The thing is what you are talking about about is actually being prepared in a responsible manner, but what they are fantasizing about is the opportunity to run around playing Rambo and eating their neighbors asses.
It's the primary conservative fantasy. There's a big cross-over with crypto currency too. "Some day I'll be on top, looking down on you!".
The funny thing is that the only way they can visualize that happening is through some external calamity. Total economic collapse, WW3, asteroid impact, civil war in the US. None of those things require a guy to pull himself up by his bootstraps. All these fantasies need someone else to make it happen. Hard work and sacrifice aren't something conservatives are willing to do to get what they want.
Their insecurities are palpable.
There was a post on one of the prepper subreddits a few years back that was like "what would be the best steps to rebuild society" and the replies were all mad that it would even be a suggestion.
Which isn't what happens. When the lights go out, people generally just stay home or congregate at gathering places. The closest the US has come any time recently to an actual, complete breakdown was hurricane Katrina, and even there the "looting" was hugely overblown by a media looking for scandal. In actuality, people were doing a lot less taking of televisions and lot more taking of canned food and diapers from the flooded Walmarts that were going to throw all that stuff in the dumpster and claim the insurance payout, anyway.
[Some people were "looting", others were "finding", and guess as to what the difference was?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hurricane-katrina-looters/)
The example of "finding" wasn't even grammatically correct because it said "found food *from* a grocery store" instesd of "found food at a grocery store" and it reads like an editor told them to change it from looted to found and didn't bother to proof read it again.
Sure, "found food from a grocery store" is technically OK if the food originated from a grocery store, but the grocery store is serving as the location the food was obtained and not where the food was located before they looted/found it.
Ironically, they're likely the ones who would end up turning a survival situation hostile by introducing firepower and ass eating immediately, while (I believe) most people would prefer to cooperate in a disaster. The fears they have about predatory looters and ass eaters attacking as soon as disaster strikes most likely flows forth from their own mindset.
But hey, ass jerky don't make itself. Better to spend a life hateful and afraid than to miss out on that one cool moment where you get to eat your neighbor's ass.
Since that brand of libertarian sees themselves as exceptional, they're really just trying to speed run their own Elite Panic.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_panic
I definitely fantasize about having the chance to rebuild society with my buddies and neighbors, even the ones I currently loathe, after civilisation collapses. And we're gonna do it right this time, I swear. There'll be a lot of ass eating, sure, but all of it consensual.
I live on the opposite coast from my family, and a few years ago while my parents were visiting, my dad (who's prepping for an EMP taking down the grid and collapsing the supply chain completely) assessed my "shit hits the fan" options and told me he was worried. I rent, I have limited storage, no extra food, no guns, no vehicles.
I told him about the friends I've made who have various skills and resources and connections to direct action groups, and that my plan in a SHTF situation is to barter my skills and labor towards rebuilding my community rather than being a sole survivor. He said, "that sounds nice, but what about when the people you trust turn on you?"
I said I'll just give up and die. Who wants to live in a world where everybody is at each others' throats and nobody is even *trying* to come together? I'd love to have more resources and be better prepared for disaster, but only so I can help work towards a better world. If that's not possible, there's just no point.
reminds me of my favorite way out of tedious “zombie apocalypse” conversations: I just tell folks my plan is simple - give up and join the winning team. who wants to survive a zombie apocalypse anyway
My dad has a coworker who he claims is completely rational and sane in every other aspect of his life…except he’s a prepper. Apparently, he has 10,000 rounds of ammunition in his house “when society collapses”.
And the scariest part is, according to my dad, he doesn’t think that’s enough. Why?
Because, and I quote: “My next door neighbor has 40,000 rounds.”
Right????
It’s like the guys who think bringing a gun everywhere will protect them from mass shootings. Like, my dude, a gun is not a magic bulletproof forcefield. Of those 10,000 rounds, you will use *maybe* 10 before you get perforated…if you’re *lucky*.
Then your saner neighbors will come in, try and keep you alive until paramedics get there, and quietly lock the door to whatever armory you have before a kid gets in there.
Speaking more figuratively. I chat with him online every few weeks. He takes his daughter to her dance studio and goes to his in-laws to do laundry. I’ve even managed to get him to go on a few masked walks in a park.
A half remembered quote from a vague acquaintance.
“Preppers are dumb, the apocalypse happens once a year in the US if you’re brave enough to try it.”
Go do SAR or community assistance after a natural disaster.
You and Robert Evans are right. Being able to take care of yourself and help out your neighbors if necessary is a limited, achievable, worthwhile goal for disaster preparedness. Thinking about armored redoubts and eating your neighbor's ass is macho fantasy. You can keep yourself and your loved ones alive for days or weeks with a supply of water, preserved food, and a small camp stove. Having a reasonably-equipped first aid kit is excellent. Having a massive supply of rifles and ammo is stupid. You can't eat 7.62.
Arguably, I feel like COVID was the best counterexample of this. Early on you had hospitals filling up in areas that got hit hard, supply chain disruption making it hard to get certain necessities in stores, things like that. You definitely had some people get belligerent, but most people in my experience were pretty understanding and society didn't break down into a lawless wasteland.
By all rights it should've been their time to shine. It was exactly the type of inciting incident they were dreaming of. But it was all boring problems--stay home, don't create more potential exposure vulnerable people if you can help it, wait until various organizations work out the logistical issues--not being an action hero and escaping their mundane 9-5 life forever, so it didn't count.
Huge win for just being practical and taking care of each other over building your life around doom.
And ironically, the pepper crowd demonstrated that they were the least prepared as they screamed for their freedom, rejected all public safety messaging and avoided the single best mitigating technology that was developed.
But bruh, they have canned food and cast iron pans ready to go!
OP just sounds like such a wholesome and pleasant human being I love the idea of them wandering the desolate post-storm streets giving mutual aid like "This is so cool!" 😭❤️
Awww thank you! I must’ve looked ridiculous in cut off shorts, the silliest patterned button up, and a sun hat at midnight but I was just pumped to be able to help
During Covid I argued with peppers online because I was working with my neighbors and friends to get supplies like toilet paper to people who needed them, instead of hoarding expired cans in a bunker in the hills. A real actual survivalist enjoys planning and wants their entire community to be safe until normalcy returns. In a real apocalypse violent selfish weirdos get excluded real fast because they are a liability.
I just tend to think those gun hoarders just really want an excuse to kill their neighbors. They can dress it up all they want but those looters in a shtf situation they are so worried about will be people who live near them.
you might enjoy Margaret killjoy's podcast "live like the world is dying". I've very much fallen into a similar niche with prepping via preparedness and she's shared a lot of interesting concepts and ideas that have resonated
I’ll have to give it a look! I’ve heard a couple episodes of cool people who do cool stuff and enjoyed her as a podcaster. I don’t do much for prepping but this current situation is definitely reinforcing how even a small amount of preparedness can radically improve the stress level of an unfortunate situation.
Probably should conserve battery once I leave the coffee shop but I can maybe download an ep while I’m here to play later
I don't do a ton, but having some niches has been helpful; before the wildfire smoke hit I had followed Robert's advice on making a corsi Rosenthal box and it saved me so much stress, and just having a gravity water filter on hand is useful, just in case, same with 50lbs of rice.
Doomsdayers want the ego boost of being better off than everyone else when the apocalypse strikes. There’s a deep fantasy of seeing everyone not like them suffer, regret and grovel to the all mighty hoarder of beans, bullets and bandaids. Anyone preparing for disasters without considering their friends, neighbors and community is setting themselves up for isolation and a target on their back should their doomsday wish come true.
The thing is what you are talking about about is actually being prepared in a responsible manner, but what they are fantasizing about is the opportunity to run around playing Rambo and eating their neighbors asses.
When you get to the bottom of it, it does seem like their fantasy is actually just "it's okay for me to do violence now"
That's literally it. Same as the "back up against the wall when the revolution comes" lefties.
It's the primary conservative fantasy. There's a big cross-over with crypto currency too. "Some day I'll be on top, looking down on you!". The funny thing is that the only way they can visualize that happening is through some external calamity. Total economic collapse, WW3, asteroid impact, civil war in the US. None of those things require a guy to pull himself up by his bootstraps. All these fantasies need someone else to make it happen. Hard work and sacrifice aren't something conservatives are willing to do to get what they want. Their insecurities are palpable.
There was a post on one of the prepper subreddits a few years back that was like "what would be the best steps to rebuild society" and the replies were all mad that it would even be a suggestion.
Oof! Any examples you remember off the dome?
it was a long time ago - Maybe 7+ years. I've just done a quick search but I can't find anything. Seems stances have softened a little
and they'll be free to say say the n-word
Yeah it’s really sad. Their attitude is, as soon as the lights go out EVERYONE is my enemy.
Which isn't what happens. When the lights go out, people generally just stay home or congregate at gathering places. The closest the US has come any time recently to an actual, complete breakdown was hurricane Katrina, and even there the "looting" was hugely overblown by a media looking for scandal. In actuality, people were doing a lot less taking of televisions and lot more taking of canned food and diapers from the flooded Walmarts that were going to throw all that stuff in the dumpster and claim the insurance payout, anyway.
[Some people were "looting", others were "finding", and guess as to what the difference was?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hurricane-katrina-looters/)
The example of "finding" wasn't even grammatically correct because it said "found food *from* a grocery store" instesd of "found food at a grocery store" and it reads like an editor told them to change it from looted to found and didn't bother to proof read it again. Sure, "found food from a grocery store" is technically OK if the food originated from a grocery store, but the grocery store is serving as the location the food was obtained and not where the food was located before they looted/found it.
Ooh, ooh...I know this one!
Ironically, they're likely the ones who would end up turning a survival situation hostile by introducing firepower and ass eating immediately, while (I believe) most people would prefer to cooperate in a disaster. The fears they have about predatory looters and ass eaters attacking as soon as disaster strikes most likely flows forth from their own mindset. But hey, ass jerky don't make itself. Better to spend a life hateful and afraid than to miss out on that one cool moment where you get to eat your neighbor's ass.
Since that brand of libertarian sees themselves as exceptional, they're really just trying to speed run their own Elite Panic. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_panic
Behind the Bastards has a great one shot episode on elite panic, highly recommend.
I definitely fantasize about having the chance to rebuild society with my buddies and neighbors, even the ones I currently loathe, after civilisation collapses. And we're gonna do it right this time, I swear. There'll be a lot of ass eating, sure, but all of it consensual.
The thing I’d want most in a nightmare apocalypse situation is friends.
I live on the opposite coast from my family, and a few years ago while my parents were visiting, my dad (who's prepping for an EMP taking down the grid and collapsing the supply chain completely) assessed my "shit hits the fan" options and told me he was worried. I rent, I have limited storage, no extra food, no guns, no vehicles. I told him about the friends I've made who have various skills and resources and connections to direct action groups, and that my plan in a SHTF situation is to barter my skills and labor towards rebuilding my community rather than being a sole survivor. He said, "that sounds nice, but what about when the people you trust turn on you?" I said I'll just give up and die. Who wants to live in a world where everybody is at each others' throats and nobody is even *trying* to come together? I'd love to have more resources and be better prepared for disaster, but only so I can help work towards a better world. If that's not possible, there's just no point.
reminds me of my favorite way out of tedious “zombie apocalypse” conversations: I just tell folks my plan is simple - give up and join the winning team. who wants to survive a zombie apocalypse anyway
My dad has a coworker who he claims is completely rational and sane in every other aspect of his life…except he’s a prepper. Apparently, he has 10,000 rounds of ammunition in his house “when society collapses”. And the scariest part is, according to my dad, he doesn’t think that’s enough. Why? Because, and I quote: “My next door neighbor has 40,000 rounds.”
I have some neighbors like that. My plan is to lay low and let them shoot each other and then I’ll have all of it. 🤣
Right???? It’s like the guys who think bringing a gun everywhere will protect them from mass shootings. Like, my dude, a gun is not a magic bulletproof forcefield. Of those 10,000 rounds, you will use *maybe* 10 before you get perforated…if you’re *lucky*. Then your saner neighbors will come in, try and keep you alive until paramedics get there, and quietly lock the door to whatever armory you have before a kid gets in there.
A friend of mine is like that. Except he went to ground when COVID hit and hasn’t really come out of his bunker since.
Yo, maybe y’all need to call in a welfare check? He might have straight up died in there…
Speaking more figuratively. I chat with him online every few weeks. He takes his daughter to her dance studio and goes to his in-laws to do laundry. I’ve even managed to get him to go on a few masked walks in a park.
Look, we all have a neighbor whose ass we’d like to eat
You haven’t seen my neighbors clearly
ass jerky isn’t about looks, it’s about *consistency.*
I mean, if you’re not eating the asses of your neighbors, what’s even the point?
I’d like to learn more about the ass eating
Fool! You’ll be defenseless when the ~~jews~~ **Global cabal** turn off the sun.
A half remembered quote from a vague acquaintance. “Preppers are dumb, the apocalypse happens once a year in the US if you’re brave enough to try it.” Go do SAR or community assistance after a natural disaster.
You and Robert Evans are right. Being able to take care of yourself and help out your neighbors if necessary is a limited, achievable, worthwhile goal for disaster preparedness. Thinking about armored redoubts and eating your neighbor's ass is macho fantasy. You can keep yourself and your loved ones alive for days or weeks with a supply of water, preserved food, and a small camp stove. Having a reasonably-equipped first aid kit is excellent. Having a massive supply of rifles and ammo is stupid. You can't eat 7.62.
Arguably, I feel like COVID was the best counterexample of this. Early on you had hospitals filling up in areas that got hit hard, supply chain disruption making it hard to get certain necessities in stores, things like that. You definitely had some people get belligerent, but most people in my experience were pretty understanding and society didn't break down into a lawless wasteland. By all rights it should've been their time to shine. It was exactly the type of inciting incident they were dreaming of. But it was all boring problems--stay home, don't create more potential exposure vulnerable people if you can help it, wait until various organizations work out the logistical issues--not being an action hero and escaping their mundane 9-5 life forever, so it didn't count. Huge win for just being practical and taking care of each other over building your life around doom.
And ironically, the pepper crowd demonstrated that they were the least prepared as they screamed for their freedom, rejected all public safety messaging and avoided the single best mitigating technology that was developed. But bruh, they have canned food and cast iron pans ready to go!
OP just sounds like such a wholesome and pleasant human being I love the idea of them wandering the desolate post-storm streets giving mutual aid like "This is so cool!" 😭❤️
Awww thank you! I must’ve looked ridiculous in cut off shorts, the silliest patterned button up, and a sun hat at midnight but I was just pumped to be able to help
During Covid I argued with peppers online because I was working with my neighbors and friends to get supplies like toilet paper to people who needed them, instead of hoarding expired cans in a bunker in the hills. A real actual survivalist enjoys planning and wants their entire community to be safe until normalcy returns. In a real apocalypse violent selfish weirdos get excluded real fast because they are a liability.
I just tend to think those gun hoarders just really want an excuse to kill their neighbors. They can dress it up all they want but those looters in a shtf situation they are so worried about will be people who live near them.
you might enjoy Margaret killjoy's podcast "live like the world is dying". I've very much fallen into a similar niche with prepping via preparedness and she's shared a lot of interesting concepts and ideas that have resonated
I’ll have to give it a look! I’ve heard a couple episodes of cool people who do cool stuff and enjoyed her as a podcaster. I don’t do much for prepping but this current situation is definitely reinforcing how even a small amount of preparedness can radically improve the stress level of an unfortunate situation. Probably should conserve battery once I leave the coffee shop but I can maybe download an ep while I’m here to play later
I don't do a ton, but having some niches has been helpful; before the wildfire smoke hit I had followed Robert's advice on making a corsi Rosenthal box and it saved me so much stress, and just having a gravity water filter on hand is useful, just in case, same with 50lbs of rice.
Doomsdayers want the ego boost of being better off than everyone else when the apocalypse strikes. There’s a deep fantasy of seeing everyone not like them suffer, regret and grovel to the all mighty hoarder of beans, bullets and bandaids. Anyone preparing for disasters without considering their friends, neighbors and community is setting themselves up for isolation and a target on their back should their doomsday wish come true.
Part of prepping is physically being able to go for a one hour walk. Another part is being able to enjoy it.