Something I've begun to think about recently is how a lot of people seem to have a romantic idea of the world ending. They believe some global doomsday epidemic will come about, civilisation will break down, and it will be each man for himself.
Now, you can't rule out anything happening. There's a small possibility that it could happen, sure. But when you listen to some of these predictions, they will claim that another 2008 recession will be the reason for the end or that tomorrow the sun will rise and it'll be the end. Things that are relatively small become reasons for an epidemic. I just don't believe that to be the case.
These people have a dreamy idea that they will be truly free and in touch with nature. They will hunt, fish, axe their own trees, construct their own fort. I too have thoughts about alternative scenarios, but again, there are things that aren't likely to happen in reality. That includes living like the Amish.
Disasters do happen, and it's important to be prepared. But disasters don't happen in a wide area affecting a massive chunk of a nations population. It's confined to areas and it impacts a certain number of the population. How you'll survive after a disaster strikes is a good thing to ponder and act upon. But it's not for long. You leave and the place gets rebuilt in a few years time.
Even if a large-scale disaster were to hypothetically happen, why do we have to suddenly live among nature? There's nothing stopping us from living like they did merely 100 years ago. We have the knowledge of industrialisation, carpentry, metal work. While you would never return the high standard of living that we had before, you can definitely rebuild and get back onto the path of development.
As I write this, I've begun to wonder about the religious relation to this. Could there be a bit of a religious attachment to this romanticism of the end? To me, it feels like it comes from the same types of people who believe that Jesus will come back and usher in a new age.
I have no problem with the people who believe this. I just think it gets a bit much at times and can get a bit silly. But it's important to be prepared, regardless of the scale of any disaster.
Probably some normal psychology at work. If you look at history wars were not constant affairs. Whenever war broke out it was "the war to end all wars"-for that generation. Those who fought in that war might live to see the next one, but they would be far too old to fight. So part of the end times fixation may be the biological clock saying we are overdue for a war.
Looks like you are referring to prepper types, but there is a much larger segment of the population fascinated by the end of the world. Young people with no investment or attachment to the world they are inheriting find the idea of burning everything down attractive. Better to make any changes now before they do have something to protect or lose.
With higher government intervention and welfare this segment of the population can age well out of being young and grow in size. These are the opposite of preppers and they will 100% be behind any cataclysmic cultural events. These are the people who live paycheck to paycheck with nothing to lose because of their own short sighted mindset. Preppers are just enacting a natural defense response against the reality of dangerous disenfranchised idiot "victims." Sure the prepper has some flavor of the times of culture reason in their mind, like zombies or religion, but the true root is deep distrust in mankind.