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I would say I'm neither conservative nor liberal...depends on the issue I can come off as either. Well, I keep enough food/water/survival stuff around for at least a week, maybe a little more. Survival extends to protection. I've actually been in a few natural disasters, most have been 'chill' and neighbors were cool and people did things like have a hurricane party (where you have a big BBQ to use up all the perishable food). Most were in rural-ish areas. However, one hurricane I was in wasn't so nice. It was in an urban area in Florida. Very few people were prepared. Once the winds were above 45 mph sustained, the city/county announced all emergency services were suspended. This included cops. No joke, as soon as that announcement went out there were roving bands all over the place. People trying to steal/prowl cars, breaking into apartments/houses/boats/etc. The next few days (had to clear all the downed trees first) once police could drive around the neighborhood that kind of stuff settled down a little. But then it became apparent that hardly anyone in the area took any preparedness. People starving and dehydrated--mobs cornering the Red Cross food truck. Cleaning them out in minutes for all the bottled water and meal boxes. People had no way to deal with the heat...so they would drive to the gas station to get their ration of gasoline then get back in line to get more gas so they could run the AC and cool off while eating whatever meals they could get from aid organizations. My guess is that if those charity organizations weren't providing meals it would have been a slightly different situation, probably a lot more violent.
"Why do liberals mock or insult people who prepare for the unknown?"
Here's my question, what the frack is the "unknown"? UFO's, Zombies, Death Eaters?
Or
Is this some sort of Rumsfelian unknown unknowns?
Pretty sure, if you read the thread, we've all described reasonable scenarios of the "unknown". But I see you are insisting on fitting the liberal stereotype mentioned by the OP.
Being prepared for reasonably likely events seems good and wholesome to most people but where preppers go wrong is when they hoard a three year supply of canned food and enough guns and ammo to fight a war out of fear that the increase in the population of non-whites some how is going to lead to the end of all civilization. That's coo-coo for coco puffs yet it is a CENTRAL part of most of the main prepper books and you see it all the time on all the prepper forums.
Rational wiki covers the major difference very well:
Quote:
What survivalism is, and what it is not
General preparedness, learning first aid and CPR, learning survival skills in case one is stranded in the wilderness, and keeping in one's house emergency food and water supplies (typically about three days' worth), emergency lighting and cooking gear, a first aid kit, etc. are all recommended by most government agencies and groups like the Red Cross, even though most people don't make these preparations as well as they should.
What distinguishes survivalism from emergency survival preparedness is that survivalists expect a long-term or permanent breakdown in society's infrastructure, whereas being prepared for floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, power outages, earthquakes, being stranded somewhere, etc. necessarily implies the emergency situation will be temporary.
For example, in case of being stranded, "survival" means finding just enough food, shelter, and water to keep oneself alive until one is found or reaches help, and signaling with the intent of being rescued. This implies society's infrastructure is still alive and well, and defines survival as keeping alive so as to return to society, not abandon it.
This is a very different sense than that used by survivalists, who see themselves surviving apart from society or what's left of it. They don't want to be rescued in the event of an emergency; some of them make preparations to defend their "retreat" against all threatening intruders such as FEMA, the Red Cross, or the local volunteer fire department. Hence, survivalists are usually rugged individualists, and are largely concerned with their own survival above that of others.
Then you have the origins of the movement tainted by its association with white separatists and neo-Nazis preparing for their long forcast "race war". That turns off a huge number of us normal white folks.
Location: Currently I physically reside on the 3rd planet from the sun
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMoreYouKnow
I've noticed that anytime anyone here talks about preparedness for things like natural disasters, civil unrest, gov. instability, etc etc etc there are quite a few of you on the left who instantly mock or insult those of us who prepare for various types of situations that might otherwise put us in danger or a desperate situation. I don't want to dive into different types of preparedness because that will just end up as a pro-gun/anti-gun troll fest. Let's please just keep this at a high level when speaking of preparedness which would encompass anything from storing drinking water and canned food all the way up to people buying stockpiles of freeze dried or dehydrated food and even people who keep weapons of any kind to defend against whatever/whoever might try to cause them harm.
Am I just reading some of you wrong or do you really believe that being prepared is something that should be mocked or do you only do this because the people you mock just happen to be to the right of the political isle?
Overall I guess I'm just curious as to why a lot of liberals seem to have a dislike of people who prepare for potential negative events.
Cause like tiggers and scorpions - liberals stay true to their nature which is to mock and insult anyone and anything that does not fit in their wrong-headed world view.
Being prepared for reasonably likely events seems good and wholesome to most people but where preppers go wrong is when they hoard a three year supply of canned food and enough guns and ammo to fight a war out of fear that the increase in the population of non-whites some how is going to lead to the end of all civilization. That's coo-coo for coco puffs yet it is a CENTRAL part of most of the main prepper books and you see it all the time on all the prepper forums.
.
Is having a 3 year supply of food, water, and essentials really as crazy as having a closet with 50 thousand dollars worth of high-end bags, or a garage with a money pit project car, or really any expensive, non-necessity hobby?
That's where we are so brainwashed as Americans. Someone could dump tens of thousands of dollars into a project car(s) in their garage, only driven a couple times a year, yet, that is a hobby. But preppers, oh no, that is insanity. Time to round 'em up and ship them out.
Pretty sure, if you read the thread, we've all described reasonable scenarios of the "unknown". But I see you are insisting on fitting the liberal stereotype mentioned by the OP.
Indeed. Some folks just can't get over themselves......when it comes to emergency preparedness, some always have to liken everyone with emergency gear and supplies to paranoid nut jobs. What is truly amusing is that these same naysayers have total faith in government to protect and provide in a disaster, natural or otherwise.
Again, it just CAN'T happen here. Hurricanes, blizzards, earthquakes, fires....well, in the minds of many, the government will always ride to the rescue, and until the saviors get there, local emergency services will be on top of it. No need for worry. As to an ecomomic collapse, a cyber attack that cripples infrastructure and government operations, widespread terrorism in the aftermath of such an attack, roving gangs of thugs looting, raping and burning in tbe absence of government protection etc....to these folks that is just laughable, and being ready for such an event makes one a tinfoil hat classic nut.
So be it. It's the a free country, for now. Worshiping at the altar of Washington is covered in the Constitution for I re kon. They can insult and disdain, happily, away, and I will go, quietly, about my business.
Saying "I'm going to be prepared for a temporary emergency" is good and prudent. Saying "The sky is falling and I'm going to prepare for the permanent end of civilization" is stupid especially as these people usually spending money on "prepping" to the exclusion of funding much more likely needs like retirement savings, paying for health care, paying for their children's education, etc... Sure, it's their money and they're free to have it but the rest of us are equally free to believe they're stupid and short sighted for missing some pretty obvious and much more likely needs while entertaining their fantasies about the sky falling permanently.
I'm reminded of the show Doomsday Preppers on National Geographic where one couple spent all of their money on pre-packaged garbage for doomsday then got kicked out of their home because the idiots didn't bother to pay their mortgage. At the time of filming they'd been reduced to living in the husband's big rig and all that garbage they maxed out their credit cards to buy had to be thrown away as there was no where to put it. They were so busy obsessing about highly unlikely things (like the end of the world) that they missed the highly likely stuff (like if you don't pay your mortgage the bank will foreclose on you).
Another episode of the same show had a widowed house wife in her early 60's and a few years earlier the couple had gotten involved in some weird church where the preacher preached about the end of the world coming and the need to be prepared. This same preacher also owned a store selling over priced freeze dried junk and gimicky garbage for preppers all priced well higher than just buying stuff off the internet. The couple spent every penny they had buying this crap, they even took out a second mortgage to buy more thinking the world was about to end so they'd never have to pay it back, they cancelled their health insurance so they could spend more each month buying this useless garbage. Then her husband got cancer and died because they couldn't afford treatment and didn't have health insurance. At the time of filming she was days away from foreclosure but still kept hoping the world would end before it happened. A fool and his money are soon parted and so much of the prepper movement is associated with this lack of prepping for real needs and displays no logical sense about dealing with the most likely to happen stuff first before moving on to the extremely less likely stuff. That lack of knowledge or even critical thinking by so many preppers is why normal people consider most preppers to be crazy.
Saying "I'm going to be prepared for a temporary emergency" is good and prudent. Saying "The sky is falling and I'm going to prepare for the permanent end of civilization" is stupid especially as these people usually spending money on "prepping" to the exclusion of funding much more likely needs like retirement savings, paying for health care, paying for their children's education, etc... Sure, it's their money and they're free to have it but the rest of us are equally free to believe they're stupid and short sighted for missing some pretty obvious and much more likely needs while entertaining their fantasies about the sky falling permanently.
There are millions of Americans who spend recklessly, why should prepping be held to a different standard? There is nothing about prepping that inherently lends itself to financial irresponsibility, that part you assumed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Think4Yourself
I'm reminded of the show Doomsday Preppers on National Geographic where one couple spent all of their money on pre-packaged garbage for doomsday then got kicked out of their home because the idiots didn't bother to pay their mortgage. At the time of filming they'd been reduced to living in the husband's big rig and all that garbage they maxed out their credit cards to buy had to be thrown away as there was no where to put it. They were so busy obsessing about highly unlikely things (like the end of the world) that they missed the highly likely stuff (like if you don't pay your mortgage the bank will foreclose on you).
I saw that episode, the impression I came away with was that they were in financial trouble because his wife was dying of cancer, and they couldn't afford the medical bills. Either way, they were featured on doomsday preppers because they were an exceptional example of an eccentric prepper, completely not mainstream, but made for TV.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Think4Yourself
Another episode of the same show had a widowed house wife in her early 60's and a few years earlier the couple had gotten involved in some weird church where the preacher preached about the end of the world coming and the need to be prepared. This same preacher also owned a store selling over priced freeze dried junk and gimicky garbage for preppers all priced well higher than just buying stuff off the internet. The couple spent every penny they had buying this crap, they even took out a second mortgage to buy more thinking the world was about to end so they'd never have to pay it back, they cancelled their health insurance so they could spend more each month buying this useless garbage. Then her husband got cancer and died because they couldn't afford treatment and didn't have health insurance. At the time of filming she was days away from foreclosure but still kept hoping the world would end before it happened. A fool and his money are soon parted and so much of the prepper movement is associated with this lack of prepping for real needs and displays no logical sense about dealing with the most likely to happen stuff first before moving on to the extremely less likely stuff. That lack of knowledge or even critical thinking by so many preppers is why normal people consider most preppers to be crazy.
And I would agree, these people lost their f'ing minds. Still, there is nothing wrong with self-suffiency as a hobby, even if it is costly (as are many hobbies). Basic first aid/CPR, outdoor survival tactics, water treatment, and basic ingenuity to build power sources and other needs, should be a skill everyone can be proud of.
I guess my point is that people should back off, this is no more insane than all the other consumer bull**** Americans **** money away on each and every day, it just so happens to be a popular punchline and shows like "doomsday preppers" aren't helping matters.
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