By Daisy Luther
Dear Smug, Discouraging Preppers:
I really don’t understand why you don’t want to see new people on the path to preparedness. We aren’t supposed to be some kind of mean high school clique where only the cool kids who have always been a part of it can get in. But sometimes, it sure seems like it.
This open letter isn’t for the people who curiously ask about articles that are written with newbies in mind, but for the people who willfully discourage people dipping a toe in the water. You know who you are. And trust me, you aren’t going to like what I have to say to you.
Every time I write an article for beginners that is broken into small, palatable pieces, it never fails that I get a barrage of negative responses. You say things like:
If you aren’t prepped by now, there’s no use starting.
You’re talking to the Sheep.
It’s too late. You’re wasting your time. These people are going to die.
You aren’t telling the whole story. [Insert with sadistic glee terrifying details from the worst possible variation of the disaster]
And it goes on and on, dozens of comments berating and belittling the people who just realized that they want to do what is best for their families. The mockery, scorn, and smug derision of some of you in the prepping community is astonishing to me.
It enrages me. It sickens me. And it just makes no sense.
So let me get a few things off my chest here and counter some of your mean-spirited, ridiculous ideas. And just maybe, it will keep you from discouraging preppers who just happen to be new at this.
#1) It’s not too late to get prepped.
Unless a nuclear warhead has hit America or an EMP has detonated in the atmosphere above us or the market has given its last gasp, there is always time.
Sure, maybe someone starting to get prepped right now won’t be as prepared as those of us who have been at it for 5, 10, or 20 years but you know what?
They’ll be ahead of the people who are blissfully keeping up with the Kardashians. Cut them some slack.
I would rather see every person within 2 miles of me diligently working towards a greater state of preparedness than to witness them and their children starving or freezing after the second day of a power outage. I’d rather see them buy a good primer like The Prepper’s Blueprint and begin at square one, building on their preps diligently as they go through the book.
Why on earth would you tell people that there is nothing that they can do to help their families when clearly, there are a LOT of things that they can do, even on a very small budget?
#2) Overwhelming people with information is not helpful.
And another thing. Every article for beginners cannot contain every single bit of information they need to be prepared for any eventuality. I know that some people bring up points to be helpful, but others, you discouraging preppers – and you know who you are – seem like they are deliberately trying to scare people away.
Every article for beginners cannot contain every single bit of information they need to be prepared for any eventuality. I know that some people bring up points to be helpful and that is very appreciated. But others – and you know who you are – seem like they are deliberately trying to scare people away.
You can’t hit people who are just starting out with ALL of the information about the Golden Hordes, the mainstream media lies, a nuke headed our way, the civilization-ending pandemic potential of 3 rare African diseases, and a total, permanent grid failure. It’s too much. It’s overwhelming.
You call it a “dose of reality” but what you really mean is, you’re taking pleasure in increasing someone else’s fear.
If someone feels like they have all of these things coming at them, how would they even begin to move from a lifestyle of grocery shopping a few days at a time to being prepared for something intense?
It’s just too much.
So this is why, from time to time, I write articles like yesterday’s Last Minute Shopping Guide to Panic Prepping. It’s why we put together a free Prepper’s Quick Start class at Preppers University.
Once someone learns how to handle a smaller emergency with aplomb – once they see that success – it will encourage them down the path to even greater preparedness.
#3) You probably aren’t as ready to survive every disaster as you think you are.
Let’s face it. No matter how many supplies we have, how long we’ve been at it, or how prepared we think we are, there is always something missing.
I learned this during the Ebola scare in 2014. I had well over a one-year supply of food. I had a nice little farm in California, growing vegetables and raising chickens. I had book after book about survival and had all sort of self-reliance skills.
But you know what I didn’t have?
And most of all, information. I didn’t know sweet diddly about a horrific illness that made you bleed from the eyes, nose, and ears.
I had many of the supplies necessary to survive that probably would have put me ahead of most people, but there were some basics that I was missing because I had personally never even considered the possibility of an Ebola outbreak on our shores.
No matter how smug you’re feeling, I guarantee you that you aren’t prepped for everything. That is the thing about disasters – they often take us totally by surprise. A fire starts nearby and travels in your direction. Some business nearby has a terrible industrial accident that exposes everyone in the area to a toxin. You become the victim of a crime. An airborne disease you didn’t even know existed spreads rampantly.
It is the nature of the unpredictable beast.
#4) Then there’s the luck factor.
Fortune does indeed favor the prepared, but before you get too comfortable, keep in mind that a big part of survival is luck.
- If you are at Ground Zero when a bomb goes off, it doesn’t matter if you have enough supplies to last through three Armageddons. You’re toast.
- If you get on the wrong plane, your mad skills won’t save you if it gets hijacked and flown into a building, killing everyone on board in a fiery explosion.
- If your home burns to the ground, gets washed away by a flood, or totaled by a tornado, you, too, could be starting at square one.
Regardless of how prepared you are, you can’t outrun epic bad luck. One day, you might hope that other people are less discouraging to you than you are to the folks who are just now realizing they need to get it into gear.
#5) This isn’t a contest
There is plenty of room for more preppers. We aren’t in some kind of position where there is a battle for a handful of scant, remaining resources. You aren’t on a game show where there is only one winner.
The more people who are prepped, the better off we will all be in the long run. When more people are prepared, there will be less desperation, which in turn, means less crime. It means we can be allies instead of enemies if the balloon goes up.
Discouraging people from being prepared gains you nothing except some misplaced sense of superiority.
If you can’t say something constructive, say nothing.
We all get aggravated from time to time and have nothing constructive whatsoever to add. I am not immune to that feeling myself. But perhaps if you are feeling that way, it would be better to say nothing at all than to have your words scare someone away who was just edging into preparedness.
I have started over many times in my life. I endured the devastating loss of a loved one. My home was foreclosed on. I lost my job. A broken sewage pipe filled my home with waste, destroying my preps. I moved from another country and could not bring my preps.
Often I started over with the discouragement of others ringing in my ears. Had I heard that discouragement at the lowest point, perhaps I would have been driven away from my current path.
You don’t have to be kind to others and help them along their way if that isn’t your cup of tea. But sadistically and mockingly sabotaging their progress is something altogether different.
All preppers are welcome here, whether they are brand new and have a million questions, whether they’re on a tight budget, whether they have different political leanings, or whether they practice a religion that I do not. I just want to see people face the future with confidence and a prepared mindset.
If you’re new and you are reading this, please don’t judge us all by the actions of a vocal minority. We’re glad you’re here and we want to help.
As for you meanies, if you can’t say something nice or encouraging to those people, there are all sorts of forums and other sites where your mockery will make you part of their elite club. This is not that place.
Here, please, bite your tongue and say nothing at all if you can’t be constructive to those who are looking for help.
Sincerely,
Daisy
Try not to let negative comments get up you upset or off track. You have helped MANY people become more prepared and give sound advice to spending preparation money wisely. (I wish I had this when we first began.) You break down prepping into small steps. Folks are BLESSED to have your guidance and encouragement.
Hopefully, we will never have a collapse, like they are having in Venezuela. There are many small emergencies that happen, where being prepared can make life so much easier. Power goes off for a few days, no problem when you have some stored water, food and a way to cook it.
Over the years, having a stocked pantry and a garden has helped us weather many difficult times. Just to name a few, having slow payments coming in at our small business, unexpected home and auto repairs, and helping our daughter with two small children going through a rough patch.
The journey of life has valleys with happy sunny days and also difficult hills to climb and storms to weather.
Thank you for all you do! You do a great job!
Sincerely,
KY Mom
This is what I was going to write 🙂 and I would add for myself this: I am the breadwinner for my family and food storage (we use it a lot on a weekly basis) is my personal insurance against job loss. I want to know we will eat. After 2008 we backed up financially and I was scared. Sensible prepping helps to take away fear. I started small. It took me years to determine what was best for my family and there have been some things I either threw out or gave to someone who liked them. Your site has helped me so much. Everyone has to walk their own path and help others who need it. For us, and I won’t name my favorite company here, a certain freeze-dried brand has become our favorite prepping source. In addition to some wet pack food (not a lot) this has served us best. I budget $100.00 a month for food storage and out of that I use some and store some. Bless you, Daisy and thank you for helping so many people.
Daisy L.,
I have read your open letter to those that try to discourage others from learning and working at being prepared and all I can say is; good for you and don’t let it bother you too much as there are many in our community that appreciate your hard work.
Been reading your encouraging articles ever since I moved to the BOL and have made many friends and renewed old friendships. My wife and I have been giving away our extra home grown vegetables and all the extra eggs that we get from our chickens to our family members and friends. As always; conversation turns to the state of our country and the world. Over the past few years they have realized that self reliance and being ready for disasters is their responsibility and that any help that may come from the GOVERNMENT will most likely mean a loss of some more freedom; like Self Determination.
The people that try to discourage others from “prepare for the worst but pray for the best”; don’t, at least to me, understand that when the SHTF We the People will be better off if more people work at and become MORE self reliant and are willing to help others before, during and after a disaster. America may not recover from a large disaster without people working together.
I could go on about this but gotta get out and tend the garden and chickens.
Take care and keep up the good work you do.
Mike (aka SgtChf)
Well said Daisy! You have to start somewhere and now is better than later. It is overwhelming and taking any step towards being prepared is a step in the right direction. It takes time and knowledge to know what and how to prepare. Baby steps! Thanks for encouraging others to get started!
I think one of the best preparation is community. Many preppers think they’re going to go off by themselves in the woods somewhere. That’s only a temporary solution. The genius of the free market is the division of labor – you can’t have that by yourself. So, I’d have to agree 100% with your article because, in the long run, loners are losers.
If everyone had the “government-mandated minimum” set aside, that would make the world a whole lot safer and happier place for the first three days of a serious crisis. It gives the shock time to wear off and plans to be made. If you can’t or won’t encourage people to go whole hog, then at least get them to the minimum. That’s three days less that we have to worry about those people coming to steal our stuff. Obviously the government isn’t going to be helping them get to basic readiness, so then it falls to us! Civic duty and all that! 😉
Daisy, you do a wonderful job. Too wonderful in some respects. It scares me silly to read your blog some days, and it should. But that is incentive to plug ahead, getting as ready as I can be, for whatever may come. Thank you for all that you do!
Thank you. I was a minor prepper when I lived on the Texas coast and needed to have supplies for hurricanes, usually 3 or 4 days worth. Then the big one came, luckily I managed to leave (most of the preps stayed), but I would not have had enough. Power was out nearly 2 weeks. But at least if I’d had to stay, I’d had enough to try to get out when the roads cleared somewhat. People often ridiculed me but I persevered. For the last 7 years, on a very limited budget, I’ve slowly increased my preps. But as you say, there’s going to be problems no matter what happens. I encourage my daughters to prep some. If my neighbors were prepped “some”, they wouldn’t try to take my stuff. 🙂 But I digress, we certainly need to encourage everyone to do what they can to be prepared. And the idiots don’t know! We might have another 20 years. And they might have a heart attack tomorrow. Every bit we can do will help in some way.
Daisy
You do a good job with your writing and generally offer good suggestions and advice. I rarely disagree with what you’ve written, so keep up the good work.
I’m way out in the country where there are plenty of busy-bodies, but not many preppers. Most folks have gardens and can, but other than that, they’re living day to day. I’ve broached the subject to a few of them, not directly but sliding side-ways into it, and gotten shrugs of shoulders, shaking of heads, blank stares and other responses telling me that I’m barking up the wrong tree. My Golden Horde will by my neighbors, which will happen to many when the SHTF.
The naysayers that you chided are wrong. It is NEVER too late to start. Those that started preparing years ago are still filling in corners in their preps, so prepping is a journey, not a destination. We all started at Step 1; some yesterday, some today and others tomorrow. As long as it’s not ‘one second after’, it’s not too late.
I think you do fantastic work and pray you keep up the GREAT WORK!!!!!
Very true what you’ve said No one is every ready for any or all
situations. Riots a dirty bomb or forget any of that but good old Mother Nature . Hurricanes ” Andrew – Hugo – Look what happen to New Orleans and how
many days it took the Military to drive convoys of relief items and troops because of all the destruction in surrounding states.
So if your house isn’t destroyed and your family’s ok . Whatever people have been able to put aside buys them time . I’m not the most stock piled guy around but I’ve lived through having no power or heat for 2 weeks and keep my 87 year old mother warm and feed because I had something put aside a little at a time .
Daisy, this is one of the main reasons I stepped away from the ‘prepper’ community. I now participate in a homesteading community. Much more laid back, not so nerve wracking, and the support is amazing. Prepping and homesteading have many of the same goals, and are not mutually exclusive. But the overall demeanor of people on the homesteading side is much more welcoming and supportive. I still follow a few people, like you and Lisa in particular, because there is no ‘doom and gloom’, just honesty and helpful information. Thank you for all you do. You ARE appreciated. Don’t let the trolls get to you.
I, too, am a “Granny.” Thank you for opening up a new thought in my brain!
😉
I love your heart! We are hit and miss, mostly miss, but three of our sons are peppers on differing levels. Your articles make me want to do better! Love to you and your family.
You are absolutely correct. There is a selfish smugness amongst many. I wrote more, but edited, enough said for now, thank you for what you do.
Something is better than nothing. Too many people have forgotten (or don’t understand) that it’s better to do what you can as you are able versus doing nothing at all because you can’t do everything, or afford to do everything, at once. Thanks for welcoming everyone – especially the newer turtles that are entering the prep race later and trying to plod along on the journey slow and steady.
I so appreciate your candor and willingness to set people straight.
Daisy.
Fifty years ago I had a wonderful teacher, Miss Lapp, who was from the really old school. You know, the little brick schoolhouse that had all 8 grades in one room? She had to be 80, if she was a day.
I talked to her about becoming a teacher and she told me that she believed if she reached only one student one time she had accomplished her goal.
Keep teaching. Keep telling the steps. Don’t let the naysayers and twits (there are a lot of them) stop you or make you feel like you have failed. They are the failures.
I am not a christian, but Proverbs 6:6-8 applies to every preparedness plan.
“Go the the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest.”
Kind of says it all, don’t you think?
Way to tell ’em, Daisy!
Quick summary for those who came in late: If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. A proverb of mothers will never change, no matter what 🙂
well hello there,
Waking up is hard to do. Paradigms are entrenched and can be called normalcy bias.
We “woke up” after reading James Wesley, Rawles for book, “How to survive the end of the
world as we know it,” in 2010. We read the blog that created the book, Survival Blog.com.
https://survivalblog.com/
The blog has all the data free for people to read, and I read it daily for years/still read it.
The book is invaluable for beginners, and there are many other books, (oft mentioned in this blog)
that are invaluable as well. Pretend you are in earlier times, for example, and you have to lay in
various supplies for the winter season, as the roads might be impassable. What do you need?
Many people do not want to discuss “prepping” because they are private, or they have been
shunned for bringing it up. Do a bit of reading of books and valuable writers, and lay in some
supplies in the event you are home bound for any reason. Do canning if you can, or purchase extra
items where you normally shop.
Just realized this article is two years old! But still relevant. The article and all the comments are spot on. Common sense and common kindness, that’s why you are a pillar in the prepper community, Daisy!
I don’t know where our society has lost it’s sense of hospitality, it’s ability to interface with others with a general courtesy and openness. The internet has certainly fostered a hostile attitude in many. But I think this belongs in the category of Trolldom. Even before the internet, people died inside for lack of encouragement. Ugly politics is also a contributor.
I do appreciate the way you come alongside other people and cheer them on in their baby steps and help them learn how to eat the disagreeable things about reality like a parent coaxing a reluctant toddler. You stimulate me to think and to participate with info and a point of view.
As far as Epic goes, we cannot predict our own futures. But we can face our mortality and choose life as much as possible. If we survive Epic, then picking up the pieces is what we’ve prepared for and will help our recovery. Nothing like local epic to wake people up.
It encourages me that there are still common sense and commonly kind people when everything else is shouting otherwise.
Well said Daisy. People are at various stages of preparing and the objective is to position one’s self to survive a SHTF scenario. There’s so much to consider and it can feel overwhelming. Being mean spirited has no purpose. Your words of encouragement and sharing of ideas are very much appreciated. Ignore the trolls!
Thank you, Daisy.
I fight against this same thing on several forums. They naysayers. That it is too expensive, it will take too long, that is just delaying the inevitable, that will not work that way, and literally dozens more excuses that people use to discourage others when they, themselves, do not have the wherewithal, or ability, or some other lack that means they cannot or will not do whatever it is, and since they cannot or will not, then no one else should either, because if they will not or cannot it must be a terrible idea.
As the prepping movement grows and more and more new people join the ranks, I am finding that many of them really have no idea where to start or how to go about becoming prepared, as they have not come from a society or background that had at least some experience or understanding of what it might take, the way many of us that have been doing this for years had.
So, it does take a bit more patience to explain not only the how, but often the why, of prepping.
Hopefully your article with blunt some of the naysayers and give the new-to-prepping people a chance to get started, gain a bit of experience, and then start to understand more. Because when they do, they will become better preppers much faster.
Just my opinion.
Just the simple, You start by starting, pick something small read, learn and go from there.
Basic foods that last years is the best start and not all expensive.
Going super cheap $50 is enough money to purchase enough food to get 2 people through 4 to 6 weeks.
Not great, not appetizing but it (rice and beans) will do the job.
Just saw this article (as recent posters brought it back from the dead!).
Thing I see the most is the tacti-cool Rambowannbes first run for the weapons section and talk ad-nausea of AR15, ammo, MREs, plate carriers, etc.
What is that? Grow a garden? Save seeds? Raise small livestock? You must be stoopid!
Then there is the “Your neighbors are going to come and take all your stuff! So there is no point in having a pantry/gardens/saving seeds/small livestock!”
Yep. That 68 year old, grandmother of 8 is going to become a leather clad MZB overnight, come over and kill you and take all your stuff.
Or, my personal favorite, “It is ALL going to go like THIS!!!” Really? If you know that, would you also know the Powerball numbers for the drawing this week?
Everyone’s situation is different based off of their ability, their location, the assets they have on hand, and their willingness to learn.
Plan accordingly.
And share the knowledge.
Great article. We had a lot of things as a lot of food. We were renting and ended up renting. House with toxic mold and lost everything. We are back to square one and have no where near replaced our losses from that when coronavirus happened. Strangely right before it happened I stocked up on vitamins and face masks incase of pandemics. I had planned to move on to food after we built a good medical supply whem Corona hit and became global. I have been slowly building short and long term food since.
There are lots of armchair preppers out there who buy expensive preps but may not no how to use them (expensive brand stuff isn’t really required).
I recently arched a video on a man and his dog camping in a snowstorm with no tent and no fancy gear, no stove or backpack full of supplies. Just a tarp, shovel a matches, light mean and sleeping bag. Point is knowledge is just as important. Do what you can and build on that
What a wonderful article!
I personally haven´t found many preppers discouraging other, but I´m sure there are many reasons for you to have written this.
I love you my friend!
Jose.
Personally I don’t pick on preppers, I pick on hoarders.
The same people that have great vehicles, great houses the front to make pretty but can’t afford an small medical emergency or food because of ignorance, vacations and keeping up with the neighbors are all the craze.
The people that buy all kinds of stuff right before a disaster only to discard it when they think it’s unnecessary or in the way, those are not preppers.
Stuff moldering in basements, garages and sheds that they HORDED and don’t want because it wasn’t necessary, don’t need and they don’t bother to upkeep.
Working in retail I made a lot of money buying up generator accessories after Y2K.
Mainly heavy duty generator power cords 20A and 30A and the outlets to match.
Most was customer returns “horded merchandise”, some was very discounted merch that stores over bought trying to profit off the big end of days stupidity.
I never hear any crying about store chains doing everything they can to profit off hoarder stupidity, it’s so very common.
I understand people getting into prepping, the mess you see before disasters is for the most part not preppers, or new preppers but hoarders.
Just in ghe last week filled 2 5 gallon buckets with white rice, I think it was 36 pounds per bucket.
Not great but that 72 pounds could keep me going for months if it was all I had.
plus some multi vitamins : )
I am a member of a prepping group, and a new member at that. I am a long-time prepper, though, and I have about discovered everything I can on my own, so I decided to join a group and see if something comes up that I have not already researched. I have not posted newbie questions myself, but I find myself answering them. The old timers in the group appear to not want to spend time typing out a long answer. For instance, a question about what kind of knife to buy resulted in the answer: Buy a gun. A question about what books would be good for a beginning prepper resulted in a few good answers but most were along the lines of: Go on Amazon and search Books on Prepping. For one thing, the results of that search give you food prep tips. You have to search with the word Survival to get any good results. People tell me I should have been a teacher and I wasn’t, but I do like to explain things to people. So I went on Amazon and did screen shots of good books for beginners (yours among them), then posted my suggestions. I feel like we should share our knowledge. We might be saving people’s lives, the same as if we were medical professionals. It bothers me that the old timers in the group just give 3 or 4 word answers.
I know, late to the party (this article is over 3 years old!), but better late than never.
I’ve looked into prepping for a number of years, but 2020 is what got me going on it. Last year, I bought my first firearm (and my aim is pretty good for never having shot a handgun before). I also got my HAM license and bought my first radio. And I’ve been stockpiling food, clothing, and first-aid supplies. And saving money (I’ve been doing that for years, now I have enough in the bank to take a year or more off work and still service my current obligations). There’s more to do – gardening (even though I live in an apartment, I can still grow food in pots), developing connections and a network (something I’ve been working on a lot lately), etc. I’ll get there, it will just take time.
It’s not just the smug preppers who are the problem. It’s also people in the HAM community who think you should spend thousands of dollars on equipment so you can talk to people in Australia when the SHTF (I don’t know anyone in Australia, a lot of good it would do me). Or the gun nuts who think you should have multiple AR-15’s or something (my 15-shot semiautomatic pistol will do just fine for home defense, thank you very much, though a shotgun to go along with it might be nice).
I just thought about it this morning – despite that I have a ways to go, I’m likely better prepared than at least 80% of people around me who sleepwalk their way through life. As the saying goes, when you and a hiking partner run into a bear, you only need to run faster than the hiking partner.
Very well-put. I’m personally a pretty low-tech prepper. I have basic self-defense tools, goods, and an emergency fund. I’m not a fan of going broke with expensive equipment and generators. I think you’re way ahead of the game!
“when you and a hiking partner run into a bear, you only need to run faster than the hiking partner”
well actually you’ll need to run faster than your hiking partner because he’ll be the bear. and it won’t be just one.
Daisy, I like something you said several years ago., something to the effect that prepping is not a sprint, it is a marathon. Everything you do to prep is just another step on the preparedness that will lead to being “equipped” and “prepared” should the “shumer” hit the fan, or whatever disaster occur. Same thing with shooting, farming, camping. It is all a marathon race.
Those discouraging others from becoming preppers should realize that the very people you ran off may well become members of the half-starved, homicidal mob that kicks down your door to satisfy their hunger…
“should realize”
they don’t. they can’t. they’re borderline sociopathic – other people just aren’t real to them. they are complete and content in their own personal world, and experience Other People as intrusive aberrations to be disposed of.
Daisy, love your blogs and read everything I can get my hands on, and can afford. Your “baby-steps” blog today was especially good. I’ve run into types like that as well. The thing I remind them of, is that after the SHTF, the hoards who they laughed at and put down for their lack of preps, are the same people who are going to come knocking at their well-prepped doors asking for help. When these blowhards refuse to help these people, a week or so later, they will be back with their firearms and ask again, (this time not so politely) you to share your preparations. When you refuse, then they will fill your miserable body with holes and TAKE all your preps, As the saying goes, for you who think you are prepped and refuse to help the “newbies”, “Put that in your pipe and smoke it!. That will give you a different perspective about helping those less prepared. I’ve been prepping for several years and I realize I’m nowhere near prepared as I’d like to be. Part of the problem is a spouse (in this case, a wife) who doesn’t believe the SHTF is really gonna happen and she’s (like me) a Christian. She doesn’t believe that God will allow something like that to happen to us. I, on the other hand, believe that it is entirely possible that God will bring events like that upon His children. (He did in the past with Israel and the early Christian church, as well as some elements of the church today. The lesson for Christians, as I see it, is to be prepared. By the way, I used to have a friend (a pastor) to whom I talked about prepping with. He said one day, “When the bad times come, remember I know where you live. (he has since moved, so I’m not worried, but I told him he was always welcome. We could always use more labor).
@Dan Pruitt,
Many, but not all, preppers try to get to know their neighbors, even get them on board with prepping or teach them how to do things like gardening, and form what I call loose Mutual Assistance/Defense Agreements.
If someone comes to my neighbors and look to be doing bad things, I am going to come to their defense by way of offense (range cards @Matt in OK[thumbs up]). And then so will the neighbors up the road.
Now if these newbies have some kind of skill set that we can trade for, that is a different story. Least they can muck out the barn, cut, split, and stack firewood, etc. in trade.
Besides, how many non-preppers have firearms?
And dont bring a handgun to a firefight.