NOT the End of the World

  By Tom Martin Founder/American Preppers Network Well folks,  you can say you heard it from the APN. December 21st is NOT going to be the end of the world.   Of course I could be wrong, but there is absolutely no sound and verifiable scientific data that supports the supposed hysteria for an end of the world scenario happening on December 21st. I'm sorry to burst your bubble.  We believe the majority of our readers are sensible enough to not believe everything they are told on television and we at the APN plan to continue posting prepping articles well beyond 2012. In fact, our goal is to prep for an even more sinister disaster that has been plaguing this nation for all too long, a disaster known as Normalcy Bias.  I'll get to that later. As I scour the web searching for scientific evidence of a pending Doomsday, the only people whom I see that are actually promoting this apocalyptic hogwash are certain media outlets who have been perpetuating these fabricated Hollywood myths, Mayan prophesies of doomsday, zombies, goblins, and killer planets like Niburu....Well, I guess there may be a few off the wall websites who believe in fairy tales, but certainly no one in the Prepping community that I know of (and I know thousands of preppers).  I don't want to blanket label all media journalists as being destructive to the prepper movement.  There have been many in the press who have given the movement a fair shake and presented sensible, realistic, fair and balanced stories about preppers and those reporters should be commended for their honesty by not promoting a biased agenda.  We at the APN are usually willing to talk with the media as long as they don't have any agenda other than reporting the truth.  Unfortunately all it takes is a few bad apples to spoil the whole bunch and that is true of any segment of society.  We know this to be true of almost every group that has ever found its way in the press.  Each has been the brunt of sensationalism and biased spin at one time or another in the media.  Teachers with student/teacher sex scandals, police and police brutality, priests and child molestation cases, the list goes on and on.  The main stream media vs prepper situation is no different.  It is unfortunate that some individuals in the media have sought to use exploitative, capitalistic tactics of tearing others down in order to build themselves up just to gain higher ratings in the name of the almighty dollar. While some people in the media have been leaving no stone unturned in order to find a few fringe elements to interview in order to spin their stories to the topic of Doomsday apocalypses, The APN has been doing it's best at presenting the truth about who preppers really are.  We are firefighters, police officers, and first responders.  Doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers, businessmen, mothers and fathers have all found themselves amongst our ranks.  The prepper movement has been welcoming of liberals, conservatives and libertarians.  Preppers are composed of both gun owners and gun control advocates.  You will find in the movement, survivalist and green energy advocates exchanging ideas for off grid living and fuel saving techniques.  We have Christians, Jews, Atheists and Pagans who preach the universal message of preparedness. The Prepper movement IS a cross-section of American society with one exception; we are NOT Normalcy Biased.  As a matter of fact, the Prepper movement is what this country needs.  It is the one movement in recent history that is ALL inclusive.  Preppers is the movement that can actually bring America and all of our great citizens united together under one single banner known as preparedness.  The only people who could possibly be against such a movement are those who seek to divide and conquer in order to secure their own greed filled agenda. How can so many people in the main stream public fall subject to believing in the negative spin?  I think one of the biggest factors is improper use and misunderstanding of the acronym TEOTWAWKI.  All too often when people hear the term they will stop at "The End Of The World..." without completing the phrase, "As We Know IT".  TEOTAWAKI is a phrase that implies change.  Nothing more, nothing less.  It does not mean the end of the world.  It also does not mean that the change is necessarily a bad change.  For example, if we were to enter a new golden age of enlightenment of peace and prosperity it would literally become "The end of the world AS WE KNEW IT." Preppers prep for change.  Good or bad.  It could be a disaster such as the loss of a job, a hurricane, an earthquake or maybe...just maybe...an occasional rouge meteor.  But preppers also prepare for good things such as the birth of a child, getting ready for college, starting a new job or business, or properly planning a budget in order to avoid debt.  As a matter of fact, any act of preparing such as wearing your seat belt, installing smoke alarms in your house, or having a fire safety plan, by definition makes you a prepper.  It is sad that some would vilify such a movement when in fact those people could very well fit the description of a prepper themselves. Do you meet President Obama's minimum prepper standards?  Preppers have been preaching this for years.  FEMA's Ready.gov is actually a good place to start in your quest to get better prepared.  Of course we also want people to know that a 72 hour supply is simply not enough, we know this from Hurricane Katrina and more recently Sandy.  How could preppers who are dishonestly portrayed in the media by some journalists believe that the world is going to end soon when we espouse long-term preparedness strategies?  If I actually thought that the end was near, I would quit my work today and go party.  Here is the reality.   Preppers want our communities involved in disaster preparedness.  Read this from Obama's Presidential Directive 8:

Experience tells us that when the whole community comes together to tackle a challenge—and everyone plays a role—the end result is more effective. Recognizing that preparedness is a shared responsibility, Presidential Policy Directive 8 / PPD-8: National Preparedness was signed by the President on March 30, 2011. At its core, PPD-8 requires the involvement of everyone—not just the government—in a systematic effort to keep the nation safe from harm and resilient when struck by hazards, such as natural disasters, acts of terrorism and pandemics. This policy directive calls on federal departments and agencies to work with the whole community to develop a national preparedness goal and a series of frameworks and plans related to reaching the goal.  

Unfortunately, even with FEMA's enormous budget, they have been unable to fulfill this directive of getting communities on board to preparedness.  Normalcy Bias in our nation is very strong.  Too many people simply believe that "it can't happen to them"  But where FEMA has failed, the prepper community is succeeding.  We ARE getting communities prepared one prepper at a time. Who has time to worry about the End Of The World, when there are so many good things that can still be done to make it better?  Be informed.  Be prepared. ---------------------------------------------------- We have 3 articles that were submitted to us for our "NOT the end of the world contest" Please go to our Facebook page, check them out and "like" them to vote on them.