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Theories about civil war, spectacular economic collapse, etc. are very interesting and it would be foolish to say impossibel, but I'm not convinced. A depression is possible on a global scale, but it may not last very long. It may even be the required spur to shift over to a biodiesel/hydrogen economy - the TVA of the 21st Century!
However, I see a few parallels with Britain in the 1950s. Only a few, as the scenarios are radically different. The 1950s on the surface looked tough but OK in Britain, masking enormous problems: spiralling social and political polarisation, deep domestic discontent, dramatic industrial decline, and the prestige problems created by the disintegration of world power status. Britain just stagnated as the Empire collapsed, ultimately forcing dramatic domestic crises in the 1970s and 1980s - 3-day weeks, the Winter of Discontent, the Miners Strike. Endless economic stagnation and recession, punctuated by occasional unsustainable and unproductive booms. In the 1970s, some British commentators genuinely suggested that we were becoming a second- or third-world country. At every stage of the process, poeple always spoke in terms of nightmare scenarios - Communist takeover, total economic collapse, nuclear destruction.
Overall, the latter half of the 20th century was one long painful transition for us, from world power to Just Another Country. We still feel the effects today; but life went on, and overall has improved.
Remember: you'd be surprised how quickly countries bounce back.
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