these preppers are ready for zombies, Nukes…and the Debt Ceiling

[Liberal_in_LA]

At least someone on the right is taking the debt ceiling seriously: preppers. With the federal government seven days away from reaching its borrowing limit, survivalists—and the $500-million-a-year industry that caters to them—are on high alert, taking to message boards, podcasts, and YouTube to urge their countrymen to stock up on freeze-dried food and ammunition, absent fast congressional action.

Mac Slavo, writing at SHTF Plan, short for the prepper mantra "Shit Hits the Fan," put it bluntly in a post on October 4: "The end result is going to widespread financial and economy destruction, a meltdown of the U.S. dollar, and a collapse of our very way of life as tens of millions of Americans will be instantly impoverished."

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But preppers, the roughly 2 million Americans who preach self-reliance as a bulwark against breakdowns in the social or economic order, are hunkering down for the long haul. "Fear mongering? I doubt it," wrote "PJ," a contributor to the blog Prepper-Resources.com earlier this week. "I'm not sure going down the road of default would bring about much of anything that resembles a positive experience. The next few weeks will be interesting, I'm not sure if we will be able to plow on with the status quo after all of this. Or will we?"

To prepare for the Congress-created crisis, Slavo suggested a series of precautions. "Set aside food in case it is no longer available at grocery stores. Save some gold and silver to utilize as a mechanism of exchange should the dollar crash." And lastly: "Learn to use a firearm and have ammunition on hand to defend yourself when the masses start fighting for whatever resources remain." For a glimpse of the worst-case scenario, he pointed to a 2010 statement from prepper economist John Williams, who believed that the collapse of the dollar would soon plunge the United States into chaos and destroy the dollar: "It may take that [a couple months] for a barter system to evolve, which I think is what you're going to end up with; at least until a new currency system is reorganized and you get a government that's able to bring its fiscal house into order."

Preppers are hardly united in how they're approaching the debt ceiling. Some are simply monitoring the situation. Others are making last-minute preparations in the event that the SHTF on October 17. "I hope everybody's kind of awake to it," warned a man who identified himself as NOCO Prepper in a YouTube video posted on October 6. "I wouldn't be doing any long-term prepper projects…And wrap up if you have some loose odds and ends. Check your bags. Check your gear in case you have to get out of Dodge in case something happens."


http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/preppers-debt-ceiling-obama-zombies?google_editors_picks=true

[VanillaRhapsody]

1. bunch of nutters that do not believe in either the Constitution or the U.S. government.

most are just refried militia members...and many are White Supramacists who see the only way to get around Caucasians becoming a minority is for the whole country to collapse. They salivate at their narrative that "Black people will come to steal their stuff" so they can finally fulfill their dream of warfare against them. Some may just be as silly as those who hoarded cans of Spam at the turn of the century...others not so much.

[Marrah_G]

3. Not everyone that preps is a RW nutter, racist

Learning survival skills and storing food, seeds, equipment, etc is something people on the left do also.

[VanillaRhapsody]

6. being prepared for a few days in case of emergency is one thing

What these "preppers" are doing is not that....they are preparing for the country to fail....THAT's the difference.

[Marrah_G]

8. My point is that there are different types and degrees of prepping

There are also many different reasons for doing so. I couldn't survive more then a few days at my house. At my boyfriends we would be just fine for a very long time.

[VanillaRhapsody]

9. NO these are nutters...look at what everyone else is saying here.

[HappyMe]

2. I have watched Doomsday Preppers.

Truly a bunch of people that are a couple of cans short of a six pack. Some of them are just plain scary.

[Marrah_G]

4. I think the majority of people who prep do it at a far more moderate pace then people on that show.

It's like comparing housewives in NJ to the cast of "Real housewives of NJ"

[HappyMe]

5. I can see if you live in hurricane land,

earthquake town or blizzard ville - having some stuff makes sense.

Other than that - prepping for what?

[Marrah_G]

7. We have both hurricanes and Blizzards here

Also, you never know what the future holds. Being able to meet your own needs in a crisis is not a bad thing. I can cook, can, make staples like butter and cheese, garden (even mushrooms!), knit, crochet, sew, even spin my own yarn/thread, make candles etc. I don't do all these things all the time, but have learned the skills to do them. At my boyfriends house there is emergency stores of food, water and wood. He even found a floor model solar generator cheap a few years ago. Once our children are on their own and we can combine households we intend to have a few each of goats, chickens, ducks.

I would call us pretty moderate "preppers". we enjoy learning skills most have forgotten and take some comfort in knowing if a disaster ever happens we will be okay.

[VanillaRhapsody]

10. being prepared for an Emergency is one thing....

these people HOARD weapons and ammunition. "Preppers" are preparing for the fall of the government and the Apocalypse etc. They believe that the U.N. will take over the country. They think the shelves in the stores will empty and when the "govt checks" stop coming the Inner City people (meaning Black people) will come to the country to steal from them....they relish the thought even.

Even those that had those bomb shelters back in the 50's were considered nutters!

[HappyMe]

11. Holy smokes!

I can cook, sew, garden and embroider. I can knit, but not very well - it gets the job done, but I hope you don't need it anytime soon.
I wish I could spin. I made candles when I was in high school (hey, it was the 70s).

You know, I admire you for having a bunch of the 'old days' skills. Even if you never need them, they are such a pleasure to do for the helluva it.

My dream would be to have a 2 bedroom cabin with 5 acres. All my crafty crap would be in the 2nd bedroom. A beautiful flower garden (I did landscaping for 10 years) vegetables, some chickens for eggs (I couldn't kill off my buddies) a couple of goats (don't they have some for fur or something -plus so much personality). My husband has mad skills as far as building stuff.

I don't have as many skills, but I'm a tough old thing. I might not make it all the way through, but I'll go down fighting hard.

[Marrah_G]

13. There is something so relaxing and at the same time exciting about learning something new

Like making butter, or mayo or cheese. My mother said " why are you making butter? it's cheaper to buy it" and I told her...I just wanted to learn how, to know that I could do it. It's the same with canning. yes its cheaper and easier to buy veggies or salsa or soup or sauce, but there is something satisfying about making something from stuff you grow and then opening up a jar in the middle of the winter. I think we are alot alike

[1000words]

12. Good for you! Like everything, there are those who take things to an obsessive extreme.

Those are the nuts you see on TV. Most of them are spending their life savings on hoarding. The true "preppers," and the ones who will be most prepared in the event of disaster, are gaining knowledge and DIY skills.

In the end, there is sound logic to the axiom: "Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it."

[bluestate10]

14. Yes guys, take your guns and spam and leave us with warplanes, Drones, tanks.

That will work out well for you.