Three honest words: “I don’t know”
By John Silveira
Issue #63 • May/June, 2000
As we enter another political campaign season I'm reminded of my three favorite words: "I don't know."
Some years back, when I lived in southern California, I met the...
Concealed carry laws reduce crime
By John Silveira
Issue #143 • September/October, 2013
This year, Illinois became the 50th state to allow the carrying of concealed weapons by law-abiding citizens. That's a milestone that heralds a lot of good news for...
Paying for social security with worthless $
By Dave Duffy
Issue #117 • May/June, 2009
The year was 1976. I was 32 and writing a book about retirement planning with Tony Lamb, a noted 73-year-old activist who had taken up the cause of...
The destruction of the mass print media will help save freedom in America
By Dave Duffy
Issue #119 • September/October, 2009
I tend to be an optimist, even though the state of America's economy and politics does not appear very promising right now. So I want to talk about...
The ‘Curious Guy’ and the ‘Offended Woman’
By Dorothy Ainsworth
February, 2004
The March/April issue of BHM magazine came out with me on the cover and my house-building story inside. I was happy to have the opportunity to share my story and hopefully...
The Coming American Dictatorship revisited
By John Silveira
Issue #77 • September/October, 2002
Mac's back. After a long absence our poker-playing friend from southern California, O.E. MacDougal, walked into the Oregon offices of Backwoods Home Magazine.
Poof, and there he was. No...
The parasitic nature of bureaucracy
By Dave Duffy
Issue #106 • July/August, 2007
As we go to print with this issue, my local newspaper's main page one headline reads: County tax levy soundly defeated. I applauded at my desk to the...
My View: Jury duty: The charge was rape
Dave Duffy
I was on jury duty for 2½ weeks between issues. On trial was a 21-year-old man (now 23) accused of raping a 20-year-old girl during an encounter two years previous in which both...
If you want to survive an emergency, look to yourself, not the Government
By Dave Duffy
Issue #96 • November/December, 2005
Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath said what I could not have said convincingly in ten thousand words: The government cannot protect you in a major emergency. It doesn't...
Terrorism in America — The armed citizen’s view
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #150 • November/December, 2014
The warnings come in non-stop...
FoxNews: "A new English-language Al Qaeda magazine features a how-to article on making car bombs and suggests terror targets in the United States, including...
Understanding the gun debate, part 2
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #162 • November/December, 2016
Click Here to read Part 1
When debating any controversial issue, the first thing one has to do is sort the lies from the truth.
On the pro-gun side, mistruths...
If you want to take care of your health, you have to take control...
By Dave Duffy
Issue #100 • July/August, 2006
The other day a man called the office to thank me for writing Issue 98's page 7 editorial, in which I urged readers to get a stress test...
Lessons for My Children…Chapter 3: Hiding from the government
By Dave Duffy
Issue #138 • November/December, 2012
After opening the discussion in this column last issue about the underground economy, I thought it would be a good idea to explore it more thoroughly since it...
My View: Gaining an appreciation for risk
By Dave Duffy
January/February/March, 2019
Now and then you have to make a daring move in your life, or you’ll run the risk of losing your dreams. Some people do that by changing their job to...
Science and truth. Are they related?
By John Silveira
Issue #46 • July/August, 1997
It was an argument about science. Dave and I were on one side, Dave's friends Tom and Bill, though curiously nonallied, were on the other. I say nonallied...
Self-reliance equals freedom
By Dave Duffy
Issue #107 • September/October, 2007
There seems always to be an underlying debate among self-reliant types who make up a majority of the readership of this magazine as to whether or not the...
