5 Reasons Why Normal People Shy Away From The Prepper World

Mainly because "normal" people are at the teat of the system and government. And can't accept life without it.

This is the reason why, when i created Ausprep i tried to eliminate the word "prepper" not for its meaning or values but for the tag that the general (unprepared) public place on it.

Well, glad you found this place to your liking - we do try not to follow the norm when it comes to running a prepper forum!!! Hence as Aus said, we don't use that term at all, for the obvious reasons as you have stated!

I have just found this thread and think its quite interesting what people like to call themselves and how they describe to others what they do to prepare .

I personally don't use the word "Prepper" or "Survivalist" when I speak to other people about what I do and how I do it in regards to "being ready" for what I think I need to "be ready" for.

I look at what I do as being a form of insurance if a bad situation happens. Its based on my own personal experiences gained from doing different "jobs" and being exposed to different "situations" over the years. I am broaching 50. I have seen a little bit.

Over the years I have changed what I have perceived as being a situation I may need to "be ready" for. That situation/s will be different for everyone on this forum. I am not going to go into what I am making plans for as it would be a mute point for this discussion.

I can say I have friends that have similar interests and I live in a small close nit community that also have a similar outlook because of the geography of where we live (i.e remote).

I don't expect to many people to have the same out look as I do. That's life. But this is how I go about my business.

Mozzie101 out.

I see where your coming from. Its the classic head in the sand mentality. These are the very people you mention that panic when something does happen.

Where I was coming from is probably from a personal security point. Don't let any know what you are doing as they will be the first at your door if something does happen.

Case in point. The last major cyclone to hit the far north. Neighbour comes over directly after the event and asks if I have any spare fuel for his generator. LOL. I do. I give him a few litres to see him through. I do mention I can't spare any more though as I am running low. I don't. I have plenty. I only did it because as far a neighbours go, he is ok.

Wasn't aimed at your comments specifically, though you are correct. 

I would concur on the prepping info. 

Preppers and my wife are the only ones that know.  The preppers have the mindset and hopefully supplies to be assets.  Having said that, I've been working on some people over lengths of time in terms of joking to them about coming to mine if the zombies come because I've taken them shooting and I trust them in difficult situations more than enough.  They are few in number and don't know I have food also, though I would be more than happy to be sharing food with as they would also be excellent. 

Mozzie, I too have "groomed" a couple we know. Other than them we haven't told friends or family. The last thing we need is a swarm of people arriving uninvited to pillage our resources. Add to that the fact that most people can't keep a secret at the best of times...

Ha... to offend me is quite an accomplishment indeed, sadly you weren't even close. 

Creep away, I certainly work some people for this.  The tricky part is the cross over from thinking about it to doing something about it.   In terms of secrets, I only tell people what I know they might tell others they know. 

I have to say that in my time the list of major events that never happened but so many "preppers "believed would happen but never happened due to the fact either it was never going to happen in the 1st place or some other event or action prevented it and a good example of that was Y2K the possible damage never happened because billions of dollars were spent globally to rectify the problem before it became a problem now how bad would it of been we will never ever know cause preventive measure were put in place and prevented it from happening.
On the other hand there was 2012 doomsday which was never going to happen and there was no real provable evidence to say otherwise apart from theory crafting , speculation , assumptions and interpretation

Herein resides the problem for the prepper community
each time one of these events gets publicity and nothing actually happens preppers that have been vocal about making sure things are ready and are warning people the end is near so get your guns, ammo and beans ready tend to look a bit silly thus tarnishing the image and core values of why people do have a stock of resources to call upon in an emergency

To put it simple the more times doomsday or whatever apocalyptic scenario your local militant and vocal prepper's favourite is at the time doesn't happen the stupider the concept of prepping becomes to the general public 

Even myself as a person that has spent a great deal of time , money and resources in developing, funding , implementing and actioning emergency plans I find it annoying that people come into the community and rabbit on about how we need to get ready for the holy war with Islam , gays , the government , the greens , the next big doomsday scam or whatever they are obsessed with this month it annoys me immensely for a very simple reasons and here they are

1. If you are new to the concept then the last thing you want unless you are that way inclined is to see a wall of posts that are anti government anti Islam anti gay anti average person anti everything that is considered normal then one little post about chickens
The average person that is just getting started normally looks up prepping after some event effected them on a local and personal level like a storm a power outage and so on they in all probability will see that sort of rubbish and think yeah no thankyou preppers are nuts and not wish to be associated with that type of image

2. The community itself especially online can be quite toxic towards newcomers cause if you don't think like or agree with the old boys that have been around for a long time then you are immediately targeted for insults veiled or otherwise oh and if you even dare speak up and say something about it then you are a stupid sheeple special snowflake that wants to hold hands with black Asian Islamic gays while singing greenie songs
Out in the real world once again some preppers do the damage to the community image as well and give the news companies a front page story lets be honest every time a "prepper "is caught with illegal items or weapons somewhere in the world our media loves it and make the most of it painting preppers as dangerous individuals that should be avoided and if need be reported
Remember once again the average person is in all probability just looking for some pointers and tips to get started or for a reliable source of information not to get branded and tarnished as a raving loon so they will withdraw from the concept once again taking with them any helpful information they could of put on the table to share

3.guns , guns, guns and oh yeah I have more bigger guns than you!!!!! guess what though some people don't like firearms for many reasons and some people just can't own them for a bunch of random reasons as well so if a group or online community places to much emphasis on owning them and touching them and playing with them and showing them off then you start to exclude and alienate those that not interested or able to own them
A good example of that is an individual I know quite well who has a very colourful medically trained history starting out as a veterinarian then becoming a combat medic then training as a surgeon both military and civilian then a GP the joke is if I get sick we go to the vet now my point is he has a very strong dislike for firearms and simply refuses to own any or have them in his house he wont oppose you having them just don't talk about them with him or bring them into his home or ask him to use one remember though this is a guy that was a frontline soldier and has patched up soldiers on the front oh and the enemy as well to him all wounded were wounded regardless of the uniform they wore
Now this guy was basically harassed and ridiculed from an Australian forum because he didn't agree the attitude of pro gun bully members so that forum lost a treasure trove of information of animal care and medical advice and I am glad to say he is still though solid prepper and good friend of mine that constantly tells me he will turn my workshop into a field hospital if need be

4. Overall presentation and attitudes makes or breaks anything including prepping so if an interested individual asks a prepper about stuff and they go straight in for the big ticket items like the collapse of society and the violence that could follow such an event then yeah people either get frightened off or go buy a weapon mostly think preppers are weird and get frightened though



So basically what I am saying if you hear people say preppers are strange or weird just remember it was fellow preppers that help make that image so if a concerned neighbour ever asks you for some advice remember the following
1. Answer the direct question and only add any qualifying statements that are required to validate the information provided but that's it don't go off on a tangent
2. Do not mention religion , sexuality , race or any other stereotypical issues to prove or disprove a point unless it is directly relating to the question
3. Keep it simple,provide clear and precise information that is helpful, beneficial and on point
4. Use low key events as your baseline to establish a solid and engaging conversation the other person(s) can relate to on a personal level
5. Be the guy "THEY WANT TO BE" not the guy "THEY WANT YOU TO BE"don't be their stereotypical image of a prepper ever