Thursday, January 10, 2013

Have you seen "Doomsday Preppers?"

I'm not exactly sure how, but the other day I ended up watching an episode of a show on the National Geographic Channel called "Doomsday Preppers."  It's about real live human beings that are expecting something cataclysmic to happen, and the precautions they are taking in order to get ready for it.  They spend all of their available time and money making sure they have every possible angle they can think of covered.

This wacko actually has a business building these shelters for other wackos.
One guy was convinced that China was going to no longer value to dollar, which would in turn destroy the entire U.S. economy, and basically transform our country into the Wild West.  In preparation he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars (and he did not appear to be particularly wealthy) building a self sufficient underground shelter.  He stocked it with food and weapons, as well as a machine to make his own bullets for when he ran out of ammo.  His plan was also to distill rum for the purpose of bartering with in the new anarchistic society.

Another lady was certain that an underwater volcano would erupt and flood the entire east coast.  She had a 3 year supply of food, water, and toilet paper among other things stashed in her basement.  Her intended course of action was to throw everything in inflatable rafts and paddle to high ground when the tsunamis hit.

In both cases, the subjects of the show had large families helping them.  My first question is, how do their family members not stop them from behaving like lunatics?  Secondly, what if the apocalypse doesn't come when they expect it to?  What if it strikes tomorrow and they aren't ready yet?  What if it doesn't occur for 300 years, and all their preparations have long since gone to waste?  I'd be really annoyed if I dedicated my entire life to getting ready for something that I never got to see actually happen.

But my biggest issue with the "doomsday preppers" is, what if they are prepping for the wrong doomsday?  How much would it suck to have your shelter fully stocked, with your bullet and rum making systems in place and ready to go; then have it all rendered useless by the floods.

Related: There is a show on TV called "Extreme Couponing"

 

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