I can give you several answers to both, but to be honest, I really do not know. There are the media interpretations of Survivalists, from Movies(think of almost all the post-apocolyptic movies) to the coverage of Waco and Ruby Ridge. One sect of the Survivalist push is based on the Posse Comitatus, part of the first amendment of the US Constitution. There are the websites, like this and others, from people who see ‘survival’ situations in every day occurrences. And there are those claiming to be survivalists who are really race supremacists and very paranoid about their lot in life.
These are all examples of what ‘survival’ entails. And yet, they do not. Even I am very biased on some accounts, and will not have all of the ‘right’ answers, but then again, I don’t think anyone has all of the answers. If they do, they usually get martyred in some gruesome way.
If you look at the world and see that it is going to collapse within the next 6 months, year, whatever, then I am not providing the type of material that you may want to bookmark. If, on the other hand, you see that coping with life takes ‘survival’ skills, regardless if it is in the city, the country, camping or just going to a meeting, then I may have a prospective you may want to keep around.
What is Survivalism? It is the ability to survive.