STORY:
Survivalists Betting on Disaster

What will happen to Y2K doomsayers after January 1 2000

by Clark Humphrey

Y2K "survivalists" can generally be found where previous waves of "survivalists" could be found over the past 20 or so years. The rural south, midwest, and inland west have long attracted those who wanted to form self-reliant, self-contained communities set apart from the perceived corruption and impurity of mainstream U.S. society. In the past, some of these groups have used religious, racial, or political ideologies to proclaim their separateness.

Some Y2K survivalists use some of these types of doctrines. But others have a simpler sales pitch. They're promising, and hoping, that the worst is yet to come. They insist, in the words of author Gary North, that "It's Already Too Late"-that computer networks, transportation systems, electrical grids, phone lines, and most other parts of the industrial infrastructure are gonna go down on 1/1/2000 and there's nothing anybody can do about it except for a wise few to hole up in rural compounds with guns and canned goods.

Yet even these groups often mix older survivalist tenets into there rhetoric. Home 2K, a camp in Missouri, uses the claim that "there is no way for the entire population of the world to survive this catastrophic event." But in case you're not convinced the Y2K bug alone will cause worldwide social collapse, the camp's site also includes prophecies of "trade confrontations with China" and other non-computer-related reasons to join their cave-based, electricity-free community.

Similarly, the founders of High 54 Ranch in Arizona advertise their community as a "Y2K Retreat," yet its site also includes a "Code of Conduct" that presumes the compound will become a battle site, presumably against the "new world order" and the UN black helicopters: "If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades." Potential members are expected to bring a year's supply of food and ample guns and ammo.

On the other end of the spectrum, Y2K Land, an outfit selling lots in East Texas, puts "Christians Preferred" on its application form (along with "Bring your own dwelling (RV, mobile home, travel trailer, etc.)," "Bring your own power or generator, solar panels, etc.," and "Must have own supplies & food"). But it makes no other demographic or ethnic demands upon potential residents, at least not in its public preliminary applications.

Even more rugged-individualist types are starting up one-person or one-family retreats on their own. According to news reports reprinted on cult scholar Rick Ross's website, some of the places they're heading include central Mississippi, the deserts of Arizona, and the mountains of Virginia.

And wherever there's a trend in America, there are entrepreneurs ready to supply it. The Y2K Personal Preparedness Webring lists over 500 member sites, most of which are ready to sell the would-be survivalist first aid kits, wood stoves, portable generators, water-filter systems, seeds, farming tools, dried or canned foodstuffs, gold and silver coins (for when the banking system collapses), gas lamps, candles, etc.

What will happen to all this stuff on Jan. 2, after (according to most experts who aren't in the business of selling the stuff or hawking survival-retreat real estate) North American civilization doesn't go kablooey?

Maybe there could be a new cookbook genre: "Fifty Delicious Gourmet Recipes for Freeze-Dried Apricots and Beef Jerky."

DATE: 8/20/99

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