Pluralistic: Boss preppers (22 Nov 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
pluralistic.net

Sorry for clickbaiting the title, but “Boss preppers” just isn’t quite the same somehow. Also not sure if Technology is the right community for this, but anyway here it is…

  • KoboldCoterie@pawb.socialEnglish
    38·
    1 day ago

    Tangential to the point of the article, but this:

    Mitchell described how preppers make ready for specific forms of societal collapse, based not on the likelihood of the event itself, but rather, based on how useful they would be in that situation. For example, a water chemist has made extensive preparations for an event in which terrorists poison the water-supply. When pressed, he couldn’t explain why terrorists would choose his town to target with an attack like this, but basically thought it would be really cool if the only person who could save his town was him.

    actually strikes me as the best / sanest form of prepping, as long as everyone does it. Imagine a scenario where the water chemist has a plan to save their town from a contaminated water supply, the electrical engineer has a plan to save their town from a wide-spread power grid failure, the EMT has a plan to save their town from the collapse of the emergency response system, etc., such that no matter what disaster befalls them, someone is there who’s ready to step in and apply their expertise for the betterment of the community as a whole.

    • Xanthobilly@lemmy.world
      182·
      22 hours ago

      Preppers are inherently selfish because they never consider community-based solutions. It’s always egocentric and hoarding mentality. In other words they assume it’s every man for himself. Odds are it’ll be more like Covid where half of society is in denial and success depends on how leaders respond to the crisis.

      • SkyNTP@lemmy.ml
        6·
        21 hours ago

        “Selfish” would be a situation where sufficient community exists that cooperation is at all possible. I think most preppers will simply tell you that they are expecting and prepping for complete collapse. As in, like it or not, “every man for themselves” would come to them, not them seeking it out.

        In other words, without arguing why a “every man for themselves” situation can’t or will never happen, the rest of your argument becomes irrelevant.

        Now that question is fascinating. Haiti comes to mind as an example scenario. Are community-skills relevant in the face of roaming gangs and anarchy? I think that depends on how desperate these gangs are for immediate versus long term survival and planning. I’m also not sure Haiti is an exhaustive example of the types of societal collapse that are possible or likely.