"preppers"

[Ben Zimmer]

It's the latest (or is it the last?) of the paranoid "-er" groups:

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/21/us-usa-civilization-collapse-idUSTRE80K0LA20120121
When Patty Tegeler looks out the window of her home overlooking the
Appalachian Mountains in southwestern Virginia, she sees trouble on
the horizon.
"In an instant, anything can happen," she told Reuters. "And I firmly
believe that you have to be prepared."
Tegeler is among a growing subculture of Americans who refer to
themselves informally as "preppers." Some are driven by a fear of
imminent societal collapse, others are worried about terrorism, and
many have a vague concern that an escalating series of natural
disasters is leading to some type of environmental cataclysm.
---

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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