Preppers — No Longer the Fringey Whackjobs of Society
By Julie Prince
Clash Daily Contributor
September 11, 2001; a date that will live in infamy. Millions of Americans turned on the tele that fateful day seeing smoke and debris billowing up from the horizon across the Hudson River. If you are an American, you probably know exactly where you were and what you were doing at 8:46am on that tragic day. People made breakfast, dropped the kids off at school, and headed to work; all the things they would normally do. On this day, the difference was that New York City was under attack.
Americans watched in sheer terror as two airplanes slammed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, causing them to collapse into a swirling hurricane of dust and mortar that killed thousands of innocent people. Terrorism had become the official cause of death and destruction, something U.S. citizens had only seen on the news in countries far away from their freedoms and sanctuaries. It had infiltrated our borders changed our lives forever.
The American government was forced to take a step back and look at the security of the United States. With all the intelligence that existed, they still failed to prevent the biggest catastrophe on U.S. soil caused by a foreign entity since Pearl Harbor. Not to mention that it was the first foreign terrorist attack to happen within the U.S. in all of history.
Many changes were made in how safety and security were handled as a result of the tragedy. The Department of Homeland Security was born in an effort to combat terrorism. Everyone remembers the color code system that flashed up on your television screen. Green was low risk, while orange and red were considered to be a high probability that an attack could happen. The TSA began screening people more rigorously at airports. Groping and x-raying naked parts with full body scanners became a regular routine when looking for suspicious contraband. Airplanes had (and still have) armed pilots and federal air marshals traveling aboard, as well as locked, armored doors to the cockpits.
With these extra measures our government has put into place, are Americans safer now than they were years ago? One frightening issue that many in Washington are not willing to talk about is the vulnerability of the country’s “Grid” system (Basically the main power source for the entire nation). If it was attacked by enemy forces, the damage caused would be beyond catastrophic. Life as it is known would be over.
The theory was tested when a presumed terrorist attack happened involving a California power station. Underground AT&T fiber optic telecommunications cables were cut. Another facility was shot up by an AK-47 rifle with the shooters aiming for the oil filled cooling systems that keeps transformers from overheating. Although they were badly damaged, they did not explode. Seventeen of the massive transformers were destroyed. Many believe this was just a trial run to see what would happen. Some believe the devastation and collapse of our grid could come from a virus in the system (that may have already been planted).
No lights, no heat, no food, no running water, and no life saving machines for the ill. How would the general public handle life if everything they knew suddenly stopped working? It would be the apocalypse without the flesh-eating zombies. It would be every man for himself, with violence and complete anarchy surely to follow as the instinct to survive takes over the brain.
Would anyone be able to maintain themselves and their families as our forefathers did? Would anyone know how to live off of the land and fend for themselves? The truth is that most people couldn’t even last a few days let alone a few months or more. Americans have become complacent in their day-to-day manufactured lives. Most wouldn’t know how to survive if their local Starbucks ran out of their Grande triple-shot skinny-vanilla mocha-latte, so how would they fare without running water?
“Preppers”, or a group once considered to be the fringe of society, has made a comeback since 9/11. One focus of a “prepper”, or “survivalist” as they are also referred to, is being prepared for a “doomsday” situation, the Teotwawki, or the end of the world as we know it. They also prepare for situations such as the collapse of the economy, natural disasters, or any other apocalyptic event. Stocking up on survival gear that they consider their “standard of living insurance” is essential. Water, filters, food, camping supplies, and even ammunition are some of the supplies they will horde.
There have been several events that have caused this resurgence of interest in the preparedness crowd. Before Y2K, preppers mainly focused on how to survive a nuclear attack. Surging again during the Y2K “bug” scare where many thought computer systems would fail causing mass chaos over fuel, power, and food. Not knowing the certainty of what would go on in the country after 9/11, many became “preppers” for the first time during this dark, dismal time. Natural disasters such as hurricane Katrina, tsunamis in Indonesia, Japan, and Chile also sparked the influx in the need to be more self-reliant in the event of a disaster.
The “survivalists”, once seen as crazy crack-pots, are now quickly becoming the main stream American. If a giant 777 airplane can disappear into thin air, there is no telling what can happen to our unguarded, vulnerable power-transformers on the ground.
Image: Courtesy of: http://www.backwoodssurvivalblog.com/2013_01_01_archive. html
Julie “Jules” Prince has been a Conservative activist, published writer and entrepreneur for over 20 years. She is the founder of Conservative-Warriors.com, a Conservative news site and political organization that includes her blog the Raven Files. She is the host and producer of the edgy Conservative talk radio show “Warrior Nation” featured on Blogtalk radio Thursday’s from 7-9pm. Jules fights for the advancement of Conservative ideology and the principals of our Founding Fathers, with an undying love for America, what it was founded on and saving it from the destruction of the Progressive agenda.
