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So when I see shows like this one where they're displaying folks who are prepping for one very defined, and highly improbable, scenario I just have to laugh as the sadness of it. The real preppers I know are just preparing to maintain a reasonable semblance of their life in the even that something should happen that makes it difficult. It doesn't matter "what" other than a few specifics based on location (I don't have to prep for hurricanes, but my friend in HotLanta doesn't have to prep for 70 below)... they aren't prepping for zombies or alien invasion or societal collapse just plain old random hardship for whatever reason. Duration is really the only factor... most of the non-fad, non-freaky-panicy preppers I know have supplies and plans for surviving short-term without breaking a sweat, mid-term with a little rearranging, and long-term with a little extra elbow grease.
yes indeed!
And the best part is that we love what we do, and will continue to do it - not because we are terrified of what sort of evil will happen tomorrow, but because this is our chosen way of life... this is what interests us, what gives us satisfaction, and what keeps us busy, active, productive, and - incidentally - well-supplied.
We usually agree; but I disagree with you on this one. You're describing the survivalist as presented by Hollywood, the vicious and generally dirty and uneducated villain. I don't see it that way as I've known survivalists since the Seventies. They're neither vicious nor dirty nor ignorant nor stupid. The survivalist is more likely to be reading a book on the Byzantine Empire to get background on currency debasement than to be drinking with a group of high school dropouts. The true survivalist has intellectual curiosity.
The prepper, in my experience is a chap who hasn't done terribly well in good times and fears that The situation may become worse. On the other hand, he hopes that he can see the successful people in their nice homes reduced to refugees who will beg him for a crust of bread. He seems to believe that he'll thrive if only he can find a simpler life where everyone lives in poverty or little above it.
The survivalist asks why. Why should I plant a garden? Why should I buy (or sell) some investment? Why will this or that approach maintain my lifestyle. The survivalist is seldom poor. He may be broke; but he's seldom poor. The survivalist may seem to be very similar to typical middle class Americans. He lives in a nice house, drives a nice car, and eats well. Therefore, how is he different?
The answer is that the survivalist plans for that which is unexpected by the herd. He knows that the dollar can tumble, that riots can break out, and that political systems can change overnight without any revolution or constitutional amendment. This last isn't hindsight; the survivalist can look back to the Roosevelt years to see dramatic change in the roles of subject and ruler. The survivalist tries to figure out ways to insulate himself. For the survivalist, having a modest house and garden coupled with the ability to can vegetables and barely survive isn't enough. The survivalist wishes to prosper.
OK, I'm not going to quibble over terminology. WHat you just described as the survivalist I see as the prepper. I see the survivalist as one with much more practical knowledge, likely military background, with the ability to endure/survive more harsh conditions while mobile than the average "prepper".
A close friend knows I am trying to prepare. I've tried to encourage him to do the same for himself and those who depend upon him. He has many more valuable practical skills than I but has decided that he has no reason to prepare for more than a few weeks because he is capable of overtaking his neighbors for their supplies to feed his family. Me, I'm not built that way. A confrontation is something I will go miles out of my way to avoid because though I am capable of using lethal force, I never want to do it and be the initiating aggressor. I would rather have the foraging knowledge and enough bushcraft skills to see me through rather than to take from another that which was not offered. YMMV.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SCGranny
yes indeed!
And the best part is that we love what we do, and will continue to do it - not because we are terrified of what sort of evil will happen tomorrow, but because this is our chosen way of life... this is what interests us, what gives us satisfaction, and what keeps us busy, active, productive, and - incidentally - well-supplied.
And that indeed is the best way. I wish I had grown up learning the skills you have aquired over a lifetime instead of coming to the realization in mid-life that I'd better get them figured out and quickly.
LOL
It cracked me up about the "experts" who talked to them about what they could do better.
In my stint of classes in FEMA/Homeland Security mitigation, it used to make me laugh when the 'experts' would talk about mitigation (i.e., prepping) of events, and what they would foresee as plausible scenarios, particularly pre-Katrina. They simply could not comprehend that people do not behave "normally" after a disaster; they do not all file quietly to the shelters or joyfully accept transportation to those shelters; they do not wait in line patiently for basics like water and ice, they do not sit in their homes and wait for succor. With the advent of the 'terrorist' element, they hadn't even considered that the perfect scenario for a terrorist attack was the aftermath of a natural disaster. The "experts" were continually amazed when, as in Katrina, many people actually behaved lawlessly and with pure self-interest!
Post-Katrina, there was a lot of false sympathy for the attendees from New Orleans; they were told that they hadn't prepared adequately and hadn't used their resources adequately, and that was the cause of so many problems. While that was partially true - the refusal of the bureaucracies to implement the plans that they had all agreed upon pre-disaster was a part of the problem. BUT - the biggest part of the problem was that the planners had literally NO IDEA that things would get out of hand that quickly, that people would not do as they were told, that they would actually go out of their ways to behave as criminals and to turn New Orleans into a quagmire of fear, gunshots, and extreme violence against even those in hospitals or nursing homes, demanding drugs from doctors and nurses at knifepoint and gunpoint, holding the ill as hostages to get drugs and supplies. The "experts" honestly believed that masses of people in panic would do as they were told without question and be easy to control with a minimum enforcement.
Even post-Katrina, the "experts" still blamed the hierarchy for "losing control" of the populace, because the experts' computer and paper models did not show such outcomes. It was so easy to Monday-morning-quarterback the outcomes - because their modeled scenarios do not ever take into account the actual human element, only what their college professors told them the element 'should' be and how it 'should' behave.
I don't trust "experts", I only trust my own knowledge and experiences; and secondarily, the knowledge and experiences of others who have done more than postulate ideas for their professors or employers, without ever implementing a single one in a real-life scenario.
LOL Granny, I couldn't agree more I like the practice of taking what "experts" and armchair-quarterbacks have to say "under advisement". Which normally means stuffing it away in the circular file since they have no idea what they're talking about WRT your real-world situation. I tend to put more weight on advice given by folks who might actually have a clue, and often tweak their recommendations to match my particular conditions and skill sets.
Living out here, am I gonna trust some survival instructor from the L48 or a native born and bred? (heck, I'd trust anyone who lives/works above 50N in any country over someone who's never been out of the L48!!) Am I gonna trust FEMA, who didn't even know there were people living out here when they decided to let the forest burn for another day -- and then got their panties in a twist because we used our mining and logging equipment to clear our own dammed firebreaks? Ivy League paper models don't stand up too well in the Boreal Muskeg
And that's the whole problem with the "experts" -- durned idjits keep trying to apply a one-size-fits-all solution to problems that only have superficial similarities and have little or no field experience in the actual conditions, much less attempting to factor in the human element.
No doubt some thought they could actually help put the message about sensible "prepping" across when in reality most of their good intentions were twisted by the producers or ended up on the cutting room floor (so to speak). Instead they were hijacked by sensationalism and found that reality as no association with reality TV.
No doubt some thought they could actually help put the message about sensible "prepping" across when in reality most of their good intentions were twisted by the producers or ended up on the cutting room floor (so to speak). Instead they were hijacked by sensationalism and found that reality as no association with reality TV.
True. I just hope it helps people realize that EVERYONE should have minimal preps in place, even if they don't anticipate TSHTF.
Not only that but they are surely being paid to appear. Perhaps not much but even a couple of thousand dollars might be an enticement.
I'd bet they're being paid little or nothing....people like being on TV regardless of the circumstances. Take "Cops" for example....I used to think that the perps that had their faces blanked out had refused to agree to appear on the show. Nope, they refused to appear on the show FOR FREE. Cops doesn't pay the perps a dime...
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yes indeed!
Exposing the show
I like the practice of taking what "experts" and armchair-quarterbacks have to say "under advisement". Which normally means stuffing it away in the circular file since they have no idea what they're talking about WRT your real-world situation. I tend to put more weight on advice given by folks who might actually have a clue, and often tweak their recommendations to match my particular conditions and skill sets. 
