The MSM: Preppers Aren't So Crazy Anymore

This article was written by Kimberly Paxton and originally published at The Daily Sheeple

Usually, when the mainstream media mentions preppers and survivalists, the angle is not flattering.  Maybe someone who considers himself a survivalist has committed a heinous crime and is on the loose.  Perhaps a prepared family is beaming from the page while sitting in their bunker, hundreds of food buckets in the background and 17 paragraphs of mockery in the article below the photo.

But the possibility of a pandemic changes things, and with the Ebola case in Dallas, Texas, the folks in the mainstream media have a lot of questions for the preparedness community. With only a couple of exceptions, the reports have been a lot more open-minded than usual, if a little lacking in understanding of the preparedness community.

Perhaps, preppers aren’t so crazy after all.

First, MSNBC got the ball rolling the day after Thomas Duncan was diagnosed with Ebola. In the article, “What Preppers Are Doing About Ebola“,  MSNBC reporter Chris Morris quoted two preparedness experts that reinforced the need to remain calm, but aware.  Published on October 1, the day after the diagnosis, the unbiased and rational article noted that some in the survival/prepping world expected to see a bump in sales.

Early figures from Amazon bear this out; as of Wednesday sales of a type of full-body protective suits were up 131,000 percent and sales for one type of mask had risen 18,000 percent in 24 hours.

Initial bestsellers were:

DuPont TY122S Disposable Elastic Wrist, Bootie & Hood White Tyvek Coverall Suit

Particulate N95 Respirator with Valve

This article was quickly followed up by NY Mag, who put out a snarky piece lazily using the same quotes as MSNBC’s article, but twisting them to make the community sound like fringe-dwelling lunatics.

Read more at Alt-Market.com:

http://alt-market.com/articles/2353-the-mainstream-media-preppers-arent-so-crazy-anymore