4.24.2012

Preppers are Preparing for the Collapse of the World Economy and Becoming Self-Sufficient


Started thinking about today's research topic - 'Preppers' - a few days ago after watching a documentary on The National Geographic Channel. Being an old fogey i thought the term prepper meant the same thing as survivalist did back then. But as the show unfolded it became clear that many of today's preppers have coping with economic collapse as their motivation which fits in nicely with my general doomer type 'collapse is our only hope thesis'.

One of the first places Google.ca suggested was The Canadian Prepper Network. It's a very neat place, full of fantastic ideas for self sufficient living in the here and now. It's gardening, food processing, storage and preparation entries alone are fantastic. This site is a wonderful resource for everyone trying to live simply, trying to feed their family healthy foods, trying to escape the rat race, etc. and has almost zero weirdo conspiracy theories.

Then, after about a half hour of great fun, next stop was The American Prepper Network, also very interesting but after just feeling the totally good vibes of the Canadian version it was instantly apparent that their are two different cultures in our two countries. The American version also has some very cool self-sufficiency pieces but they are kinda mixed in with gun culture security stuff, American exceptional-ism and seasoned with more than a dash of Jesus. Next up, culture shock #2 at The End of the American Dream where a person quickly learns that in America today, there are millions of "preppers" that are working feverishly to get prepared for what they fear is going to happen to America.

The whole thing was very interesting, learned lots. Sure glad i moved to Canada 43 years ago.