by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I have often joked that if The End came, I would either be the first person to die as darkness fell or I would survive and be the guy who brought civilization back. And I still think that as it definitely seems the possibility of an epic collapse is now greater than zero.
But what would the collapse look like?
It seems to me that there are a number of different ways I might find myself being a lonely figure walking down the middle of an abandoned highway, looking for sustenance. At the moment, we have nuclear war, civil war and maybe another pandemic as possible reasons while modern human civilization might collapse in a rather abrupt manner.
With all the talk of a “dirty bomb” being used as a false flag by the Russians against the Ukrainians, that particular apocalyptic scenario writes itself. Things go boom, things escalate and the next thing you know I’m grateful that I live in a rural area. A nuclear war of some sort is probably the nastiest of how the world might end because it would take a lot longer for humanity to bounce back if you take into account Nuclear Winter.
Meanwhile, there is the possibility of a Second American Civil War. This is by far, the most likely of the scenarios I can think of. If I had the means, I would already be living as an expat somewhere, never to return to America. But I’m a Poor, so I’m stuck here while we careen towards the existential choice of autocracy, civil war or military junta. Given that if the United States implodes that WW3 is probably going to happen along with it, things are probably going to get pretty messy globally in late 2024 – early 2025 if the United States has some sort of secession crisis when Blues attempt to leave the Union.
The last way I can think of that I might find myself fending for my life in a post-apocalyptic America would be another pandemic, but this time one that was far, far worse. The Big One, if you will. If I managed to survive, then I would have to search for food and shelter while I looked for others like me. This is the most speculative of the three possible scenarios.
Regardless, I definitely find myself thinking about shit like this these days. I would prefer not to have to go through any of it. I have six novels I’d like to write and get published.
