Why does it feel like it's the 50's again sometimes?

I wish it was like the good part of the 50's. That whole white picket fence, American Dream thing seems pretty rad. One person in the household could work, the other could run the household, which we all know is a full time job by itself. Could be the woman who works, the man... who cares? As long as you can put a checkmark next to that American Dream box.

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But instead, it's just gloom and doom half the time. You've got FEMA releasing lists of potential nuclear targets, all of which feel like they're right in our back yard. It feels like when I watched that movie The Day After when I was in junior high. Nuclear war felt like it might happen any day. Why do we need to stress about that now? Yuck. On the other hand, you wanna know whether you'll be remotely safe or not.

Are there any public fallout shelters, or full-on bunkers?

vanbeets
vanbeets
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Well, yes and no. The kind of bunker like you'd expect in the movies, that will withstand a full blast right onto Maine, only existed decades ago. According to a Redditor in this thread who seems pretty in-the-know, the only functional "bunker" left in Maine is under the State House, where you'd expect it.

Man monitoring cctv cameras in modern control room
Izabela Zaremba
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As far as fallout shelters, that term sort of gets misused. Most people think that's the same thing as a bunker, and it's not. A fallout shelter is only going to protect you from the radioactive material mixing with vapor to form dust that falls back to the ground. But it won't protect you from a blast.

A nuclear explosion creating a mushroom cloud. Mixed media illustration.
solarseven
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What about a home bunker you build yourself?

Well, you could use these really sweet and presumably "safe" plans the government put out back in 1966, that implied you could DIY that thing in your basement. You could probably hire someone to dig you like a tornado style situation. Although, I'm not sure how those hold up in a nuclear attack.

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A simple Google search turned up companies in New England that do seem willing and able to put something like this on your property, so you definitely have the option. I suppose it's better than the alternative. But I'm just not that handy or organized. I'm your chubby friend you push behind you in a zombie attack. Plus, I have a bad leg. See? I'm helping...

Let's move onto something far more impacting and important than fallout shelters...

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