Popular Mechanics has a terrific list of one hundred skills – from automotive to technological to military – that every man ought to have in his repertoire. Women should have some of them down too (hat-tip to Lew Rockwell).

Mastering these may make more sense for libertarians than wrangling about court appointments. You’re also much more more likely to win over big-government friends if you can show them how handy you are.

There’s nothing more persuasive than someone who can walk the walk…

Paste them on your fridge door or computer screen and start working through the ones you think you could use. I don’t think I have even half of them down and mostly those are from the household category. Some of these skills seem pretty esoteric to me, though. I mean, do you really need to know how to “run rapids in a canoe” for everyday survival?

On the other hand, I can think of a few much more useful skills that are missing from the list….
Budget cooking, securing your computer from viruses and trojans, and cleaning up stains on different kinds of materials, for example…

And right now, understanding just how your bank and broker operate should be on the very top of any survival list.

What about, “Figuring out how much your really owe on that loan on your house” ?
Now, that was the only skill anyone needed to know in the last ten years.