# It is wise to scoff at preppers? Are their fears really so outlandish? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 24, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769 "2015-01-24T17:24:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/81 "2015-01-27T15:09:00Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > So, no…you haven’t really done anything except think about how nice it is to have friends in another country. I didn’t see anything in there at all about assets. Could you afford a ticket on the first available plane right now when there isn’t a crisis? Airlines over book in normal times…I wonder what kind of frightful fucking mess they’ll make when there is enough of a crisis that people start fleeing the country. Once you are there, assuming you manage to make it there, did you have any plans other than being a financial burden on these people you are counting on to take you in? Any situation fucked enough to cause people to flee the US is just about bound to crash the economy world wide. What are you bringing to their table other than another mouth to feed? > But hey, you’re you. Etc. I would be kind of shocked if my family didn’t take me in. I kind of suspect they will be glad I escaped the zombie apocalypse and happy to help us get on our feet. I would be be legal to work and have marketable skills in that country. And savings should cover plane tickets, even inflated ones. Life would probably be hard for a while, but it’d be hard anywhere in the situation we are discussing. Moving to a new country when the get bad isn’t some absurd thing that nobody does. It’s basically why most Americans are in the US. And most of them did it with no support system in place. Again, maybe not an ideal situation. But we are comparing this to hunkering down with a bunch of guns and MREs while armed bandits and FEMA thugs maraud around the country. I’d rather be living the immigrant experience, hard as it is, than the Mad Max one. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/82 "2015-01-27T15:15:28Z")
So will you be taking your plane/boat/helicopter/transporter to this new location? The whole idea that you can or would simply flee to another country during a time of sudden, temporary, and violent civil unrest is unrealistic. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/83 "2015-01-27T15:28:04Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Again, maybe not an ideal situation. But we are comparing this to hunkering down with a bunch of guns and MREs while armed bandits and FEMA thugs maraud around the country. I’d rather be living the immigrant experience, hard as it is, than the Mad Max one. You keep making sneering references to MRE’s, guns, and zombies…none of which I have mentioned. I understand why you keep doing it. A ridiculous position is easy for you to mock and dismiss. Too bad it isn’t the position I hold. Your position seems to be that even absolutely minimal preparation, i.e. having a bag with clothes and a few necessary items in it, isn’t worth doing because nothing bad is ever going to happen to you and, if anything bad does happen, you will just board that big silver bird to where other people will take care oif you. Who knows? Maybe for a special snowflake like you that is a viable strategy. other people, who aren’t as special as you, don’t have those options. Your plan, such as it is, isn’t really a plan because you didn’t think it through and arrange it. It is shit-ass good luck of birth. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/84 "2015-01-27T15:36:12Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > So will you be taking your plane/boat/helicopter/transporter to this new location? The whole idea that you can or would simply flee to another country during a time of sudden, temporary, and violent civil unrest is unrealistic. Wait, if it’s temporary, then I can just stay home. I’ve got a couple weeks of food in the cabinets and my building is sturdy. No need for six months worth of water and a pile of guns. If it’s more enduring, then escaping via plane is consistently realistic with every similar situation we’ve ever encountered. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/85 "2015-01-27T15:37:22Z")
[armchair psychology] The appeal of being a prepper is that someone who’s unsatisfyingly _mundane_ in their normal life can instantly feel superior to 99.99% of the population simply by going out to [tacticalbadass.com](http://tacticalbadass.com) and spending a few hundred dollars on survival equipment. Sure, Johnson might have gotten that big promotion because he actually has marketable skills in _this_ world, but you’ll show him when the S hits the F and you’ve got a some beef jerky and paracord. So yes, preppers deserve to be scoffed at because they’re all scoffing at us. [/armchair psychology] ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/86 "2015-01-27T15:41:22Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > [armchair psychology] > > The appeal of being a prepper is that someone who’s unsatisfyingly _mundane_ in their normal life can instantly feel superior to 99.99% of the population simply by going out to [tacticalbadass.com](http://tacticalbadass.com) and spending a few hundred dollars on survival equipment. Sure, Johnson might have gotten that big promotion because he actually has marketable skills in _this_ world, but you’ll show him when the S hits the F and you’ve got a some beef jerky and paracord. > > So yes, preppers deserve to be scoffed at because they’re all scoffing at us. > > [/armchair psychology] That betrays no great knowledge of psychology. Not even what I would expect out of somebody who took psych 101 a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/87 "2015-01-27T15:43:33Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Wait, if it’s temporary, then I can just stay home. I’ve got a couple weeks of food in the cabinets and my building is sturdy. No need for six months worth of water and a pile of guns. > > If it’s more enduring, then escaping via plane is consistently realistic with every similar situation we’ve ever encountered. How do you know, in advance, what is temporary and what isn’t? Nobody got on any planes to anywhere following the 9/11 attacks. Shutting down the airports is not only possible, it’s been done. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/88 "2015-01-27T15:46:27Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > That betrays no great knowledge of psychology. Not even what I would expect out of somebody who took psych 101 a long time ago. Good thing I never took psych 101 then. I do, however, have a passing familiarity with armchairs. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/89 "2015-01-27T15:47:09Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > That’s what the preppers don’t understand, **Lemur**. Society isn’t some fragile artificial construct that will collapse if pushed too hard - society is the natural state of mankind. It’s what human beings default to. If anything, it’s \*loners \*who are the aberration. Must “preppers” be antisocial loners as y’all imagine? What about people who agree with you about the importance of community and cooperation, and also believe that modern fossil-fueled industrial society maybe isn’t sustainable? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/90 "2015-01-27T15:54:38Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Good thing I never took psych 101 then. I do, however, have a passing familiarity with armchairs. You still could have done better. Maybe linked prepping to insufficient breast feeding or to too early toilet training. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/91 "2015-01-27T15:57:12Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Must “preppers” be antisocial loners as y’all imagine? What about people who agree with you about the importance of community and cooperation, and also believe that modern fossil-fueled industrial society maybe isn’t sustainable? For the position they wish to further, preppers _must_ be like that. People who have a plan, some supplies, and some friends are too sensible and mainstream to be dealt with by simple hooting and jeering. ---
**Author:** ![Lemmytheseal2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Lemmytheseal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemmytheseal2)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/92 "2015-01-27T16:02:10Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > But it seems to me that they are more prepared for The Attack Of The Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons. Snow Goons are bad news. > [@Bone](#): > > The folks who were prepared during Katrina were probably better off than those who didn’t. > > The stores in LA that had people with rifles on the roof didn’t get burned down when the police decided it wasn’t worth protecting. > > Apocalypse is probably not as likely as localized, temporary civil unrest. Natural disaster or other unpredictable major events can happen and do happen. Even being prepared for a 1-2 day power outage seems prudent. > > Guns for self defense are prevalent all the time, why wouldn’t they be part of a standard preparation plan? [Outside of New Orleans, they were prepared to threaten evacuees, so that “those people” wouldn’t seek refuge where they “didn’t belong.”](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-gretna_wittsep04-story.html#page=1)[Also, guns tend to make one (and one’s family) less safe](http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2015/01/good_guy_with_a_gun_myth_guns_increase_the_risk_of_homicide_accidents_suicide.html). > [@handsomeharry](#): > > 1. The activities in the 90s, Liberia, **Balkans (I say Balkans because I can’t keep track of those countries anymore, if I ever could)**, Cambodia…all of this happened in ‘civilized’ times, in highly civilized countries. Unfortunately, those in positions of power and privilege who wanted to tear apart Yugoslavia were highly adept at keeping track of “those countries.” Maybe if more people gave a damn about what their governments were doing in their name around the world, such things (and the collapses we’re talking about here, more generally) would not have happened! That goes for Cambodia as well. There was nothing the least bit civilized about[Nixon and Kissinger (“Yes Mr. President, anything that flies on everything that moves.”)](http://johnpilger.com/articles/from-pol-pot-to-isis-anything-that-flies-on-everything-that-moves)ordering the aerial destruction of Cambodia, with an enormous death toll, paving the way for the Khmer Rouge to take over. > [@Bone](#): > > So will you be taking your plane/boat/helicopter/transporter to this new location? The whole idea that you can or would simply flee to another country during a time of sudden, temporary, and violent civil unrest is unrealistic. That happens pretty frequently, though usually involving ground-based methods of transportation. It’s quite realistic. ---
**Author:** ![Lemmytheseal2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Lemmytheseal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemmytheseal2)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/93 "2015-01-27T16:05:51Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Must “preppers” be antisocial loners as y’all imagine? What about people who agree with you about the importance of community and cooperation, and also believe that modern fossil-fueled industrial society maybe isn’t sustainable? For what it’s worth, it does seem that “preppers” are frightened of antisocial behavior, i.e. marauding gangs of hooligans and such. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/94 "2015-01-27T16:16:24Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Must “preppers” be antisocial loners as y’all imagine? What about people who agree with you about the importance of community and cooperation, and also believe that modern fossil-fueled industrial society maybe isn’t sustainable? I’m not sure how to put this, but if preppers were concerned about the collapse of _industry_, they could prepare just as well be hoarding, say, hand drills and drill bits. People gotta drill things, and without electricity who are they gonna come to? That’s right, the guy who prepared. They’d be able to trade their drills for food and clothing. But that’s predicated on the assumption that there’d still be a society to trade with. That people would still need to make holes in things with drills. Preppers don’t seem to be preparing for that sort of future. Instead, they prepare for a collapse of trade, or a collapse of cooperation. Things that have been fundamental to the survival of humans for the last, say 10,000 years. They might not be loners now, but they certainly anticipate a future in which they’d have to survive without cooperation. eta: Of course, collecting hand drills isn’t fun, and comes with no feeling of superiority. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/95 "2015-01-27T16:21:30Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > eta: Of course, collecting hand drills isn’t fun, and comes with no feeling of superiority. …and it is certainly more expensive than deriving a sense of superiority from not making any preparations at all. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/96 "2015-01-27T16:27:15Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > …and it is certainly more expensive than deriving a sense of superiority from not making any preparations at all. Naturally. If you’re satisfied with your real life, there’s no need to buy hand drills OR jerky. You can spend that money instead on delicious craft beer. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/97 "2015-01-27T16:33:25Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > But that’s predicated on the assumption that there’d still be a society to trade with. That people would still need to make holes in things with drills. Preppers don’t seem to be preparing for that sort of future. Instead, they prepare for a collapse of trade, or a collapse of cooperation. Things that have been fundamental to the survival of humans for the last, say 10,000 years. They might not be loners now, but they certainly anticipate a future in which they’d have to survive without cooperation. Certainly many people would like to be able to survive on their own, or at least would like to think they could if it came to it. But everyone I have read or talked to, that I see as serious, _expects_ trade and cooperation to continue, indeed to become more personal and central than ever. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/98 "2015-01-27T16:39:51Z")
^ After all, apart from guns and nonperishable food stores, what is the most stereotypical thing to stockpile? Gold and silver, right? The value of this utterly depends on there being commerce. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/99 "2015-01-27T16:42:53Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > ^ After all, apart from guns and nonperishable food stores, what is the most stereotypical thing to stockpile? Gold and silver, right? The value of this utterly depends on there being commerce. Nobody can stockpile every possible need. What you do stockpile is often likened to an investment portfolio. A diversified portfolio allows both utility from the stockpiled item and trade with others. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769/100 "2015-01-27T16:45:37Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > ^ After all, apart from guns and nonperishable food stores, what is the most stereotypical thing to stockpile? Gold and silver, right? The value of this utterly depends on there being commerce. Fair enough. Of the preppers I know, only one has any gold, but that’s definitely a stereotypical thing. He seems to be more concerned with a collapse of the stock market (and ultimately the US dollar as a result), but he also has a bunch of AR-15s, presumably to protect the gold. But since hoarding gold is a thing, I concede the point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-wise-to-scoff-at-preppers-are-their-fears-really-so-outlandish/710769.md?page=6)