Heh, you remind me of a passage from The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
"A Negro rifle club that had been in existence for over twelve years in Harlem had been ‘discovered’ by the police; it was being trumpeted that I was ‘behind it.’ […]
‘Mr. Malcolm X, what about your comment that Negroes should form rifle clubs?’…
When black men had been lynched or otherwise murdered in cold blood, it was always said ‘Things will get better.’ When whites had rifles in their homes, the Constitution gave them the right to protect their home and themselves. But when black people even spoke of having rifles in their homes, that was ‘ominous’."
We’re on the left, and we’ve dipped into light prepping since the election. It’s not only political paranoia–where we live, serious earthquakes and volcanic eruptions aren’t impossible, and it wouldn’t take much seismic movement to trap us in our area. Being ready to go up to a month without electricity or delivery of goods just seems like a sensible precaution.
Though, as I said, we were triggered by the election. The possibility of ending up in scarcity-of-goods situation feels like it has gone up.
We’re only storing foods we eat anyway, and we’re cycling through them.
It’s clear you’ve not been there. Go there, have a browse, and come back.
They have forums with titles such as Contingency Planning & Preparation, Family Prep, Personal Experiences, and Disasters in Current Events. Nothing fantastical about it.
At least for me, using the term “prepper” to describe someone having a few days’ food and some solar flashlights to better withstand a power outage is silly.
If you’re stockpiling stuff for Armageddon, you’re a “prepper.” Own a bug-out bag and can recite the contents which you update monthly: you’re a “prepper”.
OTOH, if you have a manual can opener and a couple cases of drinking water you’re a “sensible citizen.”
I have no clue what the preppers are doing. This sensible citizen is drawing down his supply of bottled water bought for hurricane season. So I can buy fresh at the start of next season. Same for my 6 cans each of fruits and veggies. I have another dried salami to eat and then my hurricane foodstuffs will be gone. Until next June.
Trump; shmump. The risk I’m mitigating is a large volume of swirling humid 90F+ air. Hmm. Wait a minute !!!?!?! :eek: :eek:
In fact I did go there, I did browse it, and I read threads in those forums, ones that appeared to be maiking an effort to be serious.
However, the name of the site is “Zombie Squad” and has, as a key part of its stated purpose, preparedness for an outbreak of zombies. Their blog post four posts ago was how to check your car for zombies. Why would one take seriously the advice of people who believe in zombies?
I don’t mean to be nitpicky, but if you think that the advice they offer is “tainted” by their zombie mission statement, what do you see as the difference between that zombie preparedness site and the CDC’s zombie preparedness page? The levels of tongue-in-cheek and intent to provide actual preparedness instructions seem similar in both places to me.
The CDC has a page dedicated to such things. The CDC itself does many many other things than espouse zombie preparedness. In this situation, a page as a bit of an amusement to maybe get a few more eyeballs thinking about preparedness could be a good thing.
The Zombie squad page is just about zombies. Sure, as a side, ti talks about some useful survival skills, but that is not the reason or the focus of the page, nor the reason that people would view their site.
Because the preppers are smart. They know if they say they say they are saving for the UN takeover when they come to take our guns, people will think that they are dangerous lunatics. But if they are preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse and say it with tongue in cheek, people will either think that are kidding or are at worst harmless loonies.
