Be careful when evaluating the CPAC conference going on now or Fox news. And by careful, I mean take this as an -extreme- warning.
The stuff they are talking about at CPAC and its coverage on Fox News is what is done before you start killing people. Accusations of cannibalism or baby killing or alignment with a morally repugnant polar position (in this case ‘communism’).
Just… take what they are saying seriously, right? Not in terms of content but in terms that, historically, this is what you tell your troops before you set them loose.
We did it re: the Germans and Japanese. They did it to the Jews and Chinese. There’s lots of historical precedence. I mean -tons-.
I’m telling you this as a writer, a political observer, a student of history and especially of human psychology. If they have advanced to “that side is killing babies”, that is extraordinarily dangerous.
You dehumanize people before you make them targets.
And hells, if I’m wrong, awesome. Don’t care. I’ll eat some humble pie and find a way to buy all of you a drink. Better wrong than unprepared.
So how do you prepare? Glad you asked. Here’s a blueprint.

The rule of resistance is to know where to go to when your standard avenues of living fall. Like, you can’t access grocery stores or your home. “Fun” things like that.
If you’ve already got a headstart because of work with various groups, take the time to discuss strategies and -strengthen- them.
The rule of 3 is that you should always have three separate human contacts to spread information through your network. That’s simply because sometime folks are busy / in crisis themselves.
For self-defense, I’d honestly suggest contacting the local John Brown Gun Club. Good folks, liberal in nature, willing to teach.
In California, doing the above also has the added benefit of helping you in an earthquake, with the self-defense part allowing you and your group to be more secure (which -really- helps ease tensions when you’re without support)
If you aren’t interesting in owning a gun, assume that folks you expect to protect you won’t be around and that the other side -will- be using guns. This is NOT a way to force someone to buy a gun; it’s a ‘be prepared’… and then share what you’re doing to counter guns, because that would be very cool. Sharing strategies is what helps the above become more -robust-