I just received the latest issue of the Economist, and this was a featured article:

Preparing for the apocalypse

I will survive

When civilisation collapses, will you be ready?

This is typical of media coverage of any civil defense or preparedness, they go out and interview the most far-out people they can find and represent that as the norm. The title is exactly what anyone should NOT be preparing for. No apocalypse, no collapse of civilization. Civilization will continue, but to assume every aspect of life will go on just as it does now regardless of circumstances is just foolhardy.  I really wish there were no paranoid gun collectors living underground pimping MREs and iodine pills.  It stigmatizes anyone who practices preparedness, regardless of the nature or extent of that activity.

I recognize and understand the statistical unlikelihood of having an emergency, but that’s not to say it will never occur. And, we never know what could happen so it’s not a bad thing to be ready, as long as that doesn’t become an end to itself or interfere with daily living. For instance, years ago we have suffered through several ice storms with extended power outages, and were not doing that well after a few days. If we had had just some of the things we have now, we would have been comfortable versus freezing our asses off, in the dark, and piling food outside to keep it from spoiling.

I can’t talk about any of this in the open, so I can only post on-line using a pseudonym. It would be great to involve my neighbors but I know where that would lead so I don’t. It seems to agitate liberals that preppers are secretive, that it’s somehow selfish versus a reasonable position given the circumstances.

Finally, the thing that really irks me is the gun fetishes. Guns are such a polarizing subject to begin with, then to opine on how it’s going to be Stalingrad every day so you better stock up is just ridiculous. I will touch on firearms one day, but I sincerely believe they are a last resort and in all likelihood not going to used in anger. Thirst/hunger/fatigue will prevent most of the trouble mooted on message boards.

Sure would be nice to have a more balanced view of the movement, I did see that younger people are getting into this but more on a local/group level vs the survivalist. I haven’t seen much coverage but maybe it will become more mainstream one day.