Some time ago, I saw a startling comment: "The majority of us have grown so soft that I welcome the collapse. We need to cull the herd. And if there is a major catastrophe, the snarky beta males will be eliminated, as will the politically correct and the radical left passive-aggressive types. Again, I welcome the collapse."
Our family has long been involved in prepping, so I've become aware of a certain subclass of preppers who apparently long for the bleep to hit the fan, like the commenter above.
Oh, not overtly of course. Most people aren't so blatant as to come out and say that (which is why the above comment startled me). But you can hear the little cackle in their cyber voices as they talk about all the bad things that will happen and how they'll live through it as a result of their brilliant preparations, tactical training, and munitions storage. These are the people with a "Nyah nyah nyah, I'm prepared and you're not!" attitude or mentality.
I have to admit, this attitude sickens me. TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) may indeed someday happen – and if it does we'll all cope as best we can, or at least go down swinging – but by our loving God, don't long for it.
The fools who actually wish for the bleep to hit the fan have a few things in common. They're fairly advanced in their preparedness efforts. They're rural, possibly even off-grid. And they are understandably fed up with the moochers of our society – the entitlement class who believe the world owes them a living and that our wealth should be "redistributed" in their direction.
TRENDING: 'Art of the Deal': How Trump turns COVID issue into 'win-win'
These "bring it on" preppers – like the commenter above – long for hard times because they're tired of being taken advantage of. For whatever reason, they are so seriously disturbed by the direction our country is heading that they feel a cleansing purge is necessary to be rid of the vermin and scum (which, of course, never includes them). They're tired of supporting freeloaders and of being taxed to death. They are angry and fed up and short-sighted enough to think a major catastrophe will balance accounts. They're feeling smug about their own preparations and think they can weather anything.
But these people don't think things logically through to the end. They don't think about what may happen to their grandmother in the nursing home or their best friend from college whose son is on diabetes medication. All they're seeing is those selfish greedy people who have their hands perpetually out, wanting handouts and entitlements – and TEOTWAWKI will show them, by golly.
What this "bring it on" class of preppers won't admit, of course, is that among the "vermin and scum" there will be many people whom they love deeply, but who just couldn't or wouldn't do any preparing of their own, and/or were unfortunate enough to be caught up in circumstances beyond their control.
Those who long for the "herd" to be "culled" don't realize a collapse may cull more than they want. Those "culled" may include a huge number of people with critical, specialized knowledge. Remember this: When people die, knowledge dies with them. How many people actually know how to make penicillin? Who can build an internal combustion engine from scratch and without pre-made parts? What about the technology that makes cell phone communication possible?
TEOTWAWKI will not mean our country will be a nuclear wasteland with zombie-humans staggering around. (At least, I hope not.) Rather, it simply means things will change. The easy, moderate life we've always lived, and all the goods and services we've taken for granted, may no longer be possible. This change could be gradual (kind of like what we're currently experiencing, now that I think about it) or it could be sudden.
But one thing I know for sure: No matter how prepared you think you are, you're not going to like it when it happens. It ain't gonna be pretty. There will a lot of innocent people caught up in something that will be ugly and beyond their control. Whether it's a nuclear war or an economic collapse or any other natural or man-made catastrophe, it could potentially affect millions of blameless people.
Do you really "long" for something so horrible just to prove you were smart enough to store some beans and rice, or that you're not a "beta" male?
These "bring it on" types of preppers have a mistaken, twisted notion that TEOTWAWKI will be a sort of cleansing – painful at first, but ultimately beneficial and useful. And perhaps it will, a hundred years down the line. But do you really want to witness that cleansing? Do you really want to watch innocent (and clueless) people swept up in a tsunami of hardship, trouble, chaos and death? Do you really want that?
Some people assume if a collapse happens, then the U.S. will rise from the ashes to become a thing of beauty, like a phoenix. They assume America will become as the Founding Fathers originally envisioned. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Economic collapses often usher in times of great strife, tyranny and dictatorship. It was no accident that Hitler rose to power in the wake of the Weimer Republic hyperinflation – Hitler was seen as a savior of the common man.
In other words, here's the thing the "bring it on" types should remember: The world as you know it will alter, of course, but it may not alter the way you want it to. In fact, it may not be the wonderful "cleansing" of society's ills you so long for. What are you going to gloat about then?
I like to think my family and I are reasonably prepared for a chaotic future – for a time when people I love may get hurt, when I may have to make harsh decisions, and when the everyday luxuries I take for granted may not be available. But who would wish for that? No one sane … or at least, no one who has thought things through intelligently and logically.
That's why I'm suggesting you improve your attitude and don't wish hard times on anyone. While many are preparing for TEOTWAWKI, please, I beg you, don't long for it.
Media wishing to interview Patrice Lewis, please contact [email protected].
|