LOL and they even have a National Geographic special on them

[Raellus]

I think there's a preparedness continuum. It's smart to be prepared for plausible scenarios. It's never a bad idea to have some extra quantities of the basic survival necessities just in case. There's lots of bad things (depending somewhat on where you live) that could very likely happen someday- storms, earthquakes, wildfires, power outages, etc.

On the other hand, there are folks out there- the "doomsday preppers", if you will- who actually seem to be hoping for something disastrous to happen. These folks scare me a bit. They're prepping for things that will most likely never happen-zombies, U.N. takeover of the U.S., Mexican invasion, etc. They've lost touch with reality and that, IMHO, is very dangerous.

In some ways, they are like the various waves of millenial cultists who pop up before every new age. In a lot of cases, when the end doesn't come as planned, they take measures to make it happen.