4 ms·

Collapse is a process. Not an event.

awb 5y ago
Sure, but you can recover from a decline, you can’t recover from a collapse. From Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societal_collapse https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societal_collapse Here’s the definition: > the loss of cultural identity and of socioeconomic complexity, the downfall of government, and the rise of violence And it isn’t usually a slow process: > Societal collapse is generally quick So for Western civilization or the US to truly collapse it means a complete loss of cultural identity, destruction of the economy, no government and tons of violence. Even war torn countries rarely collapse because even if the government is removed, violence spikes and the economy stops working the people can still maintain a sense of common shared culture and identity and avoid collapse. I guess it becomes more of a rebirth or evolution at that point. I think a lot of people see 1 sign of collapse and think it’s a collapse, but it’s actually just a decline or an oscillation.
- TrispusAttucks 5y ago
  Point taken. Collapse includes decline but decline doesn't necessarily lead to collapse. That said, collapse is really just decline that happened too fast. Decline appears to be caused by a handful of factors. In the event that too many factors are in play at once collapse becomes inevitable. You could say the the US / Western civilization is the rebirth of the Roman Empire (Rome 2.0). If you look at the historical accounting of the [1] Roman collapse it is frighteningly similar to the issues US is facing at the moment. However, it is possible that societies are doomed to the 4 stages of [2] Strauss-Howe generational theory of cyclical repetitions with an inability to ever break free of it. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societal_collapse#Demographic_dynamics https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societal_collapse#Demographi... [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss%E2%80%93Howe_generational_theory https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss%E2%80%93Howe_generat...

awb 5y ago

Sure, but you can recover from a decline, you can’t recover from a collapse. From Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societal_collapse https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societal_collapse Here’s the definition: > the loss of cultural identity and of socioeconomic complexity, the downfall of government, and the rise of violence And it isn’t usually a slow process: > Societal collapse is generally quick So for Western civilization or the US to truly collapse it means a complete loss of cultural identity, destruction of the economy, no government and tons of violence. Even war torn countries rarely collapse because even if the government is removed, violence spikes and the economy stops working the people can still maintain a sense of common shared culture and identity and avoid collapse. I guess it becomes more of a rebirth or evolution at that point. I think a lot of people see 1 sign of collapse and think it’s a collapse, but it’s actually just a decline or an oscillation.

TrispusAttucks 5y ago
Point taken. Collapse includes decline but decline doesn't necessarily lead to collapse. That said, collapse is really just decline that happened too fast. Decline appears to be caused by a handful of factors. In the event that too many factors are in play at once collapse becomes inevitable. You could say the the US / Western civilization is the rebirth of the Roman Empire (Rome 2.0). If you look at the historical accounting of the [1] Roman collapse it is frighteningly similar to the issues US is facing at the moment. However, it is possible that societies are doomed to the 4 stages of [2] Strauss-Howe generational theory of cyclical repetitions with an inability to ever break free of it. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societal_collapse#Demographic_dynamics https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societal_collapse#Demographi... [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss%E2%80%93Howe_generational_theory https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss%E2%80%93Howe_generat...