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Far from the evil of the world: New Zealand
Photo: Mark Meredith / Getty Images
Some billionaires are prepared for anything.
The investor and Trump advisor Peter Thiel, for example.
As a hard-boiled prepper with the right fortune, he bought a sheep farm with a bunker in New Zealand.
In the event of a global apocalypse, Thiel can fly from Silicon Valley with his private jet to his safe paradise.
While the rest of humanity goes to the dogs, he sits in his bunker with canned beer and sheep cheese.
Thiel may have overstepped the curve with his bunker - but he's basically right: New Zealand is the safest place in the world in the event of a global catastrophe.
At least that's what a research group at the British Anglia Ruskin University claims.
In a study they examined countries to determine how crisis-proof they are.
They too are of the opinion that human civilization has never been as close to the abyss as it is today: financial crises, climate change, environmental degradation and pandemics threaten a world that is increasingly networked.
Crises no longer only occur locally, but quickly turn into wildfire.
The researchers looked for geographical locations whose starting conditions are more favorable to survive such crises.
To determine the safest places, countries were ranked according to their ability to grow enough food for their populations in the event of a crisis, protect their borders from mass migration, and maintain an autonomous power grid and some production capacity.
It is about how autonomously countries in the sea of chaos can get through the crisis.
So it is not surprising that islands in temperate climates are at the top of the list: New Zealand, Iceland, Great Britain, Tasmania and Ireland are therefore the best places to survive a global collapse of society, according to the study.
"We were not surprised that New Zealand was at the top of our list," said study author Aled Jones of the Global Sustainability Institute at Anglia Ruskin University of the Guardian.
“We assume that the countries must be able to protect their borders and that there is a moderate climate.” In addition, one would need relatively complex societies that would have the appropriate capacities to function autonomously in an emergency.
That's why Great Britain is among the safest places: “At first we were quite surprised that Great Britain came out strong.
It is densely populated, has relocated its production abroad and has not expanded its renewable energies quickly and only produces half of its food itself, ”says Jones.
"But it has the potential to withstand major crises."
The corona crisis has shown how quickly governments are able to act in the event of a crisis - and, for example, to close borders, according to the researcher. Nevertheless, many countries have also become aware of how dependent and vulnerable they are. “We have to think much more about resilience in global planning. But the ideal, of course, is that there shouldn't be a quick collapse. "