My family and I are into Doomsday Preppers. Have you seen that show? They’re crazy?! Well, sort of. I understand needing to prepare for hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters that may happen. All of those who were in Super Storm Sandy’s path know what I’m talking about, and we’ve been through disasters like this where I live. The April 27th tornadoes, Hurricane Katrina, other hurricanes that get bad too. So, I can understand stock piling certain foods – like boxed milk, canned foods, frozen bread, etc.
But, to see that these people will live in fear of the worst possible thing imaginable and going off the grid, underground, etc makes me wonder, is this the creative types fault?
With the popularity of dystopian fiction, is it our fault people are are preppers?
Think about it. Would Katniss be scouring the woods for food if she had been a prepper? Would the people in Revolution
be running around the woods using leaves instead of toilet paper if they had been preppers? Probably so, but with the popularity of The Hunger Games, The Walking Dead, Revolution, Enclave, The Host, 2012, the Divergent Series, that Will Smith movie, no not Men In Black, and I’m sure there are countless other dystopian novels about the apocoloypse and doomsday that spur our fear about the end of the world.
So, is it our fault that creative minds have spurred such a “prepping” need amongst humans? Would people be prepping if we didn’t have the really cool fiction I like to read and watch (and am considering writing)?
I know in the past, people have prepared for atomic bombs and certain disasters, but to this level? Underground bunkers, weapons stockpiled, food stockpiled, hazmat suits, etc? Yes, during times of war, there were certain issues that had to be prepared for, but now, is it really necessary? Why are people freaking out about “the apocolypse”? Seriously, did we bring this upon ourselves?
Just a thought…
Do you read Dystopian fiction? Are you into it? Do you prep?
Dreaming Awake 
I love dystopian fiction, but I don’t prep… much. I keep boxes of crackers rather than frozen bread since the power’s usually the first thing to go. Which proves I don’t even prep enough to have a generator.
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I love dystopian fiction as well, but I don’t prep much. We have boxed milk, a few cans of food, but we don’t have a generator either. I wish we did. lol But yes, I try to keep some nonperishables around as well.
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I have written some post-apocalyptic fiction, but I’m no prepper. I stocked up a bit before the hurricane, but that’s about it.
I think in general that the anxieties come first, then the fiction follows (and when the fiction becomes popular it’s partly because it reflects the things people are thinking about anyway). The fiction can then give more specific shape to the anxieties.
For example, Star Trek (TOS 🙂 ) had a lot of computer-anxiety episodes (Kirk vs. a computer, cultures stagnating because they’re being run by a computer, etc. ), but that didn’t make the audience worry about that – – people were already thinking in that direction (there are a lot more computer-worry examples from TV, movies, comics, etc.)
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That’s true.
With the rise of the post-apocolyptic fiction, I have to say that I believe that it is starting to actually frighten some people. I know it makes me want to be a prepper – just in case!
With all fiction, our fears do come to life in some way, I believe. And it’s true that some people would already be thinking about it. But is the panic because of their fears already there or are we making it worse? It’s just a silly thought I had, but it is very curious. 🙂
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I don’t know that I agree about there being a sudden rise in dystopian fiction, actually. I know, I know. Bear with me.
Dystopian fiction is hardly new. There are dystopian novels around that were written over a hundred years ago. And the dystopian classic Brave New World is 80 years old this year. The tend has been growing steadily ever since, hitting a peak in the late 60s.
Yes, there are more dystopian novels being published at the moment when you look at pure numbers. But there are more novels in general being published now. While I haven’t actually done this research, I’d bet $$ that the percentage of dystopian fiction to total books published per year hasn’t changed dramatically in at least 60 years.
But in saying all that, I love good dystopian fiction. And I’m not a prepper (I didn’t even know what one was until reading this post!). Some people are just a little OTT. 🙂
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Oh I know what you mean. It’s hardly new, but there is a surge in dystopian fiction it seems like to me, but then again, we have that silly Mayan prediction coming upon us quickly, so more people seem to be talking about the end of the world. I just wondered how much impact the creative mind had on society as a whole. It’s fascinating to think about really. 🙂
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