Reflecting on a life in the woods, and looking ahead
By Marjorie Burris
Issue #60 • November/December, 1999
It is a good life here on the old homestead. We've worked hard, and we are enjoying the fruits of our labor. It was tough digging the holes...
What kind of Americans sit on our juries?
By John Silveira
March 16, 2000
Our jury system is supposed to be a buffer between us--the citizens--and the government. It is there to prevent the abuse of power that governments have exercised since the dawn...
Our energy crisis Part 1 — It’s our creation, but we can fix it
By John Silveira
Issue #113 • September/October, 2008
It has been said the United States is a "carbon economy" meaning that our economy and standard of living depend on the availability of fossil fuels which include...
The chances of global disaster
By John Silveira
Issue #57 • May/June, 1999
We were preparing the current issue and the office hummed as it always does during deadline. Dave Duffy, the fellow who publishes this magazine, explained to our new...
Why not risk it all!
By Dave Duffy
Issue #64 • July/August, 2000
I got this letter from a reader:
Please cancel my subscription. I had the opportunity to read your editorial glorifying your agenda as a "paranoid, gun-toting nut." This is...
Why bureaucracy will likely destroy America
By John Silveira
Issue #50 • March/April, 1998
"Civilizations rise and fall," Dave said and I turned around to see if he was talking to me, but he was still staring at his monitor. I looked...
Beautiful Women
By John Silveira
August 10, 2001
Who are the 50 most beautiful women in the world? Askmen.com recently came up with a readers' list.
At the bottom and rounding out the list is Sandra Bullock (50th). They...
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...
A Republic vs. A Democracy
By John Silveira
Issue #90 • November/December, 2004
He was in the other office when I heard his voice. But he was getting closer and closer and then he came through the door into the editorial...
The curse of oil
By John Silveira
Issue #82 • July/August, 2003
To many, the oil beneath the sands of the Middle East is a kind of godsend for them. My take on it is that it's illusionary wealth in...
Which wars work best? The ones we fight or the ones we avoid?
By Dave Duffy
Issue #102 • November/December, 2006
History is supposed to teach us the lessons of wars past so we won't blunder into stupid wars in the present. Since I have mixed feelings about our...
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 Informed Juror — How an informed jury helps safeguard liberty
By Gary F. Arnet, D.D.S.
Issue #82 • July/August, 2003
You are hereby summoned to appear for jury trial service. Failure to respond will subject you to punishment for contempt, including a $1,000 fine, imprisonment for...
The Newtown atrocity and “gun control”
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #140 • March/April, 2013
In mid-December of 2012, a mentally disturbed twenty-year-old whose escalating aberrant behavior had gone untreated and unchecked murdered his own mother, stole her guns, and entered the Sandy...
Putting it all on the Amtrak line for Self-Reliance magazine
By Dave Duffy
Issue #163 • January/February, 2017
As publisher of Backwoods Home Magazine for 28 years, I have not had to work as hard in recent years, as younger people like Managing Editor Jessie Denning...
How to achieve affordable health care
By John Silveira
Issue #120 • November/December, 2009
Despite all the hubbub about health care, the United States can have affordable health care tomorrow if we want it. There have been real solutions available, solutions that...
