by Michael
Why is the number of preppers growing so rapidly? Prior to the pandemic, somewhere around 2 or 3 percent of all Americans were preppers, but now that figure has shot up to about 10 percent. Needless to say, the pandemic certainly put a good scare into a lot of people, but now it has largely passed and so you would think that interest in prepping would subside. But instead, the prepping community just continues to grow. On a very basic level, most of us understand that the party is ending and most of us can feel that something really big is coming. In 2023 and beyond, there will be more war, more economic turmoil, more famines, more pestilences and more historic natural disasters. In such an environment, it will pay to be prepared.
Not too long ago, the mainstream media openly mocked those that were preparing for the meltdown of society.
They were labeled “doomsday preppers” or “survivalists”, and entire television shows were created to make fun of them.
But now everything has changed. In fact, 60 Minutes just did a story in which they portrayed preppers as just ordinary people from all walks of life…
If you hear the term “survivalist” and it conjures images of militants and conspiracy theorists— residing on the fringes and on compounds, armed to the teeth—well, it’s time to reset your doomsday clock. A worldwide community of preppers – those who stockpile goods and skill-up for extreme catastrophes – is girding less for the end of days, than for a disaster that calls for taking cover. A climate emergency, civil unrest, the possibility of a dirty bomb, to say nothing of a global pandemic that suddenly shuts down the world. It was COVID that turned abstract apocalyptic scenarios into a reality. Modern preppers come at it from all angles and for all kinds of reasons. We went high and low, talking to a few of the millions of Americans who have joined the movement.
To me, the most interesting part of the story was when they talked to a man that worked for the Obama administration named John Ramey. Since that time, Ramey has become quite a prepper himself, and he told 60 Minutes that at this stage approximately 10 percent of all Americans are now preppers…
We think about 15 million Americans are actively prepping right now. In terms of percentage of households, we are at or about to cross 10% of all households. And just a few years ago, that was 2% or 3%.
In the old days, the vast majority of preppers were conservatives.
But these days a lot of liberals are now prepping.
And even a lot of those liberals do not believe that the government will be able to handle the sort of apocalyptic scenarios that are rapidly approaching. The following is one exchange from the 60 Minutes story that illustrates this point…
Jon Wertheim: If there’s some kind of catastrophe, to what extent do you trust the government?
Heidi Keller: I’m not gonna down the government. I mean, they do the best that they can. But pretty much the government’s not gonna take care of you, not because they may not want to, but because there’s too much going on. That’s common sense.
What Heidi Keller said is quite true.
The government is not some all-powerful entity that can shield us from all harm.
When things start getting really bad out there, a lot of people are only going to be able to turn to themselves for assistance.
Recently, one mainstream publication called “Big Think” put out an article that contained eight statements that are meant to help you determine if you are a prepper or not…
1. I have stockpiled food and water to survive a potential major disaster.
2. I have stockpiled weapons to survive a potential major disaster.
3. I have stockpiled equipment and materials to survive a potential major disaster.
4. I regularly think through in my mind ways to survive a potential major disaster.
5. I have thought through who would be in my survival group.
6. I know where I could get more supplies to survive a potential major disaster.
7. I have a plan I could put into operation to survive a potential major disaster.
8. I have attended survival courses to help me get through a potential major disaster.
For each statement, you are supposed to give yourself a score from one to five.
According to the article, the average score is 19. So if you gave yourself a score that is well above 19 that strongly indicates that you are probably a prepper.
Earlier today, I came across a news story which explained that the total number of people in the world is about to hit eight billion…
The world’s population is set to hit eight billion next week in a key milestone for humanity, according to the United Nations.
The UN Population Division said that the population will continue to grow in the decades to come, with life expectancy set to increase to an average of 77.2 years by 2050.
By November 15, the number of humans on Earth will grow to eight billion, more than three times higher than the 2.5 billion global headcount in 1950.
Not all of those eight billion people will make it through what is ahead.
In fact, there are some people that believe that most of them will die by the time this decade is over.
Could you imagine what our world would look like if that actually happened?
The truth is that we got really lucky with the pandemic that we just went through, because the death toll was relatively low.
In the future, we could easily see pestilences that kill hundreds of millions of people.
And we are also now closer to nuclear war than we have ever been before.
In addition, the United Nations is publicly warning that “multiple famines” are likely in the coming year.
We live in such troubled times, and more people than ever are getting prepared for apocalyptic scenarios.
If you are not a prepper yet, I would very much encourage you to start doing the same.
