Prepper Networking. Is this the piece of prepping that folks are missing?
So the election is over. The poop storm of the century is over. Or is it?
We’re not going to get involved in the politics of either party. That has caused a wedge to be driven into the heart of our nation. What we are going to talk about is this: where do we go from here?
We’ve had some rough times this year. A pandemic that destroyed the economy of the world. An election that almost destroyed the country. (The vote is still out on that particular item.)
With all that is going on, which way does the Non Christain prepper turn? One thing I have observed in this election is that people forgot their friends and family. They put a political ideal ahead of blood. They forgot the bonds of friendship. The bonds of kinship. The bonds of oaths made to each other. If we are to survive the coming poop storm, we better learn to stand with each other.
Ummm WTF are you talking about?
I’m bring more prepping to this page. Its fine to be a high speed low drag Urban Combat Medic of the Year. But if you can’t grow a garden, filter water or dress a hog properly having all that medical training is useless. Why? It is hard to be a medic when you have died of starvation.
Ok enough of election bullsh….umm poop.
The country is in flux. What are YOU going to do? Well, I can’t tell you what to do. I can, however suggest some things.
1st. Get your head out of the TV news and start LEARNING! Learn what? Anything related to survival.
2nd Start Prepping. Some say its to late. If you haven’t done so yet, you’re fu……done. I call BS on that. Yes, its late in the the game but the time it is to late is when they are shoveling dirt over your face.
3rd. Network. Let me say that once again and with feeling. NETWORK!!!! That is the hard part. So that is what we are going to talk about this time.
First off, I want to apologize for being absent these last few months. Not making excuses, just got a bit behind on things. Covid-19 and life during this little pandemic is tough. I will say that I thank my gods and ancestors for our moving to South Carolina. I miss my home state, but listening to the news and from friends on BOTH sides of the political fence, we are doing pretty good here.
Networking Nitty Gritty
This is the hardest part of prepping. Sure getting your stuff together, the learning and the physical labor is tough. Finding like minded people is THE WORST. Most non Christian FB groups are full of people. But only about 1 out of 50 would consider prepping. Out of that number, maybe 1 of 100 of them will DO something.
Why? They are not lazy, or non-caring. I think its they are concerned that they will be lumped into that mystical, magickal group called: Right Wing Survivalist Extremists (RWSF’s).
RWSF’s
I’m having a bit of fun with some of my Christian friends. They are some of the best and most giving people I know.
BUT, there are a LOT of RWSF’s. And, some of them are very religious. Religious to the point of “If you ain’t Christian, you’re the enemy!” There is a larger number who are not. Most decent prepper groups don’t care, and the GOOD (See Daisy’s link below) one’s have specific rules against religious discrimination.
I used to think that we should keep separate from the Christian prepper groups. As this last year has progressed, I think we need to change that idea. Most people of both faiths can work well together and learn from each other. The key is finding the right groups. This is part of networking with other preppers.
Social Media
Here’s my opinion on a few of the more common social media sites many Non Christian’s and who are preppers use for networking.
For the sake all that is holy, DON’T DISCUSS PREPPING ON FACEBOOK! Your page will very quickly not be yours. First Facebook took control of a lot of prepper forums. This image says it all. Stole it from a moderator group I belonged to.
They reset the page settings WITHOUT THE APPROVAL of the page owners and any member who has EVER had a violations of Facebook rules they placed on post approval. They removed thousands of people. My accounts are just 2. What this did was destroy MY networking ability. Okay my main FB account I did do some “Poop Posting”. But my other was squeaky clean, Just in case my main did get axed.
A close friend of mine, Daisy, the owner of The Organic Prepper moved her pages from Facebook to her own Prepper Forums. This did put a temporary dent in her networking, but once folks get used to the new layout i will sky rocket. Here is a link to the new rules Facebook imposed. Facebook cleans up groups with new policies
YouTube
YouTube is as bad as Facebook. Prepper sites have been closed down, demonetized, or just deleted.
Same.
MeWe
MeWe is one of the older of the new potential Facebook replacements. Some call it FB-lite. There is MUCH more freedom of speech on Mewe than on Facebook. You can still report someone for grossly violating Mewe’s standards. But you really REALLY have to work hard to get them involved. There are some real good prepper and survival pages there. We run 2 of them Pagan Preparedness and The Medic Shack
You have to sign up to view them, but I think MeWe is going to take off now that people are fleeing Facebook.
Gab
Gab is the true freedom of speech forum. If you feel like saying it there, go ahead and say it there.
That being said, I’ve been a member for a a couple of years. Never did much on it. The main reason? 90% of what I found on it about Asatru or Heathenry is the alt-right, Neo Nazi, hard-core separatist Folkish pages. If that is what some people are looking for, fine. It’s no skin off my nose. But, I say no thank you. I want nothing to do with that type of people.
I also did a little looking at the prepping and survival groups. One prepping group is pretty large and run pretty well. The largest survival group on the other hand is huge with some good info, but it has lot of politics. A lot of politics. And, a lot of religion. It doesn’t hurt to check out Gab. YMMV on how you like. I’m not its biggest fan. If I am not comfortable in a place, my networking ability goes right out the window.
Parler
Parler is the replacement for Twitter. I have an account on it. It is somewhat difficult to navigate but it gets easier with use, or so I’m told. I don’t use it a lot. The reviews I have heard about it is it is pro free speech, and it is starting to pick up steam with the exodus from FB and Twitter.
What about in person?
So yeah. What about in person? I’m totally serious. If you know of a way to get preppers to crawl out of their homes and meet people I’m here listening!
Let’s take something from my faith- Pub Moots. A pub moot is where we invite people who are interested in coming to a gathering. We “feel them out”, seeing if there is a chance of being compatible. By doing this in a public place, it protects your home from inviting a person in that may not have your best interests at heart.
Prepping and survival is dependent on networking. Well, that is how I see it. Lone-wolfing is fine for some. But, for the vast majority, it’s best to find others with similar interests. Skills that can be shared, taught, or even bartered. It helps to find people with similar religious beliefs. Or, perhaps better yet, people who value the outlandish thought of All Faiths Matter.
Don’t be looking for me on Facebook. My main account was deleted a couple of weeks ago. My Bjarni account is on suspension. That one I honestly do not know why it got banned. I keep that one squeaky clean. We’ll talk more next week.
Most folks that know me know that I am not Christain. I have had my faith for longer than most of my readers have been alive. The comments section of The Medic Shack is not a place to discuss Theology. Comments that fall in to that category will be deleted.
Chuck