Far be it from me to discount advice from one of the oldest religious orders. Poverty is certainly a help in attaining to sanctity, as it frees one from the cares and distractions of riches.

But not all men receive the same gifts, nor does God expect the same exact actions from everyone. It's an orchestra, remember, not a factory. Mankind cranks things out of a factory, and they're all the same. God tends to employ "unity in harmony" where each instrument is different, but they blend beautifully in an orchestra.

Not all laymen are called to a Franciscan way of life, which has particular charisms (pardon the pun -- a lot of Franciscans today are into the Charismatic movement, as at Steubenville) including poverty.

At any rate, God doesn't call all men to actual poverty -- just to the spirit of poverty (using the world as if you used it not -- which also includes taking care of possessions, and do without/reduce/re-use/recycle, to put it in modern language)

Some are called to practice poverty more perfectly, which glorifies God in one way. Others are called to use their talents to make millions of dollars, and give it to the poor, which glorifies God in another way. Others are somewhere in between.

But "labor" and "capital" can both make it to heaven in the Catholic Church's plan for things. There is no "class struggle" among virtuous Catholics. The rich would give of their bounty to the poor, and the poor would be content with their lot. You can see that Communism would never take root in a Catholic society. The popes have put forth this precise solution many times (particularly in Rerum Novarum).

So I think prepping/not prepping is comparable to the usual poverty/riches discussion.

Riches CAN be used wisely, but that doesn't mean that the poor should be anxious for them, as if they needed them. They are optional.

And one last point -- it takes a lot of character/strength/virtue to handle riches wisely. Not everyone can do it -- just look at the hundreds of lottery winners and other "easy come easy go" stories. A man wins a big jackpot, but he is poor as he started only 3 years later. Other men become very corrupt when money or power is thrown in their lap.

Kings used to be trained from childhood how to be king -- so having so much power wasn't a big deal to them that would go to their head -- they were taught how to be noble, just, etc. There is a reason for that.

Power and money are dangerous things.

Matthew