Sometimes I wish we would emulate our European neighbors more closely, in a lot of areas. But here’s one that would be even more useful than others; nuclear shelters for every resident.
This video explains how back during the Cold War, Swiss authorities devised a plan that would see every resident had access to a nuclear shelter in one of two ways.
- When you build a home, you have a choice of including a nuclear shelter in your construction, large enough to hold all residents of the home or…
- You pay a local tax equivalent to approximately $1700 per resident in order to ensure a spot/space for each resident in the local shelters that are provided for that local government’s residents.
It’s a pretty simple concept and plan. The video also notes that recent hostilities between the Soviet Union and Ukraine have reignited the sense that these shelters might be needed, causing much-needed maintenance and upgrades to have been instituted across the country.
In an interesting aside, I recently read a novel that took place in Switzerland and, at least in the case of one character, noted the personal nuclear shelter that was part of his home’s basement. Just a little serendipity that I found fascinating.
