Preppers in the NY Times
There’s a surprisingly entertaining article in today’s NY Times about the New York City prepper movement.
What I learned about prepping is that it’s one of those extremely rare hobbies that cuts across races and social class. There are many black preppers, and reporter Alan Feuer writes that preppers are “doctors, doormen, charter school executives, subway conductors, [and] advertising writers.”
Feuer didn’t say what would happen if a doctor from the Upper East Side goes to a prepper meeting, and he discovers that he’s sitting next to one of the doormen who work at the very building where he lives.
But I have to say that Manhattan is probably the absolute worst place to live if you are worried about the collapse of civilization. Providing food, water, and sanitation for so many people living packed together in high rise buildings requires the economy to keep functioning. And the vast majority Manhattanites don’t have cars, so they can’t drive away to the country. We will be trapped here.
Lion of the Blogosphere 
Speaking of the tri-state area, would you put up an entry about Sen. Robert Menendez and his underage Dominican prostitutes, chop-chop!
The Undiscovered Jew
January 27, 2013 at 12:25 PM
Jack Spirko of the Survival Podcast often says his purpose of prepping is to prepare, “for when times get tough or even if they don’t”. One can only prepare for so much, but it’s better to have some food, water and some creatures comforts during smaller scale disasters like power outages than to be left starving in the dark.
bobo
January 27, 2013 at 1:06 PM
Yep, most of you wil be screwed. Even more screwed will be the pets, zoo animals, and rats.
CamelCaseRob
January 27, 2013 at 1:07 PM
It’s amazing that the Times article completely avoided the topic of weapons. If the world actually did end (which I imagine some of these preppers feel is possible if not imminent), the first thing I’d ensure I had after water and a warm jacket would be a rifle of some sort and a whole lot of rounds.
Anyway, non-crazy “prepping” for the hiccups of everyday life is a great idea; we saw that play out in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Hell, I was once saved by the bottles of water and blanket in the trunk of my car when it broke down on the way home from a ski trip in the boondocks of Vermont. There’s nothing wrong with being prepared.
Ian
January 27, 2013 at 1:07 PM
Actually, if you read more carefully, guns were mentioned.
And contrary to popular belief, it’s easy to get a permit to own a rifle in New York City, if you cared enough to do so and don’t have any criminal history.
Lion of the Blogosphere
January 27, 2013 at 1:23 PM
A long gun permit in NYC is still a pretty big pain in the ass to get, but it’s not impossible like a handgun permit currently is (if you’re a regular person, that is). And don’t get me started on NYS’s latest silly bill — I still can’t believe the Republicans from Long Island got on board with that.
(And I guess I didn’t do a very good job of reading the article.)
Ian
January 27, 2013 at 1:29 PM
The administrative hassle of getting a rifle and shotgun permit keeps people with low intelligence and low future time orientation from getting them, which is the whole purpose of the regulation.
Lion of the Blogosphere
January 27, 2013 at 1:36 PM
The administrative hassle of getting a rifle and shotgun permit keeps people with low intelligence and low future time orientation from getting them, which is the whole purpose of the regulation.
It only keeps them from buying them from a legal gun outlet. But that only leads to them to purchasing guns illegally.
The Undiscovered Jew
January 27, 2013 at 5:40 PM
What’s the point? You couldn’t possibly stockpile enough ammo to keep the hordes at bay.
Tarl
January 28, 2013 at 3:00 AM
Prepping? In a city that hadn’t been bothered to protect its underground railway from storm flooding?
dearieme
January 27, 2013 at 1:11 PM
The idea of having a remote “bug out location” to flee to in case of catastrophe may sound tempting, but also may be unrealistic.
Peter
ironrailsironweights
January 27, 2013 at 1:45 PM
Do note, that these people see the ‘hidden side’ of humanity.
Most invisible people, like The Palace Guard, see how things REALLY operate. Now, they can act on their revulsions.
Firepower
January 27, 2013 at 3:36 PM
In his book, “How to Prosper in the Coming Bad Years” Howard Ruff describes being in a supermarket when John Kennedy was assassinated. He said people just started wildly loading food in their cards. World War II was just over 15 years old, people remembered real food shortages and famine in Europe, and were protecting themselves the only way they could.
In a total societal breakdown we’re all in trouble. But I see a real possibility that we could have minor problems that could cause supermarket shelves to be empty for a few weeks, even as essential services such as water and gas and hopefully electricity remain on. It’s fairly easy to keep enough food in one’s house to last a few weeks, as well as some other emergency supplies. The key is just to rotate the groceries. As a practical matter one can save quite a bit on money by buying in bulk when things are on sale. (Mormons are supposed to keep enough food to last six months to a year; better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it is my motto).
Even a New Yorker can have at least a small supply of rice, pasta, beans, flour, sugar, cooking oil and other items on hand.
ColRebSez
January 27, 2013 at 8:15 PM
NYC is automatically prepared for famine just the same way that Leningrad was prepared for famine from 1941-44. Your food is all around you, walking on two legs…
Tarl
January 28, 2013 at 3:03 AM
Stuy ought to have a preppers club.
Eric
January 28, 2013 at 6:02 AM
Feuer didn’t say what would happen if a doctor from the Upper East Side goes to a prepper meeting, and he discovers that he’s sitting next to one of the doormen who work at the very building where he lives..
Gasp! The universe might ignite in a fiery cataclysm if the classes were to mix like that! Seriously, Lion, what do you think would happen? This kind of mingling does happen, you know, in places like my church bible study. Most of the doctors I know would benefit quite a lot from getting out of their bubble. I would venture to guess that most doctors who are “preppers” are the types to agree with me, anyway.
Samson J.
January 28, 2013 at 4:43 PM