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Frequently Asked Questions
Steve Beyer

What is the wilderness? What’s so special about the wilderness? What is wilderness survival? How does all this relate to survivalism? What are primitive skills? Are wilderness survival and primitive skills the same? Why bother? What is wilderness spirituality? What is animism? What is pantheism? Is wilderness spirituality pagan? What does this have to do with shamanism? What is a vision fast?

How does all this relate to survivalism?

Not much. Survivalism has many meanings. To some, it is simply preparedness for difficulties and disasters, from snowstorms to tornadoes to the collapse of the government. To some, it also implies a philosophy of self-reliance and individualism, usually antiauthoritarian, antigovernment, and in favor of gun ownership and traditional forms of social organization. And to some, it implies a conspiratorial view of history and society, with our destiny being controlled by powerful secret forces and organizations, which, finally, shades into racism and anti-Semitism.

The connection is this. Many survivalists and survivalist groups have an interest in wilderness skills, for obvious reasons. This means that wilderness survival can be discussed, often extensively, in newsgroups and forums devoted primarily to survivalist philosophy; it also means that discussions in newsgroups and forums devoted primarily to wilderness skills can sometimes warp off into discussions of social organization, gun rights, abortion, and the proper role of the United Nations.

In addition, the survivalist approach to wilderness skills, it seems to me, is more in the mode of conquering nature than in accommodating to it. This approach seems consistent with the more general survivalist philosophy. Survivalists, too, are often professing Christians, and sometimes have little patience with a more pagan – that is, animist, shamanist, and pantheist – relationship to wilderness.

For More Information

Wilderness survival schools Wilderness medicine training Books on wilderness medicine Books on wilderness survival Wilderness survival stories Videos on wilderness survival Wilderness survival Web sites Wilderness gear Writings on wilderness emergency care

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