Bunker: Building for the End Times

Part deconstruction, part existential philosophy, part exploration, part journalism, all deftly woven into a cohesive analysis and entertaining cultural explorative narrative, Garrett takes you inside the prepper world and explores the genre inside and out.

He explores the sociological and philosophical backdrops of the prepping phenomenon, framing the narrative using references to Kierkegaard, Foucault, and others. The exploration reveals the interconnectedness of prepping with government and state power (and the failures there of).

I think he misses a great opportunity to explore the underlying neo feudalist backdrop against which this prepper movement exists in western countries, i.e. hyper capitalism, neo liberalism, statism, etc. and their effects on society, vis a vis the underlying wealth inequality and societal imbalances, the widespread winner take all dog eat dog cultural landscape, which leaves in it’s wake an increase in societal narcissistic (and psychopathic) epidemics. These underlying problems have been explicitly delineated by Richard Wolff, Anand Giridharadas, Piketty, Twenge and Campbell, and Zizek. That is to say the many self destructive and innate incongruities of capitalism which have been propagandized away as Marxist rhetoric, and the failure of the masses to see behind the capitalist propaganda and ideology.

Against such dire political and economic landscapes, is it any wonder that entire segments of western society become despondent and seek real community and connection with other like-minded folks? Is it any surprise that those same communities sometimes seek to make the state irrelevant through self sufficiency, and why the state reacts violently against these movements?

Neverthess the book is unique and distinct in every regard, presenting the subject in a compelling way, with clear and concise writing, the author’s prose and breadth is truly appreciated.

Definitely unique, it earns a spot as both a reference, and a compelling cultural analysis, up there at the top of my collection.

I enjoyed his description of the various doomsday/prepper bunkers and communities around the world. I also appreciated him shedding light on the various survival compounds and construction entities such as Vivos and Hardened Structures. What I really got tired of was the low key Trump bashing and the regurgitation of the debunked Russian Collusion conspiracy. Pick it up at the library, don’t waste your money.

I’ve been living in extreme discomfort for months, feeling trapped between my obligations and my fear about everything happening around me. I got bunker in the mail and tore through it. It gave me so much piece to read about other people feeling frustrated and anxious. I’m now thinking about making my own preparations. Some of the characters in the book were nutjobs, but I understood what they were feeling. Bunker meant a lot to me, it’s about finding purpose in life when everything around us is a mess.

I heard about this book on the JRE (Joe Rogan experience #1515) podcast.

After listening to the podcast I definitely decided I needed to give this book a read. The detailed explanation of gigantic underground bunkers so close to home was fascinating!!

To see not only the Preppers point of view but also the profiteers aspect of building these things was wild.

Scary & fascinating to see the intense energy that is going into these underground cities just miles away from your home…. The amount of detail that has gone into this book is really cool. Its an easy read & very well written. Filled with loads of facts youd never had guessed. I highly recommend

First and foremost… I only read non-fiction books and I really did not see that I would enjoy this book. I actually thought it was more how folks design these bunkers, but I love it! The book consumed me and I read it very quickly.

I had a lot of fears about this author tossing in a lot so his politics into this book, but I was pleasantly surprised only slight jabs at the right and only at the current administration.

The book is very recent and timely including the effects of COVID-19 on preparedness. It was great to learn so much about this trend and even things I thought I knew about that I still learned a lot about. The business behind prepping, the tools, the bunkers for sale business (AKA Dread Merchants lol). Incredibly well written and researched. The notes section where stories, sources and studies are reference in the back is pretty much an encyclopedia on preparedness and the history of.

If you are a prepper, preparedness mind set, considering a bunker, or just want to know about subcultures that are becoming mainstream, this is a great book!

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