So, recently, there has been a lot of coverage in certain circles (including news media,) about food shortages based on weather variations, and how planting was messed up from these conditions. There are bases in science about these situations. Some people are talking about the apocalypse, similar to the Mayan calendar and Y2K.
There is an interesting factor that played a big role a little while back. 99% of preppers prepped for something with like a .01% chance of happening, like a meteor strike or whatever. I feel that, at least in my circles, the numbers have changed. If you look back to my zombie apocalypse example, I think that is more realistic. There are prepper extremists out there who solely believe that the aliens are coming or that world war 3: Day of the Nukes is coming.
The biggest suggestion I can make is to do your own research, so you can devise a plan to separate both fearmongering and realistic information, and make your prepping decisions based on that. The undertone of a lot of the prepping community on Youtube and in the forums have become kind of dark. What is coming out is an idea that we are coming to a depression era like event between the trade war with China and the food growing crisis, along with the divide in our country.
I try to stay out of political views because, frankly, that is something that makes people upset, even though the freedom of speech used to a right in America. Basically, the simplistic divide in the US runs along general party lines. Conservatives vs. Liberals. The divide is because there are people stuck on their sides with no wiggle room. I have my stance on a lot of topics, but I am willing to meet in the middle. We seem to have lost this ability, although I believe that is because half the population has had to bend over backwards, and are losing basic liberties based on that.
Anyhow, there is also the threat of the next election, where some people think the country will be be divided, with half of the country following 1 president, and the other half following another. So, make sure you are preparing for what you believe is a risk. Granted, I would suggest prepare for local, regional and global possibilities, just like comms, but plan for more realistic events, like a local power outage, and develop from there.
I would rather be well rounded for a few months then have years and years of ammo, but only a week worth of food. Make sure you even out your preps.
Cogito Aprendo Prepping and Views 