Modern Day Pioneers(Preppers)

Prepping is an attitude as much as it is a lifestyle. Preppers are constantly thinking and looking ahead all the while living in the moment continuing on in our daily lives. We should and do enjoy the day to day activities as we store items for a time when such days may seem like luxurious days.

As preppers we also understand that no matter the name we give ourselves-even survivalist, that our attitude is not mainstream. Most people we talk to think that we are a bit off speaking of bug out bags, stockpiling, and self-sufficiency. In fact, our society has become so "fast food-ready made" that most do not know how to do any basic survival tips.

Baking in the average home consists of taking a tube of cookie dough and slicing it to a pan. Home made bread is frozen loaves from the Schwan's man.

Cleaning consists of Wet-jet mops, dynamic dishwashers, stain fighting laundry detergent and air fresheners that mask formally normal smells in a home environment.

Protection in the average home consists of a network wired up to some middle of the country state-that then will call the local police or emergency personnel.

Road guides and atlas's have been replaced by GPS systems.

Natural remedies and simple health tips have been replaced by bi monthly visits to the doctor and prescriptions for everything(which then require a second prescription to treat the side effects of the first prescription).

Games and entertainment consists of plugged in systems where one or two people interact side by side, not face to face. People spend more time in front of a box then interacting with their families.

Education consist of parents sending children off from age 2-3 in Head Start programs and doesn't end until the child is recognized by the state as an adult(this educational system fills in the day with sports, music, and all kinds of filler that remove the family as the child's central group).

Preppers have learned to take apart a food item and make it themselves from scratch. They have learned that flour can even be made from the mesquite beans in their backyard. Preppers understand that baking and knowing how to prepare multiple foods from a basic list will make them more prepared as one can store 200 pounds of flour for a good deal longer than bread. The bonus of baking from scratch is that less preservatives make a healthier person.

Preppers have learned that with baking soda, lemon juice, and vinegar all cleaning jobs in the home can be mastered. The benefits of less cleaning products is less toxicity in the home. With all the cleaners the home of 2009 has-comes a cleaning cocktail that is causing who knows what to the health of the person.

A prepper understands that the safety and security of the home is theirs alone first. The prepper also keeps an eye on his neighbors homes not as a peeping tom, but as one to keep his neighborhood safe. Preppers understand that the ripple effects of securing our homes, then secure our neighborhoods, to our states, to then our nation. We protect from the smallest unit outwards. A prepper also understands that machines are fallible and we may use GPS, but understand how to use topographical maps, atlas's and compasses. We know where the sun rises and sets. Funny that this simple knowledge has been lost.

Preppers have studied how to live and be healthy by their own actions. Yes cancer and major diseases hit preppers but we have tried to learn how to be our own doctor first, by exercising, eating a balanced diet and getting enough sleep. We have studied simple herbal remedies from days gone by to take care of the common cold and so on. We are not against modern medicine but against the societal problems of mass hypochondria that seems to be common place with the number of people on medications.

The prema-donna complex of our children has been removed by preppers. We have come to understand that the child needs to learn basic skills and even morals and values before attaining adulthood or it will be too late. Our children are not to be worshiped and given everything materialistically but they are to be trained to be the torch carriers of the next generation.

Preppers may send their children to public schools, but also have homeschool in the evenings,weekends and then some because every moment is a teaching moment. We teach our children how to bake, use weapons and maintain them, store for the lean years, grow and put foods up, and as much self sufficiency as possible.

We are not perfect, we preppers are just man with all its shortcomings. But we are the modern pioneers that trekked West in the US. We are willing to leave all we have and head to unknown horizons because we understand that a situation may require this from us. We modern pioneers are most certainly aware that crises do occur, and we desire to be able to rise above the storm and carry on. We are of solid stock, we preppers, as most of us are from North America- we can trace ancestors before us who did all we do and considered it a great life. We too must reflect upon our lifestyles and understand this too. Eureka, we preppers have found our own bit of gold that will provide for us in any time and in any place.
(c)
Jennifer