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Legacy Food Storage isn’t the only business cashing in. Underground bunkers with hazardous materials suits and secret stashes of gold and silver are back in vogue. Trump has also raised the profile of an array of far-right figures, who may become even more successful if the nominee launches a television network as rumoured.

It’s manufactured outrage, all done with a profit motive

“The conspiracy theory industry is not going away. It’s growing. And it’s becoming a cottage industry, not just in the U.S. but everywhere,” Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak said. “It’s manufactured outrage, all done with a profit motive.”

Conspiracy-minded Americans with far-right political leanings have been a growing economic force since the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent election of Barack Obama. The industry catering to people preparing for surviving the collapse of society is likely worth billions, with companies as plain-vanilla as Costco Wholesale Corp. stocking backpacks filled with emergency gear.

It’s not hard to find liberals who also predict the collapse of society under a Trump presidency, but Legacy Food’s Cox said they don’t account for many of his customers.

“The person who is our buyer is … not planning on the government taking care of them,” he said. “People on the left typically assume everything will be fine.”

Similarly, Obama’s presidency has been great for the gun business. Gun sales spiked immediately following his election in 2008 and continued to soar amid fears he would enact stricter gun-control legislation. The Washington Post in 2015 estimated that Obama had given the gun industry a US$9-billion boost during his tenure.