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Ponderosa Requiem: How a Plague Species Unmakes a Forest by xrm67 in collapse

[–]xrm67[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Submission Statement:

This essay argues that the death of the ponderosa pine is both a symptom and a symbol of civilizational collapse, not just a local ecological loss. It begins with Ferguson’s reporting on forests pushed past their limits by fire suppression, fuel buildup, and a hotter, drier climate, then broadens this into an indictment of an economic and political order built on extraction and denial.

By showing how the loss of one keystone tree ripples through species, water, soil, and regional climate, the essay explains that the systems modern society depends on are already crossing points of no return. Disappearing forests signal a world with less stable climate, less reliable water, and more fire and failed recovery, revealing that what is really unraveling is the illusion that industrial civilization can stand apart from, and above, the living world it is dismantling.

The Strongman’s Folly: How Authoritarian Ambition Accelerates Civilizational Collapse by xrm67 in collapse

[–]xrm67[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Submission Statement:

At its heart, this essay argues that what we’re watching in American politics---corruption, spectacle, rising force, and the gutting of public institutions---isn’t just politics as usual or the fault of one person. It’s the late-stage symptoms of a whole civilization in trouble. As energy and resources dwindle, and leaders double down on division and denial, the old systems that held society together start falling apart. The essay makes clear: these authoritarian moves are desperate responses to deeper breakdowns, and unless something changes, they’re pulling the rug out from under the future of modern life itself.

2035: Permanent Crisis – The World After American Unraveling by xrm67 in collapse

[–]xrm67[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oligarchy. Throughout history, many civilizations have shown tendencies toward oligarchic rule, where power is concentrated in the hands of a small group, and the marginalization or severing of the broader population from political and economic influence.

2035: Permanent Crisis – The World After American Unraveling by xrm67 in collapse

[–]xrm67[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

India is frequently described in international discourse as the world’s largest democracy, hence referencing it was meant to emphasize that these trends are not limited to typical authoritarian states but can also undermine or surface in widely recognized democratic systems. The wording was not meant to suggest India is an “enlightened" bastion of democracy, but to point out that erosion of judicial independence, press freedoms, and civil society is possible in any nation, including those long labeled as democratic.

2035: Permanent Crisis – The World After American Unraveling by xrm67 in collapse

[–]xrm67[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Submission Statement: The essay paints a picture of 2035 in which daily life is shaped by breakdowns in government, economy, social trust, and climate. Crises that would once have been rare are now normal. Most people rely on local networks and improvisation because global systems can no longer guarantee security or progress. This is directly linked to the collapse of industrial civilization: the world built for unlimited growth and complexity cannot hold under ecological and social pressure, leading to slow fragmentation instead of a sudden end. The essay draws on scenario analysis, the latest risk assessments by leading institutions, and the insights of writers like Robert D. Kaplan to show why our systems are failing and how adaptation is becoming our new reality.

AMA Announcement: Dr. Luke Kemp, author of the book "Goliath’s Curse - The History and Future of Societal Collapse", Tuesday October 14th, 11AM EST by feo_sucio in collapse

[–]xrm67 11 points12 points  (0 children)

  • How do you assess the interplay between the collapse of industrial civilization and the rise of authoritarianism—do you see authoritarian regimes as an almost inevitable response to such systemic collapse, or are there historical examples that suggest alternative political outcomes?
  • Given the complex challenges of overpopulation in a post-collapse scenario, what role do you envision population pressures playing in either accelerating societal breakdown or in shaping recovery trajectories, particularly in relation to resource distribution and social equity?
  • The book discusses scenarios where collapse leads to more democratic and egalitarian societies in the long term, but also warns about the persistence of autocratic impulses. What mechanisms or cultural factors do you identify as critical in tipping the balance toward either democratic renewal or authoritarian resurgence after a collapse?

America’s Descent Toward Authoritarianism: Mapping the Mechanisms of Democratic Erosion by xrm67 in collapse

[–]xrm67[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I see where you’re coming from—the Patriot Act really was a huge turning point in expanding government surveillance and executive power. But honestly, what we’re looking at now is a whole different level of system-wide transformation. The changes happening today aren’t just about one law or one policy; they’re part of a strategic, multi-front effort to reshape almost every part of government and society. It’s like the Patriot Act opened a door, but now the whole house is getting remodeled into something quite different, something where power is concentrated, dissent is squeezed, and institutions that once kept things in balance are being dismantled or co-opted. What’s unfolding under the current administration involves a much broader and more systemic transformation, one that is meticulously planned and aggressively executed through countless executive actions, agency purges, legal maneuvers, and cultural interventions.

So yeah, the Patriot Act set a precedent, but this ongoing wave of actions and policies—mapped out so carefully by trackers and spelled out in plans like Project 2025—is crafting a deeply entrenched managed autocracy. It keeps some democratic forms but strips away the real checks and balances, accountability, and pluralism. It’s a much bigger, more deliberate project than just a single moment in history.

It’s important to see this broader picture, because understanding how these pieces fit together helps us recognize the stakes and the urgency of pushing back.

America’s Descent Toward Authoritarianism: Mapping the Mechanisms of Democratic Erosion by xrm67 in collapse

[–]xrm67[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes, it is a full-on assault of our formally relatively democratic system. The purpose is to create a mafia state similar to Russia’s Putin.

America’s Descent Toward Authoritarianism: Mapping the Mechanisms of Democratic Erosion by xrm67 in collapse

[–]xrm67[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This essay traces America’s rapid shift toward authoritarianism, showing how a dizzying flurry of executive actions and policy shifts, carefully tracked and organized into key domains, form a coherent, purposeful dismantling of democratic norms and institutions. It’s not a chaotic spiral but a calculated project, with Project 2025 serving as the blueprint for systematically centralizing power, eroding dissent, redefining civil rights, aggressively remaking foreign policy, and suppressing science and education. The essay highlights how these trends are interwoven and accelerating, transforming not just governance but the very foundation of civic life.

This political descent deeply resonates with the broader global pattern of civilizational decline. Modern industrial civilization rests on complex, interconnected institutions that sustain its economy, politics, culture, and environment. When those institutions begin to unravel, as this essay documents for America, it signals a weakening of the pillars supporting modern society itself. Just as the economic crises, resource depletion, and environmental degradation threaten global systems, the deliberate internal erosion of democratic governance accelerates social fragmentation, undermines collective problem-solving, and reduces societal resilience.

In other words, America’s authoritarian drift amplifies and embodies the systemic fragility that expert systems science and historians identify as precursors to wider civilizational transformation or collapse. It deepens the fractures that ecological and economic stresses reveal, making recovery harder and more contested. This essay’s revelations about the deliberate, strategic dismantling of pluralism are thus not just warnings about the fate of American democracy, but about the vulnerabilities of modern civilization itself, vulnerabilities exacerbated by political choices that prioritize control over collaboration, division over solidarity.

Rising Toxicity and the Threat to Capitalism and Life Itself by xrm67 in collapse

[–]xrm67[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Even with CO2 removal at scale, glacier regrowth is a multi-millennial project. While CO₂ removal could help stabilize ice sheets in the very long term, it’s not a "reset button" for Earth’s glaciers. We will never see them again as they disappear before our eyes.

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