Люди во время встречи первого восхода солнца Нового 2023 года в Сеуле  - Sputnik International, 1920, 21.04.2023
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Billionaires' Last Refuge: Why Solve Problems When You Can Build an Underground Doomsday Palace?

© AP Photo / Petr David JosekЛестница в бомбоубежище времен Холодной войны в Праге
Лестница в бомбоубежище времен Холодной войны в Праге  - Sputnik International, 1920, 21.01.2024
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As the world seems to be playing a high-stakes game of Jenga with natural disasters and geopolitical tensions, the elite are not just sitting back and watching: they're digging in - literally.
In the fiscal year of fear, from April 2022 to April 2023, Americans threw a whopping $11 billion at survival gear, proving that so-called 'doomsday prepping' has moved from the backyards of the paranoid to the Pinterest boards of mainstream America.
A third of the population now proudly wears the prepper badge, although their efforts pale in comparison to those of the world's billionaires.
These folks aren't just stocking up on canned beans; they're dropping hundreds of millions on bunkers that could rival a luxury resort, private islands that James Bond villains would envy, and "survival condos" that make you question if they're prepping for the apocalypse or planning the world's most exclusive underground party.
A parking lot and housing area in the German capital Berlin is seen on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2004. Nothing on this parking area in the city's center reminds a viewer of former German Nazi-leader Adolf Hitler's bunker which was located here and the bunker's exit, where Hitler and his wife Eva were burned by aides after committing suicide. After WW II, East Germany built up a housing area on the site of the bunker. - Sputnik International, 1920, 22.10.2021
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According to a Mail on Sunday report, Mark Zuckerberg, for example, decided a simple Hawaiian island retreat wasn't enough, opting instead for a $100 million bunker completed with all the trimmings of a post-apocalyptic luxury resort.
Meanwhile, Idaho's wealthiest man, Frank VanderSloot, bought a 2,000-acre ranch presumably because when the end times come, he'll at least have enough space to jog. And then there's the Silicon Valley bromance of Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) and Peter Thiel (ex-CEO of PayPal), who've pinky-sworn to crash at Thiel's New Zealand pad if Twitter goes down permanently.
The appeal of New Zealand as the billionaire's bunker of choice might have something to do with its scenic beauty, which is ironic considering these hideouts are designed for a world where the only scenery might be a radioactive glow.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists might as well rename their Doomsday Clock to "Time Until Billionaires Become Mole People," having set it at a nerve-wracking 90 seconds to midnight.
Climate scientist Richard Somerville, a member of the Science and Security Board, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, unveils the new Doomsday Clock in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015 - Sputnik International, 1920, 24.01.2023
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As we watch billionaires preparing to live out their days in comfort underground, one has to wonder if they've considered the simpler pleasures in life, like, say, using their fortunes to help fix some of the issues leading us to doomsday in the first place. But hey, who needs global solutions when you've got a luxury bunker with a view?
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