I sure hope Gabriel likes my music, when the day is done.

I agree with Balsamic that it's unique to our era. First, most of human history has been spent at or just barely above the city-state level. Second, the sorts of world-changing events that survivalists worry about either were not possible or were viewed as acts of God that could not be predicted or avoided (and might even be "good"). Third, only in the modern era have individuals had the means (both in terms of wealth and in terms of freedom to act independently) to prepare for such an event.