I’ve written about this trend before: the liberal anti-Trump prepper movement. Unhappy with the results of the 2016 presidential election, a certain cohort of Americans have taken up “prepping” for fear a Trump presidency might bring about some kind of apocalypse.
Business Insider has some more information about this new and growing group of folks.
One such group started on Facebook and is called the “Liberal Prepper.” Its purpose is to “combine minds and hearts, with an emphasis on preparedness, in a time where a progressive way of life has never been more at risk of becoming taboo or altogether ostracized.”
The beauty of freedom is that people like this are allowed to form groups and associations; in fact, similar groups composed of people on the right have existed for years. But people in this country are not guaranteed that their life choices will not be considered taboo or ostracized by their communities. In fact, I applaud these folks and encourage them to live their progressive lives as long as they keep their progressivism out of mine. But that’s not what progressivism is about and progressives want the force of government to compel their fellow citizens to also live progressively. No thank you. I can make my own choices.
Back to our progressive friends: “There was less of a threat of a nuclear holocaust brought out by Obama,” Facebook groups founder Colin Waugh tells Business Insider. “There’s a leap into fear now that Trump is in power.”
Waugh started prepping by “stockpiling protein bars, rice, peanut butter, first-aid supplies, batteries, toilet paper, cat food, trash bags, medical handbooks, and as many canned goods as they could fit in the pantry of their one-bedroom apartment.”
Others in his group have taken similar steps:
There are photos of vegetables stored in mason jars; tutorials for homemade gardens, canoes, and bunkers; information about medical kits; a few liberal memes; numerous news articles; and links to off-grid gadgets like pedal-powered laundry machines.
Some are planning to spend their income-tax refunds on supplies.
One man, named Mannie, posted a photo of his new kerosene heater, and asked others what they thought of the brand. A few members liked a recent photo of a liberal prepper’s sink, full of mangoes she plans to store.
Stacy, an Idaho-based woman who serves as a co-administrator of The Liberal Prepper group, became interested in prepping in the months leading up to Election Day. As a single mom of a kindergartner, she says she now worries about her son’s education (especially with Betsy DeVos as education secretary) and the possibility of him learning hate rhetoric from some of Trump’s followers.
“I don’t know if there are going to be changes to the curriculum, school funding, like if they’re not going to be able to hire quality people to teach our kids or if they would teach them propaganda,” Stacy, who declined to give her last name, tells BI.
Some of us have long had that exact same concern, Stacy.
Business Insider points out an important difference between the liberal preppers and the “traditional” prepper community.
Unlike conservative preppers, liberals tend to focus more on skills and supplies that will provide comfort (e.g. in the form of stoves and blankets) rather than protection (e.g. firearms), Waugh says. However, a handful of Liberal Prepper members have bought guns and ammunition since the election.
Though Waugh and his wife never considered buying a gun before the 2016 campaign cycle, they purchased a 12-gauge shotgun and a 9mm handgun by the end of the year.
Only a handful have purchased guns? How will you protect your supplies and your mason jar vegetables and canoes?
“With liberal preppers, we’re thinking about things that transcend man-made cataclysm, every sort of disaster: tornado, natural volcano, earthquake, the power grid failing, or having dry storage goods on hand to prevent our family from starving,” Waugh says.
If the “white nationalist movement,” which is in reality composed almost entirely of FBI informants, incites a civil war, they will come for your supplies with force. Along with a terrorist attack, these are the events that concern Waugh the most, the events a Trump presidency has made more likely.
“My goal is to either prevent tyranny in America or be prepared for it if we can,” he says.
You can’t prevent tyranny with out some weapons, friend. And there’s nothing “comfortable” about civil war, something these people should remember as they insult and incite the portion of this country who are not only armed but who control the actual geography of America. Those trucks won’t be delivering your hemp hearts and arugula if there’s a civil war.
Also that Keurig coffee maker won’t work if the electrical grid goes down.
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