Prepared: A Manual for Surviving Worst-Case Scenarios

Doomsday prepping, or just “prepping,” is a movement in survivalism (see below). Although this movement does occasionally occur outside the US, it is overwhelmingly an American cultural phenomenon. Although often used synonymously with survivalism, doomsday prepping refers to a particular subset of survivalist activity and is associated with specific approaches and ideologies. As the word “doomsday” suggests, the movement reflects a firm belief in the high likeliness of a complete and catastrophic failure of society. This belief is often connected to the Christian belief in a religious “doomsday” where mankind’s errors will lead to an end-of-days situation, which only the prepared or chosen will survive. While doomsday prepping often has exceptionalist and isolationist tendencies, it can also be a peaceful alternative lifestyle choice. In some manifestations, however, the movement’s certitude of social failure shades into a wish for the disintegration of civil order and includes activities designed to take advantage of disaster situations for ideological purposes or even to cause them through radicalizing or violent acts. Doomsday prepping is closely associated with conservative and right-wing values, especially traditional family models, Christianity, the right to bear arms, an assertion of individual freedom, and a distrust or dislike for the mechanisms of state.