End-of-the-world “preparation” is creeping into the mainstream as Americans of all ages and political persuasions become increasingly concerned, ahead of the 2024 presidential election, about the prospect of civil war. .
The hoarding of food, water and weapons was once associated with libertarian extremists, but as a rematch between President Biden and his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, seems almost inevitable in 2024, the preparation has become a bipartisan activity, according to a Monday report from USA Today. .
“On the left, there are people who fear that (Trump) will declare himself dictator of the United States and that people on the left will end up being targeted by some kind of authoritarian system,” author Brad Garrett told the newspaper.
“On the right, there is general unrest and fear that society will fall apart. They point out these robberies, riots and protests.”
Brekke Wagoner, 39, of North Carolina, runs a YouTube channel that offers advice to younger, more liberal urban dwellers on how to prepare for a catastrophic disaster.
He worries that if Trump is re-elected, he will fail to respond to a hurricane or other natural disaster supercharged by climate change, pointing to his administration’s handling of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The intensification of our natural storm seasons is the first thing that’s going to happen to them,” he reportedly said.
Younger Americans on the right and left have been stockpiling guns and other supplies ahead of the 2024 presidential election, according to a report. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
“An electromagnetic pulse could occur that cuts the electrical network. A nuclear war could occur. A civil war could occur. But there will be a storm.”
Wagoner has a 90-day supply of food for his family of six in case of a similar emergency.
“If you can be prepared, you won’t be a waste of resources needed to help people who didn’t prepare,” he told the newspaper.
“In the face of an apocalypse, I want to go out and calmly help people,” he said. “I want to be able to create a society that, instead of wanting to shoot every stranger, understands our interdependence and creates a better society.”
Not all trainers are influenced by altruism. Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Drew Miller has built seven “Fortitude Ranch” complexes across the country, stocked with food, propane, whiskey, solar panels, wells, and plenty of weapons and ammunition.
Its members, who pay at least $1,200 a year, are said to be prepared to flee to the nearest compound in the event of war, nuclear explosions or protest mobs, and shoot any “marauders” who approach their log walls. .
“We’ll have a decent meal here in case of a collapse,” Miller said, giving USA Today a tour of the spartan rooms of his southern Colorado compound.
“We guarantee a year of food, but not toilet paper.”
The complex has an armored guard post, sniper positions and an underground bunker for its approximately 100 members.
According to the report, many left-wing supporters fear that former President Donald Trump’s re-election could lead to a dictatorship. REUTERS/Mark Makela
Miller showed off the weaponry members would have on hand, including a .50-caliber rifle to shoot at oncoming vehicles, hunting rifles and a cache of handguns.
In the event of an apocalyptic scenario, Miller said his group of survivors would be positioned to financially capitalize on widespread urban deaths and concentrate wealth and resources, not unlike what happened when the Black Death pandemic killed up to 200 million people. in the 13th century.
“I want middle-class Americans to survive and we make that affordable,” Miller said. “I think eventually things will recover, and I want to be alive for that.”
Many of Miller’s clients signed up during the widespread racial justice protests and subsequent civil unrest that followed the 2020 police killing of George Floyd.
Police in riot gear outside the Capitol on September 18, 2021. Recent protests have inspired some people to start preparing, according to the report. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images
Although most of those protests were peaceful, Trump threatened to send in the military to suppress protesters as many large cities suffered property damage.
“There could easily be a civil war during an election between Biden and Trump,” he said, adding that his group was apolitical and noting that many of its members are ex-military and trained for survival.
Over the past year, younger Americans surpassed Baby Boomers and Generation X in preparing for apocalyptic scenarios, which has become an $11 billion annual business in the United States, according to Finder.com.
About 39% of Millennials and 40% of Generation Z had spent money on the practice in the past 12 months, compared to 29% of the overall American adult population, according to the spending analysis website.
In 2017, years before the COVID-19 pandemic, only about 25% of Americans had purchased survival supplies, according to the site.
A protest against the vaccine mandate on the Brooklyn Bridge on February 7, 2022. Increased doomsday preparedness could be attributed to lower trust in the government, according to one expert. Alec Tabak for the NY Post)
Recent statistics could be explained by growing social unrest. A USA Today/Suffolk University poll recently found that more than two-thirds of Americans believe the world is facing bigger problems than usual or is in the most troubled state they have ever seen.
Professor Chad Huddleston, an anthropologist at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, said the increase in grooming is the result of a greater loss of trust in government among younger, more liberal people.
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“On the one hand, people think Trump can bring about a New World Order and ‘they’ will come for us, so we need to be prepared,” Huddleston reportedly said.
“And on the other hand, there are communities that think things will get worse, so we have to help ourselves.”
Garrett, who interviewed hundreds of preppers for his 2020 book “Bunker,” said many of the less diehard preppers were younger liberals who were shaken by the pandemic and protests against police brutality.
“We have this authoritarian streak that runs along the right and we prepare plays for that. They are prepared for violence, without a doubt,” Garrett told the outlet.
“But we are also seeing an increase in militancy on the left. I see a lot of liberal preppers buying guns, saying they waited too long. “It’s an unfortunate arms race that I think we’ll see intensify as we get closer to the election, especially if it’s Trump versus Biden.”
Many of Garrett’s younger interviewees were worried that a second Trump administration would become autocratic and ruin the impact of climate change.
“You’re seeing a lot of people who are not worried about the apocalypse, but rather if the power goes out for three days,” he said. “You’re seeing more preparation, but less extreme preparation.”
Wagoner, for his part, rejects a fear-based approach and encourages preppers to think about preparing for “community survival.”
“My perspective is that we are better off together,” he said, adding that “Jesus would slap anyone who had food and refused to help their neighbors who were hungry.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn