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Doomsday Prep for the Super-rich

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Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-rich

#161

Post by zepto »

LyndsySimon wrote: post #118
Spooky23 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plus the gun companies and NRA types stir up paranoia, so people frantically hoard this stuff. One of my dad's neighbors out in the sticks has a stockpile of like 50k rounds of ammo, waiting for god knows what.

Are you sure it's a "stockpile", and not just a "stash"? If you include .22, I probably have 25,000 rounds in my closet in my apartment. That's only about a year's worth of ammo for practice at most. People who shoot regularly go through seemingly ridiculous quantities of ammunition. It takes hundreds of thousands of rounds to become a skilled marksman.

It doesn't take hundreds of thousands of rounds to become a skilled marksman. But it does take at least a few thousand, so your point is still valid even if the estimate is way off.

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-rich

#162

Post by ucaetano »

disordinary wrote: post #136
ucaetano wrote: post #20

I grew up in a 3rd world small farm, raising pigs, chicken, setting traps and planting a bunch of stuff, not to mention a light version of WROL (without rule of law). Reading this article I feel that I'm more prepared for the apocalypse than all the "super-rich"...

The thing about NZ is that in a post apocalyptic world people will just get on with things, society won't break down to any great extent. You won't need to be able to set traps or do the economy will collapse but New Zealand is pretty self sufficient when it comes to food and energy. Domesticly sourced oil will be very expensive and obviously high end technology relies on supply chains from China so if the world turn…

Not exactly, almost everything you rely upon has a global supply chain. The tractors used for agriculture are probably not made in NZ, as their components, transformers, electrical materials, basic chemical supplies, etc.

Look around you and think where all the aluminium, iron, potash, copper, rubber, basic oils, etc. comes from. All those supply chains will be disrupted, if not eliminated completely. There is barely any self-sufficiency left in the world.

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-rich

#163

Post by Apocryphon »

Pretty good idea from the MeFi discussion:

'It's cute to see the whole "I'm going to buy a home in New Zealand! Full of canned goods! And a helicopter pad!" Realistically, though, for the money they could do a lot better. Go buy an entire block in Detroit, rehab all the houses, rent them at below-market rates to folks who need help. There's your "militia."'

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-rich

#164

Post by FabHK »

dkarapetyan wrote: post #148

Either these folks truly don't understand how interdependent modern society is or the article cherry picked sound bites to make them look like idiots. Instead of investing in strengthening the institutions that made their way of life possible these idiots are trying to sequester themselves. It is sad that we have allowed morons to such high ranks of power. The only sensible voices in the entire article are Levchin an…

Agreed, "no man is an island".

On a related note, I was appalled by the howls and outcries against Obama's (entirely sensible, if maybe easily misunderstood) "you didn't build that".

(Related discussion in the "Don't tell your friends they're lucky" article/thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13437332 )

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-rich

#165

Post by FabHK »

Analemma_ wrote: post #21
throwaway2016a wrote: post #10

> To protect his wife and daughter, he said, “I don’t have guns, but I have a lot of other weaponry. I took classes in archery.” This whole article reads like some surreal parody of what eccentric SV mil/billionaires would do. Although I suppose there is probably some truth that in a post apocalyptic / post rule of law world... the person in the big house with the expensive stuff to loot probably has a huge target on…

SV mil/billionaires descended into self-parody a long time ago. The plans for floating libertarian utopias, the eschatological X-risk stuff, the "simulation hypothesis" (and, apparently, someone actually trying to "hack our program")... the list goes on. I really hope more developers wake up soon to the fact that we're being led by a cadre of lunatics.

Can't wait to see this stuff in the next season of "Silicon Valley" :-)

Edit - oh, that joke's been made below already...

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-rich

#166

Post by FabHK »

rubidium wrote: post #30
doikor wrote: post #27

I really don't see a scenario working where you pay money to someone to protect you in a doomsday scenario working. The guard is the guy with the guns (and the training to use them). Why would the guard not just kill you/kick you out of the secure place once shit hits the fan?

From the article: One of the guests was skeptical, Dugger said. “He leaned forward and asked, ‘Are you taking your pilot’s family, too? And what about the maintenance guys? If revolutionaries are kicking in doors, how many of the people in your life will you have to take with you?’ The questioning continued. In the end, most agreed they couldn’t run.”

You could learn to fly the plane. You only need to use it once, out. No more maintenance needed after.

Now, I disagree with this whole "preppers" mindset, but I think some of the practical problems could be overcome.

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-rich

#167

Post by gnopgnip »

jessaustin wrote: post #134
rabboRubble wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, all talk about emergency bags and archery, zero talk about earthquake proofing their damn houses in California. Sort of missing the point of emergency preparedness, methinks.

Fancy houses in California are all earthquake "proofed". It's the law.

Many older homes have not been retrofitted.

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-rich

#168

Post by Apocryphon »

FabHK wrote: post #164
dkarapetyan wrote: post #148

Either these folks truly don't understand how interdependent modern society is or the article cherry picked sound bites to make them look like idiots. Instead of investing in strengthening the institutions that made their way of life possible these idiots are trying to sequester themselves. It is sad that we have allowed morons to such high ranks of power. The only sensible voices in the entire article are Levchin an…

Agreed, "no man is an island". On a related note, I was appalled by the howls and outcries against Obama's (entirely sensible, if maybe easily misunderstood) "you didn't build that". (Related discussion in the "Don't tell your friends they're lucky" article/thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13437332 )

The War Nerd explains why survivalist individualism is overrated and false: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13484925

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-rich

#169

Post by FabHK »

Apocryphon wrote: post #168
FabHK wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, "no man is an island". On a related note, I was appalled by the howls and outcries against Obama's (entirely sensible, if maybe easily misunderstood) "you didn't build that". (Related discussion in the "Don't tell your friends they're lucky" article/thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13437332 )

The War Nerd explains why survivalist individualism is overrated and false: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13484925

Nothing (except a header) seem to show up under that link?

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-rich

#170

Post by jessaustin »

gnopgnip wrote: post #167
jessaustin wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fancy houses in California are all earthquake "proofed". It's the law.

Many older homes have not been retrofitted.

The discussion was about "eccentric SV mil/billionaires". All of those dudes have renovations on their fancy houses on a regular basis, and no renovation would be approved without the earthquake work.
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