Started my prepping by watching Blackout-eek!

[smerlin]

So have been reading through the Preppers board as has always been something I have wanted to do but always put off due to not knowing where to start, and cost.
But watched Blackout as saw it recommended on one of the threads and was terrifying on two levels
1- do people think it would descend to that level that quickly in a medium-level SHTF situation
2- being a prepper seems to make you an immediate target! Any tips to help a newbie?!

[pennycarbonara]

A lot of these things, while they may be fun to watch, are heavily influenced by an American survivalist worldview. - and also they do have to contain dramatic tension simply to work as a film. It wouldn't be very exciting if it mostly showed people just ignoring each other or co-operating, moaning a bit, and the odd burglary. There is an assumption that most others will be aggressive and be out to get you which isn't statistically borne out by analysis of most disasters in western countries. I haven't been able to find citations I've read for this in the past but did find a recent PhD thesis on US prepper culture which might be interesting but is rather too long for most people to read for fun.

[Snugglepumpkin]

I would appreciate a link to the thesis if you don't mind @pennycarbonara

[pennycarbonara]

The little bit I skimmed didn't feel that rigorous in style, but it obviously has another 200-odd pages to get there

mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10355/63678/research.pdf?sequence=1

[Snugglepumpkin]

Thank you.

[bellinisurge]

Interesting vlog by DEMCAD on YouTube about this kind of thing - he's a US prepper. Unlikely that everyone would descend immediately into savage behaviour if there was a testing situation. Not saying some people wouldn't but, most people just want to get by.
And don't show people your preps.