Inside the Underground Bunker Condos Where 1 Percenters Plan to Ride Out the Apocalypse

[99th_Monkey]

Inside the Underground Bunker Condos Where 1 Percenters Plan to Ride Out the Apocalypse
If you do have a few million lying around, a piece of these fortified silos can be yours.
By Natalie Shure * AlterNet * January 7, 2014

Without the savvy to live off the land that we associate with survivalists, how are the one-percenters supposed to get through the apocalypse? It’s tough to envision the well-heeled skinning deer to feed their Wall Street dinner party guests. But now the elite have another option. Instead of handing the future to bearded crackpots building sandbag barricades on rural compounds, the rich can score a luxury underground Survival Condo nice enough to remind them of the one they left in Manhattan.

Built in two underground missile bunkers at an undisclosed location in Kansas, the units run from $1.5 to $.4.5 million and typically can’t be financed—so that sum’s got to be paid up front. But if you do have a few million lying around, a piece of these fortified underground silos can be yours. So far, there’s no shortage of takers. The first silo is reportedly sold out, and the second is currently accepting contracts.

It would likely take a serious cataclysm to drive posh coasties to the Kansan underworld, and you can’t sell these things without also selling fear. In fact, the project’s website includes a photo of a colorless DC skyline ravaged by an implied nuclear holocaust, complete with a bombed-out capitol building. (Another page includes an illustration of the Statue of Liberty nearly submerged by stormy seas, with nary an ape in sight.)

But project manager Larry Hall rejects the notion that these units are for tinfoil hat types: “There is a stereotype of some survivalists as being single-minded—that they spend virtually all of their time doing just survival activities with no other activities,” he wrote to me in an email. This survivalist subculture is indeed fixated, as any viewer of A&E’s hit reality series “Doomsday Preppers” would attest. But Hall says those aren’t his customers. “We are not like that. Most of our clients are professional people who run businesses and have diversified interests. The involvement in the survival condo project is a recognition that there are a lot of potential threats that could disrupt their normal lives, and they want to have a plan for that possibility.”

http://www.alternet.org/inside-underground-bunker-condos-where-1-percenters-plan-ride-out-apocalypse

[Xipe Totec]

1. I hope they stashed enough servants to last them through the Apocalypse

It's tough when you've lost the ability to wipe your own arse.

[cyberswede]

20. Right?

Luxury is really meaningless when money no longer has value. Will these people be able to provide for themselves?

[TheBlackAdder]

26. That's OK. The radioactive isotopes (from weaponized and natural sources) will do them in. nt

[oldandhappy]

2. Zowie some folk will buy anything.

The one-percenters are not going to be in Kansas when those silos are needed. he he

[MohRokTah]

3. And they name it, GALT GULCH

And everybody dies because nobody knows how to work.

[VanillaRhapsody]

28. imagine them all sitting there wondering why no dinner is being served....

[misterhighwasted]

4. Can this Silo bunker withstand a Frack-related earthquake?

Hmmm??

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

15. If it is an old Nuke bunker then possible.

Some were built with the idea that they could withstand a *near miss and still get off their payload.

*Whether or not a near miss meant a mile or two...or the is the question.

[katsy]

5. Hmmm what are the chances these elite

Will even make it to their condo should an acopalypse/meteor strike occur?

If I were the property manager of those luxe units I'd load them with my own family and lock the doors

[NaturalHigh]

6. I wondered the same thing.

How many super-rich people regularly hang out in Kansas?

[katsy]

13. Lol

[petronius]

21. Good point. As soon as that siren goes off, I bet the caretakers, housekeepers,

security guards, and everyone else will be handing in their 30-second notices and locking the doors.

It's about as good an investment as post-Rapture pet-sitting (which I do offer, for a very affordable price, to anyone who plans to be saved...)

[Jackpine Radical]

56. Maybe we could merge.

I've been doing an Antichrist routine offering to take unwanted possessions off the hands of the Elect so that they can impoverish themselves enough to make it into the Rapture. I'm planning to buy adhesive solvent by the barrel for the cars they give me, in order to get the little fish thingies and Jesus Saves stickers off before resale.

[ret5hd]

7. Ever seen the movie "A Boy and His Dog"?

[99th_Monkey]

10. No. Enlighten me. nt

[kentauros]

23. Here ya go.

Full movie

[VanillaRhapsody]

29. Don Johnson?

[kentauros]

30. Yes, Don Johnson.

I don't know who does the dog's voice.

Just looked that up and it was Tim McIntire. If you've ever seen Brubaker, he played Huey (and a lot more before that.)

[sendero]

12. Based on a short story...

.... by Harlan Ellison written in the 60s, something everyone should be familiar with, but aren't.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

16. Loved that movie. Jason Robards: "Take em to the Farm."

[bemildred]

31. Yep. A classic. nt

[FSogol]

42. "She sure had good taste!"

[djean111]

51. Best last line ever. Loved the book, loved the movie.

[KT2000]

8. Is Glen Beck selling these things?

Wonder if the come fully stocked with his survival food packs.

[99th_Monkey]

9. No. I think it's off the State of Kansas' Tourism brochure. nt

[tammywammy]

11. I saw a tv show one that was about this place

I can't remember what it was called though.

[hobbit709]

14. Wait until they're all inside then padlock the doors from the outside.

[99th_Monkey]

18. Nice one. nt

[kentauros]

24. I was thinking more like

buy a load of cement and pour it into the likely recessed entrances/exits

[Kevin from WI]

17. Think of all those psychopaths in one building together

And they all have guns. It would just be a matter of time before they start killing each other.

[99th_Monkey]

19. You and Hobbit709

we can only hope.

[MiniMe]

22. Even if I could afford one of these things (which I can't)

I don't want it. I'd rather tough it out than be locked in an underground bunker with the nutjobs that are probably extremely right wing.

[Rex]

25. Wow so THIS is their idea of 'peace of mind' after they survive?

Good luck with the mutants left over in D.C. Just remember, their 'piece of mind' is cracking open your skull and eating those rich/scrambled brains! Have a great day!

[ChisolmTrailDem]

27. "Wool"

...by my sometime writing encourager and mentor Hugh Howey. I watched him go from an aspiring writer to becoming a sci-fi phenom. If you like good sci-fi, get this book and the ones that follow.

http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Hugh-Howey/dp/1476733953/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420871699&sr=8-1&keywords=Wool

For suspense-filled, post-apocalyptic thrillers, Wool is more than a self-published ebook phenomenon―it’s the new standard in classic science fiction.

In a ruined and toxic future, a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep. There, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. Sheriff Holston, who has unwaveringly upheld the silo’s rules for years, unexpectedly breaks the greatest taboo of all: He asks to go outside.

His fateful decision unleashes a drastic series of events. An unlikely candidate is appointed to replace him: Juliette, a mechanic with no training in law, whose special knack is fixing machines. Now Juliette is about to be entrusted with fixing her silo, and she will soon learn just how badly her world is broken. The silo is about to confront what its history has only hinted about and its inhabitants have never dared to whisper. Uprising.

A New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller, as well as Kindle Book Review’s 2012 Indie Book of the Year, Wool is truly a blockbuster.

[Caretha]

34. Great series

Have read them all and gobble up anything Hugh Howey writes.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

37. Hi Caretha...

Nice to see another Hugh Howey fan!

[Marrah_G]

39. Thank you for the suggestion of Wool

I started reading it last night

[ChisolmTrailDem]

40. You're welcome. Hope you enjoy it :) nt

[magical thyme]

32. wow! each unit has tv and internet access

because we all know that if there is an apocolypse, tv and the web will go on to the bitter end and beyond!

hmmm...70 people for 5 years = 350 people/years
75,000 gallons of water = 210 gallons/year/person.
Average person uses 80-100 gallons/water/day.
Oopsie!

[former9thward]

52. Except the average person does not use that much water in survival mode.

Probably 1-2% of that amount. I don't know anyone who uses 80-100 gallons of water a day in real life or anything close.

[magical thyme]

57. aside from the fact that these aren't average people, they're 1%ers

is this:
Estimates vary, but each person uses about 80-100 gallons of water per day. Are you surprised that the largest use of household water is to flush the toilet, and after that, to take showers and baths?
http://water.usgs.gov/edu/qa-home-percapita.html

Typical water use at home
Bath
A full tub is about 36 gallons.
Shower
2-2.5 gallons per minute. Old shower heads use as much as 4 gallons per minute.
Teeth brushing
<1 gallon, especially if water is turned off while brushing. Newer bath faucets use about 1 gallon per minute, whereas older models use over 2 gallons.
Hands/face washing
1 gallon
Face/leg shaving
1 gallon
Dishwasher
20 gallons/load, depending of efficiency of dishwasher
Dishwashing by hand:
4 gallons/minute for old faucets.. Newer kitchen faucets use about 1-2 gallons per minutes.
Clothes washer
25 gallons/load for newer washers. Older models use about 40 gallons per load.
Toilet flush
3 gallons for older models. Most all new toilets use 1.2-1.6 gallons per flush.
Glasses of water drunk
8 oz. per glass

Also, don't forget their survival silos feature a swimming pool. There's a little extra water per day as well.

[longship]

33. Here. You know that this is the mine shafts again.

It has already been spoken about.

[ecstatic]

35. and how will they get there?

Without mingling with the (unruly) masses for months or possibly years? I doubt that this development is sold out; hell, I'd be surprised if even 1 unit was purchased.

I'm not in the 1%, but I've already accepted that I'd be among the first to go in an apocalypse. I'm an extremely picky eater, I don't like to be dirty or uncomfortable, can't deal with weather extremes, etc.

[surrealAmerican]

36. Is this for real?

If so, I guess it just shows that the very wealthy are no more intelligent than anybody else. What kind of a sucker would buy one of these units?

[JHB]

38. What a perfect scenario for selling shoddy goods!

Get all the money (millions) up front, pay for some flashy renderings, build a few posh sample units, and skips on the rest. Assuming any of the clients can actually get there when they would "need" to, what are they going to do if they find that the air circulation system doesn't circulate much air, the water-reclamation system doesn't reclaim drinkable water, the sewer system is grossly inadequate and tends to overflow (also grossly), the electrical system can't handle the load of people actually living there, and the "food stores" amount to a warehouse of Cup-Ramen and some canned goods. But none of the condos was provided with a can opener.

What are they going to do at that point? Sue?

[olddots]

41. will Muffy and I have storage facilities for our Bimmers ?

Will there be sushi and a wine celler ?

What moronic dip shits the greedy have become .

[WillyT]

43. K & R !!!

[Electric Monk]

44. Right out of Dr. Strangelove. Winning the mineshaft war, yay!

[LongTomH]

45. Hilarious! It seems reality is conspiring to put the Onion out of business!!!!!

When 'reality' gets weirder than satire, what room is there for satirists?

I'm guessing that the people selling these apocalypse condos know they're shucking their clients.

[MohRokTah]

46. I did some research on this.

It was featured in National Geographic Channel's Doomsday Preppers Season 1 Episode 5.

$2-3 million per unit.

[99th_Monkey]

47. That's awesome to know. Thanks nt

[MohRokTah]

48. I've got Netflix.

I'm watching the episode right now.

These people are FREAKS!!!

The scary black man in the White House drove a lot of people nuts, and opened up a whole industry designed to make the nutters feel safe from the scary black man in the White House.

[99th_Monkey]

49. That's awesome... I have netflix too... I'm going to put it on my "list" thank you. nt

[MohRokTah]

50. Watching episode 6 now.

There's one nutter who stockpiled over 11,000 varieties of heirloom seeds over Fukishima. He was certain the food supply was going to be contaminated with Fukishima radiation any day.

[Turbineguy]

53. I don't think the 1 percenters

want an apocalypse. Christ probably doesn't want one either. But many who work for the 1 percenters and "Christians" do.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

54. Convince them that it's starting now....

And then just pave over everything once they've settled in.

[lpbk2713]

55. They can sip their martinis in isolated comfort.

All they have to worry about is running out of olives.

[d_r]

58. I'm telling you

one infected person gets in there, and it will just be a sealed up Zombie hole. It's a terrible idea.