Why are Preppers the Center of Attention?
January 23, 2012 1 Comment
Reuters equals prepared people to Harold Camping followers and labels them a “kooky” subculture.
by Luis R. Miranda
The Real Agenda
January 23, 2012
Being prepared for the worst is not move that should only come in times of crisis. The folks that are best fitted to face uncommon and sudden shake ups in what we call society as usually the ones who laugh hard at last. Keeping food and water for difficult situations such as natural disasters and social unrest is the least a responsible, independent individual should think about.
However, the main stream media has taken it upon themselves to call people who prepare for what all signs seem show will be a global social collapse, a bunch of doomsday religious freaks. A recent article on Reuters begins by derogatively calling those who save food and water for the purposes of surviving a natural or man-made crisis, a subculture. The piece written by Jim Forsyth, who is responsible for most of the name calling, implies that if you firmly believe in a possible end to society as we know it, then you may be a kook.
Mr. Forsyth presents the case of a Viriginia resident, Patty Tegeler, who believes everything can change “in any instant”. The author compares people like Tegeler with the hippies of the 60′s and the preppers of the 90′s. Both groups are seen as extreme due to the fact they chose to partially or totally separate themselves from the society as they knew it in an effort to remain free an self-reliant. ”Tegeler, 57, has turned her home in rural Virginia into a “survival center,” complete with a large generator, portable heaters, water tanks, and a two-year supply of freeze-dried food,” reads the article, which then targets the vendors who offer their products to people who desire to be prepared.
In addition to trying to make preppers the laughing stock of the day, Reuters’ article includes the opinion of an “end-times” expert, who Forsyth cites as saying that fear and suffering are the main causes of people becoming prepared for whatever they see as a threat. How about the simple reason of being prepared? The so-called expert indirectly compares preppers with followers of preacher Joseph Miller, who in 1844 decided to sell their properties and form a commune to wait for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Somehow, being worried about the end of a working economy, filling a room with food and water, getting energy generators and moving to the woods seems to be an exaggerated move. Never mind the fact that over 40 million Americans are dependent on food stamps to survive. They wished they could have prepared, don’t they? This fact alone answers the question asked by the article as to why are so many people are going insane about being prepared. With not even half of the crisis gone by and over 40 million people dependent on government welfare, the surprising outcome would be that people did not prepare themselves, wouldn’t it?
In an effort to balance the content of the article, the author includes the opinion of Michael T. Snider, a news writer who agrees with the fact people must be prepared. “Most people have a gut feeling that something has gone terribly wrong, but that doesn’t mean that they understand what is happening,” said Snider. Perhaps it will take a year or two for the preppers to be proven right, just as it happened with the alternative news media -today considered the real main stream media- that warned about the impending economic collapse, its causes and consequences. Maybe after firefights break out on the streets of the United States, as the country collapses, news organizations will stop making fun of preppers, and will begin to show others how the preppers did it.
The Reuters’ article ends with a quote from Mrs. Tegeler: “I think it’s silly not to be prepared,” she said. “After all, anything can happen.”
