Listen To This Article:

Why Do So Many Preppers Fear Technology is an inspiring and timely piece that brilliantly captures preppers’ resistance to innovation and technological advancements in the face of a tech-driven future that could very well cause the issue preppers fear the most—being unprepared.

We investigate why preppers fear technology, whether it’s justified, and how one can navigate the inevitable technological progress without submission and loss of Freedom, with an emphasis on integrating technology into our preparedness goals.

Technology is what sets humans apart from other animals. Are you prepared for the next steps?

Do preppers fear technology? I believe a lot of us do. Is it justified, or are we just being paranoid? Will we be left behind if we don’t embrace the inevitable? Let’s take a look at how we, as preppers, can embrace the modern future while maintaining our freedom and privacy. Well, to an extent…

A Few Questions We’ll Address:

• Why Do So Many Preppers Fear Technology?
• If preppers fear technology, are we doomed to live in the Stone Age?
• If preppers fear technology, will we be left behind, essentially creating the very environment we prep against?
• Is the prepper fear of technology based on common sense or just baseless rhetoric?
• Can we keep up with modern society while distancing ourselves from modern tech?

Let’s take a look at these questions and see where preppers stand when it comes to the future.

Technology has existed since humans first emerged from the cave to grab a club to protect themselves, feed themselves, or even fight one another. The club could be used for both good and bad.

Around 780,000 years ago, early humans in Israel cooked fish in a valley near the Dead Sea ^{. Fire is technology. That tech, among others, helped us advance to the top of the food chain. In fact, British primatologist Richard W. Wrangham believes that cooked food and eating meat may be the cause of two significant increases in human brain size .}

It’s a good thing those folks in the latter half of the Middle Pleistocene Period weren’t preppers. They’d be like, “I ain’t cooking my food; it’s a conspiracy. Fauci is trying to change our DNA.” Yes, Anthony Fauci was probably alive way back then.

Death Tech

Nothing has changed except our death tech’s size, scale, and accuracy. Eighty years ago, we (The United States) dropped the first atomic bomb (Little Boy) on an enemy of war (Hiroshima, Japan) on August 6, 1945. [What is the Manhattan Project?] ^{Death tech? Who wouldn’t be afraid?}

AI Tech

Recently, AI has been a huge topic of discussion among preppers—with good reason. Discussion is important, and understanding is critical. With the loss of jobs that AI is likely to cause, social unrest and civic unrest are highly likely ^.

Killing Bitcoin With Quantum Tech

Quantum Computing is the next big topic of prepper discussion. While it’s in the news a lot right now, it’s so confusing and hard to understand that it’s certainly going to become a source of concern for preppers. Right now, quantum computing seems to be an excuse to ignore Bitcoin.

Why invest in Bitcoin if quantum computing will be able to break the code one day?

Here’s a little talk I had with myself recently. It might help anyone else who is hesitating to move on Bitcoin because of their fear of quantum computing.

Deep inside my brain… 🤮

If preppers fear technology, are we doomed to live in the Stone Age?

Maybe not the Stone Age (even though many preppers might crave that), but certainly behind. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

If your neighbor is getting around in their autonomous car, suckling taxpayers’ teat while working on replacing jobs using the latest AI available, growing a garden, and having backyard chickens just seems smart. Am I right?

However, if you have the opportunity to purchase Bitcoin at around $100K, and you do, but refuse because you feel it’s just another method of government surveillance and control, where do you sit if it goes up to $1M a Bitcoin in a decade? You just let prepper fear stop your investment from a ten-fold increase (basic math) on any investment you might have applied.

In our lifetimes, we can come up with an unlimited supply of technological advancement examples that have benefited us—personally and as a society- e.g., virtual payment systems, card readers, wireless tech, cordless tools, blockchain technology, 3D printing, regenerative medicine, etc.

We can also think of many advancements that have negatively affected us. Got Big Tech? mRNA? Cell phone tracking? Synthetic fertilizers, Roundup, GMOs, Ultra-processed foods, fluoride in public water, etc.

The article continues after this support request.

If preppers fear technology, will we be left behind, essentially creating the very environment we prep against?

In my introduction, along with stroking my ego for the benefit of marketing, I said a Prepper’s Fear of Technology “could very well cause the issue preppers fear the most—being unprepared.”

If we only prepare for what can go wrong and ignore the possibility that the big SHTF event might never happen, it is as if we are planning to fail.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin

Is the prepper fear of technology based on common sense or just baseless rhetoric?

Let’s see. If preppers were concerned about government tracking via our smartphones, then confirmation of just that came in pretty hard on January 6th, 2021. Whether you feel Jan. 6th was a protest, an insurrection, a mob, a riot, an attack, a stand for fairness, or a peaceful walk in the park, one thing is certain—those folks should have left their phones at home.

At the same time, and I’m going to upset a few here, we heard more rhetoric about the COVID shot, some baseless, and others more legit than just about anything else in my lifetime.

While the truth often falls somewhere in the middle, common sense and their blatant lack of knowledge didn’t stop people from repeating nonsense. Worse, it didn’t stop otherwise intelligent people from believing the idiots.

To be fair, this was because we were being lied to by so-called experts ^{. Lied to, attacked, shamed, and censored. Lives were ruined, reputations destroyed, and people died.}

On the other hand, blatant stupidity was embraced by many people I know and actually like and respect.

Stupid crap like 5G was a government population control tool that the covid clot shot would trigger. In other words, if you got the shot, you are dead and unable to read this.

Never mind that our lack of population growth is the concern ^{, not the ’60s and ’70s overpopulation myth [The Population Bomb] that we would run out of food, water, and air by 2000.}

These nonsensical claims go far beyond cognitive biases, yet many were more than eager to buy into them, hook, line, and sinker. It’s tough to take anything those people have to say seriously ever again after watching that kind of stupid escape from their mouths.

Can we keep up with modern society while distancing ourselves from modern tech?

Here are just a few things we know as fact:

• State surveillance of its citizens is a real thing.
• Politics and the three-letter agencies can control the mainstream (legacy) media.
• Social media bias from the top clearly stifles free speech and discourse.
• Big business will bend a knee to governmental overreach and abuse in the name of profit.
• Most politicians are far more crooked than Uncle Cletus at the used car lot just outside of town. They’d rather see you die than lose a minute of the privileged class.

So What’s A Prepper To Do?

I’m so glad you asked. This is just my opinion, like everything I put online, but go ahead and distrust technology all you want. Fear Uncle Sugar all you want. Hide from Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant. Like Amazon, we know they are a huge invasion of our privacy. Social Media? Same. Online browsing? Email and video meetings? Same. Same.

Distrust and fear are fine if you have the knowledge and understanding to experience those feelings. That doesn’t mean a podcaster said something that makes sense, so it must be true. Do your research and form your own opinions. Otherwise, you’re just cattle.

Once you have the information to make an intelligent decision, you no longer need to fear technology. You can use it to your benefit or kick it to the curb.

Technology Can Be Our Friend:

1. Preppers use tech for efficient food production and preservation.
2. Technology aids in sustainable energy solutions for preppers’ needs.
3. Preppers rely on tech for communication during emergencies.
4. Technology enhances preppers’ knowledge through online resources (Like Next Step Survival).
5. Preppers utilize tech to monitor environmental conditions effectively.
6. Technology assists preppers in creating detailed survival plans.
7. Some preppers use tech for inventory and buying.
8. We use technology to watch over and protect our families and homes.
9. Preppers use data encryption tech to provide layers of security for sensitive information.
10. Preppers use apps and other online tools to provide real-time updates on weather conditions, emergency alerts, and local resources, enabling us to make informed decisions during crises.
11. Many preppers are using solar power for energy independence. Even the batteries are smart.

More about me… 🤗

I am a prepper. I have Amazon Echo Dots^[Aff] all over the house. I have one sitting right next to me as I write this piece. Am I outta my mind? Let’s see.

Alexa, how do you spell intragrating?

Integrating. Cool. I’ve even been saying it wrong.

Alexa, what’s 2025 takeaway 1945?

Cool, Hiroshima was Eighty years ago. Got it.

Is she? What if I only plug in the Echo Dot when I’m ready to write an article? What if I keep the mute (Red) button engaged until I want to ask Alexa something?

I’ve taken a privacy-intruding device and figured out how to benefit from it with a compromise I am willing to live with.

As you can see from the image above, my cell phone camera lenses are covered. Do I think my phone is looking at me? No, of course not. But Google might. Amazon might. A hacker might. So, I keep it covered until I need it.

Probably. Possibly. And certainly. Do the benefits outweigh the loss of privacy? What can I do to minimize that lack of privacy?

I could use a flip phone. It has to be at least 4G, or it won’t work on the networks. Are those safe? Are you sure? What if a tiny CIA spook is hiding behind the cover? You know, to see if I secretly like breakfast at night. I do, by the way.

On a personal level, I’m not overly concerned about my privacy. Obviously, I’m all over the net, publishing every silly thought that comes to my head, and there are no less than five cameras looking at me right now. And I’m the one who set them up.

Hold still. This won’t hurt. Much.

Here’s why. Again, this might leave a mark, so read carefully. I know my role. I don’t think the car across the street is NSA surveilling my house for the same reasons I don’t run around wearing a chest rig and level IV armor plates. Again, I know my role. Too many preppers fantasized so deeply about those fictional stories that they have cast themselves as a kind of Jason Bourne in their version of reality. /insults

Maybe you use Firefox and a decent VPN to surf the net. Maybe you use Proton Mail. Buy a De-Googled phone.

Maybe, if you have something sensitive or questionable, you use someone else’s computer. You know that family member who keeps adding you to group texts even though you’ve asked her to stop for years?

Yep…

Do that anytime you need to search how to break into a government database or something. 🤣 Hey Google, How do I build a booby trap in my backyard to prevent those neighbor kids from picking fruit from my pear trees? Yep, definitely use her computer for that.

Can We Use Modern Tech Against Itself?

Here’s an example I mentioned somewhere before—probably someone’s podcast.

As I mentioned, I have Echo Dots throughout my house. They stay off until we need them, except the one in my living room, where I have a smart plug connected to my Wi-Fi router. I also have indoor and outdoor cameras connected (both wifi and wired) throughout our home.

If I want privacy, such as when I’m talking bills with my wife or just watching TV, I say,

Alexa, turn off my redacted for security.

That turns off my Wi-Fi, including the Echo Dot, which just turned it’s own connection off. Granted, I have to get up to reset the plug when I want it back on, but it’s still fun.

Wrapping Up: Why Do So Many Preppers Fear Technology?

Modern self-sufficiency and preparedness don’t mean we must blindly accept technology. Still, in my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with putting tech to work for you when the benefit outweighs the hassle.

If you need a virtual assistant and can only afford an AI version, why not take advantage of the tool? Just learn and understand the risks. Do your research. Don’t rely on some random thing an idiot YouTuber said, or I said, or what the company taking your money says.

Research the right sources.

We can gain a bunch of insight from our prepper communities, but understand there will be a lot of, often very passionate, push against anything they don’t understand. Worse, what they believe they know but from the wrong sources.

Again, buying a chest rig doesn’t make you a combat veteran. If you have a question about fighting a war, maybe you ask a combat veteran, not the guy/gal who buys guns and assault gear because he wants to feel like he’s something he/she isn’t. Ladies, I know you can be combat veterans, too. 🙌 Respect!🫡

We are justified in our lack of trust.

We’ve gone through a decade of rapidly building dystopian-level government overreach. Not only has the government blatantly lied to us and used state surveillance on its own citizens at every level, it has attacked, prosecuted, and undermined honest people. They’ve squelched public opinion, censored truth, and restricted growth that didn’t benefit them or their agenda.

We are justified in our lack of trust. The same goes for the media—all of it: social, legacy, and alternative. Yes, I believe alternative news is becoming just as guilty of reporting based on an agenda rather than truth. And that’s a shame.

You can’t stop this train, and getting off sets you back.

That said, a healthy dose of distrust is highly recommended. Distrust, drop the fear, and take advantage where you see fit. You can’t stop this train, and getting off sets you back. As I mentioned, fear of tech could very well cause the issue preppers fear the most—being unprepared.

How can you know something is your enemy when you know nothing about it and don’t understand it?

How can you fight that which you don’t understand? Hiding isn’t fighting.

The challenge lies in striking a delicate balance between harnessing the advantages of tech and safeguarding personal privacy. Awareness of the (learned) risks associated with things like data collection and surveillance is crucial, prompting preppers to adopt practices that protect our information while still engaging with innovations.

Technology can empower preppers, allowing us to navigate modern life without sacrificing our core values of independence and self-reliance. This informed approach to technology won’t redefine our preparedness strategies, only help us remain resilient in an increasingly digital world.

In other words, embrace technological advancement, understand the vulnerabilities, NEVER RELY ON TECHNOLOGY, and don’t fear it. Live life and be happy.

I may sound like I’m all in on modern tech and think traditional ways of doing things are behind us. That’s not true at all. I believe in using traditional methods and low-tech solutions, prioritizing self-sufficiency and anonymity whenever feasible. I love the idea of minimizing our digital footprint while focusing on preparedness and resilience in an increasingly monitored society—just not at the risk of my future and that of my children and grandchildren.

Many preppers selectively embrace technology that enhances self-sufficiency, such as rechargeable power tools and smart devices, while prioritizing skills and practices that don’t depend on modern conveniences. This enables us to leverage technology for preparedness while maintaining a mindset focused on resilience and adaptability in potential emergencies.

I can conduct an online video meeting and cook a rabbit from a fire I built in the woods. One doesn’t cancel the other; if you’re creative, they often enhance one another.

Call To Action / Next Step

Next Step: Financial Preparedness Steps For 2025

Stay safe. Stay prepared.
Hawkins Out.

Footnotes, Credits, & CitationsCredit where credit is due. It’s just simple math: Thiers + Mine = Better. All trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. I do not claim ownership over any third-party content used.