As I write this, there is a considerable concern about the dangers of urban life, triggered by the terrorist attacks on the USA. As some of you know, I have been a student of disaster preparations and a real estate consultant for those seeking "secluded and survival properties" for over thirty years.

At one time, I had a several hundred item checklist for my "Survivalist" clients to read and check off for me so that I could guide them to what they considered to be the most Utopian place to live safe and secure with their family. I guess it could be said that some of my clients were -- at least eccentric, but the common thread running through all of their needs and wants was to be able to live safely and securely regarding all possible or likely threats, whether man made or natural.

The most common concern of those who wanted to find a better place to live was a fear of urban riots and terrorism. After that, the concerns were safe schools for the children, a low crime rate, clean air, clean water, friendly communities, and quite often they wanted as little intrusion into their personal lives, as possible, from the various government agencies.

There was always the concern about earthquakes from those who came from California. There was concern about tornadoes from those in the Midwest. One of the greatest concerns about power outages came from those in the northern areas. Concern about hurricanes and terrible storms came from those who lived close to the coast and from those in the south. There was also an often, at first unstated, fear of nuclear, biological and chemical attacks.
So to sum it up, the so called Survivalists were just people, people like the rest of u