Doomsday Prepping in Missouri – Stockpiling and Planning Your Bugout

As I scroll through the television channels, I come across a wide variety. Honestly, when there is not a good game on or the rest of the family screams “Change the channel” (after quarters, innings, and half time’s), I search my other “favorite” channels . Trying to find a channel and or show many of us can agree on is a challenge—ages 4-37! One show that continues to stupefy is “Doomsday Preppers”!

What is the doomsday prepper movement all about ? And, why am I blogging about it? The number of articles and the popularity of the show is daunting to me and I’m always wondering, “ What are the cool kids up to now?” Me, not ever being one of the “cool kids”………..I always try to learn what is going on. So, figuring out what this doomsday prepping is all about has eaten up several minutes of my day and I thought I would pass it on. I’ve found after watching a few episodes wondering just how my family and I would fare if a catastrophic event occurred. I’ve found the highest window in my house that looks out on the entire street and figured it would be a good vantage point to “defend my house” and when we replaced, reinforced the door, it would take an army to knock it down………..but just what am I defending against?

According to sources that I have read including endoftheamericandream.com, a website “informing” Americans that the “dream” is over is both interesting and alarming to me. Funny, I have clients and meet people every day that are waiting for the “American Dream” to kick in, so how can it be crumbling? According to the site, there are millions of “preppers” that are working feverishly to prepare for the end of America. These people are storing up and fortifying their “bug-out” spots for the end of America as we know it. I wonder, did the Leave it to Beaver generation have this same fear when equal rights and the women’s movement came?

What I have read is that the motivation for “prepping” is about as diverse as the people who are prepping. Some fear terrorists using weapons of mass destruction, killer pandemics, alien invasions, World War II, or EMP attacks (Electromagnetic Plus). Others believe that the complete collapse of the economy is imminent.

Like any group, there is an extreme amount of diversity within the “prepper” population. They come from all socio-economic backgrounds, cultures, sexual orientations, and gender. Never before in history have we seen a phenomenon quite like this and many preppers do not like to publicize their “prepping”. Often “preppers” feel that they would lose their jobs if their employers found out they were a part of this group. For some, “prepping” means to radically scale back their living expenses. While some are scaling back, one Missouri man is building a 40,000 square foot fortress: some call this taking “prepping to extremes”. The Missouri man says that it will be “a home that uses very low energy, as well as having strong resistance to tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, fire, flood and insect damage”. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a house for all occasions.

Between reading about “preppers” and watching shows about “preppers” and seeing National Geographic documentaries on the Mayan calendar and the end of days…………..it makes you think . Does the Mayan calendar really predict the end of the world? Scientists and others argue this point. One should consider that the Mayans also sacrificed other human beings. And, it is a scientific theory that in hard times, individuals like to believe that a higher power is in control—takes the pressure off of humanity to solve some of our own problems, eh? The Mayans were an ancient civilization who have made some incredible predictions and observations with little to no instruments. Food for thought and material for many best-selling movies. Thousands of years ago, Greek mythology described monsters in other, undiscovered lands. So now, that few lands on our planet are truly undiscovered, our “monsters” are aliens and time—both of which we cannot predict and are larger in concept than any of us can handle alone. These fears unify us, but our fears can get the best of us .

Some of the recommendations found on endoftheamericandream.com are just good living recommendations for society including get out of debt, reduce expenses, learn to grow food, explore alternative sources of energy, learn self-defense, keep fit and make friends………… when haven’t these been good recommendations for a living ?

So what to think? I’m not sure. But I cannot live and work as if the world is going to end any day. Also, none of us are promised tomorrow. Daily, I encounter clients who have lost a loved one or who are injured and their time is limited . You have to live as if there is no tomorrow, but how do we face the challenges of tomorrow with a pessimistic view? For the sake of our children, we have to be optimistic about our economy regaining strength and the belief in other human beings as being good. Ok, so that kind of sounds like a Pollyanna viewpoint, but in my experience with clients and juries—-most want to do the right and fair thing. Amazing, most people don’t think a personal injury attorney would say that, but it is true. I believe people are basically good if given the chance. Many will disagree with me.

So, am I making fun of doomsday preppers? Absolutely not . I think every family and household should have emergency supplies of food and water as well as emergency plans in their homes. I won’t be dedicating the better part of my days stockpiling for weeks and weeks of supplies and building my “bug-out” shelter, nor will I be equipping the family ride with weapons and defense materials………………..not yet anyway. “Preppers” are planning for the future it seems, even if it is a dismal future. I gotta take a hat off to anyone that is a planner. But do not let tomorrow kill your today —–