Being a communitarian prepper means taking proactive measures to prepare for emergencies while considering the well-being of your community. It goes beyond individual survivalism and embraces the idea of supporting and assisting our neighbors during challenging times. ( by Wes Fryer)
"Prepare in peace, prevail in peril." *
My #CommPrep Videos
Tips on Home Emergency Water Storage
August 2024 (11 min)
July 2024 (9.5 min)
Prepper Wisdom: Buy a Little Canned Food Weekly
May 2024 (2 min)
Fuel Up Preppers: How to Safeguard Your Gas Supply Amid Global Uncertainties
November 2023 (4.5 min)
3 Ways to Purify Backcountry Water
June 2023 (12.5 min)
Water Filtration and Purification Options
May 2023 (4 min)
Emergency Backup Generator Test: FIrman WHO3243
June 2023 (16.5 min)
Find Ethanol-Free Gas for your Generator
May 2023 (2.5 min)
Background
This website is a place where I (Wesley Fryer of Charlotte, North Carolina) share ideas, resources, and reflections on being and becoming a "Communitarian Prepper."
I have a "slow hunch" we are living in a season of life and history in which we are called to become "Communitarian Preppers." While many (or most) preppers "incline toward individualism and competition," I believe we are called (for both practical and faith-based reasons) to prepare for emergencies and even catastrophes so that we can not only take care of our own families, but also help take care of our neighbors. For me, this is the essence of being a "communitarian prepper:" Building strong relationships among our neighbors and in our own community, and developing both our resource base and skill sets, so that we can better weather and survive the storms of life together through all the forms they might take.
We need to prepare to take care of ourselves, take care of our families, and take care of each other. (I wrote a bit more about this on our family learning blog.)
““Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.””
Wakelet Prepper Links
I use the website Wakelet to collect links about a variety of topics, including Emergency Preparedness.
These links address a variety of topics relating to prepping.
Power Grid and Water Interruptions
Over 38,000 residents of Asheville, North Carolina lost municipal water service because of cold weather around Christmas this year. Some were still without clean water after the New Year. Are you ready for a residential water service interruption? I shared a post on our family learning blog with some ideas & reflections on January 2, 2023: "Residential Water Interruption: Are You Ready?"
A Wakelet of collected resources about power grid attacks in North Carolina (in Dec 2022) and elsewhere.
Ham Radio Resources
Online Safety Resources
Webinar Recording (63 min)
Also available as an audio-only podcast on the Anchor channel, "Class with Doctor Fryer." Ask your Amazon Alexa or Google Home Smart speaker to "Play the latest episode of Class with Doctor Fryer" to listen to it!
Other Videos (by different folks)
With a title like, "What Kind of American Are You? | Morality & Civil War" you might think this is yet another civil war / zombie apocalypse is coming pro-gun video.
Wrong.
This video makes a detailed and persuasive case about why security IS important, but security / firearms is NOT where any of us should be spending the bulk of our money as well as energy / attention when it comes to prepping / emergency preparation. Video comments are generally very good too.
Highly recommended.
This is the comment I left for Chris, who is the author of the “City Prepping” YouTube channel. I wrote this on his video, “222 Days Left.”
Hey Chris, I am a current middle school teacher in North Carolina and an Air Force veteran. I think this is your best video yet. I absolutely agree we need to find tangible ways to build positive relationships with our neighbors, reduce the polarizing rhetoric in our lives by carefully choosing our news and information sources, and seek to restore the shared values we have historically placed on compromise andmultiparty political rule.
I have also lived in Mexico and traveled fairly widely, and hold those resulting perspectives close when I consider all the things we stand to lose if we allow our nation to be split apart by polarizing voices and forces.
Since 2019, I have been engaged in a media literacy inquiry project called, “Conspiracies and Culture Wars.” I actually just taught a six week course through the University of Rhode Island for adults on this topic, and I have to admit, “the dangers of despair and nihilism” are very real when we dive deeply into these topics.
medialiteracy.wesfryer.com/concw/teaching-the-conspiracies-2024
However, I have been moved to start a related project called, “Heal Our Culture,” and this is exactly what I think you are talking about people doing in their own lives in this video. We need to find ways to amplify those who are “healing our culture” and building bridges, metaphorically, rather than serving as polarizing “cultural warriors.” In fact, that is the theme of the project, “cultural healers, not cultural warriors.”
Thank you for not only the messages you share, but the thoughtful, deliberate, and coolheaded way in which you share them. I pray God‘s blessings upon you and your family, and your continued advocacy for the important historic shared values of our United States of America.
Sincerely,
Wes Fryer
Charlotte, North Carolina
Related Projects
My media literacy inquiry project, "Conspiracies and Culture Wars," started in 2019. My research, reflections on and work on that project inspired and encouraged me to start both this Communitarian Prepper project as well as the project, "Heal Our Culture."
It's rather easy to fill our minds with depressing and pessimistic news about our world and our shared trajactory as a society. Maintaining hope and optimism amdist bad news headlines is essential.
* The phrase "Prepare in peace, prevail in peril" came from a conversation I had with ChatGPT4 on 2 November 2023. Check out the archive of our chat.
** While this "Communitarian Prepper" project is secular in nature and not explicitly Christian or religious, my own beliefs and theology definitely shape my desire to serve others as well as my family and give this project its focus on community. More information is available about my theology and different Christian projects I'm working on / have worked on in the past.