Doomsday Preppers?

I've watched a few episodes and found the actual prepping to be informative. The reasons some of the subjects are prepping are pretty whacky. Waiting for an asteroid strike or an eruption of the Yellowstone caldera seem a bit unrealistic. There are far more rational reasons.

Doug

A. M.

I dunno whether I should say this, but a couple months ago my neighbor proudly told me he'd just bought a brand new digital 2 metre TV with a surround sound - and get this - 3D! He was shocked when I told him I'd given up watching the box years ago - shocked like I'd a third eye in the middle of my forehead or something.

Anyway, 3 weeks ago in casual conversation, he tells me that his wife of 26 had herself an epyleptic fit at 5am one morning and the doc had put her on pills for it.

I couldn't bring myself to make the connection for him.

Exactly!

It's like what they've rationalized is a new kind of normal. It's crazy.

When I was a kid we had a back room separated from the rest of the house with plastic to keep it cold.  Hanging from the ceiling was a hind-quater of moose.  Occasionally I was allowed to go in and cut off a hunk for dinner.  We would fry the moose in a cast iron skillet with a few potatoes over the wood stove in the kitchen.  We also, lived without running water or in-door plumbing.  This was a normal lifestyle for us.  My parents were both college graduates and professionals (thanks WWII GI Benefits) and this lifestyle was not one of poverty but rather a desire to explore the wilderness of Alaska and many of the adventures it had to offer.  From my parents I learned common sense, and being prepared can mean the difference between life and death in the outdoors and by extension for normal life too.  We can all survive on ever so much less than we have now, the trouble is people won't know how.

We too watch Doomsday Preppers and find the show insulting though interesting.  It makes for light hearted humor by portraying preppers as all a little wacky.  The sad reality is that people will die if/when there is a real tragedy and many are woefully unprepared.  My heart goes out to the children who will suffer through no fault of their own. I do think there are many people up here in Alaska that are preparing as we are pretty much at the end of the supply chain. I hope so.

Keep at it folks as being prepared will be the difference between just barely surviving and thriving.

AK Granny

I would take any one of the preppers  preps add them to my  own and feel a hell of alot better ready for any SHTF  situation .    They are made out to look like nut cases and probably a few are  but I would say they are way more ready than 98% of the US population

FM

I'm an anglophone living in Europe, watched a few of the DP programmes recently, with subtitles. I have to say that the "contestants" come across as doubly batty/paranoid once the domestic  subtitles have put the contents through the idiom wringer! I stopped watching after a while as the format became tired very quickly. US media exports might be good for the country's balance of payments but it does nothing to dispell the belief the rest of the world has about the mental stability many in the US. There could have been a few more sensible episodes that explored in more depth the reasons/thinking behind their convictions, and here I'm thinking of the probable majority concerned about the economy and not the planet Z or pole shift nutty ideas. Not primetime programming though is it? Maybe there could be a more sympathetic and useful documentary type format made that explored the reasons for an increasing interest in homesteading etc. i.e. one that explores the existential fears involved and the ways in which voluntary simplicity is linked to reduced needs ....that might be more interesting?

Worse than the Doomsday Preppers show is what happens when preppers themselves attract the fringe elements and the mentally unstable.

In the Alabama child hostage situation, media was quoting neighbors calling Jimmy Lee Dykes a "prepper" and someone with "anti-government views".

It's hard enough for preppers to be seen as rationally responding to the real threats of natural disasters, economic crisis, supply chain disruptions, riots, etc. It's worse when crazies are also preppers.

These days I just tell people I prepare for about 2 weeks in case of natural disaster, and try to encourage others to do the same. Because Sandy. Because Irene. Because tornadoes, earthquakes, nor'easters, floods, fires, etc. I don't say I'm a prepper. I just say I want my family to be safe and able to ride out the storm until rescue crews and the Red Cross arrives.

When my kids are older, they'll be into "scouting". Lots of "scouting". And earning their fire-making, wilderness survival, etc. badges. Lots and lots of badges. Even if they don't need no stinking badges. Because Federales.

Poet