Prepared: A Manual for Surviving Worst-Case Scenarios

In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread disruption across the world. Although the immediate mass-scale health dangers of the virus were largely alleviated by 2022, the consequences of the pandemic and associated measures are long-lasting. In the USA, as across the world, the pandemic resulted in a substantial loss of life, long-term health implications, and significant broader economic and social effects.

By the time of Prepared’s publication in 2023, the COVID-19 pandemic had raised and exacerbated many cultural anxieties in the United States. Chief among them were worries about US dependence on foreign goods and resources for survival, reliance on complex supply chains for essential goods, and the problems of crumbling infrastructure and increasing political extremism as exacerbating factors for poor public health. In many cases, the pandemic and disputes around appropriate measures led to increased polarization, especially in relation to healthcare provision, the nature and role of the state in times of crisis, the balance between individual freedoms and community protection, and social inequalities. The inability of existing infrastructures to protect communities completely against an unprecedented health crisis led many people across the political spectrum to lose faith in these structures.

This loss of faith caused increasing numbers of Americans to seek alternative ways to make themselves feel safe and secure. Already extant movements for survivalism and “doomsday prepping” gained momentum, taking the pandemic as a sign that their efforts to promote off-the-grid methods of survival were justified. The experience of the pandemic has had lasting effects on the way people live, with many choosing to enhance personal safety measures, limit personal contact outside their household, and heighten responses to threats and risks.

Some extremist movements rose to capitalize on social dysfunction, using the tropes of survivalist movements to promote extreme philosophies. Survivalism often rejects the normative structures of American society and, at its most extreme, shades into an anarchic disregard for the law, civic peace, and the rights of others. Many right-wing, neo-conservative, and alt-right groups gained exposure and influence based on the idea that “traditional” values, often linked to “traditional” skillsets promoted by survivalism, offered a solution to the current “problems” of modern life. In the context of these politically motivated groups, “traditional” values tended toward racist, anti-gay, and misogynist philosophies, leading to violence against vulnerable and marginalized groups in the US. Protest against this discrimination and violence were used to further vilify marginalized groups and justify increased victimization. Though not all survivalist and doomsday prepper groups officially espouse extremist thinking, they often attract and sometimes foster extremists in their ranks. In the late 2010s to 2020, Glover’s organization American Contingency was the subject of investigation and surveillance by the FBI for domestic violent extremism.

When dealing with survivalist literature, it is important to acknowledge the validity of concerns about societal structures and the rights of the individual to choose their own way of life. It is equally important to acknowledge the affinity many survivalist movements have with domestic violent extremism and to read with a critical perspective based on that knowledge.