Article – The Future Dystopic Hellscape Is Upon Us: The Rise and Fall of the Ultimate Doomsday Prepper

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You know how bridal shops and wedding related businesses make so much money? They do it by catering (so to speak) to a dream or fantasy. Brides have this notion in their head of ‘their special day’ and how they want it exactly a particular way. As a result, when there is suddenly an extra $600 charge for flowers that wasn’t there in the initial budget..well….it’s okay because everything has to be ‘perfect’.

Before any Gyno-Americans accuse me of sexism, there’s a similar costs-be-damned fantasy world that strikes Penile-Americans as well. Case in point, this fascinating article about something I’ve commented on before – the opportunists who (supposedly) build ‘retreats’ and sell ‘memberships’ to people who want to ride out Ragnarok without having to do the heavy lifting themselves:

Barrett Moore had ordered 2 million N95 masks, held enough freeze-dried food to feed families hiding from global Armageddon for decades, owned a small arsenal of guns, and fortified a pole barn in which to wait out the collapse of civilization. But he had something no one else could buy: knowledge that the end was coming and that the supply chains would snap; the best hope your family had was holing up in his northern Michigan compound while things fell apart. The price for this service would run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, to be paid in installments.

This is a fascinating article that encapsulates everything I’ve seen in the last twenty years or so in regards to ‘membership’ survival retreats…big promises, big names, big money, big ideas, big disappointments, and big embarrassment .

Here’s something to think about – if you’re going to be a member of a ‘survival group’ or organization, membership should be based on something other than money – race, religion, political leaning, ethnicity, familial relation, shared history, etc, etc. If the only membership requirement to get in is to write a check, then in my opinion you are making a mistake.

Whether you know it or not, you’re probably already part of a very informal survival group. You, your spouse, your neighbor who you go shooting with, the guy at work you share books about prepping with, the brother in law who splits a beef with you once a year….shutdown the power grid, roll those people together, and you’ve pretty much got your own ad-hoc ‘survival group’ that would probably be a lot more cohesive than a half dozen families whose only common denominator was the ability to write a check.

Anyway… it’s an interesting read and, really, you should see the red flags a mile away. But, like the bride who justifies every ridiculous extra expense because its ‘her special day’, a lot of people bought a ticket to a ride like this because it catered to their end-of-the-world ‘fantasies’. The moral of the story here is, I think, thatif you really, genuinely believe in your particular version of the end of the world to the point you’d give a con man a million bucks, then you should have been smart enough to realize you’d have been better off spending that million on your own, personal, private version of that commercial retreat.

16 thoughts on “Article – The Future Dystopic Hellscape Is Upon Us: The Rise and Fall of the Ultimate Doomsday Prepper”

  1. I read that this morning & wondered if you had seen it. It is a very interesting read!

  2. “…[Y]ou should have been smart enough to realize you’d have been better off spending that million on your own, personal, private version of that commercial retreat.”

    I would add to the above “,,,and invite whomever you wish to share it with you.”

  3. The book “Bunker” by Bradley Garrett is a great read and delves even deeper into these so-called “survival communities”. Most are scams, many have gone bankrupt, and the rest fall somewhere in between. It really shines a light on the commercialization of preparedness and the false hope of “turn-key” solutions.

  4. Commander:
    First rule of Prepping –
    Don’t talk about prepping!

    The less they know, the less they can steal…

      • Steve:
        This is true, but when was the last time CZ published his address, inviting people to come and see how he does things?
        NOT
        GOING
        TO
        HAPPEN!

        That’s what I mean…

  5. When the big one comes the majority of the population will be just like the hard working, mostly honest, devoted family man/woman, factory/restaurant/shop worker who believed in their government and didn’t have a clue right before the bomb went off above their heads in Hiroshima.

  7. People believe that ‘things’ are more important than ‘knowing’.

    I believe they are wrong…Hopefully we will never find out.

  8. I am not surprised…
    The most genuinely valuable and sought after items are either never publicly announced or announced after they are sold out (look at the most sought after high end cars, properties, etc).
    Any Real survival communities aimed at the wealthy are not discussed publicly.

    The other big problem with this idea is that when things fall apart, travel to a distant location will be difficult or impossible. If you plan on a retreat, it better be close by!

  9. Wow. Reminiscent of Sam Kerodin and his “Citadel” even though that one was aimed a little lower $-wise than law firm partners. The advertising was similar and they’re good at telling you what you want to hear.

    Reality is how people will behave when things are really tough and/or there aren’t any rules, and money can’t buy that. I think you’re totally right about how any kind of real survival group must be built on some tie other than money. The ties have to be strong and tested enough so that you know what the others will do under stress.

  10. Actually being a “prepper” or other at being prepared for all eventualities that can happen throughout life, this seems to be the general thought process with the more well heeled. They seem to think that survival all comes down to buying it all whatever ALL includes, whether it be guns, ammo, groups of like minded people, equipment, secure compounds, whatever.
    Sure survival of all eventualities that can befall us through life entails only 2 of the most important things, money can buy neither, it helps but like technology, is not the cure all.
    In no particular order, they are:
    Knowledge and Attitude.
    Without these 2 everything is a crap shoot, no matter how much you have or who your friends are. You cannot buy them, they must be earned with hard work and sweat.

  11. It kind of makes sense when you think about it.
    I’ll disagree slightly with our gracious host’s wedding analogy. The people in question are the types of people who are used to writing experts checks to solve their problems.
    I don’t mean that in a necessarily negative way, but if you are a C suite executive, partner in a serious law firm etc. there are lots of things you don’t do yourself anymore.
    You write a check to your CPA and he deals with it.
    You have a private wealth advisor who is handling all your investments.
    Heck, someone else does your grocery shopping.
    So, from that mindset it makes perfect sense to pay an “expert” to handle this “problem”.

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