National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers
Feb 15th, 2012 | By Hanne Moon | Category: Reviews, Television, Top Headline | Print This Article
National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers is a new weekly show which explores the lives of otherwise ordinary Americans who are preparing for the end of the world as we know it. If you were like me, the first time I saw the title and preview for this, I was sure it was going to lampoon preppers with all the ferocity of Jurassic Park’s Tyrannosaurus Rex. I mean, seriously, haven’t we all been subjected to the raised eyebrows, the subtle head shakes, and the not-so-few suggestions of paranoia from our family, friends, and neighbors? So it was with a great deal of skepticism that I watched the premiere and second episode of the series.
It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Each week, several people and/or families are showcased. You learn what each individual or group is concerned about, you see what their preparations involve to meet those concerns, and then National Geographic’s survival expert rates the effectiveness of their system. They are graded based on their concerns, the area in which they live, and how they’ve prepared. We have an eclectic mix of hillbilly preppers to street survivors, all planning and preparing in their own unique ways.
For instance, one family last night had 10 years worth of stores to tide them over in the aftermath of a catastrophic event. They were well equipped to either dig in and stay put or bug out. However, they had put all their stores in one place. The expert suggested dividing the stores up so that these items would be available no matter what course of action they had to choose.
Prepared for Crisis: 77 Items Gone From the Grocery Store Shelves in any Crisis
In another segment, a single woman living in Houston shared her survival concerns, her preparations, and her contingency plans. There were a few holes in her preparations as well, but she was limited in what she could do because she lived in an urban environment deep in the city.
During the show, preparation statistics are flashed across the bottom of the screen. Last night they showed the percentage of Americans who believe that preparedness is more important than a 401K savings program. I was surprised at the figure… 41%. This percentage makes me realize that there is a sizable portion of our country that still understands the value of responsibility and independence, and that our mantra of being prepared is getting out there.
When you go to National Geographic’s website, you find other interesting information and statistics as well. On the Doomsday Dashboard you can see the events that we are the most worried about. The top four are:
- Economic collapse (27%)
- Megaquake (24%)
- Pandemic (20%)
- Nuclear War (19%)
Further down the list are fears about an oil crisis, 2012 doomsday scenarios, and EMPs. However, neither the show nor the site seems to be trying to cast preparation into the worst possible light. One tab on the Doomsday Preppers section has prepper tips, and includes video about how to make a survival bag, how to start a fire, how to forage, and how to use nature to heal.
As with anything, I would suggest that those who are trying to prepare and learn things watch the show. Take away the information that is useful, and let the rest be either entertainment or disregarded. There is something in here for anyone… urban dweller, suburban housewife, country folks, and even, to an extent, survivalists.
This show isn’t about hardcore, going into the backwoods, and living off grub worms while waiting for the worst to happen. It’s about ordinary people, still living their ordinary lives, but taking precautions for the “what-if” scenario. Some may seem a little eccentric, but they all personify a part of the American spirit that refuses to be dominated by hopelessness and despair. These people are reaching down inside themselves, finding the will and the means, and doing the best they can to ensure their survival.
That, in itself, is a lesson for all of us.
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©2013 Off The Grid News
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I have seen this show and enjoy watching it. I find myself having to ignore the way natgeo quotes figures during the ramp up and then always blows off the probability of such events in there appraisal of the preppers. All in all it is an entertaining show, but I wish they would get off the head in the sand bandwagon and not contradict themselves.
If you have watched the show you may have seen David Sarti. Mr. Sarti has since had his 2nd Amendment Rights stripped from him by the state of Tennessee. He had been in poor health for some time and had gone to his cardiologist and told of the severe pain he had been having and joked that that had been the closest he had ever come to taking his life. Well, that was all it took, the doctor reported him, and they forced him into an analysis. He was naturally “uncooperative” (I would have been far more uncooperative…). The state than proceeded to label him “mentally incompetent”. (Of course, his prepper lifestyle could not possibly have had anything to do with the states decision, right???) I do not know if there has been any progress yet in getting his rights restored, I have not had the chance to see any of his update videos.
I also watch the show and find it’s interesting. However,my one complaint is that the experts opinion at the end of the show, is to dismiss,discredit or minimize those concerns that preppers have. On one show, a family was concerned about the cut off of oil to America. They were so concerned that they were preparing for a crisis to affect this country and the world markets No oil,no food, no gas, an civil unrest. The experts said that could not happen because we have stockpiles of oil reserves. Pardon me,one cough over in the Middle East and our gas prices go up. It’s a powder keg over there and the fuse is already burning. No mention was made that Iran is going full steam ahead to get a nuclear weapon and wanting to destroy Israel and the US. No mention was made about the current administration refusing to allow US companies to drill for oil and then allowing foreign countries to drill in our waters. Perhaps that has something to do with all the money we’re borrowing? We do not need to be a customer for foreign oil any more ! Let’s eliminate those preppers concerns by having a strong energy policy that will make America free from importing foreign oil in the future. Keep your eyes on the oil markets and see how they’re beginning to climb again, that’s all connected to the unrest in the Middle East. There was also a show on a pepper’s concern on EMP’s,and at the end the experts said we did not have any concerns. There are plenty of opposition opinions that differ with that finding. Oil rich countries in the Middle East, whose coffers are full of American and European dollars,are indeed preparing for that scenerio to take place. While they prepare for war, the current administration is cuting and gutting the military. Currently, our grid is so out of date a rocket exploding above America with plutonium in the war head, would shut us down in a minute. Some experts believe that we could lose a 100 million American’ or so within a year after an EMP attack. Imagine our country with no power for any thing that runs on electricity. Some of the needed parts to rebuild our electrical grid are no longer made in America. We don’t build transformers in America any more. To replace them we would have to go to Germany, It appears their building and we are not. These should a real concern for us all. It doesn’t appear that the government cares about these issues, an we may be on our own when TSHTF. I was thankful to see that other Americans are working “To be prepared”. Once again we are not crazy just concerned about our country and our families’ future. Thanks for letting me have my say. Good luck to us all. SP
Long term, the most sensible prep strategy I have seen so far is that espoused by Katherine Austin Fitts, Under Secretary of HUD under Bush the Elder, at least until she left the reservation/plantation; and also a group called “Slow Money”. Basically what these folks are advocating is that Americans re-grow our local economies, rather than shipping our capital off to Wall Street. Their well reasoned strategy is to invest locally, with people and businesses that you are personally familiar with and can easily keep an eye on, as well as being certain that they are marketing real value in their goods and services. It was not so long ago that most small towns and counties were nearly self sufficient. The strength of such a system is somewhat parallel to the strength of the Internet- During the US’s recent military adventures and anti-terrorist activities, things have been much more difficult due to the non-centralized nature of the Internet allowing the “bad guys” the ability to operate in a diversified fluid manner, without any vulnerable focal points of power and control. This model has much to recommend it in an economic sense as well, for much the same reasons, not to mention the reduced overhead allowed by much shorter shipping distances. Our solutions are usually found right where the problems are- right in our own communities. Maybe not real fancy or high tech, but much easier to grow, monitor, and maintain, and much less vulnerable to/recoverable from disruptions, whether natural or contrived… Grow your own, in the broad sense of the word, has always and will continue to ensure our best odds of survival and prosperity.