Modern media gives the public what it wants in terms of more sensationalism. Even Thoreau commented on how the growth of newspapers made people aware of accidents and wars and dangers far from home, but now collected and embedded in everyday consciousness. Nightly news looks for stories focusing on human misfortune. Criminals are everywhere. Extreme weather points to global warming as the cause.
Survivalism is a healthy response to the existential anxieties that are part and parcel of life today. The practices of earlier generations are making a comeback. The obsession of local television with food deprivation makes it look like many parents have 
stopped feeding their children. More people realize the importance of food-storage techniques that our grandparents took for granted.
Gardening is increasingly about having emergency food available. The surplus of fruits and vegetables means that eating at home is restoring family bonds. The same goes for various shared processes like canning and cooking.
Root cellars have been part of human culture since biblical times, supplying fresh food year round without electricity. Grids can go down. Societies can collapse. Don’t kid yourself about the Red Cross or FEMA immediately coming to the aid of hapless victims.
Detached root cellars are bonus shelters for survivalists. They often look like wartime bunkers. Some are in caves or dug into mountains. Others are earth-covered with single doors—perfect also as a “safe” refuge if the main dwelling is somehow destroyed by a tornado. Above all, they are cheap and easy to build. Dark and damp and temperature-stable, root cellars may at least make us feel more food secure and self-sufficient, something often missing in contemporary culture.
