Survivalism and self-sufficiency are exploding across America.

According to TruePrepper, a preparedness research group, nearly 23 million Americans now call themselves preppers — many fleeing big-city metros for rural areas where they can be self-reliant if calamity strikes.

I offer some insight into this trend. A decade ago, I left the Washington, D.C., metro area and returned to my small ranch on the edge of the countryside just outside Pittsburgh — a place I’ll call Maybury.

The people in metro Washington sure are different from the good folks of Maybury.

D.C. is populated with thousands of specialists with master’s degrees who have no idea how to drive a stick shift or unclog a sink. If calamity occurs — a snowstorm, an electromagnetic pulse attack or a meteor strike — many wouldn’t have a clue how to survive.

My Maybury neighbors, on the other hand, aren’t worried at all.

My neighbors know how to grow, trap and........

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