Ok – Ok – Ok… I may seem like a hypocrite because I have been posting casting calls for the preppers shows but I am going out on a limb and making the call… PREPPER SHOWS ARE BAD FOR THE PREPPER MOVEMENT!
First I want to set some groundwork.
The prepper movement is real and it benefits ALL of us who are already prepping. WHY? Because I would be thrilled to know that my entire neighborhood is prepped. This would alleviate my worries about having conflicts with them over what I have and they don’t and it would make us a unified group. I, and all preppers have a vested interest in everyone around us prepping. The prepping movement is important.
In every subsect or group in our society there are moderates and zealots. I am sure that there are very wealthy socialites out there who are modest and decent people BUT the Kardashians and Hiltons (zealots) give them a bad name. WHY? Because TV is the main source of much of our opinions (don’t get mad at this you know I am not talking about you [insert sarcastic tone]) and TV producers only want the crazy, headline grabbing nut jobs from the group they are featuring. As an italian american I am appalled at the Jersey Shore but I know they are just the crazy people the TV producers found to get ratings. Sadly, most of the county now generalizes italian americans because of this show.
How This Effects Preppers
This sort of generalization is not so bad for italian americans because we all know some ourselves and know them not to be like the jersey shore pukes. Some of us maybe even know some wealthy socialites and know them to be modest, philanthropic individuals. BUT MOST PEOPLE WATCHING THESE NEW PREP SHOWS DON’T KNOW PREPPERS!!! We aren’t known because (a) we are relatively small, (b) we have only just begun to advocate publicly and (c) the Prepper OPSEC is inherently one of secrecy and concealment.
I think you see the problem. Society is being informed about preppers through Doomsday Preppers and Doomsday Bunkers. I have now watched hours of these programs along with the myriad of other prep specials out there. The producers are showing crazy preppers and now society in general is forming an opinion about us based on these shows.
EXAMPLE - On Doomsday Bunkers – They have a retired police officer who has two kids, one appeared to be an adult and one an adolescent. She has her house full of preps that go way beyond what she would need to support the three people she cares about. My wife happened to be reading a book next to me as I was watching the show and she blurted out of nowhere - ”That is more like hoarding” … then it dawned on me – if she equated prepping to hoarding, which is a documented psychological disorder that is treated with therapy, to prepping then the rest of the world might be – nay, probably is too!!! And this is coming from the wife of a PREPPER!!! The show goes on to show her buying a $150,000 bunker with sleeping for 10? WTF? This is just crazy…
These preppers are not a valid cross section of the prepping community.
I am calling out the producers of these shows to portray the prepping public in a realistic light. Show that prepping is not a lifestyle but an insurance policy. Show that preps are done in moderation. Show that preppers “prep to live” and not “live to prep”.
BTW – I just picked up these two books and will let you know what I think once I get through them; Holding Their Own and Without Rule of Law. Both by Joe Nobody who I did the last book review on. As as attorney, I am particularly interested in the book about lawlessness.
PREP NOW AND PREP HARD.
-SP
I couldn’t agree more! But that’s what the producers fell they need to make the show interesting.
Excellent points, when I see those shows – I actually felt bad. While some people do show reasonable measures – for some reason others go WAY overboard. I’m not one to judge and perhaps this fits their understanding of disaster they need to be ready for – unfortunately majority unfamilular with preparedness makes their opinion based on worst.
Thank you for noticing something I have been concerned about from the start.
As a conservative, wiccan and a prepper I am more concerned about opsec than most. These shows have been bothering me a lot.
I agree entirely, bearmagick. While I have watched several of the prepper TV shows — mostly to see if there are obvious areas I’m lacking — I came to the conclusion that the producers only spolight two main types of people: the financially stable types who spend a lot of money on prepping, and the crazy types. At least that’s how it looks to me. These TV shows ignore the 95% of “regular” preppers like myself who have ordinary jobs and pretty ordinary families, but who also wouldn’t be “interesting” to TV audiences. (Also nice to see I’m not the only conservative pagan prepper!)
Thanks Jeanne. I agree, there seems to be a focus on the rich or the nutty. Typical MSM focus on extremes rather than the “norm”.
Could not agree more. And perhaps this leads to my mistrust of what the MSM and these shows are doing. I can honestly say I would never go on one of them based on my own OPSEC concerns.
I don’t want those who are not prepping in my own small community to know what I have in my two caches. After all, the mindset in this country right now is for those who “have not” to come and get from those of us “who have.” And why not. They can take advantage of those of us who have been prepping and storm our doors and taking what they want.
I blame all my prepping mindset on Larry Niven and his book Lucifer’s Hammer. I read it in 1973 and was hooked on the genre. I have learned the “have nots” will do whatever to take from you what little you “have”. All the prepping shows and YouTube videos I have watched is to learn more knowledge of what I lack.
3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food.
3 is 2, 2 is 1 and 1 is none.
Bingo and this is why our OPSEC is so important.
While I love the fact there are so many blogs and videos out there showing us what we need to do. I also think it is very important those bloggers and video producers be very mindful to not disclose too much.
The shows in question go too far and I worry for those who did agree to go on these shows. I fear they may have given away way too much information.
LOL, I too can trace my prepper leanings to that book. I first read it on the way out to Cali from SC to visit family. That was back when they were still advertising it on the radio. I had a hard time putting it down.
It definitely stuck with me.
My problem with the shows is a bit different. I for one do not trust the Mainstream Media and their love fest with the preppers.
For the news outlets and even the networks and other channels running such shows, I step back and wonder what is the actual motive behind it. I for one do not feel it is to shed the prepper movement in a good light. I feel it is to discredit it and make it look like a bunch of right wing cracks.
Also, with the recent laws signed into effect by Obama, one has to also question if there is a motive here on behalf of the media and government. I am sure they are making a list and checking it twice.
Yep. It’s as though they want to make the idea mainstream enough to make the “prreppers” open up about what they’re doing, thus making them easier to find when they want to take our “hoarded” property.
But then I’m paranoid,. . . . right?
I recently got a request for an interview by a TV reporter. I wrote a blog post about that, and I linked back to this excellent article.
If the TV report really wanted to do preppers a favor, she would simply forget she ever heard the term.
As a whole I agree, but where I think that this benefits us preppers as well as the totally unprepared is that it strikes a cord in all of us that asks the question of what if? Simply having “ordinary” people ask this question is a win. I understand that the motivations for the programs are purely commercial but if one person starts to make prepping a part of there life that is one less person that will look to take my preparations.
Secondly, all of us that are preppers are going to continue no matter how crazy some of those people look on TV. So if only one person starts to prep for their family then it is a win.
Why should we be afraid to have this be a loud movement? our government? our neighbors? I firmly believe that if you make yourself out to be a victim your going to be a victim. If you make yourself out to be prepared people are not going to mess with you.
Thanks for reading.
Per my blog post, one of the first questions from the TV reporter will be something along the line of, “How much food do you have stored away, and where do you keep it?”
Even if the reporter doesn’t intend to do a hatchet-job, I would bet money that his/her manager does.
If you own a gun, you should refuse *any* request for a mass media interview. Anything that is politically correct will be made out to be a DANGEROUS THREAT TO SOCIETY. And it only takes one gov’t-appointed doctor to declare you “mentally deficient” and you are S.O.L. (links provided in my blog post)
These shows are bad AND good, IMO. Certainly, the bad part is that it makes us preppers look a little crazy but the good part is that they hopefully get people who would otherwise ignore prepping to think about “what would happen if?” and then go looking for solid information.
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Television programming started out as transferred radio variety shows to television. Shows such as Texaco Star Theater got their start on radio and was one of the first US television hits in the late 1940s.,
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