Prepper Propaganda

It’s all the rage to make fun of those loony prepper types. What with their gas masks, camo attire, guns, knives and enough freeze dried food to last six months past the end of days. From simple chiding to out and out demonization, in media and around the water cooler the descriptions of “preppers” is a vague milieu of descriptors that often includes gun nuts, teabaggers, tinfoil hat wearers, conspiracy theorists, religious zealots, white supremists, rednecks, and any other term of disparagement that is usually associated with conservatives or libertarians. In some instances this can be warranted. Hell, I get a little prickly when someone sites Infowars as a reputable news site or gets on social media to claim that when TSHF that they are a-gonna-hike-out-with 70 lbs. strapped to their back carrying enough guns and ammo to hold off a small army. No you are not, buddy. No you are not. Show me you lugging that 3 blocks let alone 7-10 miles at a pop. Ain’t happening. That brand of imaginative survivalist is in for a massive slap upside the head in the event of an emergency, and is worthy of a massive eye roll in conversations. What I don’t understand is the smug mockery of a degree of disaster preparedness and a developed, practical skill set, the snide dismissal of self-reliance, the smarmy berating of applied knowledge.

     Then it dawned on me. These nut jobs are just so anti-collectivist, so anti-community, not just anti-social but anti-socialist. So selfish. Just look at the terminology they use; self-sufficient, do-it-YOURSELF, self-reliance, self-made, personal responsibility, it’s just all so selfish. Where is the crowdsourcing? Where is the community building? Where is the social consciousness?

     The collectivist abhors individualism. It is threatening to the principals of collectivist culture and socialist structures of dependency. Each and every time that I’ve been on the receiving end of mockery or derision for brushing up on my skills it has been delivered by avowed leftists. From going to the shooting range, to testing out my camping gear in cold, wet conditions, to my every day carry practices, you name it – I’ll catch hell from some collectivist with a political axe to grind. Sometimes to the point of hostility; spittle flinging, profanity laden, gesticulating hostility. I find it amusing in a way, I mean how in the hell does practicing knot tying elicit rage?

     All this said, I’ve decided to add a series of posts here on various tools, techniques, and general “prepper” practices. I’m by no means an expert, but I am familiar with the difference between theory and practice. In the same way that the political left seems to take umbrage with self sufficiency and a well rounded skill set, the development of a tool and skill set is partially informed by my Conservatarian political views and philosophies. I’ve often maintained that the strongest “collective” is not comprised of mutually dependent individuals, but is comprised of strong, capable, self-sufficient individuals.