Survivalists see war, chaos, and hunger on the horizon no matter who wins

People have already begun prepping for the 2016 election aftermath.

(Image credit: iStockphoto)

last updated 8 November 2016

This election spells the end of the world as we know it, warn America's preppers, the survivalists who build secluded homes and stockpile seeds, canned goods, gold, solar panels, generators, and weapons to sustain and protect their families in the event of a national or global catastrophe.

In a fascinating new profile from Politico, some preppers suspect the election will be stolen from Donald Trump — "Trump will win the popular vote by a landslide, and then the Electoral College will give it to [Hillary] Clinton," one says — but they are hardly consistent Trump loyalists. On the contrary, these rural survivalists predict conflict and suffering no matter which candidate triumphs:

The end of the campaign, many in this community believe, is only the beginning: The really bad stuff will begin the day after the election. "I'll be honest with ya, I think some things are going to go down," Lucas told me."Nobody takes Obama seriously," he said, "but the two people who are running for office — a lot of people are scared that he'll hit the nuclear button without even taking a breath, and that she's so wicked that I won't be surprised if she opens the floodgates of ISIS to come in and kill all Americans." Though most of his clients, like him, support Trump, he says, "Most all of them expect there will be riots in either case." [Politico]

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Speed Reads Us News

To continue reading this article...

Create a free account

Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.

Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.

Cancel or pause at any time.

Already a subscriber to The Week?

Unlimited website access is included with Digital and Print + Digital subscriptions.
with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.

Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox