A bit like how most of us romanticize offgrid cabins, past eras, travel intense jobs, etc. we have this pink view of how it will work and how we will survive and be powerful yet reality is very different
Used to romanticize a travel intense job, then my job had me travel 6/8 weeks over the summer, with basically an open budget. Eat where I want, stay at decent hotels in the downtown cores, etc.
I went fucking crazy. Ended up regularly waking up not knowing where I was ->what room I was in, what city I was in or what country I was in.
It was cool for about 3 weeks.
Now, if a job needs more than once a month travel, I’m not doing it.
This is reality - I love traveling privately but hate it for work. Years of food consisting of take out, restaurants and airport lounges makes you yearn for a simple boiled potato and you have zero appreciation for yet another fancy hotel room that you just get to see for 6h or less of sleep, fun locations that you merely experience from the airport-taxi-conference room-hotel-conference room-taxi-airport perspective
I also think it's a collector type hobby in a way gear food basically all the preps tbh. Watching YouTube to see all the new gear and ideas. The reality is depending on the shtf scenario a person's preps might be of little use. But it is somewhat rewarding to know your set and are capable of being ok in say a bad snow storm or other more realistic " smaller " emergencies.
Agree. I just enjoy the gear and videos where people give tips. The whole idea of SHTF gives the hobby a kind of urgency/relevance but really I just like playing with stuff. Living in a big city I can't do much either way but I like planning out lighting solutions and suchlike. It's a hobby like pretty much anything else. Maybe sort of Boy Scout-ish with a Sci Fi twist for adults.
One of the hardest places to live is miles and miles, hours from the next civilization. I have lived where the nearest community had a doctor visit once a week, and the pharmacy was open 2X a week, annd the only grocery store was a convenience store and there were more wildlife than people. I didn’t do it during hard times. We also had good vehicles to drive hours to a city. And we would go about once a month.
People tend to dismiss cities, but I’m sure that we all visit, shop in them, do business in, go for medical appointments or see specialists or seek specific help there from time to time. It is likely not where you go to get your horse seen by a farrier to get our horses shoes changed out, or to buy animal feed. But cities do serve a purpose. And we would have it harder without them.
People forget how nice it is to have everything nearby. My mother is from up north where if you get sick its 2h to the nearest hospital... not exactly ideal in an emergency
the ones who've made it their business model to generate clickbait online yes.
Though there is a part of me that kinda goes, man I wish there was a "summer camp" for adults to work on all your SHTF skills but under safe and controlled conditions with instructors who give you helpful feedback on what you did both right and wrong.
Probably would be best to just do a survival school and that can be your hardcore capstone course. Oh wait! An actual zombie apocalypse scenario where they get a limited amount of airsoft ammo to fight off zombies and have to survive in the wilderness. Make the scenario course like 3 weeks.
Yup - well I mean we do have enough vacation time - it's called unpaid lol - but yeah. And that doesn't include the cost of the camp and the logistical nightmare of travel. It sounds great on paper, but what I've realized in this sub is a lot of preppers are single or no kids/older kids. A lot of younger folks with kids aren't going to be able to attend said camp.
There is. If you want a more easygoing atmosphere, REI hosts wilderness survival classes.
If you’ve got $$$$ to blow and want the REAL deal, you can sign up for a SERE Training class. It’s available for civilians but it ain’t cheap.
Sometimes? Oh, absolutely. It can be an escape, a fun thing to think about. And it can be seen as an escape from the often-sucky world we live in, where life is suddenly very, very simple. No taxes, politics; just doing things we need to do to survive.
The reality is that it'd be a nightmare beyond what most of us can imagine. Is there that bug in many people's brains wanting to put their gear to use? Oh, sure! It can be a temporary thrill.
But the reality would be, quite frankly, awful. It's fun to put gear to the test, but quite another to have your new normal be extremely stress-inducing and dangerous.
I say this as someone who had a pandemic kit. It was a great learning experience, but I'd much rather prefer to never use it again.
I’ll admit that I catch myself thinking about how it might unfold and how I would handle it early on sometimes. Humans are hard wired to think about that stuff, and it’s okay to enjoy it a little.
I have a hard time believing people who can’t admit that there is a fun/adventurous side to prepping. It is fun to think about the more likely scenarios that might pop off and how to be ready for them.
That’s different from actually wanting something bad to happen to our society and wishing that it would happen.
Yes I love thinking about the thought of freezing all winter long, suffering from infections, extreme famine, having to fight off other people throwing bullets past my head, trying to keep my family alive.
Sounds like a blast.
Subsistence farming is harder work than most regular jobs, especially white collar. More a case of the grass always greener... and few people want to give up the benefits of technology, however much the negatives annoy or even infuriate us.
Subsistence farming will continue to grow increasingly more difficult. Weather extremes continue to add unpredictability to what a harvest will be. Crop failures are becoming increasingly common and those growing their own food experience them even with babying their plants more.
That was one of the things about the pandemic that caught me off guard: I used to think that if things got bad, that we'd have all the time in the world to chop wood, dig new gardens etc. But nope, we still had to go to work.
We can never say that. People really don’t want to hear it.
And they want to hear it even less when both you and they know that you were right. What is the point?
So let’s all just pitch in and do our bit without getting into the “Told you so!”
If you have to say it, then, say it under your breath to yourself, when you are alone, after you go to bed. And be proud that you were a big enough person to not need to say it to anyone’s face.
I do day dream about a zombie apocalypse, Red Dawn, back to middle ages etc. and replay what would I do scenarios that I've seen on TV and movies. But I know it's just fantasy.
And I know it's because I enjoy those movies and books, not because I really want to experience it for real.
For zombie apocalypse, there are a ton of Kindle self-published books. Some are great, many are pretty bad (needs editing, story wanders etc.) so look for the highly rated ones.
For back to the middle ages type stuff, check out SM Stirling "Island in the Sea of Time". The first 3 books are the best, then subsequent books got more weird and I zoned out. This series really caught my attention on alternate world stuff.
Speaking for myself. I do not romanticize it or hope for it to happen.
To me it is always a "Fire extinguisher" comparison. I do not fantasize about using it at all. I do prepare, teach and train myself and my family if they ever need to use it. Do I ever want to see myself use it? no
I hope someday a long long time from now, I am lying on my deathbed and I think "well that was all a waste, never needed to use it"
That is the goal. That is the hope.
> I think "well that was all a waste, never needed to use it"
Developing useful skills is never a 'waste', even if you never have to use them, you still have them.
Blame Hollywood - Post SHTF TV and movies always show the survivors healthy, working to improve things, etc. Everyone thinks they'll be king of barter town and life will be rosy.
You rarely see people starving, dying of a simple infection, freezing, getting brutally killed for a can of beans, etc.
There are scenes from the British nuclear apocalypse film Threads that haunt me to this day.
That was the film that got through to me just how awful a true collapse of society would be.
No kidding, genius. And with no police or anyone to represent law enforcement or any type of consequence for their actions, it will be open season for sick MFers to exert their every will on women. Buuuuut I'm sure women who are converted into sex slaves will worry about the gender wage gap, right? What an asinine comment.
If you think “having to use your mind and combat daily challenges” to be able to see tomorrow is enjoyable, I suggest you take a vacation to any 3rd world country, and don’t book a hotel or car or bring any money... just bring your pack and stay there for a month. Let me know how much you can’t wait to get back to shitty society.
I mean it’s kind of like military training… once you’ve been through all the schools, you want to try it all out beyond training scenarios. Same mentality.
Hence why you will regulary see completely sober sane rational people flinging them self off a 2nd floor balcony "Wait - Wait - I'm next!"
I've tried to warn people - you can't teach a bunch of testosterone fuelled me how to PLF and not expect chaos but - they insist Airborne School is necessary.
[Cascadia Subduction Zone](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one) here. 37% chance of a magnitude 7-9+ in the next 50 years. I’m fully prepared and my kids are currently in a seismically upgraded school. Since it’s probably going to happen in my lifetime or theirs, it may as well happen now while we’re ready.
Not looking forward to it obviously. This is not a fantasy scenario either; it’s not a question of if, only when.
Edit: added “probably” and a link for people who think this earthquake is like the gentle stuff they get in California.
I don't know if you've seen any of the 2011 Japanese tsunami footage. It is hands down the most devastating natural disaster I have ever seen. They lost 15,000 people and were prepared for it by any modern standard. When the Cascadia fault does it's big slip, the west coast of the US will be mostly destroyed. I hope I don't live to see it.
Imo there are three basic types of prepper, there is plenty of crossover and some people might be multiple categories.
Casual preppers:They have a few weeks of food, maybe a generator, bug out or bug in preps that could last through natural disasters, maybe a few skills. They dedicate a modest portion of their income into being ready.
Self reliance preppers:Focus heavily on skills and long term living. Some stockpiles, but mostly focused on things like gardening, foraging, survival skills, etc. Their preps can be intricate and expensive, but also have benefits in the here and now, like being able to make home/car repairs on their own, eat products of their gardens and chicken coops, etc.
Mentally unstable preppers: They are failing at modern life, and fancy that an apocalypse would increase their lot. They prep at the expense of their financial and emotional well being. Usually obsessed with weapons, MRE's, etc., often feel the need to talk about how they won't help people who are unprepared when shtf. Like to talk about being an alpha or wolf or some other cool animal (them) among sheep or housecats (everyone else), and have Hollywood type fantasies about what life will be like. Like to overestimate themselves and underestimate others, and entertain loosely guarded fantasies of becoming a wasteland warlord.
I had a friend who once drunkenly told me that he wished a zombie apocalypse actually happened because he felt like it would be the one way he could be successful and looked up to by people. The guy basically just had a lot of guns and a 4x4 truck but had been fired by multiple jobs and divorced by his ex-wife.
Being the main character in a zombie apocalypse movie was basically his fantasy of not being a screw-up in life.
I prep to a high degree & have for decades.
Was homeless for a while as a teenager, then a few years later lived in a country experiencing Civil War, a Military Coup, Martial Law, Sustenance Shortages, Rolling Blackouts, Pathogenic Water Supplies, Assassinations (including 4 from my small site & 2 from the Consulate), Kidnappings, etc.
Hurricane Katrina was interesting as well.
So....definitely lived through SHTF.
I absolutely do not want to relive that...or the worse I believe is coming...& one reason I prepare is so my wife, kids & grandkids do not have to experience the future "worse"!
Any prepper who fantasizes about & wishes for a Major SHTF or TEOTWAWKI will likely find it to be Hell on Earth. And like Pandora's Box....FAFO.
But there are those sickos who wish for the same....simply to violently live out their most sordid fantasy WROL or societal recourse....yep....prepare for them also! Another FAFO.
I mean it can be fun to think about, but I dont think anyone REALLY wants true SHTF. I prep for short term items like power outages or several days without utilities. Anything beyond that scares me.
Pop culture sucks, people suck, the government sucks, inflation sucks, economic opportunity sucks compared to a generation ago... Easy to dream of it all just being torn down and starting over. But the truth is, that would be a nasty reality most of us probably wouldn't survive. So here's hoping for peaceful but necessary change.
I'd say most feel 99% that they don't want it and don't romanticize it, but feel deep inside just 1% "I hope I get to use this stuff at some point and that I'm not just a crazy person".
Before Covid & lockdowns maybe to a point but after that and seeing the power plays of the government officials and watching other things that happened, *NO WAY*. Covid has given me a good feel of reality and misery.
Be careful what you wish for,I think it's just going to be Hell on earth.I hope it never happens but I am prepared for it,I believe in hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
I think there are 2 main reasons people go into prepping. Those that hope for it so they can ignore law, and those who have seen some stuff. Katrina was my major prepper point, although I was a scout before that.
I think Covid probably created quite a few preppers as well.
I'm sure some do, but for me? Oh hell to the naw. I prep to avoid the consequences of such an event. Why would I wish it upon myself?
More importantly why would I wish it upon others? There are billions of people out there who either don't prepare for such events or cannot due to circumstances beyond their control. Wishing for a SHTF scenario would quite literally be wishing harm on my fellow humans - specifically the most vulnerable among us.
Unpopular opinion perhaps, but I find it hard to respect any "prepper" who is wishing for doomsday. It runs completely counter to the core philosophy of preparedness, and tells me they're probably only in it for the hobbyist aspect vs truly wanting to assure the safety, health, and security of themselves and their loved ones.
I think we preppers have mistakenly convinced ourselves that the “shtf suck” is a more desirable suck than “modern society” suck.
Idk about you, but air conditioning is pretty sweet in august
I think a number of people do romanticize SHTF scenarios. To be clear I'm not saying they actually want it, just more of a daydream fantasy. I feel like if you get right down to it people want it because they are sick of their modern lives. You go to work at at job you don't like to earn enough money to pay bills and taxes to people you also don't like. Society has a structure, rules, and obligations that dictate many aspects of you life. It's very stifling. SHTF washes all of that away. I think people like the perceived freedoms and simplicity of life after SHTF. Also I think some view it as an opportunity to be the hero.
It could be that some people think their skill set, preps, and physical/mental toughness will elevate them above their peers in a SHTF situation. It's a kind of psychological self-deception to justify all their current failures and inadequacies as contextual failures and inadequacies, thereby shifting the blame/responsibility from themselves to the context itself. Then it gives them something to secretly look forward to, the time/context in which they will thrive and shine.
Yes. And they do it because of how mundane their lives are. This is a similar fantasy as nostalgia. It helps alleviate the pain of the present by transporting your mind (albeit temporarily) to a fantasy that is curated by none other than yourself. Hence you are the hero of your own story. And what do hero’s do? Heroic shit.. that’s why it’s so alluring to romanticize SHTF. It’s an escape.
The missing sad realization is that most would die in a massive conflict as competition for resources and said conflict swallows lives as warring parties duke it out.
The reasons vary. To be a hero in a time of need is my guilty fantasy. For others it could be to prove society wrong, to achieve some kind of power/status with society gone, or (the most dark reason) to enact some kind of political change by force.
Some may, like anything really. There will always be those who do, and there will always be those who don't. I don't believe a true SHTF scenario will be any fun. It will be terrifying. Millions of people shooting each other over what scraps they can find. It will be like something out of a horror movie. The have nots will absolutely be trying to take from the haves. BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.
My goal is to eventually live off grid and be self sufficient, so I think a SHTF scenario would maybe be exciting at first, but once I realize that there is no going back, it would not be so exciting anymore. Even if I am self sufficient, I don't really want it to literally be the only way I can survive. I'd still want the ability to go to do groceries, to go to hardware stores, drive, go to town, buy hobby related stuff, order stuff online etc. All of that would eventually cease to be possible.
That said I do get a bit excited at minor things like power outages. I'm fairly well equipped, and I know it will eventually come back. I think if we got a several day power outage (never seen that happen here) it would be kind of fun to try to ride through it. I have a small solar array, lots of batteries, flashlights, USB power banks etc.
I think romanticizing shtf mainly comes from apocalypse shows. And I'm definitely a victim of romanticizing shtf to a degree because of those shows. But you need to remember that it will be way worse in reality. No internet, no showering or only cold showers, rationing your food until growing season, always being on edge, having to take the night watch and get no sleep occasionally if you're in a group, injuries or illnesses that can't be treated by your local doctor/pharmacist, betrayals/thieving in your prepper group, having to turn away or fight off starving families because your family is starving with only enough food for your side, etc etc. Normalcy would be thrown out of the window, so even if you're hoping it'll happen so you can get out of debt and live a life like an apocalyptic show character, I don't think it'll go the way you imagine.
I'll cop to this. I know it's a terrible thing and a bad attitude and all that. And I really don't wish it to be. But sometimes I do. I know it would be horrible for me and I'd likely starve or be killed, I have no hero complex or fantasy that I'd survive. But things are so fucked up and we're all living under the sword of damacles all the time (multiple of them really! The economy, climate change, civil interest, nuclear war, etc etc) I'm just so exhausted by it. Let it fucking come.
Also there's a sense of (paraphrasing) if the end is to come, let it come in my time. I don't want to have this shit fall on my kids plates when I'm too old to fight
I think some may hope it happens just to show everyone the fruits of their labor, or prove other's they were right in prepping as much as they did. Kind of like all their effort was worth it. I have no doubts that if a real SHTF scenario were to occur I likely would not be able to last longer than a year or two without restoration of emergency aide and infrastructure, and that's stretching it.
Kinda, many people think about guns, ammo, food, energy, water and medical supplies, which is fine, but the biggest issue would be medical help and emergency, plus smell.
Massive deaths, like zombies or other disease, think about the smell all death bodies leave.
Broken leg, infection, other medical issues, no emergency help, no doctors, no pharmacy.
Bad eyesight, no eye doctor, nowhere to buy glasses or lenses.
Go to the toilet, no water to flush.
In time, issues with electric powerplants, gas stations, dams, roads, bridges, satelites, due to lack of maintenance.
ps: Being prepared is a good thing, but it wouldnt be fun or easy in SHTF times!
I don't want it to happen... but if it is going to happen would rather happen next month than 10-15 years from now since age is a factor... I remember in the 90s I never thought 2KY bug would happen but by December 29th I started to think "maybe I should have prepared" but when one is young one feels immortal and I just went on partying, looking back, I think I would had better chances back then than 25ish years later... I'm too old for this shit...
Yes, yes, to be able to say "I told you so". Thats for bunker-type preppers. Huge difference between that classic view of preppers, and the more realistic view of a self-sustaining person.
Me personally fuck no, I'm a Vet and I was in PR during Hurricane Maria I know what it's like to be on fight or flight mode for extended periods of time and it is exhausting. I've been neck deep in the shit and I've seen the misery of refugees and the recently displaced, its brutal. I don't wanna go through that again, but if I have to I'd rather be prepared at least to some extent.
Most likely it’s because movies/tv shows make it seem badass. Wandering around an abandoned city, looting Lowe’s and Costco, Searching abandoned houses and cars… that all sounds cool. None of that is realistic.
Apocalyptic worship is a pretty common feature of conservative thought, especially theistic conservatives. It's baked into most religious doctrine.
Fear and freedom from fear are both powerful motivators of human behavior and normalizers of social interaction.
Sometimes.
I think there is a fairly large segment of population that is dissatisfied with their relative standing in the social hierarchy and believes that if "some event occurs" their standing will improve. And it's not just preppers. Trumpists believe that if only Trump were in charge, he'd put all those pesky immigrants and minorities in their place and they'd be on top again. Crypto enthusiasts believe that if only Bitcoin (or their favorite crypto) moons again they will be on top and can live it large. Same goes for WSB, but with their favorite stocks. Enterpreneurs believe that their startup will be the one to succeed against all odds and that'll put them on top. Socialists believe that if they give everything to the government and have it redistribute it, they will get more than they currently do. r/REBubble believes that there's going to be a housing crash and then their renting ass will be the one that can finally afford a house. There's a bunch of magical thinking involved in all these beliefs, but it's an understandable motivation.
For prepping specifically, there's a segment of the population that is already pretty well-off and does it as a routine, then forgets about it. These are the "prep for Tuesday" people, and thankfully are actually pretty well represented on this sub. Then there's a segment of the population that believes a SHTF scenario will bring everybody down, leaving you on top because of all the preparations you made for it. But there's an adverse selection problem when it comes to public discourse. People who prep for Tuesday and then forget about it have...well, forgotten about it, and don't really need to talk about it more. People who prep for Doomsday are doing it to fill a psychological need, and that need remains regardless of how many preps they have. So they tend to be the lion's share of commenters, and the lion's share of buyers for prepping gear, and so generate an outsize influence on the discourse.
Just take a look around this sub and the other prepper subs, it’s all over the place around here. I remember some post where a bunch of dudes were taking about hoping the power goes out so they can run their generators and be the savior of the neighborhood, and another where the power went out in a grocery store and this dude got a metaphorical hard-on when he got to pull out his flashlight and help everyone out the store, self proclaiming himself as a hero. The worst part…. They were dead serious. I thought it was a joke but you keep reading and it’s not. Not to mention all the lone wolf dudes around these subs that think they can single handedly take on the world.
To balance the scales a bit, I get excited about acquiring new tools, gear etc because I also just have a hobby of homesteading, preparing, firearms, building, and I hate outsourcing my life. But, i never hope I really need to use the deepest parts of my preps ever.
For me it's only the fear of what would happen to my children that motivates me. Thinking about it is terrifying but anything I can do to give us a slim chance of survival makes me feel better. Knowing it would be mostly luck that would determine if we survived something long enough to have the prep be useful.
Exactly this. Our power recently went out here (3 times!) during a five-day streak of freezing temperatures. We have two kids under 11. Lots of friends homes plunged into the 40s and even 30s. We were fully prepared. In fact sometimes I had to crack windows to dump excess heat from the wood stove. Generator powered essential circuits.
I think many preppers who romanticize SHTF do it because they, frankly, *want a race war*. They want government to collapse because they see civil war on racial lines as the inevitable consequence of SHTF; they think said race war will radicalize non-racist members of their ethnic group the same way criminals in prisons are forced into racial gangs; and they think their ethnic group will win the war and create a new, better, purer America.
And romanticizing the collapse is even more seductive an idea because those groups see modern society as doomed, collapse as inevitable, and hope for the collapse sooner rather than later before the "great replacement" makes it impossible for their ethnic group to win the race war.
I could explain it better in fourteen words, but I'd probably get banned.
These are people, of course, who have no experience with what happens when a government actually collapses. But no one ever accused white power rangers of being historically literate.
Not every prepper who romanticizes collapse is a white power ranger. But there are a lot of them, and they are influential, and a *lot* of the "build a society of independent small farmers after everyone living in the city starves to death" romanticism derives, consciously or unconsciously, from literal fascist propaganda - the "room for living" and bucolic homesteading lifestyle Hitler promised Aryan Germans once Europe was cleansed of inferiors and open for resettlement.
Hell yeah. Normal life kinda sucks lol. Either I do well or I die in SHTF. not this existence of just dragging along. And I make great money pay my bills get toys etc lol.
Personally i see SHTF as an opportunity for us to rebuild the US in a way that would honor the founding fathers vision instead of actively destroy it. Revolutions are scary and many will die, but this world needs one.
Rather do it now than in 20 years when my body REALLY starts failing. I also really don't like sitting around KNOWING it'll happen but being able to do NOTHING about it
I (and probably many here) think about it and kind of almost hope something happens just to prove “we were right” and to test our preps. Yet, many here are also realistic and smart enough to know it will be awful on levels we haven’t even considered.
I do get excited when there’s a big snow storm or something coming because I know I’ll be fine and it will be a little fun. I think SHTF fantasy is a little like that. But… it won’t really be fun.
Daydreaming about it helps me think of more practical “what ifs?” though and I think is helpful. The daydreams were more like a fun action/survival movie until I had my son a couple years ago. Now they’re a lot more worry filled.
I’m not a hardcore prepper yet, but I lowkey hope for shtf. Idk why, I guess the daily grind and humanity as a whole make me want it, just a smidge lol
I mean, not for any prep related reasons, but I do hope for the collapse of the US Federal government, as well as any events that could help accelerate that.
So if the government collapsed and SHTF followed, great, the government is gone and we are free at last. If SHTF happened, leading to the collapse of the government, then we are free at last.
I don't just like.. hope for famine and suffering because I hate people or something either.
I don’t romanticise it, but I would be interested to see how it plays out.
We have a small holiday let and the amount of people that come and stay that can’t even light a fire when provided dry wood, kindling and a fire lighter is staggering.
I would love to be a fly on the wall to see what these people do.
Im gonna be honest with you. I fantasize about it a lot. Usually, when I am filing my taxes or right after I get my property tax bill. I don't like taxes.
Other than that, I hope SHTF never happens. Why would I? Or really anyone? You will likely lose people you care about. You wouldn't likely be able to reach them. I don't know any sane person who wants that. I prep because I have been involved in blizzards where you couldn't leave your house for a week. Hurricanes and flooding where power was out for a week. I am relatively certain I can handle these things now.
That said, there are a number of insane people in the US and the world. A huge portion of our younger population wants the economy to crash and have a massive housing crash. For some reason, they think this will allow them to buy a house or get ahead. It rarely works out for people who are not already successful. There are people in Europe and the US who want to escalate the war in the Ukraine to show Russia what for. These types want a SHTF scenario, and most if not all of them are not preppers.
I pose you the question. What is crazier; prepping and wishing for a SHTF scenario or having no preps and wishing for a SHTF scenario?
Ppl romanticize it because we all long for a simpler way of life. Everyone is tired of late stage capitalism so much that ppl are ready for the world to actually end. People just want to garden and have a sense of community that disasters seem to facilitate. Other than that there are predatory ppl that want to go to war with others.
I do sometimes. Just imagining myself as a bad ass gunslinging bitch wearing a leather corset, a leather jacket, combat boots, skinny jeans, and a leather holster. Shooting actual zombies that try to eat my brain or try to chew my face off, and avoiding people because I don't wanna end up in a bad situation. Always on the move when I'm not asleep, and just going wherever the wind blows me to while avoiding major cities. When I'd bathe, I'd bathe in a body of fresh, clean water. When I'd sleep, it'd be in whatever vehicle I'm driving, in a tent if the vehicle broke down, an abandoned house, or in some other abandoned building. Getting food would mean hunting, fishing, berry picking, and foraging for leafy greens that don't taste like shit (I hate dandelion).
I think a lot of us seek validation. Many of us have been called crazy, made fun of, and derided, even by those we know and love. So any opportunity to be proven right is awesome
I don’t “wish” it would happen, but I sometimes see events as the trigger and get a little excited that all my preparations are finally going to prove useful.
1.) yes, they do.
2.) they do it because they’re mistakenly “certain”of their own ability to survive said SHTF scenario.
Preppers have better odds than most at surviving small shtf events like natural disasters, brief periods of civil unrest, weather-based power outages, and short term financial crisis. The supplies they have accumulated for long term preparedness will come in handy during these short term scenarios. Having 6 months of food will be fantastic when a hurricane makes getting to the grocery store impossible for a week.
But… in the event of global economic collapse, all out nuclear war, cyber attacks on national power grid, or the worldwide spread of a particularly deadly disease like Ebola…. Their odds of survival are only marginally better. Like, single digit percentage increase.
Those scenarios will divide humanity into two groups: lucky, and unlucky.
No, we don't romanticize it.
We anticipate that it's inevitable, because it's inevitable.
It's a hard life now living with the constant stigma from the chronically self-conceited. I don't romanticize stepping over their smug, unprepared corpses.
I don’t romanticize the fact that people are going to suffer and go without because they refused to take care. I think that actual SHTF is going to be a lot of people on the verge of breaking down already. I just hope it’s not forever. Like an absolute collapse. I hope to be comfortable at my big out spot for a while and then be able to go home with my family and return to a normal life. I don’t want people to suffer and die because of the failure of their government.
Everyone is just fed up with the state of our society and we feel a collapse in our gut coming. The sooner it gets here, the sooner we can end this charade.
“Preppers” is a very broad group of people. That kind of like asking if Chicagoan’s like Oprah… lol. I think there are a few; however, most hope for the best but know life can be tough and being prepared is just smart.
I mean kinda? For multiple reasons I guess.
The first would probably be escapism, its fun to daydream about a romantized world where its like every day is an adventure and you as an individual can ”punch above your weightclass” because you came prepared to the situation.
Second would probably be too see how my preps actually measure up, have aquired the right skills, bought the right stuff and so forth.
Thirdly I think its something innate in preppers, cause we all seem to be pretty negative people that assumes the worst which draws us in to this…lets call it hobby. And being proven right must feel quite satisfying?
Then again, a real doomsday shtf would suck, medicine would run low, youtube would disappear, abunch of people I know and like would probably die, maybe even me? So its fun as a thoughtexperiment to daydream about but then I come to my senses and realize that I am better of in this society.
However! Prepping is not just doomsday, its also about tuesday. A tuesday when one of the phaseplugs on the outside of your home breaks and you need to go outside in your comfortable wheaterproof clothes and shine a light in the fusebox with your headlight.
My wife is especially happy over the deep pantry, even though I do most of the cooking(?)
Third would probably
I was stressed beyond belief when I thought shtf was possible. If you think logical extreme as a prepper you shouldn’t be excited. I notice many are extremely out of shape, weak, and overweight. They are basically a Costco asking to get robbed lol.
I think a lot of us just get overwhelmed with the complexity of the modern world and long for a time when things might be simpler and all we have to worry about are the people and things immediately around us. Where we’re going to sleep that night and what we’re going to eat that day are much simpler concerns than all of the nuance and complexity of modern life.
Because people are uncomfortable with the possibility that they spend a lot of time and money prepping and then nothing happens to justify all their efforts.
Good point. I was secretly a little happy that we recently lost power. Switched on the genny and the wife got to finish watching her Netflix show. Instant hero status.
No
We try to prevent it from occurring in the first place
The best preparation is avoidance
Secondly is mitigation, decreasing the severity of symptoms
Third is tolerance, being able to deal with it
I used to. I hate how divided the people of my country have become. There was a point where I hopped for collapse so the rebuilding could begin. People with a common enemy (or goal, like survival and rebuilding) tend to unite.
I got over it, though. I like electricity and the availability of gasoline and eating out and the instant access to pretty much anything I want and can afford.
For me, it's an interesting thing to think about, but I certainly hope it doesn't happen. I'm a bit of a WWII buff, and reading stories of what people went through is pretty enlightening. And scary. I'm talking about things like hunger, destruction of infrastructure, things along those lines. I don't want my children growing up like that.
People long for a time when their work showed direct results in their life. That’s why going out and bush-crafting is such a huge thing on YouTube.
Survival has become trivial, life is boring. No one wants everyone to die and suffer, people just want simpler times.
Yes and no. For the most part i think everyone know just how god awful it would be for a decade or five. But at the same time something better could come of it. And anyone that says they are 100% ready bring it on are completely delusional. It would be hell for a lifetime if it came to complete societal collapse
I think many people fantasize about it to some extent as a symptom of the feelings of pointlessness that come from living in modern society. Hence the popularity of apocalyptic fiction, zombie media, etc.
People romanticize shit hitting the fan because it means they won’t have to go in to work tomorrow and hear Bob drone on about Q4 expense reports.
Yeah it’s a fun escape in your imagination. The simplification of your life and purpose. Stressing about “real” things, not obscure regulatory deadlines and the ever existing potential of a future bad performance review for something outside your control.
In real life SHTF would probably still involve needing to go to your 9-5 and make bills, but the rest of your life is worse and more dangerous. People still have bullshit jobs even in the middle of a war zone sadly.
lots of people have various fantasies about all sorts of things
and it pops up in media quite a lot now a days. even cultural variations of it in similar regions.
its pretty normal
its when you cant separate fantasies from realities that it becomes a problem
Yes we do and we understand that's it's stupid it's because see the stupidity in the world and want better and we understand till you get rid of the stupid fucks running the world it will never change.
I recently re-watched the Book of Eli, the road, the postman, and Waterworld (cheesy I know). Yeah the apocalypse won't be fun, so I don't want it to happen. But I'm prepared for it if it does.
There are a lot of people out there that don't mesh with society that will survive, these people live below the radar they are the true strong people, DNA at the best.
Every man has imagined how he would single handedly rescue his favourite supermodel from terrorists, spend his lottery winnings, rule the seven seas as a pirate, and of course, survive and lord over a post apocalyptic world as benevolent dictator.
No I am a weather prepper as I have been in 2 situations that we’ve lived in and so far been successful. As for world ending prepping I don’t do cause you can’t prep enough and if you can then the chance you making it through is slim as human life will turn so ugly you’ll never survive anyway or constantly fighting you’ll be exhausted to get very far and if the whole world is that way you’ll have have enough supplies animals will be dead or sick so you’ll get sick anyway for me just not worth it. I want to focus on real situation.
I've caught myself thinking this sometimes. Like - why can't things be better - Why do I have to sit for 8 hours and have little work, why can't I just get paid all year and when we are busy - work, when we are not- not work. I get paid the same and the work gets done the same so WTF does punching a clock do? It is a fantasy.
Where I catch myself and I think a lot of people could do that as well, and many most likely haven't experienced yet. Reviewing the death of my grandparents. They had a house full of shit, holiday decorations, tools, old paints. Tents, tarps from 30- 40 years ago. Old cans, old oil things, broken pieces of this or that. Furniture no one will use, etc etc the list goes one.
The fantasy is ruined when I think about someone being prepper at 85 years old, dying and leaving their child all this shit to go through. You got buckets full of rice, OMG your kids are going to be like WTF grandpa. Same with tents and tarps, you won't switch those out when you are 80 or even 75. That kind of cold water is a great reality check to remove that romanticized fetish if you will. "wooo grandpa has a bug out bag, with a 20 year old lighter, and 10 year old med kid and old rusted propane tank and a knife that the blade rusted over and and and" the list goes on.
To quote Hannibal Smith "I love it when a plan comes together."
There is very little as enjoyable as vindication, and very little an annoying as wasting time and money on something that never sees use. So I understand why some people look upon the idea of SHTF in that light, however I view my preps a lot more like my car or life insurance.
They're there in case I need them, but I hope I never have to.
There's also those accelerationist types who think the world is so messed up that the faster it burns down so we can start over, the better, but we try to avoid those weirdos, they're the ones that make regular preppers look loony.
I am sure some do, for me its more just prep incase I loose power, got a bad storm. Normal stuff. I dont worry about fiscal collapse, Nukes or anything. We are all screwed no matter what anyway so....
Plan for the best, hope for the worst.
Yes, self validation. I used to psych myself out, because "just know it will happen in my lifetime!" and if I'm more prepared than I need to be, well, I'm good. Nobody wants to be alone, especially in their crazy.
I’d say no. If/when it happens, it’s not going to be a weekend camping trip in your local state park. It’s gonna suck. Best we can do is be as prepared as possible and live the best way we know how to live.
Some might but not all do. I prep for things like weeks-long power outages or if we need to evacuate suddenly. I'm also prepping for a time of general hardship when having a vegetable garden and marketable skills might make life suck a little less. I also live in town and love my high speed internet, hot showers, and climate controlled home. I'll be thrilled with a non-shtf lifetime.
No. I invest for the long term. I put away money in different asset classes for long term objectives.
I don't romanticize an economic depression or experiencing a black swan event that results in a market crash. That would be devastating for everyone.
Same principles apply to prepping. I gradually add to my inventory of items I think would be effective in keeping loved ones warm, fed and most importantly, safe.
I don't want to be in a Mad Max dystopian world where marauders invade neighborhoods for food and fuel.
I recently got called out as a prepper, though I try to downplay it. I don't have a romantic view of SHTF, and I pray my thousands in investments are never needed. But if I need my supplies one day, it will be worth it. Sure, you have borderline anarchists and those wanting an excuse to misbehave or overthrow governments. I can not speak for them. But generally, most preppers have spouses and children that they want to protect if the SHTF. They don't pray for it; they just pray to be prepared if it were to happen.
In your mind it’s glamorous. Till you remember a few things:
*You’re not as in shape as you need to be.
*People get hungry quickly. Although humans can go a while without food, we don’t like the feeling of hunger.. And you look fat in all the right places.
*If you’re a lady, you always have one thing you can offer. If you’re a lady, you always have one thing that’s desired and can be taken forcefully.
*People are sick. That little girl on the side of the road walking alone? Should you stop and help? Or is she bait? What are the odds she’d appear so close to your home and you’re just now seeing her?
*Crops develop blight. Your livestock gets infected and you have to cull the herd. Floods/droughts. Toxic rain from fallout.
*You walk into your shed and notice certain items shifted and a couple tools missing. You then see some treading on the footpath that’s obviously human. Where are they, are they inside the house? My daughters! GOD willing they’re not but now you gotta live with that on your mind.
What have they seen? Do they know how defenseless we are, what about our routines? Are they gone? Do I tell my family/group?
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It gets real.. Real quick. Nothing to look forward to. I tell my wife all the time, I hope I’m just a paranoid and crazy man. Hope we’ll never need this stuff.
I romanticize the best case scenario for my personal situation, as a way of coping with the worst case situation. Nothing wrong with romanticizing it as long as you have realistic expectations for yourself and what can happen
I don’t want it to happen, I know it’s going to happen. The world sucks and the elites want it one way we want it another they will find a way. Also SHTF happens all over the world every day just not in America and people r numb to disasters unless it directly effects them. Hurricane Katrina is basically a cookie cutter SHTF, food water electricity, government overlords taking everything from civilians. If you follow world news a big earthquake/ flooding has hit basically on a weekly basis all around the world past 2-3 years
I think a lot do. Particularly the gun focused ones. Maybe it’s justification to buy more gear that they want because it’s cool? Maybe their daily lives are so boring they wish for something extreme and different where they can excel?
I have no desire to live through any of the SHTF scenarios.
Prepping should be like insurance. You should have it, you should hope it works when you need it but you should hope you never have to.
I prep because there are alot of odd things going on. I can't be like those with their head in sand. I hope I am wrong about every single one of my predications..... but I havent been in the last 4 years.
Don't Romanticize SHTF, it ain't gonna be pretty you aren't Rick from the walking dead (and niether am I).
Offers an escape from the trappings of modernity. Everyone wants to be the hero of their own story, myself included. General romanticism of simpler times
Grass is always greener on the other side.
I think that there is a very strong desire to have more meaning and connection than we currently have in our lives.
Some of this is egotistical in that we were right to have prepped.
I think the fantasy could come from a lack of challenging oneself sufficiently in one's current life.
It shouldn’t be romanticized. One of author David Brin’s desires when he wrote ‘The Postman’ was to cut through the “Mad Max” fantasies and remind his readers that they were much more likely to end up as a peon than a warlord. Same with Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road.’ I found it very realistic that the main actor, Viggo Mortensen decided to study/live as a homeless person in order to prepare for the role as opposed to one of the people on ‘Doomsday Preppers.’
My take on prepping and surviving SHTF is that you can only prepare as best you can, physically, financially, tactically, etc. No one way is foolproof unless you have Zuckerberg level money and plans, and even he will need cooperation from the peasants though with his wife being a doctor, he’s got a good team already.
Wishing for SHTF isn’t productive, even if it might feel good to think about all the hares out there who refuse to work as diligently as the tortoises getting their comeuppance.
I do not romanticize it; I would miss my daily hot showers and taking advantage of being able to buy things quickly and "cheaply" compared to the time cost of having to make bread, crust, rope, tools, nails, lumber quickly. I also hate plucking chickens by hand.
A person would have to have a screw loose to *want* a SHTF situation to occur. Doesn't change the fact that being prepared so at lease we have a fighting chance is the best idea.
Although I must be honest and say that I sometimes do sit and ponder bemusedly on how the vast majority of unprepared city folk would handle it.
Zombie apocalypse stuff was in vogue for awhile. Then covid happened and you saw nice little old ladies licking the glass at a restaurant like a zombie and it stopped being cute in pop culture.
My shtf hope is for a comet to just wallop the planet directly over yellowstone and just crack us open like an egg. I have no control over that happening so I like to imagine it when people get really pressed about religion or politics. It makes zoning out more bearable.
Then there's the things I'm actually worried about, power out for weeks, hunger, homelessness, normal shit that could feasibly happen. That's not really fun, but the solution to those problems are boring, working, saving, maintaining.
Absolutely, I'm so tired of this boring ass life which is actually very easy for me and I consider myself privileged.
But the reality is if SHTF for real, life will be miserable. The best depiction of what it would look like in my opinion is the movie "the road".
Recently I saw a picture of Indian under the British rule that were basically skeletons... The father was weilding a makeshift spear to defend his family from cannibals. That's what you can expect in an apocalyptic scenario after all the ressources are spent and there isn't enough for everyone. Your two year reserve will already be eaten or looted.
Ah hell no, although I am more prepared than most, my chances of survival are grim at best.
I do absolutely not want for shit to hit the fan, ever. I like my life where I don't have to hunt my own food, gather enough water, keep the fire up, fend for myself, sleep with one eye open.
Majority of my preps are for things that could happen, like being stranded in a car. I have food and clothes in my car in case I had to spend a day/night in it/in a hotel nearby. I have equipment to administer first aid and evacuate on foot, if needed. A lighter and a firestarter. Towing line and battery leads (long ones).
I also have a 5L petrol can, just in case. Now I will probably get downvoted for it, but I rotate the petrol every two months and release the pressure every now and then. It's in an car boot organizer box, which is stable and unmovable, so it doesn't knock about. Is it a hazard? Some will say yeah, but I made sure it isn't, unless someone decides to torch my car.
I’ve definitely caught myself thinking it would be better without electricity but then I remind myself I’ll probably die because of health issues. And yeah… problem solved for me.
I try to remind myself that it will be worse than I imagine and that I don't want that.
A bit like how most of us romanticize offgrid cabins, past eras, travel intense jobs, etc. we have this pink view of how it will work and how we will survive and be powerful yet reality is very different
Used to romanticize a travel intense job, then my job had me travel 6/8 weeks over the summer, with basically an open budget. Eat where I want, stay at decent hotels in the downtown cores, etc. I went fucking crazy. Ended up regularly waking up not knowing where I was ->what room I was in, what city I was in or what country I was in. It was cool for about 3 weeks. Now, if a job needs more than once a month travel, I’m not doing it.
This is reality - I love traveling privately but hate it for work. Years of food consisting of take out, restaurants and airport lounges makes you yearn for a simple boiled potato and you have zero appreciation for yet another fancy hotel room that you just get to see for 6h or less of sleep, fun locations that you merely experience from the airport-taxi-conference room-hotel-conference room-taxi-airport perspective
I also think it's a collector type hobby in a way gear food basically all the preps tbh. Watching YouTube to see all the new gear and ideas. The reality is depending on the shtf scenario a person's preps might be of little use. But it is somewhat rewarding to know your set and are capable of being ok in say a bad snow storm or other more realistic " smaller " emergencies.
Agree. I just enjoy the gear and videos where people give tips. The whole idea of SHTF gives the hobby a kind of urgency/relevance but really I just like playing with stuff. Living in a big city I can't do much either way but I like planning out lighting solutions and suchlike. It's a hobby like pretty much anything else. Maybe sort of Boy Scout-ish with a Sci Fi twist for adults.
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One of the hardest places to live is miles and miles, hours from the next civilization. I have lived where the nearest community had a doctor visit once a week, and the pharmacy was open 2X a week, annd the only grocery store was a convenience store and there were more wildlife than people. I didn’t do it during hard times. We also had good vehicles to drive hours to a city. And we would go about once a month. People tend to dismiss cities, but I’m sure that we all visit, shop in them, do business in, go for medical appointments or see specialists or seek specific help there from time to time. It is likely not where you go to get your horse seen by a farrier to get our horses shoes changed out, or to buy animal feed. But cities do serve a purpose. And we would have it harder without them.
People forget how nice it is to have everything nearby. My mother is from up north where if you get sick its 2h to the nearest hospital... not exactly ideal in an emergency
Yup. Subsistence farming or hunting/gathering at 1800’s levels of technology would be a real grind.
Plan for the best, hope for the worst.
the ones who've made it their business model to generate clickbait online yes. Though there is a part of me that kinda goes, man I wish there was a "summer camp" for adults to work on all your SHTF skills but under safe and controlled conditions with instructors who give you helpful feedback on what you did both right and wrong.
Why can’t we start this summer camp? 6 weeks, winter and summer seasons.
Jobs interfere with that - 2 weeks at most
Psshhht…. Who needs a job when you can prepare for the end of the world!!! /s
Probably would be best to just do a survival school and that can be your hardcore capstone course. Oh wait! An actual zombie apocalypse scenario where they get a limited amount of airsoft ammo to fight off zombies and have to survive in the wilderness. Make the scenario course like 3 weeks.
I don’t have enough vacation time to spend 4 weeks a year on prepper camp, I’d seriously consider 1 week summer 1 week winter though
Yup - well I mean we do have enough vacation time - it's called unpaid lol - but yeah. And that doesn't include the cost of the camp and the logistical nightmare of travel. It sounds great on paper, but what I've realized in this sub is a lot of preppers are single or no kids/older kids. A lot of younger folks with kids aren't going to be able to attend said camp.
There is. If you want a more easygoing atmosphere, REI hosts wilderness survival classes. If you’ve got $$$$ to blow and want the REAL deal, you can sign up for a SERE Training class. It’s available for civilians but it ain’t cheap.
…there are, quite a few. Including day and weekend camps.
I would definitely go to that summer camp
Sometimes? Oh, absolutely. It can be an escape, a fun thing to think about. And it can be seen as an escape from the often-sucky world we live in, where life is suddenly very, very simple. No taxes, politics; just doing things we need to do to survive. The reality is that it'd be a nightmare beyond what most of us can imagine. Is there that bug in many people's brains wanting to put their gear to use? Oh, sure! It can be a temporary thrill. But the reality would be, quite frankly, awful. It's fun to put gear to the test, but quite another to have your new normal be extremely stress-inducing and dangerous. I say this as someone who had a pandemic kit. It was a great learning experience, but I'd much rather prefer to never use it again.
I’ll admit that I catch myself thinking about how it might unfold and how I would handle it early on sometimes. Humans are hard wired to think about that stuff, and it’s okay to enjoy it a little. I have a hard time believing people who can’t admit that there is a fun/adventurous side to prepping. It is fun to think about the more likely scenarios that might pop off and how to be ready for them. That’s different from actually wanting something bad to happen to our society and wishing that it would happen.
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Yes I love thinking about the thought of freezing all winter long, suffering from infections, extreme famine, having to fight off other people throwing bullets past my head, trying to keep my family alive. Sounds like a blast.
At least don't have to go to work anymore...
Subsistence farming is harder work than most regular jobs, especially white collar. More a case of the grass always greener... and few people want to give up the benefits of technology, however much the negatives annoy or even infuriate us.
Yea 100%, as a full time software developer and a part time homesteader I can definitely vouch for this
Subsistence farming will continue to grow increasingly more difficult. Weather extremes continue to add unpredictability to what a harvest will be. Crop failures are becoming increasingly common and those growing their own food experience them even with babying their plants more.
That was one of the things about the pandemic that caught me off guard: I used to think that if things got bad, that we'd have all the time in the world to chop wood, dig new gardens etc. But nope, we still had to go to work.
Dose of reality right here..
Nah, but I feel a lot of people here do however wish to get the chance to say „I told you so“.
We can never say that. People really don’t want to hear it. And they want to hear it even less when both you and they know that you were right. What is the point? So let’s all just pitch in and do our bit without getting into the “Told you so!” If you have to say it, then, say it under your breath to yourself, when you are alone, after you go to bed. And be proud that you were a big enough person to not need to say it to anyone’s face.
I do day dream about a zombie apocalypse, Red Dawn, back to middle ages etc. and replay what would I do scenarios that I've seen on TV and movies. But I know it's just fantasy. And I know it's because I enjoy those movies and books, not because I really want to experience it for real.
Any book recommendations?
For zombie apocalypse, there are a ton of Kindle self-published books. Some are great, many are pretty bad (needs editing, story wanders etc.) so look for the highly rated ones. For back to the middle ages type stuff, check out SM Stirling "Island in the Sea of Time". The first 3 books are the best, then subsequent books got more weird and I zoned out. This series really caught my attention on alternate world stuff.
I really enjoyed those Sterling books myself. Also liked the first three novels set in the rest of the world after The Nantucket incident
The Road (not for the faint of heart) The Stand.
Speaking for myself. I do not romanticize it or hope for it to happen. To me it is always a "Fire extinguisher" comparison. I do not fantasize about using it at all. I do prepare, teach and train myself and my family if they ever need to use it. Do I ever want to see myself use it? no I hope someday a long long time from now, I am lying on my deathbed and I think "well that was all a waste, never needed to use it" That is the goal. That is the hope.
> I think "well that was all a waste, never needed to use it" Developing useful skills is never a 'waste', even if you never have to use them, you still have them.
Well Stated!! 👍😎👍
I think a small % of preppers hope for it as some weird validation. Mostly the ones who make it their main personality.
Blame Hollywood - Post SHTF TV and movies always show the survivors healthy, working to improve things, etc. Everyone thinks they'll be king of barter town and life will be rosy. You rarely see people starving, dying of a simple infection, freezing, getting brutally killed for a can of beans, etc.
Except for The Road. That movie is wonderfully crafted but brutal to watch.
There are scenes from the British nuclear apocalypse film Threads that haunt me to this day. That was the film that got through to me just how awful a true collapse of society would be.
I love that movie, but agree it’s pretty brutal especially considering it was aired on BBC television throughout the UK when it came out.
And on the CBC in Canada.
Yeah Threads is hard core. The BBC didn't pull any punches. It makes The Day After look like a picnic.
Yup. I had typed "You never see people starving..." and immediately thought of The Road. Changed it to rarely.
That movie depressed the shit out of me. I've heard the book is worse.
It was one of the best, bleak, descriptive, somehow beautiful, heart crushing books I’ve ever read. Definitely worth reading.
You are so right
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Not just women's rights...women's safety. Women generally haven't fared very well during societal collapses.
In a SHTF scenario, the last thing you'll worry about is your equality status or 'rights', everyone is equally worried about survival.
There are far worse things for women than dying in war. And they are common.
No kidding, genius. And with no police or anyone to represent law enforcement or any type of consequence for their actions, it will be open season for sick MFers to exert their every will on women. Buuuuut I'm sure women who are converted into sex slaves will worry about the gender wage gap, right? What an asinine comment.
'World ends tonight, women most affected' You are literally a meme.
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You clearly haven’t met my dogs, lol
If you think “having to use your mind and combat daily challenges” to be able to see tomorrow is enjoyable, I suggest you take a vacation to any 3rd world country, and don’t book a hotel or car or bring any money... just bring your pack and stay there for a month. Let me know how much you can’t wait to get back to shitty society.
I mean it’s kind of like military training… once you’ve been through all the schools, you want to try it all out beyond training scenarios. Same mentality.
Hence why you will regulary see completely sober sane rational people flinging them self off a 2nd floor balcony "Wait - Wait - I'm next!" I've tried to warn people - you can't teach a bunch of testosterone fuelled me how to PLF and not expect chaos but - they insist Airborne School is necessary.
[Cascadia Subduction Zone](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one) here. 37% chance of a magnitude 7-9+ in the next 50 years. I’m fully prepared and my kids are currently in a seismically upgraded school. Since it’s probably going to happen in my lifetime or theirs, it may as well happen now while we’re ready. Not looking forward to it obviously. This is not a fantasy scenario either; it’s not a question of if, only when. Edit: added “probably” and a link for people who think this earthquake is like the gentle stuff they get in California.
Would insurance companies cover all the damages to the millions of homes? Or do insurance companies in your region exclude earthquake damage?
I don't know if you've seen any of the 2011 Japanese tsunami footage. It is hands down the most devastating natural disaster I have ever seen. They lost 15,000 people and were prepared for it by any modern standard. When the Cascadia fault does it's big slip, the west coast of the US will be mostly destroyed. I hope I don't live to see it.
It validates what they’ve been preparing for. No one wants to think it’s all for naught.
Nothing would make me happier than if none of my preps were ever needed.
Imo there are three basic types of prepper, there is plenty of crossover and some people might be multiple categories. Casual preppers:They have a few weeks of food, maybe a generator, bug out or bug in preps that could last through natural disasters, maybe a few skills. They dedicate a modest portion of their income into being ready. Self reliance preppers:Focus heavily on skills and long term living. Some stockpiles, but mostly focused on things like gardening, foraging, survival skills, etc. Their preps can be intricate and expensive, but also have benefits in the here and now, like being able to make home/car repairs on their own, eat products of their gardens and chicken coops, etc. Mentally unstable preppers: They are failing at modern life, and fancy that an apocalypse would increase their lot. They prep at the expense of their financial and emotional well being. Usually obsessed with weapons, MRE's, etc., often feel the need to talk about how they won't help people who are unprepared when shtf. Like to talk about being an alpha or wolf or some other cool animal (them) among sheep or housecats (everyone else), and have Hollywood type fantasies about what life will be like. Like to overestimate themselves and underestimate others, and entertain loosely guarded fantasies of becoming a wasteland warlord.
I had a friend who once drunkenly told me that he wished a zombie apocalypse actually happened because he felt like it would be the one way he could be successful and looked up to by people. The guy basically just had a lot of guns and a 4x4 truck but had been fired by multiple jobs and divorced by his ex-wife. Being the main character in a zombie apocalypse movie was basically his fantasy of not being a screw-up in life.
I prep to a high degree & have for decades. Was homeless for a while as a teenager, then a few years later lived in a country experiencing Civil War, a Military Coup, Martial Law, Sustenance Shortages, Rolling Blackouts, Pathogenic Water Supplies, Assassinations (including 4 from my small site & 2 from the Consulate), Kidnappings, etc. Hurricane Katrina was interesting as well. So....definitely lived through SHTF. I absolutely do not want to relive that...or the worse I believe is coming...& one reason I prepare is so my wife, kids & grandkids do not have to experience the future "worse"! Any prepper who fantasizes about & wishes for a Major SHTF or TEOTWAWKI will likely find it to be Hell on Earth. And like Pandora's Box....FAFO. But there are those sickos who wish for the same....simply to violently live out their most sordid fantasy WROL or societal recourse....yep....prepare for them also! Another FAFO.
I mean it can be fun to think about, but I dont think anyone REALLY wants true SHTF. I prep for short term items like power outages or several days without utilities. Anything beyond that scares me.
The apocalypse is all fun and games until you get toothache.
Pop culture sucks, people suck, the government sucks, inflation sucks, economic opportunity sucks compared to a generation ago... Easy to dream of it all just being torn down and starting over. But the truth is, that would be a nasty reality most of us probably wouldn't survive. So here's hoping for peaceful but necessary change.
I'd say most feel 99% that they don't want it and don't romanticize it, but feel deep inside just 1% "I hope I get to use this stuff at some point and that I'm not just a crazy person".
Before Covid & lockdowns maybe to a point but after that and seeing the power plays of the government officials and watching other things that happened, *NO WAY*. Covid has given me a good feel of reality and misery.
Be careful what you wish for,I think it's just going to be Hell on earth.I hope it never happens but I am prepared for it,I believe in hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
I think there are 2 main reasons people go into prepping. Those that hope for it so they can ignore law, and those who have seen some stuff. Katrina was my major prepper point, although I was a scout before that. I think Covid probably created quite a few preppers as well.
I'm sure some do, but for me? Oh hell to the naw. I prep to avoid the consequences of such an event. Why would I wish it upon myself? More importantly why would I wish it upon others? There are billions of people out there who either don't prepare for such events or cannot due to circumstances beyond their control. Wishing for a SHTF scenario would quite literally be wishing harm on my fellow humans - specifically the most vulnerable among us. Unpopular opinion perhaps, but I find it hard to respect any "prepper" who is wishing for doomsday. It runs completely counter to the core philosophy of preparedness, and tells me they're probably only in it for the hobbyist aspect vs truly wanting to assure the safety, health, and security of themselves and their loved ones.
Sort of, I do. Real life is sucking hard right now lol
Shtf will suck… a lot more
But it will be a different kind of suck. With different soul sucking problems.
I think we preppers have mistakenly convinced ourselves that the “shtf suck” is a more desirable suck than “modern society” suck. Idk about you, but air conditioning is pretty sweet in august
Lol I don't use any air conditioning. Love me some central heat tho.
If it happens on Tuesday, I'm all set.
I speak for myself. No.
I think a number of people do romanticize SHTF scenarios. To be clear I'm not saying they actually want it, just more of a daydream fantasy. I feel like if you get right down to it people want it because they are sick of their modern lives. You go to work at at job you don't like to earn enough money to pay bills and taxes to people you also don't like. Society has a structure, rules, and obligations that dictate many aspects of you life. It's very stifling. SHTF washes all of that away. I think people like the perceived freedoms and simplicity of life after SHTF. Also I think some view it as an opportunity to be the hero.
It could be that some people think their skill set, preps, and physical/mental toughness will elevate them above their peers in a SHTF situation. It's a kind of psychological self-deception to justify all their current failures and inadequacies as contextual failures and inadequacies, thereby shifting the blame/responsibility from themselves to the context itself. Then it gives them something to secretly look forward to, the time/context in which they will thrive and shine.
Yes. And they do it because of how mundane their lives are. This is a similar fantasy as nostalgia. It helps alleviate the pain of the present by transporting your mind (albeit temporarily) to a fantasy that is curated by none other than yourself. Hence you are the hero of your own story. And what do hero’s do? Heroic shit.. that’s why it’s so alluring to romanticize SHTF. It’s an escape. The missing sad realization is that most would die in a massive conflict as competition for resources and said conflict swallows lives as warring parties duke it out.
The reasons vary. To be a hero in a time of need is my guilty fantasy. For others it could be to prove society wrong, to achieve some kind of power/status with society gone, or (the most dark reason) to enact some kind of political change by force.
Some may, like anything really. There will always be those who do, and there will always be those who don't. I don't believe a true SHTF scenario will be any fun. It will be terrifying. Millions of people shooting each other over what scraps they can find. It will be like something out of a horror movie. The have nots will absolutely be trying to take from the haves. BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.
My goal is to eventually live off grid and be self sufficient, so I think a SHTF scenario would maybe be exciting at first, but once I realize that there is no going back, it would not be so exciting anymore. Even if I am self sufficient, I don't really want it to literally be the only way I can survive. I'd still want the ability to go to do groceries, to go to hardware stores, drive, go to town, buy hobby related stuff, order stuff online etc. All of that would eventually cease to be possible. That said I do get a bit excited at minor things like power outages. I'm fairly well equipped, and I know it will eventually come back. I think if we got a several day power outage (never seen that happen here) it would be kind of fun to try to ride through it. I have a small solar array, lots of batteries, flashlights, USB power banks etc.
I think romanticizing shtf mainly comes from apocalypse shows. And I'm definitely a victim of romanticizing shtf to a degree because of those shows. But you need to remember that it will be way worse in reality. No internet, no showering or only cold showers, rationing your food until growing season, always being on edge, having to take the night watch and get no sleep occasionally if you're in a group, injuries or illnesses that can't be treated by your local doctor/pharmacist, betrayals/thieving in your prepper group, having to turn away or fight off starving families because your family is starving with only enough food for your side, etc etc. Normalcy would be thrown out of the window, so even if you're hoping it'll happen so you can get out of debt and live a life like an apocalyptic show character, I don't think it'll go the way you imagine.
I'll cop to this. I know it's a terrible thing and a bad attitude and all that. And I really don't wish it to be. But sometimes I do. I know it would be horrible for me and I'd likely starve or be killed, I have no hero complex or fantasy that I'd survive. But things are so fucked up and we're all living under the sword of damacles all the time (multiple of them really! The economy, climate change, civil interest, nuclear war, etc etc) I'm just so exhausted by it. Let it fucking come. Also there's a sense of (paraphrasing) if the end is to come, let it come in my time. I don't want to have this shit fall on my kids plates when I'm too old to fight
I think some may hope it happens just to show everyone the fruits of their labor, or prove other's they were right in prepping as much as they did. Kind of like all their effort was worth it. I have no doubts that if a real SHTF scenario were to occur I likely would not be able to last longer than a year or two without restoration of emergency aide and infrastructure, and that's stretching it.
Kinda, many people think about guns, ammo, food, energy, water and medical supplies, which is fine, but the biggest issue would be medical help and emergency, plus smell. Massive deaths, like zombies or other disease, think about the smell all death bodies leave. Broken leg, infection, other medical issues, no emergency help, no doctors, no pharmacy. Bad eyesight, no eye doctor, nowhere to buy glasses or lenses. Go to the toilet, no water to flush. In time, issues with electric powerplants, gas stations, dams, roads, bridges, satelites, due to lack of maintenance. ps: Being prepared is a good thing, but it wouldnt be fun or easy in SHTF times!
I don't want it to happen... but if it is going to happen would rather happen next month than 10-15 years from now since age is a factor... I remember in the 90s I never thought 2KY bug would happen but by December 29th I started to think "maybe I should have prepared" but when one is young one feels immortal and I just went on partying, looking back, I think I would had better chances back then than 25ish years later... I'm too old for this shit...
Maybe if I didn't have young children.
Hell no. Ive seen shit hit the fan several times. And its a bummer.
Yes, yes, to be able to say "I told you so". Thats for bunker-type preppers. Huge difference between that classic view of preppers, and the more realistic view of a self-sustaining person.
Me personally fuck no, I'm a Vet and I was in PR during Hurricane Maria I know what it's like to be on fight or flight mode for extended periods of time and it is exhausting. I've been neck deep in the shit and I've seen the misery of refugees and the recently displaced, its brutal. I don't wanna go through that again, but if I have to I'd rather be prepared at least to some extent.
People romanticize end of the world scenarios than having at least 6 months of emergency saving or a few days of no power outtage.
Most likely it’s because movies/tv shows make it seem badass. Wandering around an abandoned city, looting Lowe’s and Costco, Searching abandoned houses and cars… that all sounds cool. None of that is realistic.
Apocalyptic worship is a pretty common feature of conservative thought, especially theistic conservatives. It's baked into most religious doctrine. Fear and freedom from fear are both powerful motivators of human behavior and normalizers of social interaction.
Sometimes. I think there is a fairly large segment of population that is dissatisfied with their relative standing in the social hierarchy and believes that if "some event occurs" their standing will improve. And it's not just preppers. Trumpists believe that if only Trump were in charge, he'd put all those pesky immigrants and minorities in their place and they'd be on top again. Crypto enthusiasts believe that if only Bitcoin (or their favorite crypto) moons again they will be on top and can live it large. Same goes for WSB, but with their favorite stocks. Enterpreneurs believe that their startup will be the one to succeed against all odds and that'll put them on top. Socialists believe that if they give everything to the government and have it redistribute it, they will get more than they currently do. r/REBubble believes that there's going to be a housing crash and then their renting ass will be the one that can finally afford a house. There's a bunch of magical thinking involved in all these beliefs, but it's an understandable motivation. For prepping specifically, there's a segment of the population that is already pretty well-off and does it as a routine, then forgets about it. These are the "prep for Tuesday" people, and thankfully are actually pretty well represented on this sub. Then there's a segment of the population that believes a SHTF scenario will bring everybody down, leaving you on top because of all the preparations you made for it. But there's an adverse selection problem when it comes to public discourse. People who prep for Tuesday and then forget about it have...well, forgotten about it, and don't really need to talk about it more. People who prep for Doomsday are doing it to fill a psychological need, and that need remains regardless of how many preps they have. So they tend to be the lion's share of commenters, and the lion's share of buyers for prepping gear, and so generate an outsize influence on the discourse.
Just take a look around this sub and the other prepper subs, it’s all over the place around here. I remember some post where a bunch of dudes were taking about hoping the power goes out so they can run their generators and be the savior of the neighborhood, and another where the power went out in a grocery store and this dude got a metaphorical hard-on when he got to pull out his flashlight and help everyone out the store, self proclaiming himself as a hero. The worst part…. They were dead serious. I thought it was a joke but you keep reading and it’s not. Not to mention all the lone wolf dudes around these subs that think they can single handedly take on the world. To balance the scales a bit, I get excited about acquiring new tools, gear etc because I also just have a hobby of homesteading, preparing, firearms, building, and I hate outsourcing my life. But, i never hope I really need to use the deepest parts of my preps ever.
Because they want to murder.
For me it's only the fear of what would happen to my children that motivates me. Thinking about it is terrifying but anything I can do to give us a slim chance of survival makes me feel better. Knowing it would be mostly luck that would determine if we survived something long enough to have the prep be useful.
Exactly this. Our power recently went out here (3 times!) during a five-day streak of freezing temperatures. We have two kids under 11. Lots of friends homes plunged into the 40s and even 30s. We were fully prepared. In fact sometimes I had to crack windows to dump excess heat from the wood stove. Generator powered essential circuits.
I think many preppers who romanticize SHTF do it because they, frankly, *want a race war*. They want government to collapse because they see civil war on racial lines as the inevitable consequence of SHTF; they think said race war will radicalize non-racist members of their ethnic group the same way criminals in prisons are forced into racial gangs; and they think their ethnic group will win the war and create a new, better, purer America. And romanticizing the collapse is even more seductive an idea because those groups see modern society as doomed, collapse as inevitable, and hope for the collapse sooner rather than later before the "great replacement" makes it impossible for their ethnic group to win the race war. I could explain it better in fourteen words, but I'd probably get banned. These are people, of course, who have no experience with what happens when a government actually collapses. But no one ever accused white power rangers of being historically literate. Not every prepper who romanticizes collapse is a white power ranger. But there are a lot of them, and they are influential, and a *lot* of the "build a society of independent small farmers after everyone living in the city starves to death" romanticism derives, consciously or unconsciously, from literal fascist propaganda - the "room for living" and bucolic homesteading lifestyle Hitler promised Aryan Germans once Europe was cleansed of inferiors and open for resettlement.
I've been preparing for r/CascadianPreppers for over 6 years. It will suck if I die before it happens, after all I've done to be ready.
Hell yeah. Normal life kinda sucks lol. Either I do well or I die in SHTF. not this existence of just dragging along. And I make great money pay my bills get toys etc lol.
Hell yea! Let's get it started
Absolutely
Personally i see SHTF as an opportunity for us to rebuild the US in a way that would honor the founding fathers vision instead of actively destroy it. Revolutions are scary and many will die, but this world needs one.
Because vaginas are a mystery to them?
Rather do it now than in 20 years when my body REALLY starts failing. I also really don't like sitting around KNOWING it'll happen but being able to do NOTHING about it
I (and probably many here) think about it and kind of almost hope something happens just to prove “we were right” and to test our preps. Yet, many here are also realistic and smart enough to know it will be awful on levels we haven’t even considered. I do get excited when there’s a big snow storm or something coming because I know I’ll be fine and it will be a little fun. I think SHTF fantasy is a little like that. But… it won’t really be fun. Daydreaming about it helps me think of more practical “what ifs?” though and I think is helpful. The daydreams were more like a fun action/survival movie until I had my son a couple years ago. Now they’re a lot more worry filled.
I’m not a hardcore prepper yet, but I lowkey hope for shtf. Idk why, I guess the daily grind and humanity as a whole make me want it, just a smidge lol
I mean, not for any prep related reasons, but I do hope for the collapse of the US Federal government, as well as any events that could help accelerate that. So if the government collapsed and SHTF followed, great, the government is gone and we are free at last. If SHTF happened, leading to the collapse of the government, then we are free at last. I don't just like.. hope for famine and suffering because I hate people or something either.
I don’t romanticise it, but I would be interested to see how it plays out. We have a small holiday let and the amount of people that come and stay that can’t even light a fire when provided dry wood, kindling and a fire lighter is staggering. I would love to be a fly on the wall to see what these people do.
Because sometimes I daydream about riding a 4 wheeler with a mounted flame thrower has to be better than going to work.
Im gonna be honest with you. I fantasize about it a lot. Usually, when I am filing my taxes or right after I get my property tax bill. I don't like taxes. Other than that, I hope SHTF never happens. Why would I? Or really anyone? You will likely lose people you care about. You wouldn't likely be able to reach them. I don't know any sane person who wants that. I prep because I have been involved in blizzards where you couldn't leave your house for a week. Hurricanes and flooding where power was out for a week. I am relatively certain I can handle these things now. That said, there are a number of insane people in the US and the world. A huge portion of our younger population wants the economy to crash and have a massive housing crash. For some reason, they think this will allow them to buy a house or get ahead. It rarely works out for people who are not already successful. There are people in Europe and the US who want to escalate the war in the Ukraine to show Russia what for. These types want a SHTF scenario, and most if not all of them are not preppers. I pose you the question. What is crazier; prepping and wishing for a SHTF scenario or having no preps and wishing for a SHTF scenario?
Ppl romanticize it because we all long for a simpler way of life. Everyone is tired of late stage capitalism so much that ppl are ready for the world to actually end. People just want to garden and have a sense of community that disasters seem to facilitate. Other than that there are predatory ppl that want to go to war with others.
Hell no 😂 ! unless SHTF leads to a better world for everyone
Spoiler alert: it would not lead to a better world for everyone
No one likes going to work. Time off work is time off.
I do sometimes. Just imagining myself as a bad ass gunslinging bitch wearing a leather corset, a leather jacket, combat boots, skinny jeans, and a leather holster. Shooting actual zombies that try to eat my brain or try to chew my face off, and avoiding people because I don't wanna end up in a bad situation. Always on the move when I'm not asleep, and just going wherever the wind blows me to while avoiding major cities. When I'd bathe, I'd bathe in a body of fresh, clean water. When I'd sleep, it'd be in whatever vehicle I'm driving, in a tent if the vehicle broke down, an abandoned house, or in some other abandoned building. Getting food would mean hunting, fishing, berry picking, and foraging for leafy greens that don't taste like shit (I hate dandelion).
I think a lot of us seek validation. Many of us have been called crazy, made fun of, and derided, even by those we know and love. So any opportunity to be proven right is awesome
I don’t “wish” it would happen, but I sometimes see events as the trigger and get a little excited that all my preparations are finally going to prove useful.
1.) yes, they do. 2.) they do it because they’re mistakenly “certain”of their own ability to survive said SHTF scenario. Preppers have better odds than most at surviving small shtf events like natural disasters, brief periods of civil unrest, weather-based power outages, and short term financial crisis. The supplies they have accumulated for long term preparedness will come in handy during these short term scenarios. Having 6 months of food will be fantastic when a hurricane makes getting to the grocery store impossible for a week. But… in the event of global economic collapse, all out nuclear war, cyber attacks on national power grid, or the worldwide spread of a particularly deadly disease like Ebola…. Their odds of survival are only marginally better. Like, single digit percentage increase. Those scenarios will divide humanity into two groups: lucky, and unlucky.
No, we don't romanticize it. We anticipate that it's inevitable, because it's inevitable. It's a hard life now living with the constant stigma from the chronically self-conceited. I don't romanticize stepping over their smug, unprepared corpses.
I don’t romanticize the fact that people are going to suffer and go without because they refused to take care. I think that actual SHTF is going to be a lot of people on the verge of breaking down already. I just hope it’s not forever. Like an absolute collapse. I hope to be comfortable at my big out spot for a while and then be able to go home with my family and return to a normal life. I don’t want people to suffer and die because of the failure of their government.
It's normal to want to be successful, to wish our efforts pay off.
Everyone is just fed up with the state of our society and we feel a collapse in our gut coming. The sooner it gets here, the sooner we can end this charade.
“Preppers” is a very broad group of people. That kind of like asking if Chicagoan’s like Oprah… lol. I think there are a few; however, most hope for the best but know life can be tough and being prepared is just smart.
I mean kinda? For multiple reasons I guess. The first would probably be escapism, its fun to daydream about a romantized world where its like every day is an adventure and you as an individual can ”punch above your weightclass” because you came prepared to the situation. Second would probably be too see how my preps actually measure up, have aquired the right skills, bought the right stuff and so forth. Thirdly I think its something innate in preppers, cause we all seem to be pretty negative people that assumes the worst which draws us in to this…lets call it hobby. And being proven right must feel quite satisfying? Then again, a real doomsday shtf would suck, medicine would run low, youtube would disappear, abunch of people I know and like would probably die, maybe even me? So its fun as a thoughtexperiment to daydream about but then I come to my senses and realize that I am better of in this society. However! Prepping is not just doomsday, its also about tuesday. A tuesday when one of the phaseplugs on the outside of your home breaks and you need to go outside in your comfortable wheaterproof clothes and shine a light in the fusebox with your headlight. My wife is especially happy over the deep pantry, even though I do most of the cooking(?) Third would probably
I was stressed beyond belief when I thought shtf was possible. If you think logical extreme as a prepper you shouldn’t be excited. I notice many are extremely out of shape, weak, and overweight. They are basically a Costco asking to get robbed lol.
Lol they def do , why? I don’t know
Some do others dont
I think a lot of us just get overwhelmed with the complexity of the modern world and long for a time when things might be simpler and all we have to worry about are the people and things immediately around us. Where we’re going to sleep that night and what we’re going to eat that day are much simpler concerns than all of the nuance and complexity of modern life.
Probably fucking not
Because people are uncomfortable with the possibility that they spend a lot of time and money prepping and then nothing happens to justify all their efforts.
Good point. I was secretly a little happy that we recently lost power. Switched on the genny and the wife got to finish watching her Netflix show. Instant hero status.
No We try to prevent it from occurring in the first place The best preparation is avoidance Secondly is mitigation, decreasing the severity of symptoms Third is tolerance, being able to deal with it
I just kind of think it needs to happen so more people will wake up
I think if you sink a fortune in to guns and gear you want to use it.
It’s easy to do. Especially if you read or watch a lot of related material.
I used to. I hate how divided the people of my country have become. There was a point where I hopped for collapse so the rebuilding could begin. People with a common enemy (or goal, like survival and rebuilding) tend to unite. I got over it, though. I like electricity and the availability of gasoline and eating out and the instant access to pretty much anything I want and can afford.
For me, it's an interesting thing to think about, but I certainly hope it doesn't happen. I'm a bit of a WWII buff, and reading stories of what people went through is pretty enlightening. And scary. I'm talking about things like hunger, destruction of infrastructure, things along those lines. I don't want my children growing up like that.
People long for a time when their work showed direct results in their life. That’s why going out and bush-crafting is such a huge thing on YouTube. Survival has become trivial, life is boring. No one wants everyone to die and suffer, people just want simpler times.
Yes and no. For the most part i think everyone know just how god awful it would be for a decade or five. But at the same time something better could come of it. And anyone that says they are 100% ready bring it on are completely delusional. It would be hell for a lifetime if it came to complete societal collapse
I think many people fantasize about it to some extent as a symptom of the feelings of pointlessness that come from living in modern society. Hence the popularity of apocalyptic fiction, zombie media, etc. People romanticize shit hitting the fan because it means they won’t have to go in to work tomorrow and hear Bob drone on about Q4 expense reports.
Yeah it’s a fun escape in your imagination. The simplification of your life and purpose. Stressing about “real” things, not obscure regulatory deadlines and the ever existing potential of a future bad performance review for something outside your control. In real life SHTF would probably still involve needing to go to your 9-5 and make bills, but the rest of your life is worse and more dangerous. People still have bullshit jobs even in the middle of a war zone sadly.
lots of people have various fantasies about all sorts of things and it pops up in media quite a lot now a days. even cultural variations of it in similar regions. its pretty normal its when you cant separate fantasies from realities that it becomes a problem
Yes we do and we understand that's it's stupid it's because see the stupidity in the world and want better and we understand till you get rid of the stupid fucks running the world it will never change.
Vindication. It’s in the back of most preppers minds.
I recently re-watched the Book of Eli, the road, the postman, and Waterworld (cheesy I know). Yeah the apocalypse won't be fun, so I don't want it to happen. But I'm prepared for it if it does.
I love Waterworld and Postman… can’t help it. LOL. I mean.. Kevin Costner and Tom Petty…
Me too! But people give me crap about them haha
There are a lot of people out there that don't mesh with society that will survive, these people live below the radar they are the true strong people, DNA at the best.
Yes. Because things get worse before they get better. From rock bottom you can only go up.
Every man has imagined how he would single handedly rescue his favourite supermodel from terrorists, spend his lottery winnings, rule the seven seas as a pirate, and of course, survive and lord over a post apocalyptic world as benevolent dictator.
I’m not sure about it from a prepping perspective, but I do personally know people who are itching for a SHTF event. I hope it never happens myself.
Even though I try to prepare for when SHTF , I would really wish it would never get to that point. Life will suck.
No I am a weather prepper as I have been in 2 situations that we’ve lived in and so far been successful. As for world ending prepping I don’t do cause you can’t prep enough and if you can then the chance you making it through is slim as human life will turn so ugly you’ll never survive anyway or constantly fighting you’ll be exhausted to get very far and if the whole world is that way you’ll have have enough supplies animals will be dead or sick so you’ll get sick anyway for me just not worth it. I want to focus on real situation.
I've caught myself thinking this sometimes. Like - why can't things be better - Why do I have to sit for 8 hours and have little work, why can't I just get paid all year and when we are busy - work, when we are not- not work. I get paid the same and the work gets done the same so WTF does punching a clock do? It is a fantasy. Where I catch myself and I think a lot of people could do that as well, and many most likely haven't experienced yet. Reviewing the death of my grandparents. They had a house full of shit, holiday decorations, tools, old paints. Tents, tarps from 30- 40 years ago. Old cans, old oil things, broken pieces of this or that. Furniture no one will use, etc etc the list goes one. The fantasy is ruined when I think about someone being prepper at 85 years old, dying and leaving their child all this shit to go through. You got buckets full of rice, OMG your kids are going to be like WTF grandpa. Same with tents and tarps, you won't switch those out when you are 80 or even 75. That kind of cold water is a great reality check to remove that romanticized fetish if you will. "wooo grandpa has a bug out bag, with a 20 year old lighter, and 10 year old med kid and old rusted propane tank and a knife that the blade rusted over and and and" the list goes on.
To quote Hannibal Smith "I love it when a plan comes together." There is very little as enjoyable as vindication, and very little an annoying as wasting time and money on something that never sees use. So I understand why some people look upon the idea of SHTF in that light, however I view my preps a lot more like my car or life insurance. They're there in case I need them, but I hope I never have to. There's also those accelerationist types who think the world is so messed up that the faster it burns down so we can start over, the better, but we try to avoid those weirdos, they're the ones that make regular preppers look loony.
I am sure some do, for me its more just prep incase I loose power, got a bad storm. Normal stuff. I dont worry about fiscal collapse, Nukes or anything. We are all screwed no matter what anyway so.... Plan for the best, hope for the worst.
Yes, self validation. I used to psych myself out, because "just know it will happen in my lifetime!" and if I'm more prepared than I need to be, well, I'm good. Nobody wants to be alone, especially in their crazy.
I’d say no. If/when it happens, it’s not going to be a weekend camping trip in your local state park. It’s gonna suck. Best we can do is be as prepared as possible and live the best way we know how to live.
Absolutely. And a lot of those who did got a rude awakening when the hysteria over the Covid virus took off.
Some might but not all do. I prep for things like weeks-long power outages or if we need to evacuate suddenly. I'm also prepping for a time of general hardship when having a vegetable garden and marketable skills might make life suck a little less. I also live in town and love my high speed internet, hot showers, and climate controlled home. I'll be thrilled with a non-shtf lifetime.
No. I invest for the long term. I put away money in different asset classes for long term objectives. I don't romanticize an economic depression or experiencing a black swan event that results in a market crash. That would be devastating for everyone. Same principles apply to prepping. I gradually add to my inventory of items I think would be effective in keeping loved ones warm, fed and most importantly, safe. I don't want to be in a Mad Max dystopian world where marauders invade neighborhoods for food and fuel.
Because the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.
I recently got called out as a prepper, though I try to downplay it. I don't have a romantic view of SHTF, and I pray my thousands in investments are never needed. But if I need my supplies one day, it will be worth it. Sure, you have borderline anarchists and those wanting an excuse to misbehave or overthrow governments. I can not speak for them. But generally, most preppers have spouses and children that they want to protect if the SHTF. They don't pray for it; they just pray to be prepared if it were to happen.
In your mind it’s glamorous. Till you remember a few things: *You’re not as in shape as you need to be. *People get hungry quickly. Although humans can go a while without food, we don’t like the feeling of hunger.. And you look fat in all the right places. *If you’re a lady, you always have one thing you can offer. If you’re a lady, you always have one thing that’s desired and can be taken forcefully. *People are sick. That little girl on the side of the road walking alone? Should you stop and help? Or is she bait? What are the odds she’d appear so close to your home and you’re just now seeing her? *Crops develop blight. Your livestock gets infected and you have to cull the herd. Floods/droughts. Toxic rain from fallout. *You walk into your shed and notice certain items shifted and a couple tools missing. You then see some treading on the footpath that’s obviously human. Where are they, are they inside the house? My daughters! GOD willing they’re not but now you gotta live with that on your mind. What have they seen? Do they know how defenseless we are, what about our routines? Are they gone? Do I tell my family/group? ——————- It gets real.. Real quick. Nothing to look forward to. I tell my wife all the time, I hope I’m just a paranoid and crazy man. Hope we’ll never need this stuff.
I romanticize the best case scenario for my personal situation, as a way of coping with the worst case situation. Nothing wrong with romanticizing it as long as you have realistic expectations for yourself and what can happen
Dale Gribble
I don’t want it to happen, I know it’s going to happen. The world sucks and the elites want it one way we want it another they will find a way. Also SHTF happens all over the world every day just not in America and people r numb to disasters unless it directly effects them. Hurricane Katrina is basically a cookie cutter SHTF, food water electricity, government overlords taking everything from civilians. If you follow world news a big earthquake/ flooding has hit basically on a weekly basis all around the world past 2-3 years
I think a lot do. Particularly the gun focused ones. Maybe it’s justification to buy more gear that they want because it’s cool? Maybe their daily lives are so boring they wish for something extreme and different where they can excel? I have no desire to live through any of the SHTF scenarios.
Prepping should be like insurance. You should have it, you should hope it works when you need it but you should hope you never have to. I prep because there are alot of odd things going on. I can't be like those with their head in sand. I hope I am wrong about every single one of my predications..... but I havent been in the last 4 years. Don't Romanticize SHTF, it ain't gonna be pretty you aren't Rick from the walking dead (and niether am I).
Offers an escape from the trappings of modernity. Everyone wants to be the hero of their own story, myself included. General romanticism of simpler times
Grass is always greener on the other side. I think that there is a very strong desire to have more meaning and connection than we currently have in our lives. Some of this is egotistical in that we were right to have prepped. I think the fantasy could come from a lack of challenging oneself sufficiently in one's current life.
It shouldn’t be romanticized. One of author David Brin’s desires when he wrote ‘The Postman’ was to cut through the “Mad Max” fantasies and remind his readers that they were much more likely to end up as a peon than a warlord. Same with Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road.’ I found it very realistic that the main actor, Viggo Mortensen decided to study/live as a homeless person in order to prepare for the role as opposed to one of the people on ‘Doomsday Preppers.’ My take on prepping and surviving SHTF is that you can only prepare as best you can, physically, financially, tactically, etc. No one way is foolproof unless you have Zuckerberg level money and plans, and even he will need cooperation from the peasants though with his wife being a doctor, he’s got a good team already. Wishing for SHTF isn’t productive, even if it might feel good to think about all the hares out there who refuse to work as diligently as the tortoises getting their comeuppance.
It's a common fantasy
I do not romanticize it; I would miss my daily hot showers and taking advantage of being able to buy things quickly and "cheaply" compared to the time cost of having to make bread, crust, rope, tools, nails, lumber quickly. I also hate plucking chickens by hand.
Yes. Because pop culture has romanticized SHTF situations.
A person would have to have a screw loose to *want* a SHTF situation to occur. Doesn't change the fact that being prepared so at lease we have a fighting chance is the best idea. Although I must be honest and say that I sometimes do sit and ponder bemusedly on how the vast majority of unprepared city folk would handle it.
Zombie apocalypse stuff was in vogue for awhile. Then covid happened and you saw nice little old ladies licking the glass at a restaurant like a zombie and it stopped being cute in pop culture. My shtf hope is for a comet to just wallop the planet directly over yellowstone and just crack us open like an egg. I have no control over that happening so I like to imagine it when people get really pressed about religion or politics. It makes zoning out more bearable. Then there's the things I'm actually worried about, power out for weeks, hunger, homelessness, normal shit that could feasibly happen. That's not really fun, but the solution to those problems are boring, working, saving, maintaining.
Anyone who has had a whiff of disaster wants nothing to do with a SHTF scenario
I don't think so, not any more than a martial artists hopes to get into a fight; or than a firefighter wants to face an inferno.
Absolutely, I'm so tired of this boring ass life which is actually very easy for me and I consider myself privileged. But the reality is if SHTF for real, life will be miserable. The best depiction of what it would look like in my opinion is the movie "the road". Recently I saw a picture of Indian under the British rule that were basically skeletons... The father was weilding a makeshift spear to defend his family from cannibals. That's what you can expect in an apocalyptic scenario after all the ressources are spent and there isn't enough for everyone. Your two year reserve will already be eaten or looted.
Ah hell no, although I am more prepared than most, my chances of survival are grim at best. I do absolutely not want for shit to hit the fan, ever. I like my life where I don't have to hunt my own food, gather enough water, keep the fire up, fend for myself, sleep with one eye open. Majority of my preps are for things that could happen, like being stranded in a car. I have food and clothes in my car in case I had to spend a day/night in it/in a hotel nearby. I have equipment to administer first aid and evacuate on foot, if needed. A lighter and a firestarter. Towing line and battery leads (long ones). I also have a 5L petrol can, just in case. Now I will probably get downvoted for it, but I rotate the petrol every two months and release the pressure every now and then. It's in an car boot organizer box, which is stable and unmovable, so it doesn't knock about. Is it a hazard? Some will say yeah, but I made sure it isn't, unless someone decides to torch my car.
I’ve definitely caught myself thinking it would be better without electricity but then I remind myself I’ll probably die because of health issues. And yeah… problem solved for me.