Emergency
by Neil Strauss · first published 2009
16mentions
8recommended by
15HN commenters
2010–2017first – last mentioned
53% recommend47% neutral
Why HN recommends it
An investigative, first-person look at survivalism and self-sufficiency, including how to obtain alternative passports and escape systems. It is an engrossing, amusing read for anyone curious about preparedness.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Have you read "Emergency" by Neil Strauss? It's kind of all about hacking real life. Great read, IMO.
on “Ask HN: Books on hacking (Fiction)” ↗This is a good point and I'm struggling to grasp how deep this article indicates this problem goes. I just finished reading Emergency by Neil Strauss and this just motivates me more and more.
on “How the DEA took a young man’s life savings without charging him with a crime” ↗Neil Strauss' Emergency and Peter Heller's The Dog Stars. I read the piece in the New Yorker about rich tech guys and their bug out plans for the apocalypse (including Reddit's Alex Ohanian). I love Strauss' journey from survivalist…
on “Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently?” ↗Oh god! Robert Ver got a passport from St Kitts and Nevis. I remember reading this book about survivalism ("Emergency" by Neil Strauss--a really awesome read in investigative journalism btw), and he had a whole chapter on how to get a passport from St Kitts and Nevis. Basically, the point was that you need to buy property…
on “Americans Renouncing Citizenship at Record High” ↗Pilom is right. Your life would become revolved around food. You should check out the following three things: Emergency by Neil Strauss in which Neil detail his experiences in trying to become more self sufficient and gaining the abilities to escape from the system Island to Oneself by Tom Neale for a first hand account…
on “How do I become a self-sufficient old man in a shack?” ↗You might enjoy the fantastic book "Emergency" by Neil Strauss. It's non-fiction and deals somewhat with the "5 Flag" theory.
on “Facebook Co-Founder Gives Up U.S. Citizenship” ↗I first learned of this world in popular non-fiction: Emergency by Neil Strauss. An excellent book if you want to know more about secrecy jurisdictions, state regulatory capture, the basics of transfer pricing, etc. is Treasure Islands by Nick Shaxson (http://treasureislands.org/).
on “Dawn of Autonomous Corporations, Powered by Bitcoin” ↗Neil Strauss wrote a good one, that's pretty amusing too. EMERGENCY: This book will save your life. https://amzn.com/0060898771
on “Confessions of a Former Apocalypse Survival Guide Writer” ↗…Obtain multiple sets of credentials, including passports and related documents. I know this isn't an easy process, but it's at least theoretically possible. Neil Strauss gets into it a bit in his book Emergency[1], and there are dozens of other books[2][3][4][5][6] out there on how to obtain a new identity, forge documents, etc.. And if it takes a little "black hat" hacker action as well... well, so be it.…
on “Julian Assange: Edward Snowden is ‘marooned in Russia’” ↗I'm pretty sure they don't just let you renounce your citizenship. I've been reading "Emergency" by Neil Strauss, and he touches on that during his search for dual citizenship. Pretty much, once you're an American, you're out of luck -- and you're going to pay taxes 'til you die, or stay out of…
on “U.S. Expat Taxes Drive Americans to Renounce Citizenship” ↗…dictator?” asks technology investor Justin Kan in the New Yorker > story. “Maybe it’s low, but the expected value of having an escape > hatch is pretty high.” Classic Peter. I have just remembered a book: Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life, by Nail Strauss
on “Everything Wrong with Peter Thiel’s Doomsday Survival Plan” ↗I'm looking for any good hacking or self dev books. Something like "Emergency" by Neil Strauss but more technical and less story. Sorta like a collection of how-to's and general knowledge stuff. Suggestions appreciated!
on “Ask HN: Are there any good self development/hacking books out there” ↗…reality you need to find or create a small community of survival minded people that can work together successfully over a long period with a variety of skills. Neil Strauss (the Rolling Stone writer) wrote Emergency where he documents his tour through prepper-dom. Slight spoiler here, but he ends up coming to the same conclusion you do in your last sentence. He took CERT (community emergency response team) training…
on “Doomsday planning for less crazy folk” ↗…actually make us any safer I'd argue that they don't. A friend of mine was writing a paper titled How to hijack a plane with items you bought in the duty free, though he never released it. In the book Emergency, Neil Strauss mentions conceiled blades in credit cards, ceramic hair clips and other items that various people he talked to bring on to planes as "emergency weapons". I heard from a friend about someone…
on “If the TSA Were Running New York” ↗according to Neil Strauss in "Emergency", recently changes in law require you to pay some taxes up to 10 years after renouncing citizenship.
on “Who Rules America: An Investment Manager's View on the Top 1%” ↗