
Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich - SanderMak
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/30/doomsday-prep-for-the-super-rich?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_feed%3Bg69rzN%2BlSa%2BzrwooyI5kKA%3D%3D
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tristanj
Discussions of this article from earlier this year

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13462865](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13462865)
(154 points, 173 comments)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13482107](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13482107)
(136 points, 124 comments)

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QAPereo
If you really believe in something like a doomsday which you could reasonably
escape from using one of these retreats, then really you believe in an
extraordinarily specific set of circumstances which might arise. Far more
realistic is the general decline in civilization, uptick in conflict, and
growing paucity of resources. Frankly I don't see most of that affecting the
C-level exec anyway, and if it does I don't see a glorified bomb shelter as
the solution, more of a delay to get the guts up to shoot yourself.

It's a really stupid notion at this particular time in human and technological
development that we can live without other people and without the biosphere in
general. That day may come, but it's probably quite a ways away and in the
meantime we do need each other to some extent whether we like it or not,
regardless of how wealthy we are. The smartest bet now is not to throw your
money into the ground on the shelter, but to invest in the planet and its
people.

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fapjacks
Yes, but if you look to history's example, even during times of relative
chaos, if you're a relatively wealthy person in a relatively neutral place,
you're likely to have a fantastic life, even while the rest of the world
burns. It's not a totally crazy idea, I think, although I do agree with you
generally. I think a bunker north of Wichita is the worst idea in the
universe, though.

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cletus
We now live in a world where capital is mobile at a global level. We have an
increasingly large number of wealthy people who got that way in countries that
are political stable and have costs to run and maintain who now don't want to
contribute to the upkeep of that same infrastructure.

War is the ultimate means of wealth redistribution. Perhaps instead of
prepping for a doomsday that's going to be bad for everyone, buying off more
politicians and finding more loopholes to pay no tax, the truly wealthy should
be supporting the institutions that make their wealth possible.

Crazy I know.

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FLUX-YOU
"Welcome to New Zealand, where you'll find a bunch of doomsday homes on sale
for cheap ever since people decided that the world wasn't ending after all."

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Xoros
“The media is under attack now. They wonder, Is the court system next? Do we
go from ‘fake news’ to ‘fake evidence’?

Well isn't it what happened in Baltimore last month ?

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elipsey
maybe the luxury prepper buisiness will stimulate demand, and thereby prevent
doomsday.

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jonbarker
This reminds me of Says Law: [http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/says-
law.asp](http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/says-law.asp)

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bithive123
Who needs other people when you've got lots of money?

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holydude
Well you need people to give that money any real value in the first place.

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rc_kas
jokes on them, doomsday came and went already.

