Survival is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivors or preparers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, including natural disasters, as well as disruptions of the social, political or economic order. The media often paints preparers in an unattractive light due to a few extreme preparers who make an impressive, but unrealistic story. Real preparers are very different from preparers at the end of the world. But it is not entirely clear what is driving this growth, why are more and more people preparing for the collapse of society? Some explanations focus on the tendency to paranoia in US society or fears of terrorism or natural disasters.
But the real evidence directly supporting any of these ideas as the main reason is rather scarce. It is important to note that, regardless of how popular these prep sites are, they will probably also not produce a full cross-section of the preparer community, nor will they select people based on willingness to speak with a researcher. The “experts” of NatGeo (I add scary quotes because their credentials are never explained) say how prepared the preparers are for the doomsday scenario. But in reality, preparers range from New Yorkers with extra boxes of squeezed canned goods in their studio apartments to wilderness experts with fully stocked bunkers.
The show cleverly borrows from VH1's old Pop-Up Video, with small boxes appearing on the screen contradicting the claims made by preparers while explaining their fears, making it easier for viewers to dismiss preparers as fools and laugh at their nonsense. Doomsday Preppers is about those who think that the apocalypse, one way or another, is on its way and soon. That dizzy feeling worsens when you start to notice how many of the people at Doomsday Preppers seem to suffer from real psychological problems, possibly rooted in personal trauma.
Leave a Comment