The Cold War and Today’s Preppers

atomicbomb1957

 

The social and cultural phenomena of “prepping” for the eventuality of a catastrophic event in the United States has its roots in the “Cold War” in the 1950’s.

In the 1950’s  just as today, American information experts are faced with the realities of engaging the American public in a nationalistic purpose to promote our democratic freedom and economic prosperity in the face of gender inequality, economic disparity, and racial segregation. The challenge then: how could the propagandists rally the country in spite of those glaring injustices?

Please note, those schoolbombdrill1957
propagandists were not cynical strategists, but believed strongly in the virtue of their cause and of the struggle against the Soviet Union.

So a narrative was built that trumpeted the accomplishments of democratic capitalism, downplayed domestic problems, and justified the U.S. actions in the “Cold War.”   Furthermore, they presented an idealized vision of the United States as having a necessary role in combating the greater danger of Soviet communism. It was implied by the government strategists through a narrative to the American people that our country was destined to save the world from the evils of communism..

Furthermore, in the 1950’s the fear of a nuclear war and the effects of nuclear fallout was fresh in the minds of America’s in the aftermath of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in August of 1945. School children were drilled religiously as they marched to air raid shelters and were told to take cover for their lives.  People built home-made versions of shelters as the paranoia of a Soviet nuclear attack swept the country.  Nike  sites were built and manned in and around major cities to intercept an attack,while our country began to build an arsenal of nuclear weapons that could destroy the world many times.  As a child,  recalling the adults sitting around the table discussing the  worst case scenarios of war with the Soviets was a commonplace event.

What was the purpose of the The “Cold War?”  The answer can not be simplified, and there isn’t space to discuss it here.   Yet today, we live peacefully with many communist countries, excepting North Korea. Did a cold war need to happen to bring about our current relationship with other communist governments?  I believe not.

Today the “preppers” are living out such a narrative. Is this current narrative valid and reliable?  Do emotions cloud the subject and its rationality?  Today’s “preppers” feel many of the same feelings that were felt during the 1950’s; fear, frustration, and a unifying purpose against some evil in the world. These  reasons are important and  understandable for we are living in a country where the current narrative about terrorism has  created signs of paranoia.  Could a look into the past provide some perspective? Is our country creating a narrative against terrorism to divert our citizens from addressing the current social injustices in our society? How would you compare or contrast the 1950’s with today?    How do you see it?

 

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