The Dichotomy of Being a Prepper: Damned if You Do, Damed if You Do and You’re Right

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Being a prepper is a relatively easy choice for me. Looking back, I can’t understand what I was thinking BEFORE I ever choose to prep… just young and naive, I guess. 😉

These days I understand the importance of prepping and what it means to my family’s safety; it’s really a no-brainer lifestyle.

Sadly, the vast majority of Americans don’t see things as I do. Obviously, one of us (me or most Americans) has to be wrong. But who?

The answer may shock you: It’s me. I’m wrong and I ALWAYS will be because it doesn’t matter what I think. Here’s why…

You see, with respect to the way I should behave in society, I’m an oddball. I don’t fit in. I do things differently than the Average Joe which makes me just plain wrong in most people’s eyes.

Amazingly, I can’t think of any label as vilified as being called a “prepper” or “survivalist” is these days. Think about it. Middle-class folks think I’m a hoarder, the poor think I’m rich, the rich think I’m not buying the right items (e.g., televisions and new smartphones), and the government and police think I’m a radical.

WTF?

I’d have been better off announcing I’m a atheist transvestite with leprosy… at least then I’d probably get some government aid and maybe a few laws passed protecting my rights. 😉

Being a “prepper” and dare I say a whack-job “survivalist” means I’m labeled negatively, so much so that people don’t understand what I do or why… and they don’t care.

After all, for what reason is there to prepare myself for an unlikely emergency? Things rarely happen and when they do the government gets things fixed rather quickly, FEMA is usually on-top of things, and if worse comes to worse there’s always a nearby camp where tens of thousands of other’s just like me can get together and sing kumbaya.

Oh, wait… that’s not right!

Regardless, the simple fact that I choose to live my life vastly different than the vast majority of Americans do makes me “damned” to say the least. They will never “get it” and I will never go back. So we’re at a standstill and so long as they have the numbers then I’m apparently in the wrong. Plain and simple. This makes me damned because I do.

What’s worse is that if and when an emergency does happen then I’m still damned for a number of reasons, including the fact that I and my family are not hungry, out in the cold, or stumbling around in the dark like everyone else is.

No matter how the scenario plays out from here I can neither say “I told you so” nor can I choose to give enough of what I’ve rightfully acquired to those many folks who failed to do so. In other words, I can’t win.

The only thing that I can do is to continue to be a beacon of hope and reason to any and all who will listen. Today that person is you. So long as I continue to prep and be what I feel is an upstanding citizen and pillar of my community–both locally and online–then I’ve done what I can do.

As for you, I merely ask that you do the same. Eventually–though probably not in our lifetimes–the tide will turn, if you will. Once again we’ll have gone back to our roots, lived a bit more like our ancestors did, and realize that the great societal systems we have put in place maybe aren’t so great for our own well-being, security, safety, resilience… and perhaps even our souls.


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My latest book, The Survival Blueprint: How to Prepare Your Family for Disaster, can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJ49Y5X4

Comments

22 responses to “The Dichotomy of Being a Prepper: Damned if You Do, Damed if You Do and You’re Right”

  1. Randy

    My wife told me this week that she thinks some of the kids don’t think I’m such a weirdo anymore. I put together my first emergency food stash in 1977, and I remember how proud I was of that 30 gallon galvanized can packed with rice and beans. It has outgrown that garbage can (and still growing) and I even added 5 5-gallon gas cans to the supply (filled, of course) just today.

    Thirty eight years and counting.

    1. Only 38 years for the kids to think you’re not so crazy prepping… yikes! I’d like to think my own kids will be bona-fide preppers by then. 😉

  2. Laurel

    My family think I’ve lost the plot too and I’m starting to feel that way myself – still the way I look at it better prepared than panicked!

    When that ship does hit the span my family will find out that I am not some crazy old biddie holed up in the bush with supplies and weapons and water to wait out the EOTWAWKI!

    1. Yeah, all of us preppers are crazy until proven otherwise. 🙂 The sad thing is that I really don’t want to have to prove everyone else is wrong! As messed up as our society is at times I still much prefer it to TEOTWAWKI.

  3. Great Post, I enjoyed every word, because I know it is true and from the heart. As a minister I know what is coming down the road and I know most people are not even prepared for it. So keep sounding the alarm and some will hear and be spared. The sad thing is most will not head the warning and loose their life. If only they had a ear to hear.

  4. when i joined the marine corps the first thing i was taught was to be prepared and think outside the box. this came in handy last week when the temperatures dropped and i needed a cold weather shelter. i borrowed an idea from utube called a tarp tipi. 3 river cane poles,some rope,several clamps and a camo 15×11 tarp for less than 20 bucks. i was warm and dry even with the rain in south georgia. to be a prepper you need both equipment and skills. keep on practicing and you learn new skills every time a problem comes up. my buddies who camp also think i’m a genius but i just steal ideas like any good marine would do.

  5. Cyan

    Great article- sums everything right up!!

    I especially liked the ‘beacon of hope’ ideal that you promote. I can almost guarantee that I’m not as far along in my preps as a lot of others. But I definitely do what I can to spread the word. Something as simple as spending time with people to discuss my gardening techniques, hunting experiences, or food preserving flops (lol) keeps them interested in prepping related subjects without them pointing fingers and yelling; look at the kook.

    Every little bit helps and small doses are easier to swallow, but they add up over time.

    1. We all have to start somewhere and, obviously, some are further along than others. That’s fine. So long as we’re on the same path that’s what matter, IMO. Keep prepping on and doing what you know and feel is right.

  6. Kim Liddle

    I have starting giving small survival kits as x-mas gifts. Last year’s gift was strike anywhere matches in a small mason jar with a sandpaper covered lid. This years gift was a power outage kit in a mason jar. I included two small flashlights, matches, a lighter, and emergency candles. My friends and family were really thankful and they cost less than ten dollars each to make. I got the comfort of knowing they would be a little more prepared for the major wind storm headed towards us a few days. Plus it is always nice to get a useful gift. Three gift recipients said they didn’t even own a flashlight. I’m already looking for next year gift….first aid kit possibly.

    1. Oh, boy. Three don’t even own a flashlight? Yikes! You’d better spend a bit more time with these folks and do your best to get them at least minimally prepared if they’re at all interested. Of course, there will be people who will NOT be so interested in your prepared-minded gifts. That’s ok. Keep at it and eventually they’ll come around… hopefully.

  7. Hang in there Kathy. My family is the same way. My son finally came around when I talked one on one with him. To my surprise he was all in and now we prep together. Keep plugging away and slowly your family and some of your friends will come around. Don’t get discouraged. My daughter is starting to come around now. I guess it takes a close brush with catastrophe for some people to come around. A few hours without power and air conditioner this past summer because of a close by tornado was all it took for my daughter to start thinking dear ol pop ain’t so crazy after all. Not that I hope that is what it takes for your friends and family to come around. Keep talking to them every chance you get. Keep pointing out the lack of government response to natural disasters. Believe me what you are saying is slowly opening their eyes. Be of good courage. We are all rooting for you.

    1. Sadly, most of us are stubborn and often think our parents are stupid or worse! If only I had understood much of the wisdom MY parents tried to bestow upon me… ugh. Now if I can just figure out how to bestow whatever wisdom I happen to have on my own children… that would be awesome!

  8. hope you keep warm my friend.. Hang in there. It’s got to get warmer sometime. In the mean time snuggle in with your loved ones

  9. Right on mark.

  10. mark

    I like the Dammed if you do as well. If ya gotta go, ya gotta go, might as well be with your Dame. 🙂 Mine’s a good one, for the most parts…

    Seriously, I hear ya and agree. It gets right back to the famous line, “better have it and not need it, then need it and not have it.

    Keep up the good works.

  11. Dan

    I’d rather be “Damned if You Do, Damed if You Do and You’re Right” than Dammed in you DON’T.

  12. Cherie

    Mr.Brindle you are awesome! Your post are awesome and you do your fellow men and women a great service by providing information. I love the post when you have tried and failed and figured out how to do it! You don’t give up…you are an uplifting and encouraging person to others! You have a preppers mindset with a survivors outlook – exactly what what people need from you! You my dear sir are on the right path and helping others get there as well…that is right as right can be sir! Oh and by the way Politically correct is just a fancy way to say ” Im lieing because it’s the trend of the times”…don’t give up the truth when you are right…you do not stand alone…
    Keep your great post coming I for one have learned and adapted many things from your posts! My livingroom looks like a campsite but it is only -17 degrees here , the wind is howling and it’s snowing to beat the band…so if I lose power or heat I am ready! Thank-you for your post because it made me ready!
    Keep on posting the post my friend!

    1. Thanks, Cherie. Glad I’ve been such an influence on you. Most of the time I’m positive I’m just talking to myself! -17 used to not sound that bad when I lived in the Midwest, these days living in the Seattle area if it gets to about 40 I’m whining that it’s too cold. 🙂 Hope you stay warm and cozy whether the powers on or not.

  13. look on the bright side of it sir. The the big brown trout hits the propeller all the people who stick their heads in the sand or up some politicians behind will be either dead within 3 or 30 days. 3 from dehydration or 30 from starvation. Some will be dead right off the bat from trying to take what isn’t theirs. Kind of reminds me of a fairy tail I heard and I am sure others have too. The story of the 3 little pigs. 2 were foolish and built their houses out of things that could not withstand the wind and only one planned ahead and built his house out of something that could withstand the storm. I believe as preppers or survivalists we are like the 3rd pig. We are looking ahead, hoping for the best, preparing for the worst. While it is true in life only one side is truly right which leaves the other. To either be dead wrong or completely out of touch with reality. As a prepper sir you are definitely like a lighthouse in the storm steering ships away from the rocks and tradgedy. Please do not think of yourself as being wrong, because in the end history does repeat itself if we fail to learn. We need as preppers to look back at the Great Depression. Use that as our learning guide and see how our families who went thru it survived because that is what it will be like. You keep shining your beacon of hope and don’t worry about what others think. I always say “why be politically correct when you can be right”. And you sir are right. Keep up the good work

    1. Thanks for the kudos, Michael. Sadly, I feel the Great Depression analogy is a poor one but about the best we have… times will be utterly different when SHTF these days.

  14. keebler

    I love being prepaired ‘
    like tonight big cold spell coming possible O tonight—I ran all the vehicles some today I will again before dark just to put some heat in the engine block—cheaper than a new engine of having to junk it because it’s old & there are no engines available.
    all apart of prepping.
    have a great Day all
    keeb.

  15. Kathy Underwood

    I applaud this post! I’m a “baby” prepper, and I get a lot of eyerolls, here. Where I live we personally have skated through 2 floods, 3 bad ice storms and 1 tornado! But, the fist thing the family would ask when disaster strikes is what are we going to do? So, I’ll just keep on, hope for the best, and prepare for the worst! Btw, I get LOTS of great ideas from you and other commenters. Keep it up!

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