Our own private bunker
Are you jealous? No, it isn't really our private bunker, we have to share it with the other people in our apartment building. It's currently being used as storage space and I'm not sure we'd all even fit in with all the junk that's there (shh, don't tell the authorities.)
The nuclear shelter building craze started during the Cold War, in 1971 specifically, when a law was passed requiring every house to have a shelter with enough spaces for all the residents. Now, there are some communities with more shelter spaces than residents.
The Wall Street Journal had an interesting (amusing, even) story on this subject.
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5 comments:
Being prepared for the unthinkable is difficult. When the authorities do take things seriously we tend to circumvent regulations (same story here) and when something happens people hold their politicians responsible for everything. We've been through a ridiculous debate in Sweden on whether our government was more or less responsible for the tsunami a couple of years ago.
Well, ifyou are going to have a bunker, it might as well be attractive; this one is a lovely shade of yellow!
Very pretty bunker!! The only place I've seen a bunker was at my old job where the office building had a bunker in the basement, circa 1960s. It's so dark and dirty that even the rats won't go near it.
Per: seriously speaking, the shelters are probably pretty well cared for. If you read the WSJ story, I would say the comment from Grimm "for a shelter that's used is a shelter that's maintained" is apt. One of the real questions is how suitable these things are to the latest superbombs. And how long can we stay in there to avoid the fallout? Just doesn't seem very practical.
Without knowing any details of the Swedish discussion about the cause of the Tsunami, it does sound rather far-fetched.
Kate: You have a point. It could be avocado green.
Ming: 1960s, hm. Was that one avocado green?
You're right about super bombs. Fortunately most bombs are considerably smaller so as long as there are wars people will need shelters.
There is a pretty widespread perception in Sweden that if we pay sufficiently high taxes (and indeed we do) then we can have a Big Government which takes care of literally everything for us. So a lot of Swedes blamed our politicians for failing to somehow act swiftly and forcefully on the other side of the globe in the midst of Christmas celebrations. Slightly unrealistic, if you ask me.
Anyhow, I agree about this bunker looking rather pretty!
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