Are Preppers Crazy or Is It Crazy to Not Prep?

May 02, 2017

What do your friends and family say when you tell them you’ve been storing food, growing your own produce or that you subscribe to Mother Earth News?  When they find out that you’re considering raising chickens in your suburban backyard, do they think you’re crazy?  My own friends get this uneasy look in their eyes, and then slowly back away as if they hear the opening notes of  “Dueling Banjos”!

The fact is, human beings have been survivalists, or preppers, for nearly our entire existence.  Foraging, hunting, and gathering wasn’t just an alternate lifestyle for our ancestors but the only means of survival.  Each day, each season brought the possibility of having no water, no food, no medicinal herbs, and no shelter.  Storing as much food as possible, yes, stockpiling!, wasn’t radical, it was sensible.  There was no option to self-sufficiency.

Fast forward thousands of years, and self-sufficiency, by and large, is a thing of the past.  We have forgotten essential, practical survival skills.  Why take the trouble to grow your own food when there’s a grocery store on every corner?  The produce department displays not just one variety of apples but a dozen, all shiny clean and not a worm in sight.  Discount stores offer shoes and clothing at a price much lower than anything handmade.  Most of us revel in the quality and variety of goods that are so easily accessible, but will this era of plenty last indefinitely?

It really is no wonder that preppers seem out of step with most everyone around us.  There are obvious, ominous storm clouds on the horizon, and to us, it just makes sense to stock up on groceries,  learn long-forgotten skills, and make plans for any number of emergencies.

Friends and family may question our sanity, but our ancestors would be proud of our efforts to prepare for an uncertain future.

Want to become a crazy prepper? Check out these articles!

Reply

or to participate.