In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, headlines read "Nancy Lanza was a prepper."
As is often the case when something tragic happens the media looks for quick and easy answers in search of a cause. Many people were trying to come to terms with what exactly the headline was trying to say.
Blogs all across the United States were tying together Nancy Lanza and Doomsday Preppers, all linking back to numerous articles by British tabloid the Daily Mail.
A search on articles about preppers in the Daily Mail over the last year turns up dozens of articles on the topic, and several variations of the story connecting Nancy Lanza, Mother of Sandy Hook school gunman Adam Lanza, to the prepper community.
Online forums across the internet were quick to jump on the articles slant trying to understand the concept of a "Doomsday Prepper" using terms like sociopath and nut job to explain their idea of why someone would own multiple guns.
The term "Doomsday Preppers movement" was used by the publications to paint a picture of the United States as a country raging with paranoia preparing for the apocalypse.
It has been said many times that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Hopefully by drawing attention to the term prepper more people have tried to understand the concepts and philosophies of preparedness rather than just using it as another term to stereotype someone they don't understand.
As we all look for answers to the complex problems of our world, let us use this lesson to look beyond stereotypes and reflect on understanding "what is a prepper?"
Look below to the links under "suggested by the author" for more information on being a prepper.
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If you want to chat, interact, and share a few ideas along the way, look for Tom Peracchio on the net ... @Gu42 on Twitter , Guru42 on Google+ or Guru42 on Facebook.
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