The Changing Face Of Fear

There have always been ‘those people,’ the local 2nd Amendment Bubba Brigade of rapidly aging men who drink too much beer, have lost any real motivation they ever had, and enjoy talking big about being ready when the ‘guv’ment’ comes around. Some were leftovers from past wars that were never able to make it in society. Others were loners who had been through one too many divorces and assumed that the world had just gone to hell. They were mostly a harmless bunch, guys that had nowhere else to go, no one else to talk with, who liked to drink heavily, scratch their beer belly, and randomly fire guns in the air.

Those guys still exist, but their numbers are smaller nowadays. Instead of meeting at some ‘secret’ place out in the woods, they’re gathering at a nightclub. They’ve traded the light of the moon for a glittering disco ball. Instead of PBR, they’re drinking mocktails. They have copies of the Wall Street Journal under one are, dress in designer threads, and, oh yeah, most of them are women. They’re all scared but don’t want to admit it. And they’re getting ready for an attack from anywhere.

They say they’re ‘Making America Hot Again.’ They’re a group of 20-somethings who voted Republican and now are of the opinion that the world should be theirs to enjoy. The only thing stopping them is… everything in the world.

It’s nice to be young, carefree, and feel like you have the world on a chain. Unfortunately, the chain isn’t quite as strong as it was a generation ago. This time, the economics are crushing financial security. The US dollar and government securities are not the guarantee they once were. There are no safe havens. Everything that once promised an easy road to the best life is now in trouble.

So, they’re getting ready for an invasion the same time that they’re planning bachelorette parties and baby showers. What they’re finding is a section of industry that is all too happy to accommodate them.

Danielle L. Campbell, 43, picks up a pistol at the Orlando Gun Club and fires into a paper target a few yards away. In 2023, she founded Protect Peace, a community-focused group that wouldn’t consider themselves “preppers” in the traditional term and certainly have no association with the Bubba Brigade.

“I started training after my assistant was killed by a stray bullet,” Ms. Campbell said, sitting in a lounge chair at the shooting club. “Before that, I always had guns, but I never trained, I never took it seriously.” Her colleague was killed during a robbery in 2017, and she started firearms training soon afterward.

Ms. Campbell’s group helps provide medical trauma training; distributes naloxone, an overdose reversal drug, in impoverished neighborhoods; and hosts community shooting events attended by dozens of gun owners. She is also working to get members of the group amateur radio licenses so they can communicate in an emergency.

“Part of the reason why we do it is to really form a community,” she said. “We had a public defender, a police officer, state troopers, all kinds of people. It was just so welcoming and inviting. I think that’s where this whole concept was born.”

Theirs is a unique response to fear. They’re not playing army, they’re not digging bunkers, they’re inserting themselves into the very communities that could cause trouble. They hope that they can prevent the kind of financial and/or political disaster that could upend their world and leave them outside, wanting.

So, they take classes. Not just gun training classes, but instructions on how to use a drone for surveillance, radio communication and setup, and yoga groups that focus on “how to maintain your peace in a time of panic.” There are classes for couples, single women, and even LGBTQ+ people who fear that no place is truly safe. None of them want the stigma of belonging to a ‘fringe’ group, either far-right or far-left. They just want to be ready and know that they have a community.

Not all of these groups are Republicans, either. There are similar groups of democrats and independents doing exactly the same thing. The common factor is that they all believe that some societal flashpoint is near, whether it be from attacks led by drug cartels, possible terrorist sleeper cells spread across the United States, or an economic downturn. They feel the world closing in, and the voices in the shadows tell them that they need to be ready for anything.

To some extent, those who are older and wonder why ‘the kids’ are so troubled need only look at the environment in which they were raised. This is the generation that initiated live shooter drills in their elementary schools. This is the generation that had to walk through weapon detection systems to attend a ballgame. Their parents tracked them from their cellphones. Doors and windows were kept locked. Playing outside required parental supervision.

They’ve been trained to be afraid.

As news media show them videos of students being snatched off the street by people who are allegedly ICE agents, another source tells them that even their church is no longer safe. Immigration agents can appear anywhere, and they don’t really care if a citizen gets mixed up in the mess or not. If it’s not an immigration issue, it’s yet another report of an innocent person being killed because local police misidentified someone.

Tariffs have upended their financial world as well. They’re grandfather’s advice on stocks and bonds, buying low, riding out the rough spots, no longer applies. Now, they are joining consignment clubs, throwing ‘toss-in’ parties with neighbors to help food stretch. Community gardens are adding extra rows for new people wanting to offset the grocery budget with fresh vegetables.

Amazon and Etsy are getting in on the act as well. Companies that once relied mostly on avid gun enthusiast are happy to ship a vehicle gun safe to the woman who doesn’t get off work until well after dark. Bulk stores like Costco and Sam’s have never been busier. Even online style shops are finding that camoflauge designs that look sporty and fit women is a good move for their bottom line.

For a generation that has already lived through too many ‘once in a lifetime events,’ they’ve learned that disasters can happen anytime on any day. Their go bags are ready.