This is an English translation of an article I wrote for a German magazine. The article looks into the post apocalyptic strategies the wealthy and ultrarich are focusing on. Main point: The rich are as afraid of the collapse of society as anyone else, but their means to face the calamity are on another level.

  • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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    11 months ago

    You know it’ll be fucking hilarious if it happened. These rich assholes are building bunkers and surrounding themselves with ex-marines and survivalists and they somehow believe they’re not the weakest link.

    Money ain’t mean shit post-apocalypse.

    • silverbax@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      100%, those idiots will last less than a day. Meanwhile, the rest of the world may collapse, but a society will survive and rebuild. Those rich morons will be some of the first casualties, and they are setting their own doom traps themselves.

      • CADmonkey@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        The fun thing about bunkers is they have to be ventilated.

        Imagine if there was a guilt-free hole in the ground. You can toss whatever in there and its OK. Dirt. Rocks. Used oil. Toxins. Trash. Bodies.

        That’s what would happen. And you can’t guard it that effectively, because you need guards around yourself. I think you’re right, and a day is all it would take. A week at most.

          • CADmonkey@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            I’m glad you mentioned robots, because robots and automation are something I deal with often. I can respond with a question: You’re forgetting how useless a billionaire is, aren’t you?

            Robots don’t spring from whole cloth, ready to go. Someone, usually several people, have to make them. And once they are made, someone has to maintain them, charge them, and repair them. Amd it will be left in the hands of someone that Bob the Billionaire doesn’t respect: a mechanic. Someone who isn’t useless, and can disable those robots in minutes, probably in ways you can’t easily trace.

            • sizzler@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              I totally agree but something like perimeter Phalanx CIWS with decent ammo stores would put all but the bravest off for a while surely you agree with that? I’m also expecting one of the first purposes of decent Automatons would be a certain amount of self maintainance/basic repair.

              • CADmonkey@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                for a while

                Therein lies the problem. No matter what they come up with, it will not work forever.

                • sizzler@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  OK, now I see you at the edge of range of the phalanx, hiding behind a rock occasionally holding up a “scarecrow” to see if the phalanx is out of power/ammo yet.

        • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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          11 months ago

          The fun thing about bunkers is they have to be ventilated.

          Imagine if there was a guilt-free hole in the ground. You can toss whatever in there and its OK.

          Put a toilet seat on top of it.

    • R0cket_M00se@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Yeah, true. You can spend money on resources/people but once you’re there if you don’t have an Economic system there’s no reason to keep working for someone who’s money doesn’t exist anymore.

      • OneLemmyMan@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        i think there are multiple ways to ensure that people will still work for you in such a senario, i doubt they are that stupid that they will rely on cash in the apocalypse. If we can think that wouldn’t work out so can they. There are other commodities that you can secure and make sure you are the only one that knows how to get access to them combined with having a few trusted guards that are given a lot of power when working under you which they wish to keep, you can get a lot of people to stay in line with limiting their resources and having a small core of loyal armed men. Before inventing money we still had people rich in other ways that had a bunch of people working under them, it’s not going to be very different after the collapse. Although i do agree with the statement that a bunker unless it’s to protect yourself from a nuke or whatever or long term radiation is not a good idea especially when shared with strangers.

        • CADmonkey@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          There are other commodities that you can secure and make sure you are the only one that knows how to get access to them

          This sounds like an excellent way to spend the last minutes of your life having your fingernails pulled off.

          • OneLemmyMan@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            By that logic people would be pulling their fingernails now in order to get money out of them, what’s the difference?

              • OneLemmyMan@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                i have been locked in the same building with my ceo making a tiny fraction of what he is making my whole life like most people, i would never pull their finger nails to get money as long as i get enough money to survive, not because i pity them or anything but because im not a psychopath and as long as it’s not completely necessary for my survival i wouldn’t do something like that. Like most people.

                • OneLemmyMan@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  you are talking about a hypothetical scenario of an apocalypse but you fail to realize that you are already living it, your bunker is your country, the rich people are the same as your scenario and you are being taken advantage of just like in your hypothetical. If you was to do something you would be doing it now