3 ms·
Actual prepping as in "preparing for the afternath of some catastrophic event that breaks civilization" is something else than the usual "cosplaying for the zom
by atoav 4y ago
Actual prepping as in "preparing for the afternath of some catastrophic event that breaks civilization" is something else than the usual "cosplaying for the zombie apocalypse"-type of prepping you can observe so often.
Actual prepping would involve a ton of community networking, trying to be in good terms with your neighbours, creating lasting and decentralized infrastructure for a d with them etc.
The prepping most preppers do is just trying to be less fucked than others when the shit hits the fan. Living the ultimate rugged individualist delusion: that you somehow can survive alone if you just buy the right gear to make it through the first week and that you will have to shoot the looters who were too stupid to prepare.
The problem with all of this is typically that those rugged individuals have to depend on the work and expertise of other people in some way or another. I mean you might need electrical engineering, a doctor, someone who is good with plants and animals, whatever. Unless you are already live 100% self sustained whatever you are doing is not going to cut it without other people also getting through this.
- bitwize 4y agoI think this explains the stereotype of Christian conservatives in rural "fly-over country" in the USA. Frontiersmen were preppers writ large, and could not even rely on the supply chains of their time, let alone the massively interlinked supply chains of today. They had to rely on themselves -- and each other. 150 years ago, the church was not just a place of worship, but also a community center, where neighbors met each other, socialized, and begged for or offered aid. I am neither a Christian nor a conservative. But I think understanding why Christian conservatives are the way they are, rather than declaring them an enemy to be fought or diagnosing them in absentia with mental illness, without a license, would be good for urban liberals like me. Our side has done too little in terms of understanding and addressing the needs of these people, and it's had real costs on our society (like Trump).
- atoav 4y agoI have never been in the US, but I grew up in a rural (catholic) village in the Alps — I think rural people everywhere are alike, especially if they live in somewhat remote geographies. E.g. it is a very important skill in an rural environment to know how to shut up and not say what you are thinking. This is why the recent vreferendum on abortion in Kansas went the way it did. People on the countryside tend to be more comservative, sure. But they also hate being told what they are allowed to do.