The apocalypse has the face of an air-conditioned basement with a pool - here is the panic market in full swing
As the world teeters on the edge of geopolitical crises, climate change, and social tensions, Americans—rather than panic—build. The panic industry is experiencing its greatest boom since the Cold War, and the bunker has become the new symbol of luxury.
According to a report in the New York Times, the panic industry is experiencing its biggest boom since the Cold War. Americans, from New York stockbrokers to California startups , are preparing for the worst. They are investing billions of dollars in nuclear bunkers , private tunnels, fortifications, weapons caches, medicines and supplies. The apocalypse now has the face of a Beverly Hills interior designer and an air-conditioned basement with a swimming pool. And while it sounds like a script from an HBO series, the most exclusive arms race is underway.
The entrance to Bunker Hill in the Yarra Valley / ShutterstockWe no longer have Kennedy and Soviet missiles in Cuba , but we do have war in Ukraine , Donald Trump's tariffs and global pandemics . Fear of global chaos has become fashionable again - although today, instead of nuclear evacuation drills in schools, we have luxury bunkers worth billions of dollars and the best design. According to data from the New York Times, one third of adult Americans are preparing for the end of the world scenario - and these are not just survivalists from Montana.
The average annual value of this market is over $11 billion , and the greatest demand comes from... the middle class.
Marble Bunker. Premium ApocalypseCompanies like The Panic Room Company and Atlas Survival Shelters , which previously offered bunkers ranging in price from $130,000 to over $3 million , now have products to fit any budget—as long as that budget allows for your own well and a NASA-grade air filtration system. A $20,000 bunker? Here you go!
The most luxurious structures resemble the apartments of a 5-star resort: wood paneling, jacuzzis, rooms with screens showing the "outside world" and even underground gardens and fish farms.
Influencers and billionaires go down to the basement - the bunker trendTikTok is full of accounts promoting bunkers as the “new minimalism of the 21st century.” The Italian profile ilmiobunker is getting hundreds of thousands of views. Even young people, previously uninterested in geopolitics, are starting to invest in “conscious survival.” This is no longer a prepper with canned food in his backpack—it’s an influencer with a chrome life capsule , ready for climate catastrophe and the next blackout.
Millionaires have also decided to take care of their lives. Mark Zuckerberg is building a $200 million mansion in Hawaii with an underground tunnel and a soundproof bunker.
Zuckerberg isn’t the only billionaire building a bunker. Max Levchin , one of PayPal’s founders, has said that about half of those who have become rich in the new economy have invested in a general “backup plan”—to protect themselves in the event of war or revolution.
Will a luxury bunker save us from destruction?The Federal Emergency Management Agency reassures: even a basement can provide security for 24 hours. Those worth millions – maybe up to 72. The rest is the mythology of modern escape: we buy bunkers like we used to buy watches.
