Why Irish people should be preppers

This articles assumes that you, the reader, are new to prepping or that you are curious about preppers and want to know why we do what we do.

Firstly, forget what you think you know about preppers. Forget the media nonsense and exploitative tv 'documentaries' and discover what prepping and survivalism is really about. Most preppers are not fanatical, do not believe in doomsday prophecies, and are not Rambo wannabes!

"Prepping" is simply a modern name for something people have always done, i.e. self-sufficiency and self-reliance. Up until only about two generations ago, families stored reserves of food and water for unexpected difficulties. They preserved surplus food grown during the summer, so it could be eaten during the winter. With large multi-national supermarkets and a global transport system, the necessity to store food diminished and we now have a situation where most families have no more than a few days worth of food in the cupboards at any one time. Seriously, take a look in your cupboards right now. Go on, I'll wait. How many days worth of food do you have for you and your family? How many days worth of toilet rolls or sanitary supplies? A few days? A week?


While the necessity to store reserves of food seems to have diminished, the reality is that most families, communities and indeed nations now find themselves in a position where they would be unable to cope with even a slight disruption to supply. The world has not changed that much in the past two generations, freak weather conditions still occur, natural disasters can still happen, financial and economic melt-downs are still a reality, and so on. These threats have not gone away. That much at least should be obvious to even the most uninformed Irish person.

This assumption that there will always be food on the supermarket shelves, and transport and medical supplies has led most of us to become complacent. In turn that has led us, often unknowingly, to become almost completely dependent on others. Dependence on our public services, our government and even other countries. We are, for lack of a softer term, hostages to the whims and decisions of others. We are at their mercy - better hope they know what they're doing right? The track record speaks for itself. Sovereign bailout anyone? Can I interest you in a little more 'austerity'? Or maybe a bank guarantee perhaps? We all got a say/vote in those things right? Of course not. All those things resulted from our country's dependency on others, be they banks or other nations. The worst thing, is that we ALLOWED ourselves to become dependent. It was convenient to let others worry about the problems. Didn't work out too well for us though.

"Some of these things might never happen. Sure, you could get hit by a bus tomorrow!"

You might. But it's far more likely that the economy will collapse than of you getting hit by a bus. That's just intended as a reality check. The typical Irish, 'do nothing, things will look after themselves' nonsense is something we've all been guilty of at some point in our lives. Making excuses because something might never happen, regardless of its probability, is simple foolishness. You might never suffer from a critical injury or life-threatening illness, but would you still like to have health insurance, just in case?

If I told you six years ago that property prices would collapse by over 50%, that our nation would actually have to go cap in hand to other EU countries and the IMF begging for help, that we would lose the authority to set our own budgets, etc. you would have said I was insane. Even suggesting any one of those things would have brought the men in white coats knocking at my doors. No, I didn't predict these things in advance, but neither did the people who were supposed to know. All those experts and consultants and researchers. Not just in Ireland, but everywhere. They ALL got it wrong. Yet these were the same people reassuring everyone that everything was alright. Anyone who tried to speak out against the spin and propaganda was attacked and ridiculed for 'Talking down the economy'. And who could forget the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern's remark about how they should go off and commit suicide - suggesting that the people trying to raise the alarm were paranoid and delusional.

The 'unthinkable' CAN happen, and it usually does

If the events of the past few years haven't convinced you of the need to prepare for the unexpected, nothing will, and you will continue to be a leaf tossed about in the wind with no control over your own life.

Prepping and self-reliance gives you options. If you are self-sufficient, no-one and nothing can touch you, because they have nothing you need. That strengthens your hand, and puts you in control.

Take some control of your own life. Make some choices for yourself and your future. Remove your complete dependency on others, or at the very least reduce it. It's incredibly easy, and does not involve making big changes to your lifestyle or home.

You don't even have to call yourself a 'prepper', 'survivalist' or anything else. You are simply 'self-reliant'.