Over the past few weeks we have seen example after example of why preparation is so critical in these times we live in, from the massive earthquakes in Mexico, to the devastation in Texas and Florida from hurricanes Harvey and Irma to seeing Puerto Rico slammed back into the dark ages after hurricane Maria with warnings they could be out of power for months.
Over the years we have seen a number of accusations and claims from non-preppers and those that think when disaster hits, the local, state and federal authorities will magically be right there with everything a person needs to survive. We have seen people living in denial scream FEAR PORN whenever Independent Media encouraged people to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, or claims that people that stockpile food, water and basic necessities for any potential disaster, whether a potential financial collapse, an EMP, a major weather event or a nuclear strike against the U.S., are doing so out of "fear."
Let me address that first.
In every aspect of life, people prepare, whether it is a student studying for a test, buying insurance, taking money out of the ATM for lunch, filling up the car gas tank before taking a trip, packing your suitcase if you are going to travel, buying groceries for dinner, etc...... These are all acts of "preparation," not out of fear but simple common sense.
The student hopes they will pass the test by studying hard, the insurance buyer hopes the insurance will limit their out of pocket expenses, the ATM guy is hoping to be able to fill his stomach in the middle of a work day, the gas buyer is hoping not to be stuck on the side of the road, the traveler is hoping not to be walking around in dirty clothes or naked, and the grocery shopper is hoping to feed the family that night.
These are basic acts of preparation which occur every single day, yet so many absolutely refuse to prepare long term, as evidenced by empty grocery store shelves when a major weather event is imminent because people "panic" shop at the last minute, not just for perishables, but basic necessities like canned goods, boxed items, water, batteries, flashlights.... items that survivalists or preppers already have on hand because they are prepared for the worst and hoping for the best.
I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have seen a comment on a variety of Independent Media sites that highlight the dangerous world we live in and encouraging people to be prepared to survive the aftermath of any type of disaster, that people will accuse them of "wanting people to live in fear," when in reality, encouraging people to prep is an act of hope.
If a person is as prepared as possible to survive the aftermath of any possible disaster, then there is nothing to fear.
IS IT TOO LATE TO PREPARE?
Some of the most egregious comments from trolls that do nothing but attack anyone encouraging others to prepare, is comments to the effect of "well the mainstream media isn't reporting this," so it is just doom and gloom from Independent Media sites that want to make money off of selling prepping supplies.
I remember a few years ago, telling someone that by the time the MSM starts reporting on the issues Independent Media has been warning about for years, it might just be too late for many.
By the way, those last two links aren't from Independent Media sites, those are Washington Post (Archive is link to Wapo) and Fox News.
I see those headlines from the MSM and I think "Really, now these states and people are fearful and are in a mad dash to "prepare?" Independent Media has been warning for years that the pattern of events being seen from North Korea, as just one example, meant that they were working towards becoming capable of doing wide spread damage to the U.S. Experts have been screaming these warnings from the roof tops, and it isn't just North Korea, but since these recent MSM reports are citing the NK threat, it seems to be a good example to use.
So the answer to, is it too late to prepare for states in the line of fire or danger zone, is all dependent on a man that deliberately allowed images to be released back in 2013, with him in strategic planning with a "U.S mainland strike plan" in the background, which targets Hawaii, Washington DC, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas.
No one in the mainstream media took it seriously then, but now Californians are "fearful" and Hawaii is is preparing for an attack? That should have been done the second those maps were published, but like the panic shoppers that empty the store shelves because some bad weather is headed their way, state officials waited until the last minute when an attack can come at any time.
With Californians on edge already, I am sure it wasn't exactly calming for Orange County, California residents to have their programming interrupted with an emergency alert, for about a minute with a voice offering an ominous warning stating "Realize this, extremely violent times will come."
As for "we the people" while there is no preparation for a direct hit, there is always time to prepare better to survive the aftermath of disaster, whether it is a nuclear strike, or yet another major weather event, or a terrorist attack, EMP, economic collapse, or whatever.
As to websites "using doom to make money," look, selling products is supply and demand and there is nothing wrong with capitalism, heck we have two prepper shopping sites linked here as well, but almost every site I see that encourages prepping, including ANP, also tells people they can buy a little extra on every shopping trip, five bucks here for canned goods, five there for extra water, batteries one week, boxed items the next, recommends dollar store shopping for prepping on a budget.
It doesn't matter where you shop, what matters is being as prepared as you can be. Period.
Never have I seen any responsible website tell people to "use every cent you have right now to stockpile." No responsible prepper would ever tell someone to use their rent or utility money to stockpile unless they knew with 100% certainty that an attack was coming tomorrow, and to be blunt, the only way anyone can know that with 100% certainty is if the missiles were already in the air, and then, it is too late to prepare.
Emergencies happen, people fall and break bones, get laid off their jobs, a fluke tornado, or in coastal areas, hurricanes, earthquakes like those shaking up the ring of fire, so being prepared for "anything" (other than a direct hit) is simply common sense, which isn't very common anymore.
LINKS AND PREPPING INFO
As always with these prepping pieces, we encourage readers to share their tips, ideas, favorite prepping sites, videos, or any information to help each other.
The video below about stocking your food pantry for free actually shocked me, because at first all I heard was he was getting stuff from a food pantry and I thought, wait, isn't that taking food from people dependent on those places to eat today, when you are stockpiling for tomorrow (figuratively speaking), but I listened as the narrator asked and discovered that this wasn't "donations" for the poor, but these food panties he is talking about are handing out factory overflow that if not distributed each day, gets thrown away, despite the fact that it isn't even near expired and while some items are not for long term storage and are perishable, other items are exactly the type of canned/boxed goods for a prepping pantry.
