04.28.10

Cult of EMP Crazy: Scared stupid

Posted in Crazy Weapons, Extremism at 8:29 pm by George Smith

One of the more dubious ‘gifts’ of the Cult of EMP Crazy — a richly manipulative group, if there ever was one — is the cruel brain haircut it imposes on its lessers. Think of it as a cynical tax on the IQ reserve for the sake of the missile defense/Bomb Iran lobby.

It’s quite the accomplishment. Thanks to the Heritage Foundation’s press machine, GOP voters in a placid place like Lancaster, Pennsylvania, think they have to worry about national collapse.

Put this notch in your belt, cynical Heritage boys:

You’ve frightened a middle-aged woman into preparing for something that has almost zero chance of ever influencing life in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with your EMP doom promotional campaign. Job well done!

From Lancaster news services:

Recent stories about solar flares and electromagnetic pulse bombs that could supposedly destroy communications networks have put her more [one Lancaster woman] on edge, she said.

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But what if some catastrophe undermines law and order?

[One woman] said she has no intention of taking up arms, “Mad Max” style: “I’m the first person in the stew pot, I know that. I can’t fend off a gang of mutant zombie bikers.”

She won’t have to, she added, because her neighbors are already on the same self-reliant page.

Whether this ethic is infinitely adaptable to the nation’s neighborhoods is an open question.

Markman lauds backyard chicken raising. And he says personal fitness and health care awareness are especially sensible.

“I think that recognizing that things can go wrong … is a good thing,” he said.

However, he added, “I think that, in general, people underestimate the complexity of really doing everything yourself.”

Martin said he has no warm, fuzzy illusions about what would happen if political and economic systems should fail.

“I doubt if you’d get a Utopian society out of it.” On the other hand, he said, “if a disaster comes through and nobody’s prepared, your instinct cuts in and it’s a fight for survival.”

That’s just the kind of scenerio Giffin wants to avoid, especially for her children.

Previously, on Survivalism USA at Dick Destiny:

“[Some white Americans, all Republicans] think an electromagnetic pulse — EMP for short — set off by a hostile nation exploding a nuclear device in space could fry computer chips — shutting down everything from toasters and cell phones to trucks moving food, medicine and other essentials around the nation,” reports the Oregonian.

[A precious metals] dealer, said some of his customers ‘are actually making sure they have a vehicle that’s not going to be impacted by an EMP.'”

“Failure of the power grid is a common theme — say if huge federal deficits trigger inflation and workers abandon their jobs, or if solar flares damage the grid the way they fused telegraph lines in 1859.”

“[Some fellow in the countryside] has factored predatory gangs into his plans to flee to his Snake River hideout with his wife … and their supplies.”

Keep up the great work, asshats.

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