Commentary Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Goodbye TV, hello constructive time

By Dave Duffy Issue #67 • January/February, 2001 About six months ago the satellite dish for my family's TV stopped working. Because we are too far from cable TV and an antenna does not bring in...

The unheralded roots of America’s freedoms

By John Silveira Issue #108 • November/December, 2007 I've just finished reading a fascinating book by Charles C. Mann. It's titled, 1491, and subtitled New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus. The book has turned what...

I stink! but that’s okay

By Dave Duffy Issue #83 • September/October, 2003 There are valuable life lessons to be learned from realizing you're not very good at a lot of things, even at things you think are important to be...

That old survivalist mumbo jumbo and 10 reasons why it makes sense

By Dave Duffy Issue #91 • January/February, 2005 I've got a suggestion for a sensible New Year's resolution for self-reliant types like myself, and I've got at least 10 good reasons to keep it. The resolution...

The Runaway

By John Silveira February 9, 2006 My kids are grown. But it didn't come about without a lot of frustration, tribulations, and laughs. Runaways: What do you do with a six-year-old who threatens to run away? One woman...

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...

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...

Armed civilians can help fight terrorism

By Massad Ayoob Issue #90 • November/December, 2004 This article was written before terrorists seized a school in Beslan, a town in North Ossetia, one of the small republics that make up the modern Russian Federation....

The Government gorilla in our home

By Dave Duffy Issue #101 • September/October, 2006 The other week, Vince, a contractor who does occasional work for me, was arrested for slapping his 14-year-old daughter on the behind when she talked back to her...

Tackling the real problems that face us

By Dave Duffy Issue #134 • March/April, 2012 Thank goodness most of the apocalyptic scenarios the doom and gloomers talk about are either founded upon faulty premises or, if based on science, are extremely rare occurrences....

Dealing with Liberals and History

By John Silveira February 6, 2000 Years ago I hated talking politics with liberals. I have a good memory and a good sense of history, but whenever I mentioned any historical "fact" that countered their arguments,...

How environmental ideology hurts the solar energy industry

By Dave Duffy Issue #69 • May/June, 2001 Starting with our first issue 11 years ago, Backwoods Home Magazine has promoted renewable energies, especially solar energy, and for the past two years we have carried a...

Lessons for My Children, Chapter 2: Statistics, history, and the rise of the Underground...

By Dave Duffy Issue #137 • September/October, 2012 I've always been a student of science and history. They tell you things many people don't know. I especially pay attention to statistics, which underlies all science, and...

Talking to your kids about death

By Dave Duffy Issue #97 • January/February, 2006 How do you talk to a child about the death of someone they love? How do you explain the impossible? It's a task many of us parents have...

Animal rights loonies save the chickens but ruin the County Fair

By Dave Duffy Issue #84 • November/December, 2003 We had our County Fair between issues. It was a small Fair with just a few thousand in attendance, but no one in our town of 1500 would miss...

Fixing a broken jury system

By John Silveira Issue #78 • November/December, 2002 "I blame every juror who let him go, every juror who sat on that trial and believed this man over those little girls. I will never understand. And...