Subculture or Counterculture?
Survivalists are a subculture because this group of people are all part of one dominant culture but have shared beliefs and behaviors that differentiate them from mainstream cultures. Since survivalists concur with current culture and they don't challenge existing culture they are considered a subculture. Survivalists do what they can to protect themselves and in this process they do not cause any harm or danger to others which distinguishes them from a counterculture.
Why Survivalists?
We chose survivalists as our topic because we were unsure of what they were exactly and how they lived. After doing some research, and watching videos we found them very interesting and decided to chose them for our topic. We found it fascinating to look at some major events like 9/11, Katrina, and Sandy and see how these disasters and breakdowns affected survivalists, and caused them to prepare for other events that could possibly arise in the future (Wikipedia 1). This topic is also interesting because our current economic state has people worried and this causes more and more people to become survivalists, which shows how the survivalist culture continues to expand.