Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

I don’t envy the rich, and I don’t pity the poor. I do what I do with what I have. If I cant afford something I either do without it or I find a way to afford it. Its that simple. Trust me, theres a lot of stuff Id like to have right now that I do not because I just don’t have the money….but someday…

I see the term ‘yuppie survivalist’ floating around and I don’t understand the class-warfare mentality of it. If you could afford to have the best gear possible, wouldn’t you? And if someone could afford the best gear possible but decided to muddle along the best they could with cheap ‘make do’ gear wouldn’t you think they were making a mistake?

It seems like ‘yuppie survivalist’ is code for ‘people who make more money than me’. It’s the guys with drums full of ramen and rice carping about the guys with cases of Mountain House and MRE’s. Its guys with SKS’ and HiPoints pointing fingers at guys with DSA FAL’s and Sigs. Its guys with travel trailers on leased land denigrating guys with concrete buildings on 500 acres. The guy with a HiPoint carbine thinks the guy with the Century AK is a yuppie survivalist and the guy with the Century AK thinks the fella with the DSA FAL is a yuppie survivalist…heck the guy with the FAL probably thinks the guy with the pre-ban HK91 is a yuppie survivalist.

Im all for being cheap. But if I can afford a good, solid, purpose-built 5-gallon water container why would I try to make do with washed out 2-liter pop bottles? Heck, carry it a step further – theres probably someone somewhere ranting that those ‘damn yuppie survivalists’ are using 2-liter pop bottles ‘cause they’re too good to drink water like us ‘working class’ folk and waste their money on that fancy yuppie fizzwater.

Mae West said “I’ve been rich, I’ve been poor, and its much better to be rich.” Theres nothing wrong with being poor, and theres nothing wrong with being rich. Me, my goals are simple – I want to have whatever it takes to have the level of security in my life that makes me comfortable. If it takes $20k a year or $200k a year, I don’t care. To me it isn’t about how much money as it is about how you live on that money. Im not ashamed to say I wish I had a lot more money than I do now. That’s why I get up in the morning – to try and get those things I don’t have now.

I am, by anyone’s definition, not rich. Probably not too terribly close to middle class either once you crunch the numbers. But I decide what I want and then I figure out how to get it. I have friends who make a lot more money than me and have a lot nicer things than me. Do I resent them? Of course not. Do I hate them? Nope. It just means they worked harder, were more successful or more disciplined. And Im happy they’re doing well….they are, after all, my friends and who doesn’t take pleasure in the success of people they care about?

Tagging someone as a ‘yuppie survivalist’ seems no different than someone calling people who make less than them ‘travel trailer survivalists’.  Its stupid, counterproductive and serves no purpose. If you hate poor people, then don’t become poor. If you hate rich people, don’t become rich. Giving someone a ration of crap because they bought something they can afford that you couldn’t is just small minded. If it really sticks in your craw that much, go get a better job. (And if you really believe that being a ‘wage slave’ to ‘the man’ who ‘exploits’ you is a ‘bad scene’ then go into business for yourself.)

A caveat: keep in mind Im talking about stuff you can afford. If you spend $5k on an original FN FAL and a case of magazines but then have no money for ammo then you, in fact, couldn’t afford the gun. But if you buy something expensive and can afford it, then more power to you. I’m glad for you.