The world is not the same place that it once was. Between North Korea making repeated threats to strike the United States with an EMP or a nuclear missile, Russia continuing its quest to effectively resurrect the Soviet Union by way of force, and tensions with China on the rise as they seize more and more territory in the South China Sea, the threat of total societal collapse is arguably higher than it ever has been. And if you are not doing everything in your power to prepare for this societal collapse, then you may want to do some research and reconsider.

In a recent statement, FEMA Director Brock Long emphasized the need for all Americans to be prepared in case living life off the grid one day becomes an unfortunate reality. “I think that the last 35 days or so have been a gut check for Americans that we do not have a true culture of preparedness in this country. And we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Long argued.

“Whether it’s in education and being ready, it’s not just saying, hey, have three days worth of supplies ready to go. It’s greater than that. It’s also people having the finances and the savings to be able to overcome simple emergencies,” he continued. “We have to hit the reset button and create a true culture of preparedness starting at a very young age and filtering all the way up.”

Coming from the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, these words are extremely significant. In fact, if you have yet to start prepping for a potential societal collapse, then at the very least, this statement from Brock Long should make you strongly consider getting started sooner than later. (Related: Here is why prepping is the best way to ensure you have the supplies you need before the next disaster.)

Long also makes a very valid point when he argues that it’s simply not enough to encourage individuals and their families to prepare. We need to change the culture in America and make prepping a part of everyday life, as common as going to baseball games or drinking beer on a Friday night. Until that happens, prepping won’t be taken as seriously as it should be and millions of Americans will remain unprepared for a national disaster. (Related: If you’ve stopped prepping, it could be the biggest mistake of your life.)

The other challenge that preppers and people like Brock Long who encourage emergency preparedness have moving forward, is pushing back against the left wing hoards who routinely attempt to discredit and mock the prepper lifestyle. This is the same strategy that the liberals use against conservatives, and needless to say, it is extremely effective. If prepping is ever to become part of American culture, then preppers have to break through the constant attempts from the left to mock, humiliate and discredit them.

A few years ago, Fortune published an article written by columnist David Z. Morris about Morris’s experience at a prepper convention in Lakeland, Florida. After giving details about the things he saw and the people he met at the convention, Morris, who is no doubt a leftist, concluded that “the preparedness lifestyle hasn’t completely shaken loose its extremists and kooks.”

Calling preppers conspiracy theorists, extremists and kooks may be an easy thing to do, but truth be told, these are the people that all of the liberals within the mainstream media and on late night television will run to when SHTF. Several experts have already made it abundantly clear that just one EMP strike would be enough to send the United States into complete and total darkness for an weeks, months or even years. The threat is very real, and as Brock Long noted, prepping really does have to become a part of American culture before it’s too late.

Sources included:

TheOrganicPrepper.ca

Fortune.com