Doomsday Preppers ; the newest religion ?

Is doomsday prepping the newest faith based religion? I love watching Doomsday Preppers, but most of the people they feature on the show seem to have an almost fanatical faith that something terrible is going to happen and they must be prepared for its coming. I live in the North East and with all of the storms we have had over the past few years i would consider myself more prepared for an emergency than i was three years ago but i am not taking it to the almost religious fervor that i see on this show.

Do you belong to the church of the prepper and are awaiting the coming of the mighty Doomsday?

I think that the show goes out of their way to find extreme cases. I guess it just not interesting to watch a happy home maker stocking up on beans and rice.

reply to post by jed001


I think the show's producers make them "choose" a specific event to focus on, for the show purposes. I think most are probably prepping in a more general way, and edited to be more specific.

Yeah, most of those on that show prep to the exclusion of living their lives for today. I try and maintain a healthy mix of both.

Unlike many preppers (who seem to WANT the SHTF scenario to happen), I have NO desire for this. I LIKE my modern life, and I like having an organized society, peace, etc. But, having already benefited from prepping just due to an economic downturn, I realize that being prepared is definitely a good place to be, and I owe that to myself and my loved ones and friends. I'm in a good location and position to make that happen. Also, I try to interweave my preps to ensure I benefit NOW from the investment.

For example, a garden will give us free and fresh produce NOW, not just in a SHTF scenario.
Having backup power benefits us NOW, as we have outages due to animals getting at the transformer, etc.
Having backup water benefits us NOW if there's an issue with the water pipes or loss of power to the well pump.
Having weapons NOW helps us if an intruder comes in at night, or with possible horse thieves, or to scare off buzzards and hawks (we have some little dogs too...that could be attacked by them).

There's nothing wrong with prepping. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. Piss poor analogy comparing prepping with religion.

That show is designed to mock preppers. To make them look like fools. They portray them as nutjobs, religious fanatics, paranoid, incompetent, obsessed, etc.... Then at the end of the show they grade them like school children.

Notice how no matter how extensive they may have prepped, even with $100,000 underground missile silos and years worth of food and water and weapons, multiple bug-out plans, almost none of them ever get a score above around 60 out of 100. They then are told they have 4-5 months of survival time, as if to suggest prepping is a waste of time.

The best part comes at the end when the narrator completely dismisses the person's particular concern and reason for prepping. Prepping for economic collapse? Well, the "experts" and "top economists" say that we are NOT in a depression, and there is virtually no chance of it happening in the US.

The show is a psyop.

reply to post by Gazrok


i agree with you , i don't want a SHTF scenario, i think the show sensationalizes the families so they can sell commercial time. if they came past my house it would be boring TV

Originally posted by poloblack
There's nothing wrong with prepping. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. Piss poor analogy comparing prepping with religion.

i have to disagree; being prepared for an event that has happened it the recent past; for example super storm Sandy makes sense to me. it makes sense to have extra food, water, fuel to get through an event like that. the people on the show are waiting for the world to collapse; tell me the last big event to happen that would cause the world to end. that is why i compare extreme preppers to religion , they are both waiting for something to happen that may never happen; you just got to keep the faith

Originally posted by Neysa
I think that the show goes out of their way to find extreme cases. I guess it just not interesting to watch a happy home maker stocking up on beans and rice.

i fell the same way; its good TV but is this the lengths that most people go to for prepping? i just don't think so

The difference between prepping and religion is an easy one.

There is not a place on earth that will not have some sort of an Earthquake/Storm/Power failure. It is not a matter of if something will ever happen but a matter of When...

Being a bit prepared is harmless and will save you stress, worry and anxiety. It is not a religion but a good way of life instead of waiting to get bailed out, be prepared to bail yourself family and friends out!

They always seem to pick the crazier people on the show. They do have a few good ones. but alot of the people are just dumb. I would say 1 in 4 on the show are "normal"

reply to post by abeverage


there is a big difference between being prepared for a local natural disaster and being prepared for the end of the Mayan Calendar or the return of Nibiru. Myself, i am prepared for a local natural disaster i am not fervently waiting for the economy to collapse just so i can say i told you so. i am just curios how the people on this site feel , rational prepping , i get that . faith based prepping makes good TV but do a lot of people really believe or hope that society as we know it is going to end in our lifetime.

check me down for no on society ending

Originally posted by camaro68ss
They always seem to pick the crazier people on the show. They do have a few good ones. but alot of the people are just dumb. I would say 1 in 4 on the show are "normal"

crazy is just good TV . i wish they would just go to the northeast and show a family who is prepared for another big nor'easter knocking out their power for two weeks . generator , extra fuel some extra food makes sense to me

There is somebody on ATS who was on the show early on. IIRC, there are some definite TV elements as the crew asks for the people to do some more eccentric things to put on film.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Like someone else said, the show has to focus on those more extreme preppers. Otherwise it wouldn't really make for good TV. But, I love the TV show, and some of the facts from polls they put out is really an eye opener. The number and percentage of people who think a financial/economic disaster will happen combined with those who believe a major earthquake or a some type of natural disaster will happen as well.

I love the line, are they crazy for being prepared, or are you crazy for not?

Originally posted by GreenGlassDoor
There is somebody on ATS who was on the show early on. IIRC, there are some definite TV elements as the crew asks for the people to do some more eccentric things to put on film.

 

Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

 

that makes perfect sense to me, but i hope they get some extra money out of making themselves look a little foolish

reply to post by jed001


I made my first B.O.B 23 (ish) years ago because I've always believed that it's better to be prepared (for anything) and not need it than it is to need it and not have it. I break out my B.O.B a few times a year to practice my survival skills and have done every year apart from when I was in the Army ironically, because we'd get plenty of practice when on exercise.

I don't prepare for Doomsday. I prepare for the day when I murder someone and need to hide out in the wilds! Joking aside, survival camping is way more fun than regular camping and you learn a lot about yourself in the process. The only problem I have is that no one wants to go camping with me because I'm too hardcore apparently!

So to answer your question; It's not a religion to me, just a way of life.

Rev

Originally posted by mtlcruisin
Like someone else said, the show has to focus on those more extreme preppers. Otherwise it wouldn't really make for good TV. But, I love the TV show, and some of the facts from polls they put out is really an eye opener. The number and percentage of people who think a financial/economic disaster will happen combined with those who believe a major earthquake or a some type of natural disaster will happen as well.

I love the line, are they crazy for being prepared, or are you crazy for not?

i would like to think i am like most preppers ; i am prepared for a local natural disaster . but when was the last time a big financial/economic disaster that really affected a lot of people to the point it became a SHTF situation? super storm sandy was just a local event and so was katrina

Originally posted by jed001

Originally posted by poloblack
There's nothing wrong with prepping. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. Piss poor analogy comparing prepping with religion.

i have to disagree; being prepared for an event that has happened it the recent past; for example super storm Sandy makes sense to me. it makes sense to have extra food, water, fuel to get through an event like that. the people on the show are waiting for the world to collapse; tell me the last big event to happen that would cause the world to end. that is why i compare extreme preppers to religion , they are both waiting for something to happen that may never happen; you just got to keep the faith

Faith won't be key to survival, your actions will. And while us regular folk may not know what's coming down The pike, TPTB knows something, because THEY'RE prepping.

Is being a "prepper" the newest religion? I would suggest that it is not. Religion is belief in something that one believes to be true without verification by sources outside of that religion.

Prepping is something that reality TV has gone with for advertising revenue and Neilson ratings. To consider a heightened level of preparedness as a religion isn't a correct line of thinking. Take for instance my own personal life experience. My grandparents lived to be just shy of 100 years old. Growing up, we were told stories by them of the Great Depression. They told of having to move from place to place to find work. They told of families putting their kids on trains headed west. The kids would step off the train at each stop and other families would pick them up if they wanted them. They told of not having food to put on the table, or a table to put the food on. I think you see the point.

Growing up hearing about this, many people were exposed to these stories from their elders. They heard about the tough times and as a precaution, took to stockpiling resources. It's not just food, medical supplies, and weapons. It's the idea that our grandparents lived through such misery and had to go through such hardship because none of them had stockpiled anything. Of course, after the Great Depression, they were what many would consider hoarders. My grandparents basement was literally filled with canned food. I don't think I ever saw less than thirty huge bags of potatoes down there. When they'd buy a bag, they'd use the oldest bag. I don't think there was a book in the house that didn't have at least $2 in it. I know they had silver dollars (1 troy ounce) stashed in several places in the house and buried in the garden. The attic was filled with bins of extra clothing and extra fabric.

These people had gone through the hardest of times and when they got into something better, they planned ahead. Were they "prepper's"? I don't think they were at all. Theirs was a reactionary response to a negative situation. I'd wager that over half of the people from that generation who made it through the Great Depression were the same way, if not entirely, to a great degree.

Today we have the knowledge of the past and the hardships our grandparents endured (and our parents as kids through that same timeframe). I am living in the nation most in debt on the globe. We bail out banks and things don't get any better. We watch as other nations around the globe deal with hardship. We see our dollar buying less and less due to inflation. This is rapidly becoming the frog in hot water scenario. Put a frog in water and slowly turn up the heat of the water and the frog will stay in there and boil to death. If the water is already hot and the frog jumps in, it'll jump right back out. The events unfolding all around us have been going rather slow. People are adjusting to it. The heat isn't being turned down though. It's only being turned up.

Given this, being a "prepper" is thinking ahead given world, political, and financial issues surrounding us. If you have enough supplies to make it through even several months, that's several months advantage you have over everyone else who are oblivious to the possibility. Our grandparents didn't think it'd happen to them either. It did. You either learn from history, or are doomed to repeat it.

There are also various levels of being a prepper. Some have stockpiled food and necessities for several months of living without any resources coming in. Is this unreasonable? It may seem like it to the people who've bought-in to our disposable world where they might be able to make it a week on their own given what they have in their houses. Many people think that the stores will always be there, the shelves will always be stocked, and the money to buy the goods will always be in their pockets. That can also be seen as being lulled into complacency. No one but yourself is responsible for your own wellbeing. No one but yourself is responsible for making sure you have the supplies and stores to survive. If people have learned nothing from Katrina or Sandy Hook, then they really can't be helped anyway and will be the first to be beggars when things go down.

Now we get to weapons. Are they necessary? Yes. Why? Because desperation causes people to do desperate things. When the choice is looking out for you when you were the one who prepared, or helping out someone else who laughed and called you a "prepper" while they did nothing to look out for their own best interests, which side are you going to be standing on? Ask those folks who experienced Katrina and Sandy Hook what they think of depending on others for food and supplies. Prepping doesn't always mean planning for the end of the world, it means planning for natural disasters too. I'm ready. Are you?

reply to post by jed001


If someone thinks it’s stupid or fanatical to prep I really don’t care!! Damn right I’m fanatical about protecting my family and being prepared! Any parent who isn’t fanatical about protecting their family isn’t a good parent IMHO.

This seems like another attempt at casting preppers in a bad light. I think the MSM and the producers of that show do a fine job at that already…they don’t need help.