People do really stupid stuff when they’re scared. Just ask the numbskulls who run to the store to snatch up 50 loaves of bread and a 50-gallon drum of milk the moment the forecaster tells them a winter storm is coming.
Fear, of course, is a good thing in moderation. It can sharpen your senses, make you more alert, and make you more prudent in the decisions you make. On the flip side, too much fear can either make you hesitate or freeze when you need to act immediately. Or, in the preparedness world, it can convince you to buy a bunch of junk you don’t need.
More and more media attention is focusing on the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. As of Friday evening, it’s killed 41 people in China, infected at least 1,000 others, and the second US case is in quarantine forty miles away from where I’m writing this. Should you keep an eye on the news right now? Absolutely. Should you jump online to buy some bullshit artist’s $2,000 pandemic family protection kit? No.
Be careful of Fear, Inc.
It’s when people are scared – and especially when that fear is magnified by a media looking to hype things up to get more eyeballs and web hits – that people want to run out and buy stupid stuff.
The ancient advice of caveat emptor – buyer beware – is your friend when you decide to start preparing for disasters and bad times ahead. That’s because, simply put, fear is good for business. For every legitimate businessman out there wanting to help you, there’s another pushing fear to sell you something.
However, you also don’t want to be the grasshopper in Aesop’s fable and have to rush out to buy vital supplies you should already have because the only thing in your fridge is a 10-year-old jar of maraschino cherries. That’s a post for a different day.