Bug Out Bag: The Commodification of American Fear
“Bug Out Bag dissolves the space between us and them, it addresses the flux between the individual and the collective, and it presages massive events that may unite or divide us. We needn’t wait to find out though. We can start the work of existing together now. Surviving catastrophe is about food caches and back-up generator power, but it is more about people power. Your survival depends less on what is in your bag and more on what is in your heart.” -Pete Brook
Bug Out Bags are manifestations of the fears and obsessions of the 21st Century American. The Bug Out Bag is the most basic piece of gear for disaster preparedness and it contains the essentials needed to sustain life for 72 hours, or to possibly begin a new civilization. Each bag becomes a portrait of its owner, showing us their needs and fears in the face of environmental and geopolitical changes. Most preppers are community minded but some are fiercely independent. Independence is a fundamental principle when describing the American character. We praise the self reliant man and credit him for the shining city upon the hill, but America has changed and our fears are running rampant. The new self-reliant American no longer experiences transcendence in nature as Thoreau once did, but instead, escapes to nature in an effort to hoard and protect property. Prepping has become a capitalist enterprise, banking on our fears and desires for stability.
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