Odds and endsEnd-of-the-world shelter company selling bunker space

They say that for lawyers even death is not the end, because there is always litigation over the estate. We may say the same about the some enterprising business people: The end of the world is not really the end, because there is a way to monetize it. Here is an example.

In what may strike some as an idea taken from Dr. Strangelove, Del Mar, California-based company Vivos (company’s motto: “You can’t predict, but you can prepare”) is providing you and about 4,000 other people the chance to survive the end of the world. The company plans to build a network of 20 shelters near most major cities of the United States. Each 20,000-square-foot shelter, which can hold up to 200 people, would be located about five stories underground with walls two to three feet thick. The shelters would be stocked with a year’s supply of “gourmet foods,” as well as medical and dental centers and flat-screen TVs.

Each shelter costs about $10 million to build, and Vivos is selling space in the price range of about $50,000 per person. So far, about 1,000 applications have been received for space in the shelters.

NPR’s Bill Chappell writes that once a certain number of applications have been received and candidates selected for a shelter location, Vivos will begin construction of the shelter. When completed, ownership will be turned over to the Vivos Owners’ Association, and the owners would be responsible for security and maintenance, contributing their own skills and expertise to ensure the long-term survival of the shelter. Vivos hopes to complete construction and commissioning of the nationwide network by 21 December 2012 (the end of the Mayan calendar, which is also a countdown clock on Vivos’ Web site).

As Vivos founder Robert Vicino explains, the shelters can withstand almost any global disaster that you might think of. Nuclear attacks, bio terrorism, chemical warfare, super volcano eruptions, asteroids, solar flares, tsunamis, earthquakes, pole shifts, the return of Planet X, social and political anarchy — all have the potential to wipe out humanity but could be survived by living in a Vivos shelter. In addition, Vivos notes that the end of the world has been predicted throughout history by such influential forces as the Mayans, Nostradamus, and the Bible. From such omens arises Vivos’ motto: “You can’t predict, but you can prepare.”

In addition to sparing the lives of 200 people, each shelter will also become a DNA depository, according to Vivos. Universities are invited to submit DNA samples of every living thing on Earth, along with seeds, which will be stored in refrigerated vaults. As Vivos’ Web site explains, “This will assure the greatest chance of future restoration of the world as we know it, regardless of the catastrophe. Vivos may prove to be the next ‘Genesis’ for Earth and a new beginning for Life.” The vaults will also contain off-road vehicles and hunting and fishing equipment for when returning to the surface.

Vivos, which is a privately funded venture with no religious affiliations, adds one more remark that might concern people: the world’s governments are already building underground shelters for the elite, leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves. “As seen in most disasters, even in America, the government may not be there for you, and cannot accommodate, or provide for everyone,” Vivos states on its Web site. “This is especially true with any widespread event, as witnessed with Katrina, or what may be even more catastrophic in the coming years. Vivos is your opportunity to have a shelter solution that is assured to be there waiting for you, even on short notice.”