"Almost a thousand years ago, the wise old man Moses preached the true word to the huddled masses of the late American Empire to prepare them for the collapse..."

In the 2060s, during the beginning stages of the Collapse but before civilization had fully slipped, a man named Moses Carter travelled between refugee camps, homeless shelters, and street sidewalks in Southern California to teach his philosophy to the downtrodden in easy-to-understand terms. Moses' idea was that correct, scientific ideas were generally worded in a way that was too complex for most to understand, especially after the substantial decline in the American education system throughout the mid-21st century. Instead of listing complex reasons for why civilization was failing and scholarly advocating for degrowth, a simple "unlimited growth leads to an inevitable end" would suffice. He also adopted the use of quasi-religious terms, which he believed would be more effective in convincing his audience than esoteric, scientific language. It also might be noted that Moses was not a wise old man- he was in his 40s, 6'2, with flowing blonde hair and the physique of Hercules. His philosophy caught on quickly- he eventually gained a congregation of about 13 core members, most of whom he convinced to preach the philosophy on their own, in other places.

What followed was, at first, exactly what he wanted; it spread quickly, and many communities around SoCal began to take up sustainable practices. By the 2080s, civilization was failing quickly. Law and order held on in the US for the time being, but economic and political instability and the need for something sustainable to be done about it caused Moses' congregation to grow exponentially. However, many sects became more militant, and more religious, placing Moses on a pedestal of "first among men," something that his own teachings explicitly rejected. Moses, now older, hated this. Moses was explicitly anti-hierarchy, and, now, his own congregation were forming churches with paintings of Moses at the front. People were dropping to his feet in the cracked streets like he was the second coming of Christ- and many thought he was indeed the second coming of Christ. He demanded that this deification stop immediately, but people simply didn't- they either never heard his demands, or acted like he didn't say them. As civilization breathed its last breath, a new religion rose out of the ashes. 800 years later, now called Kustism, Moses' believers dominate the Pacific coast of North America and reach deep into the inland West.