Preppers on TV

I have shared, earlier, about the National Geographic people showing up at a Preparedness event in Fall 2011, here in Denver. Basically, they were trying to get preppers to agree to be put on TV to show their preps, discuss their post-SHTF plans, etc.

I was leery of people doing that; I never had any intention of participating in such a useless (to me) activity--because it does nothing but destroy any kind of operational security that you may have had, previously.

Subsequently, I saw some episodes of the National Geographic show named Doomsday Preppers. This is acceptable only if you do not mind having your OpSec destroyed and your preps and your plans laid bare for all viewers to see. To top this off, as the producers move from one prepper to the next prepper, they summarize their perceptions as to why they are undertaking their prepping. Without exception, ALL scenarios/concerns of the preppers are "dissed" as the producers also include their statistical likelihood of such events actually happening. (always a very low probability, according to them)

Then, this morning, I was shocked to see a family of preppers on Fox & Friends morning show on Fox News. To me, that was a BIG step up in visibility of the "prepper movement" if you will.

I think there is strong value in maintaining operational security for our preps and for our plans. More visibility of prepper activity does not add value, in my opinion.

 

I see it as the 'mainstream' attempting to marginalize our 'movement' and lifestyle, because it doesn't fit into their mold of 'upwardly mobile yuppie consumerism' that the Fed.Gov wants us all in. They still cannot understand anyone NOT kowtowing to and serving the PTB.
They are the scared sheep bleeting about the sheepdog on their edge, never seeing the wolves circling the flock.

I would NEVER engage in one of these programs.... violating OPSEC, making myself a target for public ridicule. Making myself a target eventually for either government confiscation or outright theft and banditry.

 

I was mulling over your posts and it came to me with a resounding clang (one's brain does that as you get old, lol) that we on this side of the water do not respect/honour/enjoy/appreciate ECCENTRICITY very much as a rule, eccentricity being considered just another name for crazy....while on the other side of the Pond, the Eccentric Brit is legendary! We (Brits) just love to be considered a bit OTT with everything we do! It's almost an art form, lol. So National Geographic is in fact making prepping seem to be just another form of eccentricity and therefore it has no, or very little, validity in the "real" world - if only they realized the truth. Prepping IS the real world, the rest of it is living in a fool's Paradise, or call it what you will, they live on the surface of life. I came to Canada in 1952 from a country just released from the horrors of war a few years before and I, even at the tender age of 19, could see that something was awry. I have always wondered what these "soft" people would do if anything went wrong with the system. I felt that most of them wouldn't be able to take it but of course, now that I am older I realize that there will always be a fair percentage who will have the strength of mind and purpose to succeed.

W-a-y back in the early 50's there was a nurseryman living in St. Catherine's, Ontario, name of John Tobe....an eccentric if ever there WAS one! He sold seeds and plants and his catalogue was in newspaper form, giving amusing anecdotes and interesting facts, as well as his seed prices. He also wrote a book which I had for years until it was destroyed in a flood, the first "survival/self-reliance" book I ever read. No one at that time went in for that sort of stuff, yes I was "eccentric" too! Danged if I can remember the name of it at the moment (I will try to find it later on the web)...anyway it was about living and surviving on an acre of land. I loved that man and loved his ideas. He was also the first writer I ever saw who pointed out in no uncertain terms that "they" could not save the people from teamster strikes, border lockouts, or whatever, that we had to help ourselves by self-reliance. He did not visualize (as far as I can recall) any SHTF scenarios, he was "before their time", so to speak. I must try to get a copy of it though. So you see, my prepping is no flash in the pan for me - I have been involved in it in one way or another, for about 60 years.

BTW I have not been able to get Nat Geo's Doomsday programmes up here for some strange reason...weird or what, as my beloved William Shatner says! And when I tried to get a DVD (which it seems is coming out soon) I was told it was not to be sold in Canada. What gives with that, do y'all think?

Happy Thinking Day to all you good Scouts and Guides out there (who might be Monkeys now)!

 

RE: No sales of that program up in Canada---they do not want you folks contaminated by those (insert derogatory term here) Americans.

 

doomsday

News sells......Crazy sounding news really sells!!!!! They can put any kind of mush on tv, and the young will eat it up...i was amazed when i realized that fox at night is nothing but cartoons for adults...and there are millions watching this "stuff"...i'm sorry, it's now called "animation".....the same people that watch this stuff are the ones who laugh at a true person of concern for the life span of civilization as we now know it......The world can't be a bad place, and nothing can go wrong , because Homer Simpson hasn't told them yet.....rsbhunter

 

Laughing at ourselves is ok, laughing at others is ok, but..

Laughing at ourselves is ok, laughing at others is ok, but...having others laugh at us???

Probably don't want the Canadians holding their southern neighbour as a laughing stock....it's one thing to laugh and ridicule one's own....but to cop ridicule from outsiders for the sillyness of one's compatriots is altogether too much to bear.

 

There are two kinds of preppers in my opinion. The rational and irrational.
Irrational preppers prep for a specific thing they think is going to happen. They try to convince everyone else that the event they are prepping for is the event we all must fear. They prep in odd ways and have little to no balance to their preps. These are the people who are always willing to go on camera professing knowledge but only prove their stupidity.
The rational prepper preps because he/she knows the world and society are incredibly fragile and they want to ensure they will not just survive but thrive in the face of whatever is thrown at them. The rational prepper does not necessarily think any one thing or event is inevitable but knows that anything is possible. Their preps are an excellent balance of food, water, gear, tools, etc. Not just a pile of guns, ammo, and MRE's. These are the preppers you wont see anywhere near a camera. These are the preppers that have knowledge from many sources and train with their equipment.
Like anything else there are people at each end of the bell curve. Unfortunately, any that you will catch on these "reality" shows will DEFINATELY be at the bottom of the curve.


Now, if you will excuse me I have to go shoot my cat with a .22LR. I made a bullet proof cat vest so I can shoot indiscriminately during the zombie apocalypse and I need to test it out.

 

Amen wrc223.

The people going on tv are like the preachers who claim the end of the world will happen on a certain date. When that date comes and goes they are laughed at and ridiculed. So when someone else talks of stocking up they are lumped in with these tv types. I believe the government as well as the media sees and feels the prepper movement all across this country. Since they don't understand it they laugh and ridicule the ones involved. But, I'm no differant then my grandparents. I like having a few things put back just in case

 

I have to say my wife and I are enjoying "Doomsday Preppers". While some of these people are extremely odd and in at least one case a total idiot for their reasoning, I do like the program. The couple in Utah with their over $100,000 in food preps are very impressive, and her sealing the eggs with mineral oil to keep them good for up to a year, I had never heard of. There is some good information, but you have to weed through the crap. The trucker with the hi-point carbine with a Leupold tactical scope on it....really? The guy in Florida who is so worried about a global shift that he is moving his family to TN, yet he carries a $50 pos pistol? Seriously WTF is wrong with these people? The tree huggers from the northeast that total refuse to be armed.....morons. The guy with the small cattle ranch has a nice set up, but his health is beyond bad. The kid in charge of security that thinks a recurve bow is a good self defense weapon? Stupid. I bow hunt with a $1500 rig, even I know better than that. The thing is to take the good parts out, seperate the wheat from the chaff. So far the couple in Utah have impressed me the most, but I have only seen three episodes.
I do enjoy it. It is DVR worthy.