Hard times have some flirting with survivalism
Economic angst has Americans stockpiling ‘beans, bullets and Band-Aids’

SEATTLE – Atash Hagmahani is not waiting for the stock market to recover. The former high-tech professional turned urban survivalist has already moved his money into safer investments: Rice and beans, for starters.

“I hoard food,” says Hagmahani, 44, estimating that he has enough to last his family a year or two. “I’m not ashamed to admit it.”

“People keep asking when this (economic crisis) is going to clear up,” says Hagmahani, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition that he be identified only by this pseudonym, which he uses for his survivalist blog, or by his first name, Rob.”

My long time readers know that our family has a supply of food and that I have been working diligently to get our family medically self sufficient for most of our twenty year marriage.
We gave birth to our last two sons after doing all of our own prenatal care, and I have spent thousands of dollars purchasing books to educate myself on family self reliance. Few topics define me or my life more than provident living, and I have attempted to not only learn the facts, but put that knowledge into practice by actually doing the things that I promote, like cooking with whole foods, rarely going to doctors or dentists, and living as if the governmental infrastructures did not exist. We homeschooled for five years, and we have tried to live in such a way that if the electricity and water were turned off, we would be able to live for a couple months here in our little home without any help from anyone.
I have taught hundreds of classes on Emergency Preparedness here in my community, and personally know many families who are doing the exact same things that we are. In fact one of my friends who has been rather scornful of food storage recently purchased a years supply of food for her family of seven.
I testify that family preparedness will help individuals and families to survive whatever is in the future for our society.
Jenny Hatch