comparative theory of superpower collapse

Some interesting bits from this comparative theory of superpower collapse. The author is originally from Russia and came to the US when he was 12. So much of this is written in the black humorist style favored and perfected by the Russians.

The theory states that the United States and the Soviet Union will have collapsed for the same reasons, namely: a severe and chronic shortfall in the production of crude oil (that magic addictive elixir of industrial economies), a severe and worsening foreign trade deficit, a runaway military budget, and ballooning foreign debt.

Given the mess in the US right now, it is probably worth considering the advice offered by someone who is a keen observer with considerable personal experience in both political-economic systems.

Food. Shelter. Transportation. Security. ...new economy, a gradually de-industrializing economy, at a much lower level of resource expenditure, characterized by a quite a lot of austerity and even poverty, but in conditions that are safe, decent, and dignified.

The decline seems inevitable for the US. The big questions are how it will be handled. As austerity and acknowledged poverty increase, the prospects for conditions that are safe, decent, and dignified seem remote. In the US, it has been "all about me" for 40 years or more and Americans haven't done safe, decent, and dignified as a group for a very long time. That's how we got into this mess.

Assuming that the collapse comes to pass, then what?

Women seem much more able to cope. Perhaps it is because they have less of their ego invested in the whole dubious enterprise, or perhaps their sense of personal responsibility is tied to those around them and not some nebulous grand enterprise. In any case, the women always seem far more able to just put on their gardening gloves and go do something useful, while the men tend to sit around groaning about the Empire, or the Republic, or whatever it is that they lost. And when they do that, they become very tedious company. And so, without a bit of mental preparation, the men are all liable to end up very lonely and very drunk.

There may be hope, if the men get out of the way and let the women have a go.
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