In 2009, Maddox launched his YouTube channel, “The Prepared Homestead,” which now has over 32,000 subscribers.
People, he said, are waking up to the worsening reality of supply chain disruptions and food shortages, and rapid political and social changes that all point toward “a perfect storm” just ahead.
The COVID-19 lockdowns and empty store shelves served only to heighten popular sentiment that the “old normal” is gone, he said.
“When the pandemic struck we started seeing all this panic buying,” Maddox said.
“What’s really increased is the number of people that contact me. These are really personal emails. They’re not crazy extremists. These are single moms, elderly people, disabled people, regular working people. They’re realizing that things are changing. They can just feel things are changing rapidly,” he said.
“The riots [of 2020] were bad. The election was bad. Now what’s happening is the whole world is starting to change,” Maddox added.
Talk of a global political and economic “Great Reset” and vaccine passports have done little to diminish anxiety among the unvaccinated that society is about to turn its back on them. And so they and others prepare—with food, water, alternative power sources, survival gear, and plans to leave the city if possible for the relative safety of rural areas.
Now, he produces at least six videos a week, touching upon controversial topics such as forced vaccination, firearms confiscation, and “cultural secession”—living apart from the government and its “woke” culture—while using careful language to avoid the YouTube censors.
“A huge portion of our country is saying you’ve gone too far,” Maddox said.
“We’re seeing not just a rapid change in politics and policies and the economy, we’re seeing a rapid change in the heart and soul of America.”
While many individual preppers and prepper organizations try to remain anonymous, the number of people preparing appears to be growing. In the last year alone, roughly 45 percent of Americans, or about 116 million people, said they spent money preparing for hard times or spent money stockpiling survival goods, according to Finder.com.
Maddox, however, said there’s a big difference between prepping and “hoarding.”
“Prepping is something most people did all the time” in bygone years.
“Our grandparents were preppers. I suspect if things continue to worsen preppers will be made to be the bad guys,” he said.
Keith Bansemer, president of My Patriot Supply in Salt Lake City, said his business has grown exponentially amid widespread fear of a return to COVID-19 lockdowns, empty store shelves, and forced vaccinations that will limit personal freedoms.
“For those that choose not to be vaccinated, the fear is that it’s going to restrict their access to certain things,” Bansemer told The Epoch Times.
In a word—food.
“Since mid-July, we have seen a six-fold increase in orders and are shipping several thousand orders daily from our centers in Utah, Missouri, and Ohio,” Bansemer said.
“Americans are quietly preparing.”
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