People tend to think that preppers are preparing for an apocalyptic end of the world. Hollywood and popular culture put forth myths about nuclear war; an asteroid careening through space with the Earth’s name on it; pandemics and alien invasion. I’ve already addressed these and a few other topics in the post, An Honest Assessment. Given the general lack of understanding regarding prepping and those who prep, preppers are often portrayed as weird, anti-social extremists who harbor fringe political and religious views. At one point, there was a great deal of representative truth in this assessment. However, this stereotype is less accurate and less representative of the current prepping culture and landscape.
Many preppers put out content detailing what to expect and what’s coming next. All of this is clickbait to keep their audiences engaged. Unless you’re the mastermind behind events to come, there’s no way to speak with absolute certainty about what will or won’t happen. Where humans are concerned, history often repeats itself because we tend to learn nothing from past atrocities and mistakes as it impedes our ability to retain power over others and earn money in the future. We have the capacity, if not desire to change and that’s significant because we’re the only animal capable of doing so. It’s easy to forget that the earth is a massive, living organism with complex life cycles and processes. Suffice it to say, the planet will be just fine with whatever happens, we will not.
There’s a predictive element to some disasters, specifically the seasonal ones. Hurricane season regularly occurs from June through November. Optimal conditions for wildfires generally exist in the Summer through the Fall while tornadoes are created by specific conditions that are most prevalent in March through June. Of course, none of this is written in stone as extreme weather events are increasing in frequency, magnitude and off-season. Equally as predictable, and just as confounding is our behavior.
We rebuild houses in areas highly vulnerable to natural disasters, and pave over vast swathes of land to create subdivisions and strip malls prone to flooding. Now more than ever, in a broken country and angry, unstable world, we crave permanence and constancy.
Preparing for a meteor strike seems logical, but it requires the resources and coordinated effort of an entire planet. NASA devotes considerable effort to monitoring and tracking near-earth objects. Governments the world over, to varying degrees study epidemics and infectious diseases to keep their people safe. Aside from vaccinations and isolation from the outside world, your options for defending against infectious diseases are slim. If you’re opposed to vaccines and social distancing, your options are even slimmer.
There are more guns than people in the United States! I don’t think that there’s a gun in existence capable of repelling an alien invasion. Any race of beings with the technology to traverse interstellar space surely has nothing to fear from crude, ballistic weapons. However, if the aliens are meat sacks like us, then yeah, guns would likely be effective against them. Bottom line: I don’t worry about an alien invasion.
To the extent that individuals can prepare for hurricanes, tornadoes, rolling blackouts, supply chain disruptions and the like, you should. You’re preparing for the effects of the event, not the event itself. The danger is in the amount of time the lights stay out; the amount of time in which basic services and access to those services are unavailable. Without question, things would be difficult for a week or two in the Texas summer or Midwestern winter without power, but with proper planning and resources, both are survivable. I want to unpack this a little further. The goal of prepping is to build resilience, a greater degree of self-sufficiency.
Prioritizing your recovery in times of disaster is critical. No one else can or will. In the hierarchy of restoring services, government entities, industry and other sectors of the critical infrastructure and key resources will take precedence. Private citizens in private residences will be at the bottom of the list. Having two weeks’ worth of food and water can make a huge difference. Being able to prepare said food is even better. A generator, a comprehensive First Aid kit, and an assortment of flashlights and lanterns go a long way. Being able to safely remain in your well-stocked home goes a long way to fostering a greater peace of mind. Being able to call upon or assist others as part of a network only happens in a community and should be the goal of every prepper. It certainly is mine.
The government is what we make it and allow it to be. Religion, politics and simple greed exert enormous influence on government’s response on everything from an opioid crisis to a Category 5 hurricane to a pandemic. Placing yourself at the mercy of others serves no useful purpose and is irresponsible. Additionally, response personnel and vehicles use the same roads as everyone else. If they can’t get to you, they can’t get to you. This isn’t an anti-government rant, far from it. I’m merely pointing out the practical limitations of government as it relates to disaster response.
At time of this writing, the fourth largest wildfire in California history, the Park Fire, has consumed over 400,000 acres. Fires are also raging in Washington state, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada and New Mexico. Hurricane Debby is barreling towards Florida’s Gulf Coast. An excessive heat warning is in effect in parts of Southern California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. The increased frequency and overlap of disasters highlights the imperative to prepare. Even if you ignore what you hear and rely solely upon what you see, the fact that disaster, in some form, will strike, is a certainty.
It's impossible to prepare for every eventuality. This is one of the criticisms of and arguments against prepping by those who view the practice as pointless and odd. The goal is resilience and given the alternatives of going hungry and thirsty in the dark with little hope on the horizon, I’m going to prepare for what’s most likely to happen based upon where I live. Knowing that I’ll have what I need when I need it, gives me enormous peace of mind.
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