Apocatopia: Five Big Prepper Mistakes
A mental trap that preppers often fall into is what I call Apocatopia which is nothing more than the delusional glorification of any situation that would require our serious preps to be called to into action. There will be nothing good about a societal reset and most likely you and your family will die. So pretending that the end will be a sunny new beginning is like finding joy in a car wreck because you can take time off of work while you’re in the hospital, or relishing about all the money you will save when your kids are dead. Any prepper who talks glowingly about a “Grid Dead” situation is a fake prepper and definitely someone to stay far away from now and later.
The Five Big Mistakes so-called preppers make are also great indicators of the sanity behind the stockpile. So use them wisely, and if you happen to have made any of the Big Five, there is still time to change your ways.
What kind of Dick Tracy would think that inducting preemptive PTSD in a child is a good thing. It never turns out well when you tell a kid the world will end, or that his or her generation is will be gone, or that their friends will be killed, or a horrible future awaits them. Trust me, there will be plenty to time to get used to a dark future so don’t bother starting now while things are still bright. Give the kids a break and prep for them in silence. Growing up is hard enough without dad reminding you that nothing matters.
Way too many preppers fantasize about how great life will be sitting on their stockpile while the rest of the world starves. Well goody for you that you squirreled away a bunch of stuff. I’ll be the first to pat you on the back, but dreaming about doing your touchdown dance while the hoarding masses are fighting in the streets over a roll of toilet paper demonstrates a dangerous misunderstanding of the situation.
When bellies are empty, all bets are off. Family ties are stronger than hunger, but not by much. And friendships created under duress are little more than convenient relationships and one-night-stands. Believing that your commune will be an Apocatopia is reason enough for me to avoid you like the plague.
Big mistake number four is putting your faith in the almighty gun.
Many gun-nuts use prepping as a justification of buy more arms and ammo. Likely fueled by visions of the old west, the gunslinger mentality trumps all useful skills. Well, let me break it to you, unless you have a purpose in Society 2.0, then you are a liability that will be dealt with swiftly. What the TV shows and self-published ebooks don’t tell you is while you’re following the hero on his foolish adventures, the rest of the survivors are working to fix the mess.
Just because you swing open the saloon doors and swagger up to the bar with your drop-leg holster sagging under the weight of a Desert Eagle doesn’t mean you have any right to exist. Any prepper hiding behind a gun is a liability. And since there are already enough useful mouths to feed, the daily housekeeping chores just might include tossing your carcass out with the trash.
Big mistake number five is your meal plan.
A nugget of prepper fool’s gold is that you should start eating your survival food now to see how it works out. The fallacy is that there will be very few choices when things collapse. You cannot eat what you do not have, and you will eat what you do have. Your body will deal with many massive challenges beyond the next meal. If you want to serve up your freeze-dried fritters now for a few dinners to see what comes out in 24, then be my guest. But know that under real survival conditions your best made meal plans will be nothing more than fond memories.
-PP®
