When ordinary people begin to accumulate survival gear and build bunkers in their back yards, it’s a sign of the times. It’s what ordinary people did throughout the Cold War, and it’s what a lot of ordinary people have been doing since 9/11. But when rich people start building bunkers and stockpiling food and weapons, it’s not just a sign of the times. It’s a sign that something may be about to go down.
That’s because the wealthy know and understand things that the rest of us often miss. If something bad were coming down the pike, they’d probably know it before we do. I’m not implying some grand conspiracy when I say that. I don’t rule out that there are elites in the world who would conspire against us, but I doubt that every single millionaire in the world is in cahoots to screw us over and leave us behind when things get ugly. The wealthy of the world are not a monolith.
But what they are is smart. With the exception of trust fund babies, no one gets rich by being simpleminded. Even the folks who get rich by leaching off of corrupt governments need to be cunning and savvy. Most however are entrepreneurs, and to be a successful entrepreneur you have to be sharp, and you must have a strong sense of cultural, geopolitical, and economic trends. And if you have a strong sense of where those winds are blowing, then you probably know if our world is on the cusp of something terrible. So when the rich start ducking for cover, so should you.
Which is alarming when you hear stories like this one from Kansas City, where a man is turning an abandoned nuclear silo into luxury bunkers:
Larry Hall, project manager and owner of the Luxury Survival Condo Project, says he feels safer with the doors closed.
He says he’s sold all 12 luxury condos in the former Atlas missile silo — which once housed a nuclear warhead — not far from Concordia, about two hours north of Wichita. He’s working on a second silo.
A full-floor unit is 1,820 square feet and costs $3 million. A half-floor unit, at 900 square feet, costs $1.5 million.
Survival is a unifying cause. Hall said his owners come from a variety of political beliefs and include people in international business, architecture, law and medicine. He said the owners don’t do interviews; efforts to reach them were unsuccessful.
The facility is 15 stories deep, contains multiple generators and air scrubbers for a wide variety of contaminants, a remote-controlled sniper post on the surface, and three armories which contain weapons and body armor. But it’s luxurious too. There are fireplaces, hardwood floors, walk-in closets, televisions that stream images of the outdoors, and a climate controlled swimming pool.
However, that’s not the only luxury bunker that’s being built. Last year the Hollywood Reporter revealed that the rich, famous, and powerful including Bill Gates have been building bunkers all over the country. Some of these facilities are multi-million dollar endeavors.
Gary Lynch, GM at Rising S Bunkers, a Texas-based company that specializes in underground bunkers and services scores of Los Angeles residences, says that sales at the most upscale end of the market — mainly to actors, pro athletes and politicians (who require signed NDAs) — have increased 700 percent this year compared with 2015, and overall sales have risen 150 percent. “Any time there is a turbulent political landscape, we see a spike in our sales. Given this election is as turbulent as it is, we are gearing up for an even bigger spike,” says marketing director Brad Roberson of sales of bunkers that start at $39,000 and can run $8.35 million or more (FYI, a 12-stall horse shelter is $98,500).
Adds Mike Peters, owner of Utah-based Ultimate Bunker, which builds high-end versions in California, Texas and Minnesota: “People are going for luxury [to] live underground because they see the future is going to be rough. Everyone I’ve talked to thinks we are doomed, no matter who is elected.” Robert Vicino, founder of Del Mar, Calif.-based Vivos, which constructs upscale community bunkers in Indiana (he believes coastal flooding scenarios preclude bunkers being safely built west of the Rockies), says, “Bill Gates has huge shelters under every one of his homes, in Rancho Santa Fe and Washington. His head of security visited with us a couple years ago, and for these multibillionaires, a few million is nothing. It’s really just the newest form of insurance.”
Meanwhile, another Texas company is trying to build a survival retreat for 1,600 people that will include 400 condos, an equestrian center, a golf course, and even helipads. It’s expected to cost $300 million. And this US company is building earthship bunkers that range in cost from $100,000 to $1.5 million.
All of these different companies offer different explanations for why their wealthy clients want these shelters. They’ve been given reasons that range from terrorism to pandemics to civil unrest. However, if you go through all of the sources that I’ve mentioned, you’ll find that the rich seem to fear nuclear war and another world war the most.
And that should give one pause. If the rich tend to have a good sense of where the world is going, and they’re so worried about nuclear war that they’re building multi-million dollar shelters, then we should take note. They know that something bad is coming and they’re not taking it lightly. Neither should the rest of us.
Additional Resources:
Are You Ready Series: Nuclear Disaster Preparedness
Is their something about to happen, or is there something about to happen?
The Government knows something that they are not telling us. Don’t want a major panic. The only way out of it is to stick together as much as possible. There is strength in numbers! Religion will be the tie that binds, and ISLAM is not it. That is who we will be fighting when it comes down to it! Then again all our preparations may be for naught. The past regime let too many of them in, it will be not capture and detain but execute, with extreme prejudice, that is what they have planned for us. Convert or die. I for one don’t plan on listening to some lunatic wailing from the top of a minaret!!!
THIS IS JUST THE 21ST CENTURY VERSION OF THE 1950-60-70 ERA OF MASS HYSTERIA.ONLY NOW ITS MORE EVIDENT BECAUSE OF THE HUGE DIFFERENCE IN WEALTH.THE WEALTHY TODAY ARE EXTREMELY WEALTHY AND THE MIDDLE CLASS WHO DID THEIR OWN IN THE 50-60-70 DOES NT EXIST ANYMORE.AND FOR THE WEALTHY ITS A TAX DEDUCTION SO THEY ACTUALLY ARE SPENDING TAX MONEY.AND FOR PEOPLE LIKE GATES ETC ITS CHUMP CHANGE.
Well spake. In truth if the USSR were to launch nuclear missiles at the US the most likely result would be a rain of duds, leaving behind an annoying but manageable radioactive cleanup. I doubt that our Minuteman missiles would make it out of the launch silos. The age of a potential nuclear exchange between the major powers of the world is practically nil, though it wouldn’t preclude such an act from one of the world’s loony-states, such a N. Korea or Iran.
When they get done nuking the nuclear power plants around the world the people in these bunkers won’t last that much longer than the rest of us do.
This is what I always say; okay, you have your luxury bunker, the big war happens ,when you come out , wht will you come out to??!? Why does no one ever think of that or talk about it ?!?what a bunch of jerks LOL?
Yeah they will come out to people all raggedy and rough, with their clean clothes and shiny shoes, those left will be just waiting for them. Would they know where the exits are? Of course., the ones left up top will know where all the hideaways are! Just a matter of time before they eventually have to come out.
You are so right I never thought of it that way! it would be rather funny but sad at the same time… they wouldn’t last one hour in the area where people were starving desperate Etc so you have brought up a very good point thanks for making me look at this from a different perspective!!!
Yes either they will be waiting for them to come out or figure a way to make their hideaway a permanent tomb. Seal the exits with old trucks steel beams or just plain boulders, either way find their ventilation shafts and seal them up, any manner of ways to (get even for their thoughts of living past everyone else). I for one plan to stay on the surface come what may.
And you have given another great answer you are so right on both replies you gave me …I too will just stay above ground if I live fine if I die fine if it’s going to be ,
then let it happen but I hope to God it doesn’t I hope we’re both wrong!!
Oh, heavens no. Just monitor the intake and exhaust ducts. Pump 1/2 gallon of petro through the intake. Light it off, the interior oxygen level drops below 18%. You then can just take your time dig in with a pick and shovel. All the supplies will be intact, just move the dead oxygen starved bodies and party!!!
Other than the premise that something is in the wind, the balance of the article for me is resounding…”so what?” So there are mega bunkers being built. Nothing there benefits any of us. The overwhelming percentage of Americans cannot afford anything near this. In fact, many of us cannot afford a bug out location. Most of us will be relegated to staying put.