anyone NOT a survivalist?

Question

If you're NOT a survivalist, do you not go to work to give yourself and your family food, clothing and shelter? Do you not have insurance in case something goes wrong?

"A fireman is a fireman, not because he believes everything will burn, but because he believes much can be saved."

Answer 1

I am occasionally asked what we mean when we say that Equipped To Survive™ is "not a 'survivalist' site." A few decades ago, a survivalist was someone who was interested in the tools and methods used to survive in an emergency. More recently the term has been usurped by the popular media to describe individuals and groups that foresee a general collapse of our society via internal or external political forces, catastrophic environmental destruction, nuclear war, the apocalypse, and other such unlikely (though not impossible) holocausts.

The focus of Equipped To Survive™ is survival preparedness, preparing to get through a short-term emergency to return to civilization, either via rescue or by normalization of the situation as the emergency conditions cease. Survivalists and survivalism anticipate that the emergency or emergency conditions are permanent, that there will be no civilization as we know it to return to and no help or rescue--you're on your own forevermore, or at least for an extended period. The recent fiasco regarding Y2K is a classic example of this sort of thinking on a large scale.

Added notoriety has become associated with the term because among modern day survivalists there is often an element of extreme paranoia and anti-government hostility. There may also be elements of nationalism, racism, religious prejudice, or similar bigotry. Some act as individuals, others form or join groups with agendas of various extremity. Some pursue an active anti-social agenda and we then call them hate groups, or worse, terrorists. Any wonder the term "survivalist" has taken on a negative connotation?

Survival and survival preparedness deals with issues of individuals or small groups unexpectedly placed into time-limited situations without the normal supports of society, when calling 911 and the ensuing arrival of assistance within minutes is not an option; forced landings of aircraft in the wilderness, ship sinkings, getting trapped in sudden weather shifts, natural disasters of limited duration such as floods, hurricanes or earthquakes, etc. These most usually involve coping with all the travails Mother Nature can throw at us. No death clouds, black helicopters, men in black or invasions from the Duchy of Fenwick.

While there are those who are interested in survival preparedness that are also concerned about the ills of society and how it might affect their own and civilization's long-term survival, we don't deal with those issues here. We deal with the tools used to survive conventional emergency and survival situations, which just so happen to often be the same tools and techniques these modern survivalists are interested in for their own purposes. Thus, there's a lot of cross-pollination, as it were, between the groups.

Bottom line, on Equipped To Survive™ we focus on survival preparedness, not survivalism. There are plenty of places on the Web dealing with the latter, if that's where your interests lie. By keeping that tight focus, Equipped To Survive™ is an appropriate resource for the entire family, kids and adults alike.

Thanks to Chris Kavanaugh and Cliff Grout whose well worded postings in a discussion on this subject in The Survival Forum™ on ETS I have made liberal use of.

Doug Ritter
Editor

Answer 2

With every day pass, our country is getting into more and more trouble. The inflation, unemployment and falling value of dollar are the main concern for our Government but authorities are just sleeping, they don’t want to face the fact. Media is also involve in it, they are force to stop showing the real economic situation to the people. I start getting more concern about my future as well as my family after watching the response of our Government for the people that affected by hurricane Katrina.

According to recent studies made by World Bank, the coming crisis will be far worse than initially predicted. So if you're already preparing for the crisis (or haven't started yet) make sure you watch this video at http://www.familysurvival.tv and discover the 4 BIG issues you'll have to deal with when the crisis hits, and how to solve them fast (before the disaster strikes your town!) without spending $1,000s on overrated items and useless survival books.

Answer 3

That is an overly wide brush your utilizing. Some are christian, a few are not. To the ones of you who factor out the rapture, the Popes' armored bubble vehicle, (He is an most important man or woman identical to a head of state) and the Lord caring for the trustworthy, I say this the Lord is helping those who aid themselves. Even the Boy Scouts of America have a motto "Be Prepared". It's additionally quality to have a financial savings account.

Answer 4

I'm the opposite of a survivalist. Well, except for storing food for the winter. And I try to get plenty of rest by... not... moving... very much... and I conserve water by drinking plenty of soda instead. Wait, that's environmentalistism, isn't it? I also conserve water by not bathing.

You're welcome.