A look at civilization collapse, without the paranoia.
The United States is facing problems. The mortgage crisis lead to a banking crisis, which then led to an employment crisis, which is now leading to a municipal budget crisis. How deep will it go, and how far does it spread?
There are hundreds of differing opinions, from the sanguine “It will turn around in 2009″ to the morbid survivalist prediction of a total collapse of civilization. It is easy for a reasonable person to rule out the former, based on the current economic condition and trends.
What would a worst-case scenario of financial ruin and social decline look like?
There are some localized examples of this in the US already. The collapse of the steel industry has left many cities and 
towns in the rust belt virtual ghost towns. In Braddock PA, the conditions are a good example of what the “bottom” can look like for a city. Most of its residents have left, and the few that remain are mostly unemployed. Property values lost another 50% just this past year. The mayor John Fetterman, who makes $150 per month says: “Everyone in the country is asking, ‘Where’s the bottom?’ I think we’ve found it.”
Since Braddock slid into this condition over 20 years ago, it has been able to work its way through ways to climb out. With its property values dirt cheap, citizens are finding ways to use property creatively, such as the Oregonian who bought a 15,000 square foot former car dealership in Braddock to use as a home and furniture building studio.
In Detroit, entire neighborhoods and skyscrapers are empty. There are so many unique and significant empty buildings in Detroit, that illegal exploration and photography of them has become a recreational pursuit for many adventurers. The Michigan Central Depot train station, originally designed by the same builder as New Yorks Central Station, is another example of how much Detroit has contracted
Along with the empty buildings comes crime. Although it has improved slightly, Detroit has been named the most dangerous
city in the country for violent crime, several times.
The fascination with exploring abandoned buildings is spreading to other cities across the country that have smaller pockets of population withdrawal.
The financial collapse in Russia is similar to that in the US, except that Russia is already having to default on its 
promises to citizens. There are daily clashes between citizens and police because of this. US government leaders have directly and indirectly committed to fixing the current economic crisis domestically. If these promises do not pan out, will US citizens take similar action? How bad will it have to get before the reaction escalates from being peaceful?
