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by takinola 844 days ago
It kinda makes sense if you have that type of money. Let's say a bunker costs $10 million and offers a 10% incremental chance of surviving an apocalypse then it's pretty much a no-brainer if you are worth a billion or more. For one, you probably make more than that in one year from the interest on your assets alone so you're not going to miss it. And if the worst comes to the worst, the rest of your money is going to be worthless so you might as well invest in an asset that might still provide you some advantage in the ultimate catasrophe.

Obviously, the "offering a 10% incremental chance of survival" part of the above is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this calculation. There's just too many ways for shit to go wrong for you to feel that confident. Still, it might be worth the expense even if you just treat it as a (very expensive) entertainment exercise.
1 comments
CapeTheory 844 days ago
Option 1: Be a valuable member of society rather than a parasite, so that you can contribute something in a doomsday scenario

Option 2: Dig a big hole to live in while the poors eat each other

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takinola 844 days ago
The problem with option #1 is you can be as good as you like but you are still screwed if some other asshole pushes the button. At least with option #2, you have some control over your your survival.

Plus, these options are not mutually exclusive. You can do your best to ensure a just, peaceable world while still digging a really big bunker.

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CapeTheory 844 days ago
You are right, of course. If I had the money I would absolutely build a bunker, even if it was just as an entertaining project.

The fact that we hear about Zuck and Altmann being the ones prepping or building bunkers could reflect that they are the "bad" elite, not invested in the future of the planet in the same way that Gates and his ilk are. Or alternatively, it could just be that old people don't find the idea of a survival shelter nearly as interesting as the younger generation.

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reaperman 844 days ago
Those who are valuable today are not likely to be the ones valuable post-doomsday. I’d imagine the bunkered billionaires plan to use a private mercenary force to assist in recruiting whatever useful post-doomsday talent is left afterwards.

The one thing I genuinely wonder is what odds each billionaires gives their private mercenary force for not usurping the “throne” from them after an apocalypse.

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