Okay, Chelsea, today I found a CBC article actually I want to go over. Okay, good. So this comes from CBC Canada's public news service. It is from March 9th, 2024, written by Andre Meyer, or Mayor, and the title, From Luxury Bunkers to Tactical Vehicles, the Ultra Rich are Preparing for the Big One. I know that because I am ultra rich.
In December, Wired Magazine revealed that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Metta and one of the richest individuals on the planet, was building a $100 million US compound in Hawaii. Oh, I knew this! Fact that Zuckerberg is undertaking a nine-figure renovation is hardly revelatory. The more telling details the compound includes a bunker, 5,000 square feet to be specific with concrete walls and an escape hatch.
Though it does this tell us, it's a sign that at least some of the ultra rich are anxious about global events and are making contingency plans for the big one, whatever that may be. The feeling is very much in the air. Architectural Digest named Luxury Bunkers one of the real estate trends of 2023. At a finally appointed readout, figure prominently in the recent Netflix thriller, Leave the World Behind.
Brian Cramden, president of Hardin Structures, a Virginia-based firm that builds multi-million dollar fortified homes and bomb shelters, said work has been steady for years, but has seen a major uptick in the last two to three months. With Putin in North Korea and what's going on in Gaza, I'm getting lots of inquiries, he said. It's war, it's Trump, it's the divisiveness of the nation.
Cramden said the most commonly cited threat includes the breakdown of law and order, the detonation of a nuclear weapon, a hostile power activating an electromagnetic pulse to disrupt the communication network and the diffuse effects of climate change. Mivos, a California-based company that provides shelter solutions, told CBC inquiries into applications are up over 2,000% year over year. Middle-class peppers also built shelters in their backyard, but they couldn't match the scale and
grandeur of these state-sponsored projects. That changed in the early 2000s when more expansive private bunkers started to proliferate. Companies like Hardin Structures and Vivos handle all aspects of the construction from the architectural design to the engineering, which typically means making it blast-resistant, airtight, difficult for invaders to breach and capable of generating its own power.
Garrett said the most elaborate bunker he found whilst researching his book is the survival condo located in former Missile Silo in Kansas, built around 2010 by a property developer who used to work for the US Department of Defense. This nuclear Hardin structure features walls up to 2 and 3 quarter meters thick and can house 36 to 75 people. I don't know, do you think we need to read more? No, I have some thoughts though. Yeah, go ahead.
I didn't realize I should change my career to Bunker Maker. Bunker Maker, Bunker Designer, Bunker Interior Designer I'm sure is a very specialty niche you can get into. Bunker Builder, Bunker Customer Service Rep. Yeah. I could do that. I never even thought about that. I just find it very annoying that the very people that create most of the problems that plague society these days have decided that they don't need to worry about the issues because they can just...
Oh no, they don't for sure because they have too much money. It doesn't apply. Yeah. There's the asterisks. These problems don't apply to us. Global warming that we're the number one contributor of even though we're trying to make it seem like you know the plastic straws that you get are the ones contributing and stuff. Yeah. But more comments that only vaguely have stuff to do with this. I just watched the social network. I know it came out years ago. Mark Zuckerberg, Total Dickhead.
Yeah. Total Dickhead. Wouldn't want to talk to that guy. I really feel like the money that's going into Bunkers could really be better used trying to fix the problems that they're building the bunker for. Not like in the world. Yeah. But this is unfortunately we live in a hyper individualistic society where you are supposed to take it upon yourself to fix the issues you can, which means that you're going to build a bunker. It's the inevitable answer to how can I solve these issues?
Well, I can dig a hole for me and my family. Yeah. Well, yeah, exactly. But the people that are being blamed for it can't like feasibly build one. Yeah. And then I mean, I could make a hole. I also just want to add to that this is a terrible solution also, because if there's literally just the 70-ish people in your bunker left, it'd be pretty easy for them to turn on you. Yeah. Like if you hire security crew to keep people out, like why would they have an incentive to help you out?
Like it doesn't make any sense if the entire society is fallen. And you're the only one with food. Let's say that. Bunker, East Keeper. That could be. Yeah. You know what? A bunker mediator would be a pretty good industry to get into. You should start specializing.
And also just off a little bit of a tangent, I do feel you'd really want to go with like a timeless kind of interior with a bunker, just because you don't know how long you're going to have to be in there and you're going to have no chances to really change it. So you're going to want to go with a timeless feel. You can't go flashy and really cutting edge designs. Or maybe in your prep, you keep some like different decorations to switch it up. You mean the Christmas room?
Yes. Okay. Maybe you just go with a Christmas theme in a bunker. That would be fun. Oh no, you could never do that. That would be awful. That would be so bad. But as a bunker customer service mediator, you may want to do that to another bunker. If you're looking to potentially drive other bunkers crazy with the Christmas theme. Are we getting into bunker wars?
Yeah, could you imagine if your sworn enemy was making a bunker and you're like, hey, I'll give you an extra like $90,000 if you just make that Christmas theme. And then like it comes the end of the world comes and then they like run down to their bunker and they're like, fuck. It is interesting when they were done. How did we have no idea that they did this theme? But anyhow, let us know the theme of your bunker that you would like to get and get it to us within 48 hours.
That's your only opportunity. Yeah. Good luck everybody. Bye. Good luck. Good bye.