Is the new interest in survival preparation due to a new awakening to the actual reality of the world's overall situation

OR

Is the new interest in survival preparation merely the latest new fashion?


I think that after the news articles that have covered the subject of food shortages and of the new revival of "survival" interests, many people have panicked. The panickers are trying to make sure that they have more of everything than anybody else and like many other oddities that have become status symbols, being ready to survive has, or is becoming, "Fashionable".

What's your opinions on this set of possibilities???