Trust – A Misunderstood Concept Among Preppers

Paranoid Prepper recently wrote the article PrepperNomics 107: A Look At Mutual Assistance Groups (MAG) Contracts. A reader mentioned that the hard part is to figure out who to trust if your MAG is not family based.

Trust

Trust is probably the most often cited concern surrounding the concept of MAGs or prepper communities.  I want to thank Osage for the inspiration for this article because it is the perfect time to explain why I believe the issue of trust is not particularly relevant as it relates to MAGs or prepper communities.

A few years ago, I purchased a new home for my growing family. Applying what I will call Prepper Paranoia, you would think that before purchasing my home that I would have to study the neighborhood in great detail. I would need to meet all the other families that live in the neighborhood. I would also want to extensively interview all of them to make sure we were a good fit, shared some core beliefs and had one or more complimentary skills.

Do you think I did any of that?

Nope.

I can guarantee that nobody goes through the painstaking interview process hypothesized as necessary by most preppers. As a matter of fact, doing such a thing would probably get you flagged as attempting to circumvent or violate one or more federal fair housing regulations.

For my new home, I was looking for at least a three bedroom, two bath single family residence. I wanted it to be as close to fashionable, far-north Dallas as possible. I wanted to be in a neighborhood that had no evidence of overcrowding. I wanted it to be somewhat private. I wanted a rear-entry garage. I wanted a swimming pool. I also wanted it to have mature trees. I found just such a home in a great neighborhood.

Subdivisions

Homebuilders build homes that are generally similar in the same subdivision. Therefore, it is safe to assume that most of the people in the neighborhood share some of the same qualifications that I have in order to live in the neighborhood.

In other words, they are solidly middle class, have pretty decent jobs, drive pretty decent cars and have enough stuff that they don’t covet my stuff. This is Adam Smith’s invisible hand at work. I didn’t have to interview anyone. I didn’t have to meet anyone. I didn’t even need to see anyone in my neighborhood to feel comfortable and safe.

It is always better to be in a situation where you know and trust your neighbors. I’ve gotten to know mine, and I trust them to the extent that they can come over to visit and vice versa, but I darn sure don’t go into their house without permission. I don’t know why it would be any different among preppers.

Let’s assume I assembled a group of preppers and we purchased a tract of land in the country where each family could build a cabin or just stash some stuff in a shipping container. What am I going to have? Some guns and ammunition, a couple of years of food, some tools, a power supply, maybe some fuel and maybe a vehicle.

Guess what the other preppers in the neighborhood will have? Probably 75% of generally the same stuff. Why should I be concerned about them? Why should they be concerned about me?

Conclusion

Ladies and gentlemen, I find preppers to be among the best people in the world. We are kind, thoughtful, caring, deliberate, helpful and resourceful. You could never have a better group of neighbors. I would be willing to let them move into my neighborhood (MAG or prepper community) even without meeting them as long as they agreed to the rules.

Likewise, I would like to think that they would feel the same about me. As for rules, let’s just make it simple and post a copy of the Ten Commandments and call it a day 🙂

I have presented my evidence why trust should not be considered a factor among preppers any more than it should be a factor among homebuyers. If you live in a good community, the community is good because the people are good. In a SHTF situation, whom do you want to be around and whom do you want to be around you? That’s right – other preppers!