. And for that car, my mom, she hopped to pay milk. Right? When we did a moonshine in the back, it was a big, huge 300 kilogram copper steel. Wow. So she, she will bring all their plumes and then they will give you some, and then they start to make their own.
8 (57m 51s):
But if they catch them,
9 (57m 53s):
So if you had plum trees, you had to bring your plants
8 (57m 58s):
9 (58m 1s):
Then they would give you a portion of the moonshine.
8 (58m 5s):
Yes. And when I was around five, I went to see how he’s going, God plumps. And those people, they give me more shine and they make me drunk. I wasn’t able to go up the Hill anyway, on the year end. And the grocery store was just that we call them crab cakes.
9 (58m 24s):
Yeah. It was, it was rice note. As you’re traveling,
8 (58m 29s):
There was nothing. And this is how the revolution started. The mom, she, the kids, they went in front of the charges and then child chefs Corps there to kill them, to shoot on them. And the soldiers did some moms, they die, some kids they die. And then they say, why the heck are we are doing? And they tear and the army against child share screen. And he has some Arabic mercenaries paid. Yeah. So the feeling, you know, continue until they cut him in
9 (58m 59s):
Personal security guards,
8 (59m 1s):
Poison the waters, you know? Yeah. Yeah.
9 (59m 4s):
So I wanted to ask you about the shoot I had. I had,
8 (59m 11s):
Well, you, you say high school, how was high school? Every like two months, we have to go to do this exercise.
9 (59m 19s):
Yeah. To shoot. Oh,
8 (59m 23s):
Well it was a big thing. Good. During child, she asked my dad, you know, have to go. Yeah. And I remember my sister, she had to make your first kid because she didn’t want her husband to go through army. He was RBA. So we, we go and we learn how to shoot, you know, lay down the ground thingy and shoot. And he was preparing for something, you know, to bring kids as walled as what I was 16, you know, to learn, to shoot and not just us.
8 (59m 56s):
My dad went right. If my sister then had her kid, you know, pop out, you know, just for this reason he had hospital have went,
9 (1h 0m 4s):
Hey, you mentioned churches where the churches opened during the cutaways
8 (1h 0m 9s):
Childcare school put down, a lot of chairs is very wheelchairs is in Bucharest or the monastery close to my one was closed. We’re not allowed to practice any kind of staff. So he was against the religion in a lot of churches. God, maybe this is why he lost because he, he put down so many walls charges, right. And the Romania, you know, it’s here. You, you turn a corner. It’s a monastery where I think the King of Stefan Shamari built.
8 (1h 0m 44s):
You know, when I stayed is everywhere in Moldova.
9 (1h 0m 46s):
So tell me after the revolution and he was shot. What happened after that?
8 (1h 0m 55s):
Well, it was kind of a chaos. Really. I remember right after that, I was, you know, if you are at seven o’clock in the evening, out your safe during childcare school, because Paulie’s was everywhere. Nothing can happen to you. If you are, you know, you have a job, you have school and stuff, they stop you. They, you check, you know, you out. Okay. After Ceausescu, Diane, I remember being chased at seven o’clock from the tram vie.
8 (1h 1m 27s):
What you call this bus station to my apartment of someone. So I was walking quickly, quickly. So the, the crime spike up, like unbelievable.
9 (1h 1m 43s):
And did people, I mean, did the economy crashed if people have jobs or,
8 (1h 1m 50s):
Well, the people, since the borders open start to go out of Romania, to Germany, to Italy, to Spain still today. A lot of people it’s out because they don’t have much out to do Romania. Right. So we still have problems still today remain. It’s not doing very well.
9 (1h 2m 12s):
Well, it’s a, it’s a very industrial country in that it, it enough resources to feed its people. They have agriculture enough. They have industry enough that they were, they were what they call a communist block country.
8 (1h 2m 35s):
We still kind of a little bit. Yeah. If you see now on the coronavirus start right in the CTF and the, you know, my mom. Yeah. You know, town. Right. They will find those people. If they have a patient of 500 Lei with Connie merely one leg, okay. Jazz being out on the road, that’s a Coleman is leftover. Okay. Now they start to my gift for someone because they start to be complaints and stuff, but they got fine people that are taking us all to which they don’t know anything.
8 (1h 3m 11s):
They just went to get a bread. You know, they don’t have with them. And they put this rule. You cannot go out of the house here in 90 States. As a matter of fact, they did. But there you have to stay close in the house or go and get permission to get a paper. Oh, I’m going to get the bread.
9 (1h 3m 29s):
Hey, now you told me a story about after chow Chesko died and that you found out that there were spies in your classroom.
8 (1h 3m 42s):
Well, yeah, after the revolution, you know, it was, we were shocked. I remember we have this master head, you know, teacher, which was like our, you know, take care of everything. And I remember him telling us, you know, I cannot tell you everything because you might have ears. But then when this happened, we have six kids in the class, which are assigned to report. If the teacher or any of us will say anything bad about child share school.
8 (1h 4m 13s):
And I will tell you a connection, which I was thinking about a Romania here. Okay. We have this black life matter. Okay. And they are blaming those guys. They are killing the staff Romania. They don’t do that. They don’t touch on this three. They put you in jail. And in three days they will say he had a heart attack. He’s dead. Or he have a, you know, he, they don’t do, they do the Coleman right. Way.
8 (1h 4m 44s):
I don’t understand why here in America, they don’t want to learn this thing. You know? I mean, why do we expose that thing like that? But
9 (1h 4m 53s):
I can’t remember. It was the first election that you had saw in the United States. And you said, why go through all this bother? Why did you just drag the last president out and shooting?
8 (1h 5m 8s):
Well, I don’t remember exactly if I say that, but you see, I don’t know exactly the feeling we childcare school house was shot, but some people, they believe he might never have been shot because like any communists, you know, plays dance, they have dabblers. Right, right. They have dabblers.
9 (1h 5m 28s):
No worries. Great is right. I mean, they don’t know.
8 (1h 5m 32s):
No, but we did see where this, you know, we’re bathrooms with golden gold, real gold stuff. And, and he could have done good if he doesn’t start the population, his stuff. Yeah.
9 (1h 5m 47s):
Well, I want to thank you for this fantastic insight to what it’s like growing up in a communist country. And I’m sure the listeners found it. Interesting. And we’re gonna, we’re gonna talk about this on the show, but you know, drawing parallels between, you know, what’s going on today, of course, you guys didn’t have guns. Right?
8 (1h 6m 10s):
Well, we didn’t have guns around me. I know. But a knife knife was a big thing. So
8 (1h 6m 41s):
Okay. But you have, you know, sticks, you have knives. So they use that heavily. This is how many people get, you know, to die of. So I dunno at its Wars, you know, die slowly or die quickly.
9 (1h 6m 58s):
Well, thank you so much for coming on the show and we’ll end it right there.
9 (1h 7m 34s):
2 (1h 8m 45s):
Okay. Of course, you know that to be Lee green ward, and God bless the USA. And I have to tell you the first time I heard that song, I was in the RFK stadium. And so this was president Reagan’s second inauguration. And we were supposed to March in it.
2 (1h 9m 16s):
I was in the army, actually. I was in the reserves then. And we were the only reserve unit that was picked to March in this parade. And we went down to D C and practiced marching, and how you had had to do the turns and all that kind of stuff. And it was January and the weather was supposed to be 10 below zero. So they made the very wise choice of not having a parade.
2 (1h 9m 49s):
Okay. President Reagan came to the stadium along with vice president Bush, which is uncommon to have both the president and vice president in one location at one time. And everybody, everybody that was to March in that parade, went to the stadium and they played that song before the president came out and spoke to us. And I will never forget that.
2 (1h 10m 21s):
I will never forget that. It’s, it’s not often that you have a song that you can remember the first time you heard that, but it was such a moving thing to be in this stadium full of. There were other military people there they’re 82nd airborne was there. I mean, it was fantastic. It was fantastic. And you were proud to be an American. Yup.
2 (1h 10m 52s):
So I just thought I’d share that with you guys and let’s see what else we can do here. This is going to be a long show. We’re already at an hour and 10 minutes and I still have another 30 minutes. So sit back, relax, listen to this. This is a special announcement from the prepper broadcasting network. Contact us now for consultation,
0 (1h 11m 15s):
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1 (1h 12m 44s):
A person who advocates, some practices preparedness one ready for any event that would disrupt their daily routine. That is a prep.
0 (1h 12m 55s):
Well, that would be all of us here, right? A this next interview. I, like I said, I went out to fortitude ranch yesterday and I stocked, I talked to the onsite manager, Steve Renee, and we, we talk about several different things. And the fact that the fortitude ranch is expanding and opening up more locations and how you can get into a fortitude ranch right now.
0 (1h 13m 27s):
So I’m gonna play this interview and I’ll be back after. Okay. So I am at fortitude ranch and I’m here with Steve Renee. Hey Steve, how you doing? I’m doing great. So I thought I’d come out here and ask you some questions about fortitude ranch, because our listeners always get to hear my voice talking about it. So I thought I’d, I get a different voice on four. I’m happy to do it, Dave. Now you’re the onsite manager I am.
0 (1h 13m 58s):
So I handle the day to day stuff anywhere from mowing the lawn. It’s pretty hot today. So I’m paying a price for that, but anywhere from mowing the lawn to continuing with maintenance, I
11 (1h 14m 12s):
Mean, whether it be cleaning out gutters, it’s all those things that you need to do a day to day, as well as you know, doing tours for prospective members, a lot of people who hear about us, they want to come out because we’re such a, a, a different perspective than a lot of what you’d find in the prepper community, because we’re not only a survival community, but we’re also a recreational community. So, so people are really need to come out and see it. And so I take part in the tours, you know, and, and help people with all their questions as well as you know, the daily.
2 (1h 14m 48s):
Hey, well, let me get your contact information up front because you know, I talk up fortitude ranch all the time, but I never get any leads. No. How can they contact you?
11 (1h 14m 59s):
Well, you know, we actually now have a full time representative for people seeking membership. And that’s alicia@fortituderanch.com. And you can also contact me if you live real close here to West Virginia. My contact is steve@fortituderanch.com. And either one of those we’ll get you to either me particularly or Alicia who handles all of the inquiries from members.
2 (1h 15m 26s):
Yeah. And now there’s a lot of stuff going on here at fortitude ranch, West Virginia. What I see the rooms every time I come out here, there’s new improvements. The rooms are, are being renovated. Can you tell me some of the things that you’re doing right now for the continuing the construction?
11 (1h 15m 47s):
So what we do is, so we’ve built out the rooms here, you know, particularly we’re talking about the economy option. Yeah. And that’s a 10 by 10 space. So at a minimum, in order for the economics to work, it’s a minimum of three could be, but could be a family of five. So we have the ability to be able to construct that to what’s most advantageous to the person who’s looking for a membership, right. So, you know, we can turn it into a situation where you can put a family of five, which may seem kind of cramp, but we’re sitting right here looking at the loft room, right?
11 (1h 16m 25s):
So we’re sitting on a bunk bed that folds into a couch yet, so that you gain the space on the floor. Then you have a twin above it. And then in the corner to this space, you have a loft area that also is, can sleep two people with a small workspace. There’s even a small desk. See that. And so there’s electricity running throughout. So people have the opportunity. Once they become a member, they can come out and actually store their stuff and personalize their space.
11 (1h 16m 57s):
Right? So most members are five years that it makes sense economically, rather than trying to re up every year, which the cost is higher. Right. So, so for five years, it’s helpful. Not only for them economically, but it helps us to have that community. I get to know them. And a lot of people come out so they can sit here and talk to me, you know, get to know more, build that rapport because under a collapsed situation, you want to know, Oh yeah, right.
11 (1h 17m 27s):
Who it is that you’re gonna be with.
2 (1h 17m 29s):
I want to build those relationships.
11 (1h 17m 32s):
And so, you know, from my part as a manager, so I’m looking for what their special skills are, you know, how we could work best to fit them into the community setting. Once that would ever take place. I take notes, you know, I annotate, I help them to do whatever they want to do personally.
2 (1h 17m 50s):
Yeah. You said a bunch of things that I want to ask you about, and I’m not making any notes here. So I got to remember this. Sure. Okay. So first of all, you said five years makes the most economic sense. Now this is not like a timeshare or a condominium thing, right? No, not at all. So they buy a membership depending on the number of years. And they also get what you call vacation days, right? Yes.
11 (1h 18m 17s):
So they have the opportunity to come out. You know, we have a, a 4,000 square foot, which used to be a bed and breakfast. It’s a gorgeous dog home. That’s the luxury membership. So when they come out, they have the option to either use the room that they’ve purchased airspace. Yes. If they choose to, or they can, you know, if the availability allows it, they can stay in that beautiful bed and breakfast. And I’ll tell ya, we have a lot of folks from the DC area. I mean, we have members as far as Massachusetts and Florida, however, the, you know, the bulk of the people who are members here are from the DC.
2 (1h 18m 53s):
Yeah. Virginia, Maryland. Yeah.
11 (1h 18m 55s):
Yes. And they just loved the come out from the steel and the concrete and the drive is gorgeous. Once they get here, they’re already rested. I know it was therapeutic from the drive. And then they get here and you got nothing but beautiful mountains. And, you know, we, we have upon, it’s more like a Lake, but it’s the only natural beach in West Virginia. It’s eight miles down the road.
11 (1h 19m 25s):
Okay. Trout pond, if you throw a anything in the water, you’re bound to get something cool. Because there’s a,
2 (1h 19m 33s):
Actually a hatchery that’s not right
11 (1h 19m 35s):
Far from the air and it stocked continuously. Wow. So you’ve got great fishing, great hunting. We have great national parks that allow you to do horseback
2 (1h 19m 42s):
Riding. We had, no, we were surrounded on three sides by the George Washington national forest.
11 (1h 19m 49s):
And we, you know, the property of
2 (1h 19m 51s):
Blitz. Yeah. That yeah.
11 (1h 19m 54s):
Go from our property. And then you step off into 1,100 acres. Yes. It’s huge national forest that has plenty of game and hiking and, you know, talk about bang for buck, right? Oh yeah. When I talk to folks, that’s what I try to explain to them. One, you get the security of the survival side of this. Right? Right. You get peace of mind. You have a place to go. You know, some people look at it like a life insurance policy that actually protects your life rather than paying to bury you, you know, once you’ve passed on.
11 (1h 20m 29s):
Yeah. And then other folks really, sometimes the tipping point is just the beauty and the recreational aspect.
2 (1h 20m 36s):
Yeah. As well, I referred a guy out to the Colorado
11 (1h 20m 41s):
Fortitude ranch
2 (1h 20m 43s):
And he said he wanted to buy the membership simply to hunt. There you go to have a place to go.
11 (1h 20m 50s):
So, and there’s the other thing. So even if you’re a member here in West Virginia, your vacation days can be spent out in Colorado. Yeah. That’s nice. So you come here in the summer, enjoy all that. There is to enjoy here. And then you could go out there to hunt, you know, in the fall for some of that game that we, you know, we don’t, we have bear Turkey and deer here, but they have elk and other game out there. So yeah. There’s a lot that you can do, you know? And now we’re looking to know,
2 (1h 21m 18s):
I guess expansion. Yeah. That was my next question
11 (1h 21m 21s):
Go. And so we’re looking at Nevada and Arizona next Wisconsin, you know, we have a real interest from investors in Pennsylvania. So as this grows, your membership becomes more and more valuable because then you have the options. Yeah.
2 (1h 21m 40s):
Yeah. So you could buy in now and as it grows, like there’s a deal in Tennessee and Massachusetts. Yes. That may go through. Absolutely. And if we get that, that’s two more or less.
11 (1h 21m 54s):
And that’s why right now we have members, you know, members that are in Florida and Massachusetts.
2 (1h 21m 60s):
Yeah. They, they, they
11 (1h 22m 3s):
Join knowing that the expansions coming in, as soon as that does come, we automatically transfer those folks to the nearer ranch. Right. We don’t expect them to drive all the way down here to West Virginia in a crisis situation. And so they realize the value in it right now. Yes. And then they are automatically transferred. It’s not like it’s automatic. There’s no question. Right. As soon as that opens, you have your spot. There’s no question about it. And then that way they’re, you know, eventually as we look towards 12 across the country, nobody will have to travel very far.
11 (1h 22m 38s):
And then you have 12 different spots to be able to use your vacation days. Right.
2 (1h 22m 44s):
Yeah. How many vacation days do you get? So you got something I don’t even know
11 (1h 22m 48s):
Seven in the summer and then seven in the winter. Yeah. So just like you would on a normal job, right. 14 days or two weeks. That’s great. Yeah. You just, you can split it up, use it the way, you know, I’ve had people ask me, can I take the whole seven we’ll of course. I mean, it’s it, there’s a of availability in some like say 4th of July. Right, right. We’re booked up. But these people had planned ahead and they’re gonna use their days, but you know, it’s not like you can’t, if you want to come, you always have this room that you could go to.
11 (1h 23m 22s):
A lot of people like the bed and breakfast option, but that’s not a deal breaker. There’s always room for fun.
2 (1h 23m 28s):
Always space. Yeah. Now I wanted to ask about the RV pads and we have a limited number right now we’re planning to put more in, correct?
11 (1h 23m 40s):
Yes. So we actually, so we’ve sold, there’s only one left, ah, of the ones we have now. And so we want to do, you know, continue the expansion, as soon as that last one sells and we’ll look to expand further. Yeah. Right. Putting your money where it’s most advantageous. We don’t want to do 12 if we’re not going to, you know, if the need isn’t there. So we have one available and which is really, you know,
2 (1h 24m 5s):
The least expensive option. Yeah.
11 (1h 24m 7s):
Yeah. If you already own an RV, right. $1,200 gets you a year and that’s for three people. And I’ve had people that were looking towards that option and then we’re going to purchase an RV, you know? I mean, that’s how good of a deal they thought it was. Cause it gives them a little bit more control over their environment. Right.
2 (1h 24m 31s):
Your own living space that you bring with you. And if it’s your bug out vehicle anyways, right. Drive it right here, park it, you got security. Hey, speaking of security, we got something coming up in July, right? Yes. And it’s something new that we’re trying out. This was a suggestion of one of our investors. All I wanted to also talk to you about investing in fortitude ranch. If there’s anybody out there listening and they want to get in the industry of preparedness, this is a great way to get into it for not too much money.
11 (1h 25m 8s):
Yeah. And you know, so when you think about it, even on an economical basis, right. This is still ground floor for investors. Yes. Right. I mean, now’s the time to get in if that’s what you have in mind to do. And you know, we we’ve had, as, you know, covered media coverage galore. I mean, there’s a lot of work
2 (1h 25m 28s):
Or every day. So drew said that he would entertain investors as low as 50,000. Is that what you understand?
11 (1h 25m 38s):
Yes. Yes. And you know, we have, we’ve had a couple investors at the a hundred thousand Mark to this point, we’re in communication with others or looking for a million to two. I mean, there’s a wide variety here again because we’re at ground floor. And, you know, from our perspective, we want to expand as quick as possible to help as many people as possible. So, you know, we’ve kind of opened that door to try and do the best we can, you know, as we look to, you know, a turbulent election season.
2 (1h 26m 10s):
Absolutely. That’s another thing I said that for the first time ever fortitude, ranches opening up for this election, so members will be able to come out during the election in case something goes wrong.
11 (1h 26m 28s):
Right. And you know, we talked about the perfect storm, right? Yeah. COVID was right. Never saw it coming the way that it happened to happen in China at the new year’s is the perfect storm because of the way that works. And part of that celebration is to literally travel all the way around the world. You couldn’t have planned it, right. If you were trying to make a band demic happen. And so, you know, now we see what the unrest here, you know, in the United States over, you know, the death of George Floyd, everything that’s taken place from that you’ve, you you’ve now put on top of that contemptuous political season.
11 (1h 27m 12s):
Right. And you know, there is, again, that ability or the probability of a worst case scenario.
2 (1h 27m 22s):
Yeah. I’m with drew a hundred percent on this, these, these riots and this civil unrest was just previews of what’s going to happen.
11 (1h 27m 31s):
Yeah. No matter who’s elected probably win or lose. Yeah. And that’s the whole thing because you know, we, as an organization, don’t take sides. That’s not what we’re into. Right. It’s not about that. It’s about trying to help our members be prepared, keeping our, you know, our ear to the ground, as far as, you know, what’s shaking and rattling our country. And so it doesn’t have to be conspiracy anymore. Right. It’s reality. Right. We’re in the reality stage we got off track
2 (1h 28m 1s):
There. Cause I wanted to talk about the 25th and 26th of July. We’re doing something new. We’re conducting training for members, well members and nonmembers. Right. So I think drew set this out in the last newsletter and I’m going to post it as many places as I can. So if you want like basic tactical training, what would you call?
11 (1h 28m 31s):
Yeah. And that’s really what it is. It’s, it’s your ground or your foundation for survival. It really is. So we’re going to cover, you know, so many categories, it may even be overwhelming. Oh yeah, absolutely. You know, for those who come, if they’re not have had this type of training before, but all of it will, but that’s how you start. Right. That’s how you gotta start somewhere your foundation. So they’ll have the ability to, you know, go through all the different of what’s going to be important in a crisis or collapsed situation since it’s Saturday to last Saturday and Sunday in J J July, July 25th and 22nd, they can come out Friday night if they want and then stay the whole weekend.
11 (1h 29m 17s):
Yup. Because Saturday is mostly classroom and then Sunday is mostly actual physical, you know, the actual, so we’ll get into the different things. Like one of the ones I’ll be covering is a R’s. So I’ll go over the PowerPoint presentation in the basics on the first day about AR safety, you know, all the things that go into it, as far as you gotta, you gotta know what you’re using, right? The best shooter is the person who’s comfortable with the platform that you’re using.
11 (1h 29m 51s):
You have to have hands on as well. So we’ll talk about it the first day. And then the second day we’ll actually go out to the range and be able to fire. And there’s no substitute for that. No, there’s you have to have the combination, the knowledge and the experience is what’s gonna make you proficient. Yeah. That’s when you actually own the scale. Yes. You don’t own it until you’ve done it. Right. So are they going to be able to shoot the 50 cow? I don’t think we make demonstrate that that everybody can go.
11 (1h 30m 21s):
Wow. But no, the, the class will be on the AR is, cause that, you know, that’s the most effective platform the most used in this scenario, but it applies to all weapons platforms. Right? The things that we’ll be talking about. So recently, and I say recently, since the pandemic fortitude ranch has increased its our shuttle with a 50 caliber rifle.
11 (1h 30m 52s):
Yes. And this is basically to take out any kind of armored vehicle that may threaten us. So what is it like 10 bucks at round or something like that? Know you, you have to see the difference between a two to three. Yeah. You know, and a 50 Cal in order to appreciate it, but then nothing prepares you for the actual experience. So we had the investors from Pennsylvania that came out and they were here for a weekend.
11 (1h 31m 23s):
And so I offered him to be able to shoot it. Yeah. And he wanted to see me shoot at first. And I said, it’s not going to do you any help. Right. I said, you, you literally, there’s not much to this. It’s very simple. And by me firing this weapon, it’s not going to help you one single bit. You need to experience it. I said, there’s really nothing I can do to prepare you for this. And that was his exact words when it was done and to his credit.
11 (1h 31m 53s):
Yeah. He hit the target. Okay. Two shots. Wow. I was impressed. I told him, I said not, not many people can that. And he then went on to practice with his AR, which I’m not sure if it was his first time, but it was, it may have only been his second. Oh, he wasn’t very proficient, but he was a natural shooter. He hit that thing every single time. Wow. That’s something. Yeah. So
2 (1h 32m 17s):
I often tell people, this is like a country club for preppers. And instead of bringing your golf clubs to golf on the course, you bring your AR to shoot on our range.
11 (1h 32m 29s):
Yeah. Yeah. So we have, so I have some of the members that come on, just use the pistols too, right? Yeah. There’s, there’s a member who works for the government that, you know, he’d re he needs more training than what they provide. Right. So he comes out, he’ll fire a hundred rounds, you know, in one standing just to keep proficient with his issue pistol,
2 (1h 32m 53s):
You can do that here. Whereas you go to a range or something like that.
11 (1h 32m 57s):
That’s the thing, not only money. Right. But when you’re talking about an AR, they’re hard to come by, especially if you’re talking about the DC area, you know, that type of situation. So again, that whole bang for your buck, you know, really, it’s not just a words. I mean, it really is true. You know what? This offers you as a member, it’s in some of those things are intangible.
2 (1h 33m 23s):
Yeah. Hey, and we just let everybody know. We do keep all our members information classified. We don’t even tell people our exact location. So we also don’t advertise how many people, how many members we have total number. So we keep as much information classified as possible and still bring, you know, new members.
11 (1h 33m 55s):
There’s actually only two people who know who all those members are and those two people are willing to go to jail. So yeah, there’s no turning over of that information.
2 (1h 34m 4s):
Anybody that, you know, confidentiality is a lot of preppers concern and fortitude ranch does that.
11 (1h 34m 13s):
Absolutely. And so we, you know, there’s, I have a lot of contact with some folks. I have minimal contact with others, you know, and of course, part of that is distance and the business of life and all that. But the I’ve really appreciated the side effect of COVID in the sense people had some free time. And so they came out and took advantage of their membership. And that way there, again, I was able to meet with them and you know, you put a face to a name, a conversation and you know, then they always have a bunch of questions and they always leave satisfied because this is a well thought out.
11 (1h 34m 53s):
This isn’t like absolutely, you know, some pie in the sky or something that was just, you know, thought of an imp implemented quickly. There’s a lot of experience. There’s a lot of professionality involved in this and then that shines through, right?
2 (1h 35m 10s):
Oh yeah. You can see it. It’s it’s obvious from the beginning. As soon as you pull through the gate, you can see that this was well thought out from the, the underground portion that’s between the two lodges and the totally underground Quonset hut. That’s over there. You could hardly tell it’s even there. Right. And Hey, one more time. How do they get a contact with you if they’re interested in a membership or have questions.
11 (1h 35m 40s):
So you can contact me@steveatfortituderanch.com and you can, for anybody who’s out there as an investor, you wouldn’t want to talk to drew. He handles all of the investment inquiries, his email address, his manager at fortitude, ranch.com. And then questions about membership outside of West Virginia. You would contact Alicia at fortitude, ranch.com and all of that can be found at our web.
2 (1h 36m 9s):
Yeah. It was fortitude ranch.com and Alicia will know more about the expansion and the plans for expansion. And Oh, do we want to talk about the tokens?
11 (1h 36m 22s):
Yeah. I mean, that’s also a good option, you know, when you, so there in the past, there has been those who weren’t ready for membership, but they wanted to secure a spot just in case. And so that’s what the tokens are all about. There has been some confusion in the past that you have to purchase a membership through tokens, which is a,
2 (1h 36m 43s):
Yeah, you don’t have to, you can pay cash for the membership. It’s no problem. The idea behind the tokens drew was actually a financial guy and, and he saw the need or the, the market for cryptocurrency. So he created a fortitude, which is a cryptocurrency it’s traded. And what this does is it’s a way to hedge your bet. If a collapse occurs, memberships are cut off, that’s it.
2 (1h 37m 19s):
There there’ll be no more. The only way you can get in is if you have these tokens, so we won’t accept cash. Of course, if a collapse occurs, the cash may be no good. So the fortitude, the, the currency, the cryptocurrency fortitude is the only way you’ll be able to get in.
11 (1h 37m 42s):
And it’s an investment. So yeah, it’s gone up 60%. Yeah,
2 (1h 37m 45s):
I know from the inception. Yeah. It was, it was a hundred dollars when it first started. And I think it’s 168 now, and this is an actual it’s traded people buy it. And so if I would have bought it back then, right. And I’ve had, and I’ve had members who have bought memberships. Yeah. And then they also bought tokens for the financial side of it thinking they were there in the market. They, they, you know, it’s what they did professionally when they realized, Oh yeah, that’s going nowhere but up.
2 (1h 38m 19s):
Yep. They also bought tokens, even though they were already a member, you know, just for, just for that value alone. Yeah. But you know, the key is also you lock in your price. Yes. So if a collapse doesn’t happen for a couple years, let’s say, you know, the cost of living and everything always goes up, but you lock in your price for a membership as well. So there’s another value added to it as well. Yeah. Well, I want to thank you.
2 (1h 38m 49s):
Steve has been a great interview and you take care and careful out there mowing. Absolutely appreciate you coming and talking. Okay. Well, how did you like that interview? So we’re going to wrap it up now, but what I’d like to do is give you a little more, the Greenwood on the way out. I hope everybody out there has a great safe 4th of July weekend.
2 (1h 39m 20s):
And we’ll be coming back on Monday. James, the Intrepid commander has told me that we will be live on Monday. So Monday night, we’re gonna have a show. Hey, and don’t forget to go sign up for your members only section because there’s a lot of good stuff there. And it’s right on the first page of prepper broadcasting. I think it’s 60 bucks for an entire year and it helps us keep the lights on and keep these information coming out.
2 (1h 39m 56s):
Okay. So everybody take care and prep on
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10 (1h 40m 18s):
2 (1h 42m 4s):
There, you have it. Oh man. I know you were standing up and I know you were singing. I was anyways. I hope you couldn’t hear me. Hey God, bless the USA. Take care of a buddy. Remember prep on
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