Really interesting article, thanks for posting the link. The increase in Red Cross volunteers is a positive trend:

"Emergency-supply retailers say they're seeing business boom; the Red Cross has had a surge in volunteers over the past year (up some 160,000 over 2008)

"Some preppers fear the complete breakdown of society, while others simply want to stock up on extra granola bars and lighter fluid in case of a blackout or a storm.

"We want people to understand that preparedness is an individual's job, too,' says Joseph Bruno, New York City’s commissioner of emergency management, where polling has shown that more than 50 percent of residents are thinking about preparedness—up from just 18 percent in 2004."


The economy's meltdown surely accounts for a lot of this. It's scary to see the macro spiral downward seemingly out of control, and comforting to control what you can about your individual situation through preparedness.

I'm thinking of writing a tome:

The Prepper Handbook