Monday, January 23, 2012

It’s More Mainstream Than You Think

I finally got around to reading a Reuters piece, penned by Jim Forsyth, titled Subculture of Americans prepares for civilization’s collapse, which Drudge first linked to on Saturday.

One could think, based on that headline, that the number of Americans who are preppers, as the terminology is utilized, is rather small, a true subculture, with just a hint of criminality, as subculture is often defined and mis-understood.  But they would be wrong.

Forsyth describes preppers this way.

They are following in the footsteps of hippies in the 1960s who set up communes to separate themselves from what they saw as a materialistic society, and the survivalists in the 1990s who were hoping to escape the dictates of what they perceived as an increasingly secular and oppressive government.

Forsyth’s description displays not only his lack of knowledge of history; does he not know that the early Christians were considered preppers? (the ancients were not familiar with the terms hippies, survivalists, or preppers) voicing some of the same concerns today’s preppers are; but his lack of being in touch with the concerns of everyday Americans.

I think of my old neighbor Wally, an everyday American, who passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 92.  I knew Wally for 16 years, and chatted with him almost everyday when he was strolling through the neighborhood, and one of the first subjects we ever discussed was the subject of secular and oppressive government and free and easy credit.  Without fail, in these conversations, Wally would say to me, “You think the Great Depression was bad?  When the next one hits, the Great Depression is going to look like a picnic, so be prepared.,” and he wasn’t a prepper.

Or how about my mother?  She’s an everyday American, 81 years old, who still retains a semblance of faith in government, even she articulates to me a grave concern for the world due to the machinations of politics and advises being prepared, and she’s far from being a prepper (that’s okay, she’s got six (6) sons who will take care of her).

Or how about some of my neighbors, everyday Americans once again, who in conversations regarding the current state of the world casually refer to where they would go in the event of an economic and societal collapse, which is commonly known in “prepper” parlance as their bug out spots.  These neighbors of mine are not “subculture” individuals, they are red blooded, mainstream Americans, attempting to live freely, though they realize the yoke of slavery is already chaffing their necks.

Individuals desiring to be prepared for possible economic and societal collapse are not members of a subculture.  They are mainstream.  It is those individuals who are not aware and who are unprepared who are subculture today.

UPDATE:  Forgot that this came up in conversation Saturday night.  Costco sells a survival pack.  Though it’s only good for two (2) weeks, if Costco is selling survival packs, prepping is not a subculture.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/23 at 01:20 PM
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