Hoarding vs. Prepping: What is the difference?

Necessarily preparedness involves stockpiling few extra food cans at least and for several individuals that extends into MREs cases, medical supplies, and water barrels as well. To others however these stockpiles won’t be mere insurance for rainy day instead a sign on selfishness or compulsive hoarding.

Let us examine differences between negative hoarding and positive hoarding so as to see where the line really is drawn.

What is hoarding?

There are 2 main definitions for hoarding in survival and prepping sphere: neurotically or compulsively gathering items of different kinds. Individuals would call the preppers hoarders as they literally gather months of water, food, and various other supplies when general individual only keeps stuff on hand worth for few weeks. For them, gathering all such supplies is just one step above TV show-styled hoarders having piles of garbage that is not just worthless but also cluttering their home owing to compulsion of not throwing away dead animals or even dirty paper plates. Supplies preparation purely for advantage for individuals, their family, and those they choose assisting. It is where government can at times show involvements, and it was done so in past during disasters.

Individuals investing money, and time for gathering supplies as some kind of insurance against disaster are vilified to hold onto more than one week or more worth of supplies rather than donating it to common causes of community. For many, there is a thought that sitting on riches while others are starving is highly terrible even when riches can hardly support twenty individuals for one week. But are these claims having any sort of real validity?

Are several preppers compulsive hoarders wasting money on useless goods stockpiling in preparation for disaster that will not arrive? In case if supplies are required, is it much vital to invest money and time supporting community as entire instead of just stocking up all goods for oneself?

 Let us examine all these and see where actually the truth lies.

Compulsive hoarding- at first there shouldn’t be any doubt that these things compulsive hoarding existing truly. Definitely individuals are there in America that are living squalor and filth, not able to even hold job or leave safely their home owing to bulk of garbage they insist keeping on. And prepper isn’t any more immune to mental imbalance than average Joe of yours is, hence it is something that definitely you’d want watch out for.

However, just keeping water, food, and vital supplies is not enough indicative of the mental disturbance. Prior to Industrial Era, prepping was known better as Life, and maximum products keeping well such as bacon, mayonnaise, and even ketchup were designed keeping in mind long-term food storage. Typically, true hoarding involves keeping the worthless junk around for few undetermined needs existing just in head of the person, while prepping food stocks are rather kept common as well as truly real issues that can arise such as tornadoes or hurricanes.

 Selfish hoarding

 Sad truth related to food hoarding paranoia.

It is an issue of primary contention with several who invest money and time for preparing for disasters just to see their needs climbing out of woodwork with their hands out. How many of the preppers have come across old joke saying Oh no man I don’t prep, but if things go bad I know which house to head for! Very sad truth is that till one happens being Bill Gates, odds of prepper being capable of feeding more than 1 or 2 extra mouths for week or more is absolutely low. Speaking frankly, even if one happens to be Gates, why will other possessing both money and time for preparing but squandering it suddenly would be entitled towards someone else’s supplies?

Clearly, part of reason I am preparing is so that I am not the yet another mouth for feeding and in case if its possible helping caring for others but as I only choose! Still, both who lack as well as government that is serving them historically view all with stockpiles as enemy till every scrap has been doled out for common good. In reality, such mindset creates unwise and terrible dependency on part of the non-preppers as well as drives even those who would be in better situation for restoring order for hiding their wealth of supplies, knowledge, and food.

Instead of giving those who are preparing platform for helping in sharing and rebuilding their skills, sheer vicious of anti-hoarder chants would make them antagonistic extremely as compared to those who won’t prepare. On non-prepping side, mentality also works as roadblock for correct thinking, providing them way for justifying both not preparing prior and still properly being fed after the truth. Having all this said, one reasonable kind of hoarding is there that could be ascribed to post-disaster situation: living off of public dole as well as simply sitting on private stocks.

Those who are having supplies but insist still on taking meagre leavings given to people who are not having accusation of hoarder will turn much more justifiable. Until part of their stock goes into meals, they should either be living off of dole or living off of their own stocks, not both of them.