Some Preppers Are Getting Ready for the End of the World, While Others Are Running for Office

Deep inside, most of us know that something is coming.

Many of us may not know exactly what it is that is heading our way, but there are millions of Americans who feel so alarmed about what they sense is on the horizon that they are taking extreme measures to get prepared. Of course the list of potential catastrophic disasters is endless—economic collapse, civil unrest, historic earthquakes, power grid failure, Islamic terror, Hillary getting into the White House and so on. There are so many things that could bring this country to its knees, and there are lots of preppers out there who are feverishly preparing their homes and their families for doomsday. But there are others that are taking very different approaches. As you will see below, some preppers have decided that the best thing to do is to run for office, while others are getting out of the United States completely.

In this article, I do not intend to tell you which approach is best for you and your family. In the end, each one of us needs to do what we feel is best for those that we love. And for many Americans, that means finding a property that is “off the grid” and that is far away from large population centers. According to realtor.com, sales of prepper properties are really surging right now:

Some real estate companies are seeing big increases by specializing in “survivalist properties”—large parcels of rural land with homes targeted specifically to preppers, with full fortification and self-sustainable food and energy options. After all, why not grow your own tomatoes and kale while you wait out the end of the world as we know it?

For example, sales at American Redoubt Realty, a real estate firm nestled in the heart of prepper country in northern Idaho, are up 50% over the same time last year, says real estate agent Todd Savage, who specializes in such transactions. His clients typically hail from Texas and California.

For other preppers, just having a home that is “off the grid” is not nearly good enough. For many, having an underground bunker is the best way to be prepared for when a major catastrophe strikes. And without a doubt, bunker sales have been skyrocketing in recent years. The same article quoted above reported that one bunker company down in Utah has actually seen sales nearly triple each year:

Business is also good over at Ultimate Bunker, based on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, where sales have nearly tripled each year since the company opened shop four years ago. General contractor Mike Peters got into bunkers (literally, folks!) after watching the TV show “Doomsday Preppers” on the National Geographic Channel. He was convinced he could build them better.

His underground shelters start at $59,000 and go way up from there. His top-of-the-line model has areas for raising rabbits and fish. The majority of his sales are in the $500,000 range.

Other Americans who are deeply concerned about what is coming in our immediate future are taking a different approach. All across the country, those who belong to the Patriot Movement are taking the plunge into politics and are trying to reform the system from the inside. The following is an excerpt from an article that was posted by the Guardian:

Joseph Rice’s manner is a long way from militia stereotypes. The Patriot Movement leader does not present as a crazed gun nut, nor as a blowhard white supremacist. He’s genial, folksy, and matter-of-fact in laying out his views. But talk to him for long enough, and time and again the Patriot Movement leader returns to what really drives him: land.

Rice is running for Josephine county commissioner in south-west Oregon, and believes that the federal government’s current role in land management is illegitimate and even tyrannical.

His campaign is well-advertised around the county and appears well-organised. His growing experience in organising Patriot groups and community watch organisations has polished his skills in retail politics. He’s clearly done a lot of work to make himself politically palatable to conservative rural voters.

There are yet other preppers who reject both of these approaches. To these individuals, there is absolutely no hope left for America, and they feel the best approach for them and their families is to leave the country for good and never look back. I personally know several families that have left the U.S. in recent years, and there are many others who are considering it.

And I do find it very interesting to note that the mainstream media is reporting that record numbers of Americans are renouncing their citizenship in early 2016:

It seems crazy to call it the ‘New Normal’, but once again, record numbers of Americans are renouncing citizenship. Every three months, the Treasury Department publicly names individuals who renounced. It is surely more about FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act enacted in 2010, than it is about politics. Still, numbers are flying, with one poll saying that 1 in 4 Americans would consider leaving if Trump is elected. Others claim they will leave if Hillary is elected.

Of course it isn’t just preppers who are getting out while the getting is good.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the city of Chicago lost approximately 3,000 millionaires last year alone. Many among the elite have the same kinds of concerns that many ordinary Americans do, and they are relocating while they are still able to do so.

In the end, I cannot tell you which approach is best for you and your family. And there are some that are mixing all three approaches. For example, there are some people out there that have already moved their families away from the big cities, but they are still trying to make a difference the best way that they can, and yet they are also ready to leave the country entirely when that becomes necessary.

And of course there are many others out there that wonder what all of the fuss is about. Millions upon millions of Americans still have complete and total faith in the system and in our leadership, and they believe that the greatest days of America are still ahead of us.

So what about you?

What do you think? {eoa}

This article originally appeared on the End of the American Dream Blog.