Doomsday Preppers ; the newest religion ?, page 1

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?