Im a doomsday prepper and heres how you could survive nuke disaster as Ukraine-Russia tensions threaten W… – The US Sun

A FORMER White House advisor-turned-doomsday prepper has shared tips on how to survive a nuclear disaster or any other world-ending event amid fears that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could spark WW3.

John Ramey, the founder of the popular how-to prepping website The Prepared, is urging Americans to start thinking rationally about the idea that, at any moment, society as we know it could completely collapse.

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Such a societal implosion could be caused by nuclear war, a catastrophic natural disaster, or even through the proliferation of AI technology, Ramey warned in an interview with The Sun, insisting that there's no time like the present to start planning for the end of the world.

"Not only are the threats [against our civilization] changing, but they're converging in a way our world has never faced before," he said.

"So on top of all the historically-normal stuff like wars, natural disasters, car accidents, and inequality, we're now dealing with a dying planet and machines that can sincerely replace humans."

Ramey, who was an innovation adviser to the Obama White House, said he has been a prepper for the majority of his adult life, citing 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina as "early impactful events" on his beliefs.

But the longtime Silicon Valley entrepreneur said for a number of years he was reluctant to out himself as such because of the stigmas and stereotypes surrounding the survivalist movement.

In years gone by, preppers have been routinely stereotyped as paranoid, gun-toting, right-wing older white men but in recent times prepping has become increasingly more mainstream, appealing to people from all walks of life.

For instance, in 2013, around 3.7 million Americans self-identified themselves as survivalists. Fast forward to 2021, and that number is estimated to be as high as anywhere between 10-20 million.

Ramey has also experienced the apparent surge in interest firsthand. Since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020, his website The Prepared, which he set up in 2018, has seen a 25x growth.

Explaining the apparent boom in interest, Ramey said: "It's tipped into the mainstream because enough 'normal' people have seen what the world is like, such as going through Trumpism, ever-worsening natural disasters, coronavirus and all the problems from climate change - and all of the other data points show we're headed in bad directions.

"All of these fears are rational. And the reward for prepping is proven," he added.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of pain - so it's naturally going to spread."

Ramey, who identifies himself as one of the first outed preppers in Silicone Valley, said he thought it was important to put himself "out there" because "it felt like there was a wall that needed to be broken through" in the public's perception of preppers.

"So many people like me have been prepping for a long time but felt the need to be closeted about it," he said.

"It didn't take long after people like me spoke up for those walls to come down."

Prepping certainly isn't a new phenomenon and its origins can be traced back as far as the 1930s in the UK and the United States, where perceived threats included government policies during the Great Depression, threats of nuclear warfare after World War II, and fears of imminent social and economic collapse.

Early members of the survivalist movement pointed to the Great Depression and the stock market crash of 1929 as examples of the need to be prepared for anything.

Several decades on, the threats facing our society may have changed but they remain equally as, if not more pressing, according to Ramey.

When asked what he believes the most likely cause of a societal collapse would be in the modern age, Ramey said it would likely be a combination of "the climate crisis causing things like mass migration, regional economic collapse, and fighting over scarce resources, combined with mass economic inequality and the failure of institutions (eg. democracy) leading to a conflict created by Russia, China, and other adversaries.

"Maybe you sprinkle a pandemic on top of that, too," he added.

Contrary to the stereotypes surrounding the survivalist movement, Ramey said he isn't preparing for a zombie apocalypse and has no plans to hide in a bunker beneath the ground in the event of a nuclear event.

The former tech CEO said he, and other modern preppers like him, "don't focus on scenarios that aren't worth living in, to begin with."

"No one wants to be the last person on earth, down in their bunker patting themselves on the back," he said.

"Instead, we think the world is going to get much harder in the next few decades than it was in the last few. So the question is, 'How do we come out of it?'"

To begin preparing for a disaster, Ramey urges any prospective preppers to "ignore the extreme stuff like nuclear bunkers" and start small, focusing on what their biggest risks are, which for most people, he says, is personal health and finances.

"Once those bases are covered, such as an emergency fund with three months worth of expenses, you must look to ensure you're able to survive in your home without any outside utilities or help for at least two weeks."

From there, Ramey suggests building a "bug-out bag" - a bag packed with survival supplies such as food, water, medications, radios, and flashlights - in the event of an emergency that requires rapid evacuation.

Ramey says all responsible members of society should begin prepping in some capacity, likening preparing for an emergency to buying homeowner's insurance or car insurance.

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Where many Americans buy home insurance in the event their home is burned down in a fire, or buy car insurance in the event of a crash, Ramey says the same logic should be applied to preparing for potential catastrophes, likening do so to keeping a "rainy day fund."

Dr. Alex Bitterman, an architecture professor at Alfred State College in New York who studies how extreme events impact communities, agrees.

"There are two things that are very important, he told Downtown Magazine last year. The Boy Scouts of America, their motto was always 'Be prepared.' They've been teaching young people to be prepared for anything.

"That's a very resonant piece of our culture. Prepping is part of being an American part of being able to provide for ourselves. We take great pride in being a self-sustaining nation."

Bitterman added: "The other thing, as we magnify the more extreme events from terrorism to hurricanes to wildfires to storms and flooding, snowstorms, and extreme heat and cold, the way we build in this country is for a very stable climate not for these massive fluxes."

Essentially, what Ramey and Bitterman are saying is that individuals must prepare themselves for emergencies, particularly natural disasters, as the systems in place to protect society are ultimately ill-equipped to do so on a large scale.

According to Ramey, prepping is about "flattening the curve", meaning the more self-reliant an individual can become, the less likely they are to seek help, such as treatment in a hospital, and therefore the more the system will be able to cope with.

He shares a wealth of survival tips and reviews of survivalist products on The Prepared for "rational preppers" - or people who like to like to calculate risk and see prepping as a bit of a game.

Explaining the website's mission, Ramey said: "The Prepared teaches people how to get ready for life's inevitable disruptions, whether it's a car accident or job loss to bigger events like disasters and pandemics.

"We research and review gear, and write guides to walk you through prepping and learn skills like first aid. It's also the largest community of mainstream preppers people from all walks of life working on building the community and knowledge base, rather than bickering about culture-war junk."

Ramey's call to action comes as an aggressive show of Russian force on the eastern border of Ukraine has sparked concern among western nations in recent weeks that an invasion may be imminent - potentially leading to a multi-nation conflict.

Russia has already massed around 100,000 troops near Ukraine and the State Department ordered the families of all personnel at the US embassy in Kyiv to leave the country.

The USS Harry S. Truman is now under Nato's control for the first time since the end of the Cold War, while around 8,500 US forces have been put on "heightened preparedness" as tensions escalate.

Isabel Sawkins, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, thinks any potential conflict in Eastern Europe would not be confined to its borders.

She told The Sun: The crisis has the potential to extend its tentacles into all corners of the globe.

Sawkins warned thatChinesepresident Xi will be watching the Ukrainian crisis unfold.

The expert added: If Russia invades Ukraine, Xi will be emboldened to invade Taiwan. The idea of being part of one nation is similar Russia and Ukraine, and China andTaiwan.

Reports say that the US could send up to 50,000 troops to Eastern Europe if theUkrainiancrisis continues to deteriorate.

But, Biden is apparently reluctant to deploy forces to Ukraine as he doesnt want to enter into another conflict months following the Afghanistan crisis, according to theNew York Times.

The White House has yet to make a decision about whether to deploy forces to Ukraine.

Sawkins believes this week is crucial as the crisis continues to heat up, with Washington expected to issue a response to Moscow's aggression in days.

She called on the West to present a united front, urging nations must make it clear that Russia has to back down.

She said: There is no united effort.Putinknows that hes managed to dig these sorts of crevasses to basically isolate certain parts of the West."

Sawkins warned that if the West cannot unite over its strategy then aRussian invasion is inevitable.

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Im a doomsday prepper and heres how you could survive nuke disaster as Ukraine-Russia tensions threaten W... - The US Sun