Young Americans preparing for societal collapse after 2024 election

Typically, preppers are individuals who proactively prepare to survive emergencies, such as natural disasters, without government assistance.

But some preppers are more worried about a political disaster than a natural one.

A small group of survivalists is concerned that the 2024 presidential election could cause society to “collapse” if the government is run by former president Donald Trump.

Brekke Wagoner, 39, is one of a growing number of people on both political sides who are preparing for the possibility of a collapse of society following the election in 2024.

Wagoner said to USA Today: “In the face of an apocalypse, I want to come out and calmly help people. I want to be able to create a society that instead of wanting to shoot every stranger, understands our interdependence and creates a better society.”

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Wagoner and other preppers fear widespread looting sparked by election hatred and anger, so they’re preparing for the worst.

In the past year, 39 percent of Millennials and 40 percent of Gen Z have reported spending money on prepping, according to Finder.com.

The survey also found that overall, almost 30 percent of Americans reported taking some steps toward emergency preparedness last year - a rise from about 25 percent in 2017.

Prepping expert and author Brad Garrett said to USA Today: “On the left, you have people afraid (Trump’s) going to declare himself dictator of the United States and people on the left are going to end up as targets in some sort of authoritarian system.

“On the right, it’s general malaise and fear of society unraveling. They point to these smash-and-grab robberies, riots, and protests.”

Chad Huddleston, a professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, said that a perceived failure of government is almost always the trigger for people to begin prepping, especially as more younger, liberal people lose trust in the government.

Huddleston said: “That’s the impetus for all the preppers I’ve ever dealt with…they saw something and felt the government could not or would not help.”

He also said the number of people purposely preparing for a crisis from another Trump-Biden election is growing.

Huddleston said: “On one side, people think Trump may bring a New World Order and ‘they’ will come and get us, so we need to be ready.

“And then on the other hand you have the communities who think things will get just worse so we have to help ourselves.”

Prepping seems to reflect Americans’ concerns about the future.

A recent USA Today/Suffolk University poll found that 67 percent of Americans think the country is either facing big problems or in the most trouble it’s ever been in.

Some more extreme preppers have even said the election could cause a full-blown war.

Retired US Air Force Col. Drew Miller, who is preparing for a full societal collapse, said: “There could easily be a civil war during a Biden-Trump election.”

Miller referenced the violent 2020 clashes in Portland between federal agents dispatched by Trump against Black Lives Matter protesters, who shot fireworks at some of the officers.

No matter what happens, one thing seems certain: America is prepared.

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