After reading George Orwell’s 1984, it was difficult to ignore the very tangible possibility that our federal government could become a threat to our unalienable rights instead of a protector of our freedom. Phrases from that book superimposed on the fabric of today’s technology warn us that we are now so very close to Orwell’s totalitarian nightmare.
In 2009, a book was published that caused a visceral quantum shift in focus for an entire group of people. That book, One Second After by Dr. Bill Forstchen, immediately reached the New York Times best seller list, where it remained for 12 weeks. On page two of the book, the United States is devastated by an apocalyptic EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack that destroys the electrical grid, all electronic devices, and the availability of basic life necessities (food, clean water, transportation, communication, medicine). The inhabitants of a small rural community in the western North Carolina Mountains struggle to survive and rebuild a civilized society in the absence of traditional authority. That dangerous and painful, trial-and-error process became the field manual for many tea party/patriot groups, as well as many individuals and families. This book, along with an out of control government and world-wide unease, quietly revitalized and mainstreamed the “prepper” movement.
Today our nation faces formidable internal and external threats. These threats have galvanized the “prepper” community and others to prepare for the aftermath of any catastrophic event that has the potential to eradicate the thin veneer of civilization. Regardless of what that event may actually be, a top contender for the greatest single threat to our safety and freedom is Radical Islamic Jihad and its unrelenting ideology of terrorism and oppression.
