Hacker News Reader

Preppers get made fun of because the stereotypical prepper is actually not preparing properly against realistic threats and instead prepares against perceived threats at the expense of preparing for plausible scenarios. Your neighbor apparently doesn't fit the stereotype.

View on HN

People who are successful in a system count on its continuation (and often won't invest in a few hundred $/€ worth of emergency food, water, heat and light), people who are not successful in a system count it's failure (and do real, or ceremonial 'prepping', telling themselves and others that they will be relatively more successful when the inevitable disaster strikes).

Based on the community out here, you’re not correct.

I’m surrounded by Ex-military, business owners and people in the medical field. Most of whom “prep” to some degree. They’re all very wealthy by most standards (multi-millionaires in wealth). We also have the amish, which do fit your “out of the system” reasoning. But I’d argue they didn’t fail, nor are they classic “preppers”.

They do this because they think it is a kind of "cheat code" where they are allowed to gain a huge advantage over other people. It is the same kind of thinking as what conspiracy theorists often use. Rich people often do it because they are obsessed with being superior or more successful than others.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com