They told you so
The Covid-19-pandemic as a trial run for preppers
Preppers used to be dismissed as alarmists. Hardly anyone took their warnings seriously. It turns out they weren’t so wrong after all. What preppers lack, however, is a plan for the post-catastrophe world.
“Now is our time to shine.” This was the jubilant reaction from preppers online when a state of emergency was declared due to COVID-19. These are days of triumph for them. Preppers are, after all, prepared for calamities of all kinds, be they earthquakes, terrorist attacks, economic collapse or epidemics. They have laid in supplies of food. They know how to filter water, start a fire, and survive power outages. They have stockpiled protective clothing, medication, tools, and weapons.
Preppers know people don’t take them seriously. They see themselves portrayed in the media as paranoid freaks. But what we’re going through now is what they’ve been predicting: Disaster has struck. Suddenly, the skills of survivalists are in demand. The group running the website ThePrepared.com, which provides information, test reports, and film reviews for “sane prepping,” currently is overwhelmed by requests for help. “We are swamped,” founder John Ramey wrote in an email describing a situation it seems they were not quite prepared for.
From rural survivalists to urban preppers
The prepper movement in the United States has its beginnings in the Cold War era, when the government encouraged the populace to build fallout shelters and to “duck, and cover”. Ever since, the importance of preparing for the end of the world has been embedded in the American subconscious. In 1976, Don Stephens published the Retreater’s Bibliography, a handbook explaining how to retreat to a remote location and provide entirely for yourself. Stephens placed a strong emphasis on recycling and renewable energy sources, which is another reason the book now is regarded as a classic.
Around this time, Kurt Saxon evoked the breakdown of society in his newsletter The Survivor, started in 1975, and called for a return to the technology used by the 19th-century pioneers. Saxon, who was a member of various right-wing extremist groups, claims to have coined the term “survivalist.” His book series The Poor Man’s James Bond also features instructions on how to build a bomb.
The self-reliant “retreater” and the armed “survivalist” ready to use violence are two extreme manifestations of the movement. What they have in common is a fundamental distrust of the government, from whom they expect no help in an emergency. Instead, they perceive it as a threat to their freedom.
In the past years, prepping has been gaining ground all over the world, particularly in cities, and has undergone change as a result. Women, too, are prepping in increasing numbers. In her book Bracing for the Apocalypse, New York sociologist Anna Maria Bounds describes urban preppers as a diverse group. They include real estate agents, emergency responders, and teachers. These are not people living in isolation — they have formed networks. Community and sustainability are important to them. Urban preppers offer courses to help people learn urban farming, how to perform first aid or make protective masks. They view themselves as a voice of reason offering guidance in these uncertain times.
DYI instead of reliance on the state
There are many overlaps with the Maker movement, a subculture embracing technology and autonomy that flourishes in particular on the fringes of Silicon Valley. It is hardly surprising that many preppers have ties to the tech and start-up industries. The idea of disruption is part of their mindset; problem-solving is their daily bread. They know how quickly a system can collapse. Silicon Valley is located in the middle of an earthquake zone.
The urban preppers aren’t counting on the state, either. While the Saxon-style survivalists opted out of society because they believed the government was after them, the situation is just the opposite with urban preppers, says Bounds: They are preparing for the worst because they know the government will not be coming to their aid.
The website ThePrepared.com cites the failure of the authorities in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as proof. Accordingly, it is a “civic duty” to prepare independently, they say. The website advises against taking out expensive insurance, and recommends investing in extensive prepper gear instead. Prepping is big business, too. The platform Biodefense estimates that on average, preppers spend more than USD 500 per year on equipment. Apparently, that’s a small price to pay for some peace of mind.
No plan for the post-catastrophe world
Storytelling plays a major role in the world of prepping. Preppers just love to recount how they became the ever-prepared person they are today, also as a way of convincing others of the importance of prepping. This will also consist, in large part, of running through detailed scenarios. Usually, they concern the breakdown of the infrastructures and technologies we rely on in our everyday lives. The prepper has built a generator and stashed away reserves. Those who have not prepared become the problem, as they may try to steal from or even attack the prepper.
The present epidemic is a variation on this kind of trial run. Face masks and supplies were at the ready and preppers quickly self-isolated from the rest of the world. Prepping isn’t rocket science. However, our current situation shows that in a pandemic, individual survival strategies will not be enough. What we need is a functioning public healthcare and welfare system. But preppers have no interest in taking action to maintain or improve the system. Their efforts have always gone into becoming independent from it. They have resigned themselves to disaster striking. Between all the survival kits and the instruction manuals, there are few suggestions on how to avoid it, and no vision for how we might live together in future. Instead, the preppers are sitting in their shelters, thinking up the next scenarios to prepare for.#
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