These preppers have ‘go bags,’ guns and a fear of global disaster. They’re also left-wing
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This fear is where Marlon Smith’s interest in preparedness began. Growing up in Trinidad, he lived through an attempted coup in 1990 that sparked his concern the government would not be there in times of disaster. This only deepened after he moved to New York City and watched the aftermath of 9/11 and then Hurricane Katrina. “You see the inability of the government to truly help their citizens,” he said.
Smith, who now lives in New Jersey, runs a fashion company by day and spends his weekends teaching survival skills — including how to survive nuclear fallout. “People find it funny that I work in women’s evening wear and yet I do this hardcore prepping and survivalism in the woods,” he said.
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It’s hard to pin down the exact number of preppers in the US. Mills says 5 million is a reasonable estimate; others would say much higher. Chris Ellis, a military officer and academic who researches disaster preparedness, puts the figure at around 20 to 23 million using data from FEMA household surveys.
Figuring out the proportion of preppers on the left is perhaps even trickier. Mills, who has surveyed 2,500 preppers over the past decade, has consistently found about 80% identify as conservatives, libertarians or another right-wing ideology. He doesn’t see any dramatic upswing in left-wing preppers.
necdotal evidence, however, points to increased interest from this side of the political spectrum.
Several left-wing preppers told CNN about the burgeoning popularity of their newsletters, social media channels and prepping courses. Shonkwiler says subscriber numbers to his newsletter When/If increase exponentially whenever right-wing views make headlines, especially elections. He saw a huge uptick when Trump was reelected.
Smith has noticed more liberals among his growing client roster for prepping courses. He has an upcoming session teaching a group in the Hamptons — “all Democrats,” he said.
Smith is at pains to keep politics out of prepping, however, and makes his clients sign a waiver agreeing not to talk about it. “You leave your politics and your religion at the door. … You come here to learn; I’ll teach you,” he said.
Jun 29, 2025
