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It’s a Weird Time to Be a Doomsday Prepper
The Atlantic ^

Posted on 05/28/2023 2:43:37 PM PDT by nickcarraway

If you’re looking for a reason the world will suddenly end, it’s not hard to find one—especially if your job is to convince people they need to buy things to prepare for the apocalypse. “World War III, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Joe Biden—you know, everything that’s messed up in the world,” Ron Hubbard, the CEO of Atlas Survival Shelters, told me. His Texas-based company sells bunkers with bulletproof doors and concrete walls to people willing to shell out several thousand—and up to millions—of dollars for peace of mind about potential catastrophic events. Lately, interest in his underground bunkers has been booming. “When the war broke out in Ukraine, my phone was ringing every 45 seconds for about two weeks,” he said.

Many of his clients work in tech: Although the prepper movement in America spans the upper and middle classes, the left and the right, Silicon Valley has in recent years become its epicenter. In his book Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, Douglas Rushkoff delves into what he calls “The Mindset”—the idea among Silicon Valley doomsday preppers that “winning” means earning enough money to escape the damage that befalls everyone else. In 2018, Bloomberg reported that seven tech entrepreneurs had purchased bunkers in New Zealand. And a 2016 New Yorker profile of Sam Altman quoted the OpenAI CEO as saying he had “guns, gold, potassium iodide, antibiotics, batteries, water, gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force, and a big patch of land in Big Sur I can fly to” in the event of super-contagious viruses, nuclear war, and AI “that attacks us.”

(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Conspiracy
KEYWORDS: fubar; prepper; preppers; shtf
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar; Flavious_Maximus
"New Zealand is basically like the Falkland Islands or Patagonia Argentina."

Ted Turner's Estate In Patagonia, Argentina

When asked years ago about his 'compound' in Patagonia, Ted said, "that's where I'll go when the civil war begins."(Or, something close to that)

61 posted on 05/29/2023 10:16:14 AM PDT by blam
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To: Kartographer; 4everontheRight; 4Liberty; 5thGenTexan; 45semi; 101stAirborneVet; 300winmag; ...
Kartographer :" That’s why I prepare so my plan isn’t too rob and murder those who who made the effort to prepare. "

In response to another poster , yes I store up resources andskills, as well as both Hybrid and Heirloom seeds.
The word "Prepper" means that you plan and provide for your family prior to an actual emergency condition - you anticipate , as did our forefathers going back several generations.
If you chose to not prepare,.. then it is on you, not me, to provide for your family - that's called "rugged individualism".
We all have priorities in this life and all of us have different circumstance and skills that we can depend on.

So if I feel that you are an honest and ethical man, I may share with you some of my resources, clothing, water and speciallyt my seeds :
Hybrids for productivity, disease resistance, and production plenty, and
Heirlooms for multi-generational proven reliability, flavor, transport, disease resistance, and long-term storage.

But if you are a dishonest man and have come to schmooze me, or rob and pillage me and my family of our supplies, seed, and food
I will share with you some of my defense system, - ..however it will be at the business end of a barrel.
A 30.06 to 'reach out and touch some one'; a 12 gauge slug, or shot, for group 'close encounters', a bolt from a bow if I expect you, or a glock for even closer interior contact.
Another Prepper Rule is : "It's not yours unless you are willing to protect it" , and that includes family and all the family resources.
'Bushcraft' and' wild foraging' are learned skills that are not generally taught, but can prove to be vital to personal and family survival in tough times.
Prepping becomes a mind-set, and a worthwhile lifestyle for the unexpected occurrences of life
- but you must be prepared intellectually, ethically, and spiritually to be complete. I am still learning ...

62 posted on 05/29/2023 10:18:34 AM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt
My first book on Foraging and what got me interested in Prepping was:
"Stalking the Wild Asparagus ", by Euell Gibbons.

63 posted on 05/29/2023 10:23:54 AM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt
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To: Scrambler Bob

That’s Guam (Hank Johnshon).


64 posted on 05/29/2023 10:25:35 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: nickcarraway

Bttt.

5.56mm


65 posted on 05/29/2023 10:41:40 AM PDT by M Kehoe (Quid Pro Joe and the Ho have got to go)
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

The last paragraph of your comment sounds very very familiar... just what our plan is!

Regarding seeds - I save seeds from some of our vegetables, such as collards and kale, herb seeds etc. I discovered the hard way that seeds more than 1 year old often do not grow, and this also includes “boughten” seeds. Don’t count on old seeds.


66 posted on 05/29/2023 10:43:43 AM PDT by little jeremiah (Never worry about anything. Worry never solved any problem or moved any stone.)
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

12 all day long,.


67 posted on 05/29/2023 11:38:19 AM PDT by waterhill (Stop waiting for the right time, time is not waiting for you.)
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt

12 and a Catahoula dog


68 posted on 05/29/2023 11:41:03 AM PDT by waterhill (Stop waiting for the right time, time is not waiting for you.)
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To: waterhill

She went nuts so I had to include her. She scares people with that bark. Very unique dogs. Her name? Dog.


69 posted on 05/29/2023 11:45:40 AM PDT by waterhill (Stop waiting for the right time, time is not waiting for you.)
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To: nickcarraway

My prep started out as a way to survive the occasional storm related outages ..usually enough for a couple week.
But then long came Obama/Biden.
Much worse than any emergency storm outage.


70 posted on 05/29/2023 11:50:11 AM PDT by Leep (What skill or service did the biden family have that netted them tens of millions of dollars?)
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To: suthener

If it gets bad enough people will kill you for what’s in your garden.

If you have lights on at night ..they will know you have solar panels.
And they will assume you have more than they do.


71 posted on 05/29/2023 11:55:19 AM PDT by Leep (What skill or service did the biden family have that netted them tens of millions of dollars?)
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To: Leep; metmom; little jeremiah
Leep :" If you have lights on at night ..they will know you have solar panels.
And they will assume you have more than they do."

Right !! you don't advertize ! - you use furring strips around the outside of your "black out drapes" (easily reinstalled and removed at minimal expense).
You become "The Grey man", and wear blending-in clothing just like your neighbors. If they wear dungarees, you also wear them too; save the Calvin Clines for elsewhere.
Transport of quantities of long-term food stores occurs in your garage, or, late at night if you don't have a garage.

72 posted on 05/29/2023 1:01:09 PM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt
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To: little jeremiah; Diana in Wisconsin; metmom
little jeremiah :" I discovered the hard way that seeds more than 1 year old often do not grow, and this also includes “boughten” seeds.
Don’t count on old seeds."

Generally speaking, the smaller and softer the seed covering, the shorter the lifespan of that seed.
That is why you should test germinate your seed, before planting; even the tested seed successes can be transplanted into the garden.
Also, FReeper "Diana In Wisconsin" offers once a week gardening forum, generally on Saturdays to answer all your questions. Just Ping her .
Information for example :See the "Vegetable Crop Seed Storage and Longevity Chart" and information about seed storage, freezing, testing, etc. at :

https://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/methods-tools-supplies/harvesting-handling-storage/seed-storage-guidelines.html

73 posted on 05/29/2023 1:23:53 PM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt
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To: Leep

If it gets bad enough people will kill you for what’s in your garden.”

Yep. They’ll shoot you the minute you walk out your door. And it’s not just strangers. Your neighbor buddy won’t be so buddy anymore when his family is literally starving to death in front of him and he thinks you still have food. I believe a lot of people have a somewhat romantic version of how this could play out. It won’t be pretty.


74 posted on 05/29/2023 1:36:54 PM PDT by suthener
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To: Tilted Irish Kilt
You become "The Grey man", and wear blending-in clothing just like your neighbors. If they wear dungarees, you also wear them too; save the Calvin Clines for elsewhere.

I have heard the suggestion that you have and wear some oversized, kind of worn out clothes to give the appearance that you are also short on food and losing weight like everyone else.

75 posted on 05/29/2023 3:24:53 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith….)
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To: Noumenon

“...Day 5 of the Non-flushing Toilets.”

You are SO right about THAT, LOL! Good thing Brandon is allowing us to be invaded unabated by those that have never SEEN a flush toilet in the first place. *ROLLEYES*

A friend and I have a running conversation about various home-made camping toilets and such. It’s a lot of fun finding new ideas/improvements, actually.

Anyone that has spent any time in any of our ground forces has NO problems finding a way to answer Nature’s Call. Having always been a civilian, Beau is still not quite understanding my tendency to hoard TP. ;)


76 posted on 05/30/2023 8:04:57 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set. )
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Those urban concrete box dwellers will hardly be able to understand what’s happening to them. And then they’re die like flies.


77 posted on 05/30/2023 11:11:14 AM PDT by Noumenon (You're not voting your way out of this. KTF)
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To: suthener

Most will kill each other over the last can of beans. No doubt about it. Running a garden in the first year will be impossible. Steal or kill others will eat it.

The second year the best and most brutal killers will be the only ones left. It won’t be a kind world for women. It might be best to be dead.


78 posted on 05/31/2023 7:04:49 PM PDT by wgmalabama (Censored !)
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To: daniel1212

So many of the old freepers just stopped posting over the years. Many of them somewhat suddenly.


79 posted on 05/31/2023 7:07:02 PM PDT by wgmalabama (Censored !)
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To: wgmalabama

“Most will kill each other over the last can of beans. No doubt about it. Running a garden in the first year will be impossible. Steal or kill others will eat it.

The second year the best and most brutal killers will be the only ones left. It won’t be a kind world for women. It might be best to be dead.”

That’s pretty much the way I see it.


80 posted on 05/31/2023 7:42:16 PM PDT by suthener
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