Current people with AR-15 rifles preparing for a social collapse

People preparing For “the worst” It has long existed. The followers of this movement are call preppersand as the name implies, they are ready for the end of the world not to catch them off guard. The movement has been mutating slightly over time, there are even levels according to the wallet, since millionaires also want keep on your luxuries even in a bunker. The latest: geopolitical drift and natural catastrophes have their own survival team: the “prepared or professional citizens”.

The citizen ready. As we said, in an era defined by global uncertainty (wars, pandemics and extreme climatic phenomena) a new figure has emerged in the United States: the so -called “Citizen prepared”a more structured and socially accepted kind of evolution of the traditional prepper. This current, in the marginal past, has become an increasingly visible movement, made up of civilians without paramilitary affiliations that train with the same seriousness as elite units. I told it in a report The New York Times through a scene that served as an example of the movement.

In a Florida forest, ten men, including pilots, a nurse and an executive, participated in a class called Full Consender Minutemanwhere they were instructed in military techniques under the guardianship of the veteran of the Christopher Eric Roscher Air Force, who between Christian prayers and shooting practices with an AR-15, prepared them to face What he calls “The worst day of their lives.” This constant alert attitude against a possible social, economic or military crisis is no longer exclusive to conspiracy or bunker survival; Now it includes professionals, parents and common citizens seeking self -defense, tactical efficiency and community.

Civil training industry. The rise of “prepared citizen” has generated a growing business and cultural ecosystem. Companies Like Barrel & Hatchet Trade Groupfounded by Roscher and his partner Tyler Burke, offer from combat training to programs on mental resilience against disasters. Your digital presence (through of YouTube, Instagram, podcast And even Online store) amplifies its scope. In parallel, creators such as Ben Spangler, former army and founder of @TacticalforgeThey popularize patrol techniques and ambush in social networks, attracting an audience that does not seek to militarize, but to understand defensive tactics.

Its clientele, mostly civil and without experience in combat, consumes manuals of military instruction, buy compromise and topographic maps, and train as a team as part of a self -managed community. Here it is not about undercover militias, but about tactical knowledge networks, organized by affinity and purpose, which reflect a demilitarization of military knowledge and its transfer to the domestic sphere.

Diverse expanding movement. Although many of these initiatives are born from fear of an institutional collapse or urban violence, not all are oriented towards armed self -defense in a strict sense. In this regard, there are organizations Like Protect Peacefounded by Danielle L. Campbell after the death of his assistant in a shooting in 2017, which represents a more community version of the prepared citizen.

Your approach Combine training With weapons, first aid training and distribution of Naloxone in vulnerable areas, in addition to promoting radio amateur licenses to maintain communications in case of emergencies. Your mission is not to prepare to repel an invasion or resist an oppressive government, but Weave local support networks Given everyday violence. Yes, you want also, far from the apocalyptic narrativeits proposal is pragmatic and social: building community from preparation, not from isolation.

Organized cooperation. The Times told In his report that what distinguishes the citizen prepared from the average owner of weapons is not arsenal, but the mentality and the sense of belonging. It is no longer just about having a rifle, but about knowing Use it with disciplinecoordinate in groups, identify risks and plan answers. The medium consisted of examples such as that of Josh EppertVice President of a construction company in Tampa, who joined the training of Barrel & Hatchet during the pandemic, not by paranoia, but by practical conviction: if he has weapons, he wants to dominate them with responsibility.

Seen this way, this new profile does not aspire to become a kind of Rambo nor to fight ideological wars, but to face natural disasters or social disturbances with a minimum of competition and, perhaps, temperance. In a country where possession of weapons It has historically been a symbol of individualism, this new wave prioritizes collective learning and shared strategy.

A cultural response. For the environment, the boom of the citizen prepared must be understood as a cultural response to the GUARANTEES GROUP institutional in the United States. Faced with the perception of a state unable to protect its citizens (either in front of hurricanes, pandemics, urban violence or geopolitical instability), a kind of organized self -sufficiency logic emerges that converts uncertainty into motivation.

Tactical training, medical knowledge, communication practices and the cultivation of community ties are seen as insurance before a volatile future, and what was previously marginal has become more visible. Under that prism, the prepared citizen It no longer seems like a lonely with provisions in the basement, but an active member of a growing network that trains, reflects and acts, although not to unleash chaos, but to survive him.

Image | 7th Army Juint Multinational Training Command

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