11.12.2008

The Five Stages of Collapse, by Dmitry Orlov

This is has been around a while. Great stuff. - Ed.

Hello, everyone! The talk you are about to hear is the result of a lengthy process on my part. My specialty is in thinking about and, unfortunately, predicting collapse. My method is based on comparison: I watched the Soviet Union collapse, and, since I am also familiar with the details of the situation in the United States, I can make comparisons between these two failed superpowers.

I was born and grew up in Russia, and I traveled back to Russia repeatedly between the late 80s and mid-90s. This allowed me to gain a solid understanding of the dynamics of the collapse process as it unfolded there. By the mid-90s it was quite clear to me that the US was headed in the same general direction. But I couldn't yet tell how long the process would take, so I sat back and watched.

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Dmitry Orlov's Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects -- The Thom Hartmann 'Independent Thinker' Review

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