Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well, one very good thing about the Self-Sufficiency and Preparedness forum on City-Data is that it gives survivalists a place to vent. It also definitely gives the rest of us an insight into how their minds work. And thus the "stigma" is born - some of the threads and posts on this forum scare the bajeebers out of me. Seriously, I'm far more worried about an American survivalist conspiracy obsessed gun nut (like some posting on this forum or in the guns sub-forum) shooting me up than I am about any other possible unusual threat to my health and safety.
The rest of us just enjoy leading our lives in whatever way we enjoy living. Some of us have fun learning and using historic tools and methods. I belong to several groups that teach and support such skills and lifestyles. Some of us raise small grains, vegetables and livestock. Some make soap and candles. Some butcher our own meat. Some dry and can fruit, vegetables, and meat. Some plant and tend fruit and nut trees. Some spin and sew and weave and make pottery and baskets. Some have wells and fire pits and smokehouses and wood burning stoves. Some have windmills and solar panels and homes built to make the most of local conditions. Some people even have learned such difficult skills as operating steam powered railroad engines and glass making and boat building! We barter skills and goods and services among ourselves. Outhouses don't faze us! Most of us have only a few of these skills, but we know others who have the other skills.
We have a good time doing all of this NOW, without thinking about doing these things to be able to survive some awful event, and without thinking of ourselves as an Us against some kind of Them.
This is the self-sufficiency forum and several of us who have posted in this forum do live like this NOW, but this fact is constantly ignored.
Quote:
Although we have political opinions, we don't obsess about politics. We would never call ourselves "survivalists" or "preppers". Those words are completely associated with the lunatic extremist conspiracy believing gun nutty fringe. And the reasons those words have such associations have been clearly demonstrated by some of the posts in this thread.
Again, this is the self-sufficiency forum, not the survivalist prepper forum. I don't recall any of us self-sufficient types using labels to identify or describe ourselves. Occasionally, the kind of extremist you are talking about invades this forum and then everyone gets stereotyped.
C'mon. If your going to ask the question in the title, how upset can you be that people come and answer?
I had the same point in a similar thread in the Vegetarian forum.
I saw the thread before any had responded and hoped that no one would respond. But, here we are.
The OP was an obvious troll. He asked 2 entirely different questions in the title and first post. Some posters misread his first post too. He didn't ask if self-sufficiency has declined, he asked if the *value* in self-sufficiency has declined. That is a completely different question than the one he asked in the title, and unrelated to self-sufficiency. His thread title is more suited to the politics *and other controversies* forum, no?
I saw the thread before any had responded and hoped that no one would respond. But, here we are.
The OP was an obvious troll. He asked 2 entirely different questions in the title and first post. Some posters misread his first post too. He didn't ask if self-sufficiency has declined, he asked if the *value* in self-sufficiency has declined. That is a completely different question than the one he asked in the title, and unrelated to self-sufficiency. His thread title is more suited to the politics *and other controversies* forum, no?
Good point.
__________________ ____________________________________________
My posts as a Mod will always be in red.
Be sure to review Terms of Service: TOS
And check this out: FAQ
Moderator: Relationships Forum / Hawaii Forum / Dogs / Pets / Current Events
Occasionally, the kind of extremist you are talking about invades this forum and then everyone gets stereotyped.
'Zactly!!
WE didn't ask anybody any questions. Some basement-dwelling millennial who's afraid to show his face asked a facetious, ridiculous question. Now we're being blamed for wanting to defend ourselves from this type of shyte? I don't think so!
I believe the Mormons have been preppers for about as long as the religion has existed. Nothing at all wrong with knowing how to survive in the wild either. It's the people who spend more time prepping than actually living in the here and now who give it a bad name.
Zealotry in all persuasions is usually a bad idea!
This is the self-sufficiency forum and several of us who have posted in this forum do live like this NOW, but this fact is constantly ignored.
Again, this is the self-sufficiency forum, not the survivalist prepper forum. I don't recall any of us self-sufficient types using labels to identify or describe ourselves. Occasionally, the kind of extremist you are talking about invades this forum and then everyone gets stereotyped.
I understand what your saying, but, it is called the Self-sufficiency and Preparedness forum.
Don't they call themselves "survivalist preppers"? Preppers, if I'm not mistaken is short for preparing or preparedness. Isn't one their goals to be self sufficient? So, wouldn't survivalist preppers be into an extreme form of self sufficiency and preparedness?
You both simply come at it from different ideologies. People might be able to glean information from both of you.
And there's nothing wrong with labeling yourself, it's when others want to label you that an issue may arise.
I'm more of a "just in case of a natural disaster prepper liberal type", oops, there I go, labeling myself.
I believe the Mormons have been preppers for about as long as the religion has existed. Nothing at all wrong with knowing how to survive in the wild either. It's the people who spend more time prepping than actually living in the here and now who give it a bad name.
Nah. What gives it a bad name is things like I read here maybe a year ago. A prepper on food stamps. That totally pegged the irony meter.
I don't think it's about surviving in the wild. It's about being 100% self-sufficient. Roll the clocks back 200 years where you grow your own food and supplement it with what you can hunter/gather. Near as I can tell, that's pretty much what Submariner does in his Maine retirement. I imagine if the supply chain to Maine totally broke down for a year or two, he'd be just fine.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
