Just to share some of my thoughts...
No, my wife and I are not currently what I consider "preppers" and certainly are not a part of any groups! We don't socialize that well in packs or something ;)
Be that as it may however, we do have some things put away and have set goals for more things we would like to be self-sufficient on. This comes less from a "paranoia" side of things, than from both of us having experienced countries and events in our lives where having certain things like food & medicine on hand made a difference because shortages could easily happen; or things like water rationing, fuel quotas and all that... So in our books it is just being wise. Plus, being able to do things like grow your own herbs and some veggies just helps in saving money & in health - you control what you and your family are eating a bit more that way. Another plus in these economic times. I just know I've seen too many instances every year of some big storm coming and the run on bread and milk and everything else at the stores by people who never seem to think beyond the next day...
No, neither of us is doing it for religious reasons either. But - to answer something FPS said, I also am a firm believer in "God helps those who help themselves" - preparing for things that may happen is no more showing a weakness of faith than is wearing my vest to work, putting on a seatbelt or locking the doors at night. It's like the old story that runs:
A man has been notified that his house is going to be flooded and he needs to get out of the house. He says no I don't have to, God is going to take care of me. Then the flood starts to rise and a sheriff comes along and tells him to get out. The man says no, God is going to save me. So, the floods continue to rise, and he climbs on top of the house. A boat comes along and he's told to climb into the boat. He says, no, no , God is going to save me. Finally, a helicopter comes along and they lower the net to rescue him. The man says, no, no, God is going to save me! Well, the man drowns and goes to heaven. When he gets to heaven he says to God, "why didn't you save me?" God says, "I sent the sheriff, I sent a boat, I sent a helicopter, what more did you want me to do?"Part of what God or your choice of higher power expects of us is to exercise the free will and intelligence we have - not doing so is a waste and that is not what blind faith is all about.
Anyway, while I am not a prepper by any means, I do a bit of reading of a few blogs who are & some books here & there, which is where my comment came from. When talking this over with my wife earlier tonight though she brought up another view - from her background growing up overseas: one other common trait that seems to show up on a lot of prepper/survival sites is the element of American patriotism and belief in this country's system among most of the adherants. Which then raises a question - how much "prepper" activity is occuring in other nations and locations? I don't mean the old Soviet civil defense system, or anything on a government scale; are there any other countries where this is commonly occurring, and if so how does it differ from the U.S. model?
Curiouser and curiouser...
4 comments:
While I don't have any answers to your questions, I wanted to ask if you'd been to Surviving in Argentina. Good stuff.
And I'm what some consider a "prepper". Mostly because I'm a farmgurl stuck in the city and these people are TOTALLY gonna be lost WTSHTF. OK, maybe not ALL of them, but I don't plan on being one of them.
The Cascadia fault? Oh, about 100 years overdue. I'm thinkin' food/electricity, etc might be in short supply and I'm gonna be mighty glad I have backup plans.
We raise steers and pigs and always have a huge garden. I'm not sure what we would really need to "prep" up on. Maybe a little more ammo to protect the food sources would be a good idea........
You bring up an interesting point. I remember talking to a European friend who was initially puzzled at why I wanted to put together a care package for a mutual European friend who had fallen through the cracks of various government services. The gist of it was:
"Why would we need to put anything together? It's the government's job to provide him with what he needs."
Of course, he's a good guy, and once I explained how our friend had been stuck in the red tape, he eagerly and generously contributed. But his comment stuck with me, not as an aspersion on him as much as an example of a mindset that was very foreign to me.
Americans are special (though not necessarily unique) in that even in this day and age, there is an underlying worldview that the government is not the be-all and end-all and cannot take care of you. It can try, it can even help at times, but you can't rely on it.
I've heard that those in which that feeling has been all but extinguished actually will sit at home and get caught up in disasters because they're waiting for the government to help them instead of seeing what they can do themselves first.
In my area, the feeling is such the opposite (outside the cities, anyways) that you'll see things like civilians directing traffic around an accident until the police show up, or neighbors out with chainsaws working at taking a storm-felled tree off the road before the work crew arrives.
Meadowlark - yes I've been to that site. Very good reading and a reminder of what can happen when the whole "21st century world" takes a hit...
and you all are hitting a thing I've observed - the difference in people who expect to help themselves and their neighbors, vs. those who expect the government to step in and assist them. Katrina being a good example. Unfortunately in the area I work far too many of the urban residents fall into the latter category, thus the potential problem in a bad situation.
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