The mindset of ''doomsday preppers''

[sarahtasher]

(Let's be honest here : I find building a shack in your backyard to stockpile beans in case of total collapse f.... stupid

It goes without saying that a modicum of preparation for disaster can be helpful-I have several cases of bottled water and canned food with flashlights in case of a lenghty power interruption (that fairly minuscule amount of preppyness is based on a realist outlook of a global disaster in Montréal)

But the kind of people they show on Discovery Channel or the like....In addition that a lot of them follow utterly insane stuff (supervolcano ! polar inversion ! nuclear attack on the US ! SRA global plague, FEMA stormtroopers), the ones that have comparatively normal fears (US currency collapse, another democrat in the white house), why exactly they are stockpiling ? (Especially, as those are proud Americans, ammo and guns-very useful in nuclear winter (1))

If Niburu smash the Earth, do you think that having six months of can of beans will change much ?

(1) Yes, I know, shoot looters coming to steal your cans of dog food. In addition of having to guard 24 hours on 24 your dilapidated house deep inside Montana for the rest of your life, I would say that some people are hellbent on the Falllout IV raider lifestyle)

[Templar 331]

It is pretty ridiculous, but I'd love to have an underground bunker.

[Celista]

(Let's be honest here : I find building a shack in your backyard to stockpile beans in case of total collapse f.... stupid

It goes without saying that a modicum of preparation for disaster can be helpful-I have several cases of bottled water and canned food with flashlights in case of a lenghty power interruption (that fairly minuscule amount of preppyness is based on a realist outlook of a global disaster in Montréal)

But the kind of people they show on Discovery Channel or the like....In addition that a lot of them follow utterly insane stuff (supervolcano ! polar inversion ! nuclear attack on the US ! SRA global plague, FEMA stormtroopers), the ones that have comparatively normal fears (US currency collapse, another democrat in the white house), why exactly they are stockpiling ? (Especially, as those are proud Americans, ammo and guns-very useful in nuclear winter)

If Niburu smash the Earth, do you think that having six months of can of beans will change much ?

Cute...

I agree though, some disasters you can prepare for and some you simply can't. You won't know which one it will be beforehand though and there are worse/less potentially useful hobbies to have.

[Azadina]

If they seriously believe in it, then I personally think they might need some mental health help. But, with that said, if you do it just as a hobby and for fun, then I suppose it could be fun. A test of your knowledge so to speak, to see how many things you can account for.

[sarahtasher]

Cute...

I agree though, some disasters you can prepare for and some you simply can't. You won't know which one it will be beforehand though and there are worse/less potentially useful hobbies to have.

Democrat in the white house is a very unsubtle jab.

[Independent voter]

Back during the early days of the Cold War some built bomb shelters in their backyards. I wonder if that's where the modern fad came from.

Seems like an expensive hobby.

A lot of your conspiracy people never act on their conspiracies so you wonder how much they actually believe in their conspiracies. At least these people are acting like they believe in their conspiracies.

Conspiracies make you feel superior to those around you. You are in the know and they are fools, sheep. The problem with conspiracies is they render you impotent, why even try when "they" are in control of everything?

[May90]

I don't know... Playing through Fallout 3, I start to understand these people. But yeah, they are kind of nutters.

Maybe in a few dozens years a neutron star will enter our Solar System and rip everything apart. How do you prepare for that, hmm? Better start building a personal spaceship right about now!

Back during the early days of the Cold War some built bomb shelters in their backyards. I wonder if that's where the modern fad came from.

It made some sense back then. During the days of Caribbean crisis, the world essentially dodged a bullet: it was very-very close. If the war had erupted, those shelters could have saved quite a few people!

[ArguesWithStrangers]

The people depicted for trash TV are chosen specifically because they are cooks. There are plenty of very normal people who stockpile food and ammunition for far more likely scenarios. The supply chain for food is longer and more vulnerable than it ever has been. The average American household has 3 days worth of food and supplies. A significant natural disaster or short term economic crisis is all that it takes to turn your neighbors into starving assholes breaking down your door. I was on the ground in New Orleans a couple of days after Katrina hit. It was startling what those people did to each other. Mind you, stockpiles would not have done much for the people who's homes were underwater, but they would have done a great deal for those who were holed up on the high ground fending off looters. Anything is better than sitting and waiting for men like me to arrive with supplies to feed you and guns to protect you.

Lastly, even if these peoples' notions are grandiose and their behaviors odd, does their stockpiling of beans hurt you in any way? They're no more odd than those people who are really into those model train sets, or the RPers on Moonguard.

[Poopymonster]

Democrat in the white house is a very unsubtle jab.

From the mind of some doomsday preppers, that's exactly why they are hoarding.

Also, the Mormons seem to have a policy towards hoarding supplies, 3 month supply-1 year, to help themselves, others within the church. In case the biblical shit hits the fan.
Above quote may qualify again. YMMV.

[sarahtasher]

From the mind of some doomsday preppers, that's exactly why they are hoarding.

Also, the Mormons seem to have a policy towards hoarding supplies, 3 month supply-1 year, to help themselves, others within the church. In case the biblical shit hits the fan.
Above quote may qualify again. YMMV.

You might notice that the Mormons have the fairly sensible approach of stockpiling food for their community, not shoot at the said community ''because they are coming to steal my guns and my beans''.

[Witchblade77]

I have a newsflash for you. reality TV shows? are not real. they are extremely staged and people selected for them are vetoed carefully to allow maximum possible "omg, look at those idiots" staging. so what you see are exaggerations of exaggerations.

that said. while I don't consider myself a doomsday prepper, I've been through enough unexpected shit in my life (including early 90ties in USSR, which in some republics would put Holodomor to shame, but they don't tell you that, they just celebrate the whole "freedom from oppressive regime!" deal, but I digress)

while there are plenty of things you cannot prepare for, there are also plenty of things that you can, and it doesn't matter if you tell yourself that its for an alien invasion - if those preparations can be helpful in more likely situations (which they are)

think of it as fire extinguishers. they cannot do anything other than put out a fire and maybe serve as a makeshift club to slam someone over the head with. heck they won't even put out every fire, just a small local one that you hopefully caught early enough. does it mean they are pointless and stupid to have? NO. because they can still potentially save your house from burning down, or save your entire street from burning down because all the other houses caught fire from yours - as long as you catch that small fire soon enough and put it out before it gets unmanageable.

it hurts no one to have some food stored up because even if that alien invasion never comes - job losses happen, various emergencies do happen, electricity goes out, etc etc. and if you never need to use your supplies? so what. do you have any idea how many jars of unfinished triple antibiotic ointment I threw away over the years because it was well past expiration date, but I managed to curtail my clumsiness enough to not use it up in its entirety? a few. was it actualy a waste? nope.

the mentality is - better to have and not need, than need and not have.

[Theodarzna]

(Let's be honest here : I find building a shack in your backyard to stockpile beans in case of total collapse f.... stupid

It goes without saying that a modicum of preparation for disaster can be helpful-I have several cases of bottled water and canned food with flashlights in case of a lenghty power interruption (that fairly minuscule amount of preppyness is based on a realist outlook of a global disaster in Montréal)

But the kind of people they show on Discovery Channel or the like....In addition that a lot of them follow utterly insane stuff (supervolcano ! polar inversion ! nuclear attack on the US ! SRA global plague, FEMA stormtroopers), the ones that have comparatively normal fears (US currency collapse, another democrat in the white house), why exactly they are stockpiling ? (Especially, as those are proud Americans, ammo and guns-very useful in nuclear winter (1))

If Niburu smash the Earth, do you think that having six months of can of beans will change much ?

(1) Yes, I know, shoot looters coming to steal your cans of dog food. In addition of having to guard 24 hours on 24 your dilapidated house deep inside Montana for the rest of your life, I would say that some people are hellbent on the Falllout IV raider lifestyle)

There are two possible answers to prepers,

1) Is that they are dumb for worrying about the end of civilization.

2) Is that you are dumb for believing everything will be fine in perpetuity.

[Dug]

Prepping for natural disasters or "doomsday" isn't all bad. Having plenty of water, non perishable food etc is handy to have around but where it becomes unhealthy is the ones who spend most of their income on prepping... their entire life for a day that never comes. Just seems sad to me to be always paranoid and worried and never enjoying life because you think doomsday is coming.

[Paranoid Android]

I watched an episode on Yellowstone's Super Volcano. While I do not live near Yellowstone Nat. Park. It is scary to see the after effects on U.S. and the world as a whole. I still would not be one of these crazy people who would build a shelter, believing that this volcano would erupt in my lifetime.

[ArguesWithStrangers]

You might notice that the Mormons have the fairly sensible approach of stockpiling food for their community, not shoot at the said community ''because they are coming to steal my guns and my beans''.

I think you have a broader sense of the word "community" than the Mormons. Not knocking them over it. They're free to share or not share with whomever they wish. They have a strong in-group identification though, and are as likely to shoot an unwelcome asshole on their property as any of the "preppers" you're ridiculing.

[Endus]

The people depicted for trash TV are chosen specifically because they are cooks. There are plenty of very normal people who stockpile food and ammunition for far more likely scenarios. The supply chain for food is longer and more vulnerable than it ever has been. The average American household has 3 days worth of food and supplies. A significant natural disaster or short term economic crisis is all that it takes to turn your neighbors into starving assholes breaking down your door. I was on the ground in New Orleans a couple of days after Katrina hit. It was startling what those people did to each other. Mind you, stockpiles would not have done much for the people who's homes were underwater, but they would have done a great deal for those who were holed up on the high ground fending off looters. Anything is better than sitting and waiting for men like me to arrive with supplies to feed you and guns to protect you.

You significantly underestimate the resilience of modern society. The aftermath of Katrina, while tragic for those in the area, was essentially a non-factor nationally, let alone globally. That doesn't mean it isn't a demonstration of some serious issues in disaster management in the region, but those are local issues, not some major problem.

By the same token that events like Katrina can cause some short-term localised havoc, if you can stock enough supplies to get you through a week or two, that'll almost always carry you through to the return of services. I've been through the aftermath of a hurricane; it was outside normal hurricane paths (Canada, not exactly known for hurricane impacts) and we personally lost power for 5 days, some areas of the city were down for weeks. We all handled it pretty easily. It was irksome, but there wasn't any looting, or violence, or any of that; most of what you saw was neighbours who owned chainsaws coming out to help cut through the fallen trees for everyone on their street, and such. Big cook-offs to use up the frozen foods that were about to spoil. And so on.

And all that's highly geographically focused. The broader national and international scales, those are practically unassailable outside of a literal extinction-level event. And those simply don't occur often enough to bear worrying about; if they did, life on this planet wouldn't exist.

In a sense, disaster management in the modern world is like first aid; you don't need to be able to perform surgery, you just need to hold things together for 5-10 minutes until the ambulance arrives with the gear to handle things.

Lastly, even if these peoples' notions are grandiose and their behaviors odd, does their stockpiling of beans hurt you in any way? They're no more odd than those people who are really into those model train sets, or the RPers on Moonguard.

If they're into doomsday prepping because it's a fun hobby that they think is a bit silly, to the extent that they have go-bags for "zombie apocalypse" and "triffid invasion" and the like, then it's an odd hobby, and more power to 'em. A cool bunker is a cool bunker.

If they're actually paranoid and see impending doom around every corner, that mental illness (and it IS a mental illness) is harmful to themselves and potentially to those around them.

[Theodarzna]

I watched an episode on Yellowstone's Super Volcano. While I do not live near Yellowstone Nat. Park. It is scary to see the after effects on U.S. and the world as a whole. I still would not be one of these crazy people who would build a shelter, believing that this volcano would erupt in my lifetime.

Yellowstone or a pandemic disease are some of the big ones IMHO.

The others being a solar storm type event that could damage communications and power grids, or various types of nuclear dirty bombs placed at vital areas.

[the game]

I'm not a doomsday prepper but I understand their mindset in it. would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

[Powerogue]

I suppose it gives them a sense of purpose? The thing is you can't talk it out of them because obviously even though they've been waiting for 50 years it's still going to happen any minute, damn it!

Though I admit reflecting on other peoples' setups my survival prep is pretty pathetic by comparison. Maybe because the place we live is dreadfully boring and almost never has natural disasters. Still, some of these ideas wouldn't hurt.

[dd614]

Preppers are nuts. Off-the-grid people though seem pretty cool, and genuinely want good. Preppers need to realize unless they're in a sealed bunker, people are going to get their shit. You and your wife or kid aren't going to hold off a gang of hungry people.