Collapse

Collapse is a process not a moment or event. It can drag on or it can happen relatively quickly. The speed is directly relative to the speed a society has overstepped its place. In social terms, collapse refers to a massive reduction or a simplification of society – large scale society breaks down into smaller, more self -sufficient ones. In ecological terms, the environment that a society is maintained off will no longer support it any more. In individual terms, the benefits of working for a society aren’t worth the costs.

Collapse looks like….

Increasing demands to feed the starving

youth being pulled into armies to raid and conquer on the forefront of a desperate and starving society

Health costs of having food that is more filler than nutritious and having less of it increase.

Diseases and epidemics and pointed fingers. The ‘Others’ are to blame or the anti-social individuals. It may be the height of war or mob type justice

The peak in world oil production, though extremely significant, does not alone cause collapse. Hitting the peak in world oil production does not mean that global civilisation will immediately fall apart and be done with. Collapse is a process. The peak in oil production is only a factor in that timeline. The end of the empire of crap is more complicated than this.