Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

N_E_1 for Tennis

(9,593 posts)
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 10:09 AM Jan 2017

DOOMSDAY PREP FOR THE SUPER-RICH

Last edited Tue Jan 24, 2017, 11:11 AM - Edit history (1)

Article from the New Yorker. Wow! Warning if you really don't like prepper stories don't read.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/30/doomsday-prep-for-the-super-rich


Some of the wealthiest people in America—in Silicon Valley, New York, and beyond—are getting ready for the crackup of civilization.

Steve Huffman, the thirty-three-year-old co-founder and C.E.O. of Reddit, which is valued at six hundred million dollars, was nearsighted until November, 2015, when he arranged to have laser eye surgery. He underwent the procedure not for the sake of convenience or appearance but, rather, for a reason he doesn’t usually talk much about: he hopes that it will improve his odds of surviving a disaster, whether natural or man-made. “If the world ends—and not even if the world ends, but if we have trouble—getting contacts or glasses is going to be a huge pain in the ass,” he told me recently. “Without them, I’m fucked."

-snip-

Over the years, Huffman has become increasingly concerned about basic American political stability and the risk of large-scale unrest. He said, “Some sort of institutional collapse, then you just lose shipping—that sort of stuff.” (Prepper blogs call such a scenario W.R.O.L., “without rule of law.”) Huffman has come to believe that contemporary life rests on a fragile consensus. “I think, to some degree, we all collectively take it on faith that our country works, that our currency is valuable, the peaceful transfer of power—that all of these things that we hold dear work because we believe they work. While I do believe they’re quite resilient, and we’ve been through a lot, certainly we’re going to go through a lot more.”

-snip-

(Aside...Robert A. Johnson was a managing director at Soros Fund Management and much more)

By January, 2015, Johnson was sounding the alarm: the tensions produced by acute income inequality were becoming so pronounced that some of the world’s wealthiest people were taking steps to protect themselves. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Johnson told the audience, “I know hedge-fund managers all over the world who are buying airstrips and farms in places like New Zealand because they think they need a getaway.”

-snip-

Most preppers don’t actually have bunkers; hardened shelters are expensive and complicated to build. The original silo of Hall’s complex was built by the Army Corps of Engineers to withstand a nuclear strike. The interior can support a total of seventy-five people. It has enough food and fuel for five years off the grid; by raising tilapia in fish tanks, and hydroponic vegetables under grow lamps, with renewable power, it could function indefinitely, Hall said. In a crisis, his SWAT-team-style trucks (“the Pit-Bull VX, armored up to fifty-calibre”) will pick up any owner within four hundred miles. Residents with private planes can land in Salina, about thirty miles away. In his view, the Army Corps did the hardest work by choosing the location. “They looked at height above sea level, the seismology of an area, how close it is to large population centers,” he said.

-snip-

Four paragraphs are not enough to represent this article. Long read but very interesting.

13 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
DOOMSDAY PREP FOR THE SUPER-RICH (Original Post) N_E_1 for Tennis Jan 2017 OP
Then if they are so worried about income inequality WhiteTara Jan 2017 #1
In the article that is discussed... N_E_1 for Tennis Jan 2017 #2
Keep some gold coins too, so... Buckeye_Democrat Jan 2017 #3
Soap is probably a better investment than gold coins. yellowcanine Jan 2017 #11
I read it last night and it is very engaging. n/t dixiegrrrrl Jan 2017 #4
Link? -nt CrispyQ Jan 2017 #5
Thanks CrispyQ.. Not enuf coffee I guess. My bad N_E_1 for Tennis Jan 2017 #7
Thanks! CrispyQ Jan 2017 #9
It is a good article, here is the link. braddy Jan 2017 #8
Three words of EVIL: hedge fund managers Raster Jan 2017 #6
Can't see the end of the world Ovida11 Jan 2017 #10
they know they have screwed the rest of us and the world so badly, their only option is to make yurbud Jan 2017 #12
I wish it WAS Doomsday for the super-rich FiveGoodMen Jan 2017 #13

WhiteTara

(29,676 posts)
1. Then if they are so worried about income inequality
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 10:29 AM
Jan 2017

why don't they voluntarily redistribute? For the good of the world?

N_E_1 for Tennis

(9,593 posts)
2. In the article that is discussed...
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 10:34 AM
Jan 2017

probably not to the extent most of us would think was enough but it is in there.

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,848 posts)
3. Keep some gold coins too, so...
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 10:38 AM
Jan 2017

I can tell you in a barter situation, "What the hell am I supposed to do with that, dummy?!"

yellowcanine

(35,692 posts)
11. Soap is probably a better investment than gold coins.
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 03:22 PM
Jan 2017

tools, seeds (but they have to be replanted and kept viable), how-to books.

 

Ovida11

(12 posts)
10. Can't see the end of the world
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 12:07 PM
Jan 2017

Though in a "worst case scenario" if say Trump really was a hardcore fascist versus just a blowhard, there might be some type of populist revolt all around the country

yurbud

(39,405 posts)
12. they know they have screwed the rest of us and the world so badly, their only option is to make
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 04:27 PM
Jan 2017

it so much worse, the rest of us will die while they hide in their bunkers and domes.

FiveGoodMen

(20,018 posts)
13. I wish it WAS Doomsday for the super-rich
Tue Jan 24, 2017, 08:01 PM
Jan 2017

They are behind just about every world problem there is.

And we keep letting them destroy us because they played a money game better than most (or their parents did, or their grandparents...)

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»DOOMSDAY PREP FOR THE SUP...