Hello I’m pretty new to Prepping, but I do believe in being prepared for any catastrophic event. I am currently posting these questions for a research paper I’m working on for school. Any of the information I use or quote will be anonymous. I’m hoping to spark some good discussions on everyone’s different views.
1. Do you guys believe there is a point in where prepping has become too much in someone’s life and where it can be unhealthy and is there a line that can be crossed if so when is too much too much?
2. Also would anybody say that being cautious can turn into paranoia and when this happens does this help or hurt doomsday prepping?
3. Would you guys agree or disagree that religion or having faith can be key to surviving a catastrophic event.
4. In your opinion what is more important knowing how to be a survivalist and live off the land or actually prepping and having a well-stocked cache?
First off nothing is anonymous these days.
1. That is a value call, different cultures have different values on how to live life. The west might hyper fixate on being sanitary, and scientifically correct, allowing other people to provide your means of survival etc.. When it comes down to it a hardcore prepper is the ideal member of a libertarian society because they take care of themselves. Now is there too much, personally I think the line is crossed when you start acting like government and taking out threats to your security found in other people, example killing off people who know your security secrets, or who could endanger you if SHTF, I think that that is where the government goes too far, as soon as you start acting that way you are in the terrorist/state realm, what you could find in organized crime. Now is it really going too far, no, but can it still be called "prepping" probably not. Prepping generally is about getting information, installations, equipment, and capacity, it doesn't involve waging war against threats to your security in a way that violates the law. Prepping is an activity law abiding citizens can undertake. I think another name would need to be assigned to preppers who break the law as part of their prepping, I'm not sure what would be an appropriate name though, Outlaws for Life?
2. I think the threats are real in many cases, the probability is not so great but if you look at an illness that kills 20 people or infects a hundred on a planet of billions the effects are pretty limited. Millions are spent on sanitizing and inspecting food, putting up borders staffed with paramilitary, a hyper police state is created for things that arn't that likely or have limited effect. Ok if you are solely preparing for a meteorite strike for your home in Kansas and forgetting about other issues like hurricanes, flash fires, earth quakes, nuclear and chemical accidents, nuclear attacks, riots etc.. you are probably missing the bus. Paranoia is when there are no grounds, the stuff happens. Paranoia really only comes into play when they are paralyzed by the issue or afraid. I can not be afraid but still recognize a risk for something. Example I'm not afraid of bears, but I took my hatchet out with me because I could run into a bear. I did. Now walking around with a hatchet may not make sense to other people,but I had forsight. Nothing happened I just backed up slowly and wished the bear a good summer. I was not affraid but I did bring my hatchet. I applied for a firearms license for much the same reason, I was concerned about wolves while hiking as i encountered a wolf locally and there are even more to the north where I plan on hiking. Only 1 in 30 Canadians have a firearms permit they all have them for different reasons, a lot may be for hunting others may have other reasons, I wouldn't call them paranoid if it is for the 1 in 50,000 chance their home gets broken into they can potentially control the situation, although chances are they may never use the gun for anything but plinking their entire life, does learning to shoot encompass paranoia? How many people shoot other people, not a lot per capita, how many burgerlers get shot, not very many per capita. How many people get the flu, who is wearing a headscarf or face mask day in and day out. How many people have bomb shelters, or hurricane shelters or tornado shelters, how many people build earthquake shelters etc.. fact is these things happen. You can opt to walk around with body armour or not, how many cops wear body armour, now how many regular citizens? Fact is you can be prepared or you can be unprepared. Some people enjoy being prepared. Fact is SHTF can happen, but the odds are probably low per capita, the odds may increase, but chances are as those odds increase machines and "control" systems will be more and more evident as they are in Europe with all public places, road ways etc.. being monitored either by humans, machines or a mix of both, it is already happening. Personally I'm libertarian though, when it comes down to it, I don't want to be controlled I want to be self supporting, I want to be able to protect myself so someone doesn't have to control my life to protect me or themselves depending on their intention. I don't want a government occupation because I know some people are corrupt and some people have different cultural values, and some people will take advantage of people for their own gain especially when the politician system is so partisan. Really prepping is a way to enhance a libertarian society, and libertarian goes a long way to prevent too much state control on peoples lives. Sure you can help with safety but there is a difference between regulating freedom and insuring people are reasonable enough to recognize the importance of freedom and free actions.
So no prepper is not synonymous with paranoia it is synonymous with being prepared. A paranoid person is a paranoid person, a prepper is a prepper. If the US government is at risk of these things, then why is it the regular people are not, we live in the same area, do disasters, attacks and other calamities only happen to government agents, no, so should only government actors be able to defend against them, no.
3. No. Everyone who exists has some conscious sense of existence. I think anyone who is self aware will have a faith, it may not just be a major world religion that is a social institution as opposed to a personal belief system. Everyone has a personal belief system, it is only a matter of how aware they are of it, that is really consciousness and self awareness, but animals may survive without a religious system, religion is just a form of culture, but every living thing can be defined as having culture even bacteria.
4. It depends on the type of event that occurs, it could take both it could take one or the other. A survivalist will be prepared, the urban environment is not different than the rural environment or remote environment or tundra or mountain, there are ways of surviving in those environments. It is all about being able to live, human necessities biologically relatively remain the same, relative temperature, relative hydration, and nutritional intakes to repaircells to keep them operating, how you get that is your call Personally it makes sense to have food available even if you scavenge food. Now is it required, no, but could it help you regulate your nutrition, sure. People survive famines. Just look at hell week for the Navy Seals, not everyone has it in them to go through hell week, but people do. Is everyone going to go out and do seal training to prove they got what it takes, no, but will someone with seal training be better prepared to survive, in some situations sure, and in most life and death scenarios they are likely to have the mindset to survive because they will take the pain if needed because it is about the end of the tunnel. But to bring my responses to an end, a survivalist will be better suited than a stocker, but someone with stocks if the place they stock their supplies will have an easier time surviving, but that doesn't make them more prepared it makes them prepared enough, a survivalist will also be a stocker if their survival depends upon stocking food, a stocker is like a windows user compared to a computer programmer in many ways.
IMO just live life and do what you enjoy. I could have opted to have a much simpler life but I don't trust the government or the community to insure my existence, it is a very cruel, selfish and ignorant world. The only person you can depend on is yourself and if you fail well you did what you could based upon what resources and knowledge you had. That's life.
PS really good preppers should be graduated to the national or global security apparatus.
PS there are something like half a million bear hunters in the US under 50,000 bears are killed each year in the US.
