The governments of the world find out about an asteroid on a cataclysmic path with our planet.  Our government decides We the People are too stupid and brutish to be trusted to act responsibly with that knowledge, and they use billions of our tax dollars to build a massive shelter for favored citizens, all with great secrecy, with a few remaining slots to be rationed out to the taxpayers via lottery.

The catastrophe wasn't as bad as anticipated, and had the U.S. government not decided to use our tax dollars as their personal piggy bank to provide an "ark" for politicians and their families and friends, individual citizens could have built shelters or made other provisions that might likely have let them survive the disastrous strike that sent a massive tidal wave surging halfway across the country.

The real disaster was that millions of U.S. citizens died, but all the politicians were saved.  Yeah, that's what I want when it's time to rebuild civilization:  the privileged political class ready to resume Big Government As Usual.  Ugh!

Of course, the movie was fiction.  The bunkers our government has built for themselves and not us, those are real.  While I pray such survivalist measures are never necessary, it does give one a moment of pause to realize that we've financed the safety of a pampered ruling class, while they're telling us to stock up on duct tape and a month's worth of canned goods in case of emergency.
The governments of the world find out about an asteroid on a cataclysmic path with our planet. Our government decides We the People are too stupid and brutish to be trusted to act responsibly with that knowledge, and they use billions of our tax dollars to build a massive shelter for favored citizens, all with great secrecy, with a few remaining slots to be rationed out to the taxpayers via lottery. The catastrophe wasn't as bad as anticipated, and had the U. S. government not decided to use our tax dollars as their personal piggy bank to provide an "ark" for politicians and their families and friends, individual citizens could have built shelters or made other provisions that might likely have let them survive the disastrous strike that sent a massive tidal wave surging halfway across the country. The real disaster was that millions of U. S. citizens died, but all the politicians were saved. Yeah, that's what I want when it's time to rebuild civilization:  the privileged political class ready to resume Big Government As Usual. Ugh! Of course, the movie was fiction. The bunkers our government has built for themselves and not us, those are real. While I pray such survivalist measures are never necessary, it does give one a moment of pause to realize that we've financed the safety of a pampered ruling class, while they're telling us to stock up on duct tape and a month's worth of canned goods in case of emergency.