That's true but no one would have believed that the Bolsheviks, a well organized minority could bring such terror to the people. So, when making SHTF plans, people need to recognize and understand the different levels of crisis ranging from temporary weather event down to a government terrorizing a people and the people being REALLY hungry.
Then they should plan for a particular level of SHTF crisis with an understanding that if events get worse than they planned for, all bets are off and they will have to adapt, improvise and hope to get lucky.
Further, how are you going to keep your wife unaware when you arent starving and have stuff to eat? If you are the kind of person who can let their family starve while you don’t then you indeed have learned from Stalin.
I can't explain Polster1's rationale but in addition to letting as few people know of your plans, you must make sure that those who do know won't talk to others about them. For all I know, Pollster1 has a highly talkative wife in which case, the less she knows about the true state of family readiness, the better.
If he is the only one that knows the location of the preps then the family isn’t prepared. He’s prepared.