Preppers are not preparing for their fears: they are preparing for their fantasies. The collapse of civilization means a return to modes of masculinity our culture no longer has much use for, to a world in which a man who can build a toilet from scratch—or protect his wife and children from intruders using a crossbow, or field dress a deer—is quickly promoted to a new elite. The apocalypse, whatever form it takes, will mean misery and death for most human beings, but for the prepared, it will mean a return to first principles, to a world in which men are men. Especially if they are white.
