Welcome to the first issue of our new magazine that hits the street, appropriately, on April Fools day. We’re not joking about the content, mind you; it’s just that this world is a strange and fascinating place with a cast of characters that keep us amused every day. And we’d rather be amused than distressed. So what better day to premiere our new rag than April 1. Like Halloween, when the veil between the spirit world and ours is very thin, on April Fool’s Day, the veil between the absurd and seemingly rational becomes transparent. Light-hearted fun prevails. For some fortunate ones, the mood lasts throughout the year. Hats off to them. By staying slightly goofy all year, they seem to have a knack for self-reflection that serious ones lack. Without self-reflection, one can become myopic and grossly distorted of character. Most unpleasant.

But the thrust of this zine is very serious. We’re going to explore preparedness and survival, permaculture and self-sufficiency and lots of related material. We’ll study gypsies, the French Resistance, gun owner rights, organic gardening, nefarious laws, bootleggers and outlaws, water catchment, etc, etc. We delve into our work with the idea that there is no left or right. Party politics are crap. Republicans and Democrats mean nothing to us. We’ll drink Budweiser with Wrangler lovin’ cowboys and smoke weed with dreadlock hippies. We sense a thread running through our culture and it ties together people who want to live free, want to be themselves, want to follow their destiny. The only ones not invited are those who wish to impose their will on others, who want to chain us all to their version of reality. No comprende, buddy. Take a hike.

Backwoods Hipster is about skills and knowledge that help to keep us or set us free, physically and mentally. We’re not conspiracy buffs, though we believe that some shady elites wish to sap us of our freedom. When we talk about them we will identify them by name. There’s nothing worse than listening to some conspiracy guy who can’t identify the “they” who are supposedly out to get us.

Chinese fortune cookies notwithstanding, we do live in some very interesting times. Some would say troubled times. History shows that fate favors those who are prepared. Understanding the systems in which we all operate is crucial to making choices. If you follow world events with a critical eye, some serious choices will soon be in order. Let’s have some fun while we prepare to survive and enjoy these interesting times.