Important disclaimer: I am not advocating/endorsing accelerationism or violent revolution. TY.

What is Societal Collapse?

One of the most important books to read on the topic of societal collapse is ‘The Collapse of Complex Societies’ by Joseph Tainter. It’s an incredibly well-researched study of various societal collapses throughout history. Tainter develops a model of collapse via seventeen examples, then applies it to three case studies: The Western Roman Empire, the Mayan civilization of Mesoamerica, and the Chaco culture of North America.

Most people understand ‘collapse’ to mean “society becomes very shitty”, but Tainter provides the technical definition of ‘collapse = a massive reduction in the complexity of a society’ (not quoted verbatim).

A ‘complex system’ can be loosely defined as ‘a system that consists of multiple interdependent parts or subsystems that interact in a non-simple way.’ Note the operative word: Non-simple. A wristwatch has multiple interacting parts, but operates in a simple manner to perform a simple task. According to Tainter’s model, a society increases in complexity by adding new layers of infrastructure and bureaucracy as a method of solving problems (e.g., to resolve energy shortages). Societal complexity has diminishing returns, in that the more complex and intricate a society becomes, the more fragile and unsustainable it is. The bigger you build a house of cards, the more likely it is to fall down.

A simplified example of societal collapse would be an industrialized society reverting to an agricultural society, or an agricultural society reverting to a hunter-gatherer society.

Societal collapse is generally a quick process but doesn’t necessarily equate to instantaneous mass starvation (though, that is a possible outcome in most, if not all collapse scenarios). Collapse has occurred on varied timescales throughout history, depending on the complexity of the collapsing society, as well as the causal and contributory factors.

Unless a society is being obliterated in all-out total war (see: Libya, Syria, Kosovo, etc.), the onset of collapse is generally a process of gradual decline, with numerous identifiable warning signs:

  • Economic conditions worsen
  • Cultural identity is lost
  • Invasions and mass migrations occur
  • Demographics shift
  • Criminality increases
  • Sanitation decreases
  • Diseases spread
  • Basic public services and utilities become dysfunctional
  • Creativity and cognition decline
  • People forget how to use and maintain certain technologies
  • Buildings are abandoned
  • Everything falls into a state of disarray and disrepair

The Western Roman Empire, for example, collapsed in slow motion over multiple centuries, with numerous factors contributing to its decline: Violent foreign invasion, culture-destabilizing mass migration, the loss of resource-providing territories (such as the grain supplies of North Africa), and so on.

Although many factors may contribute to and accelerate collapse, Tainter identifies that the fundamental cause of societal collapse is almost always economic — a decline in per-capita energy availability (in the form of food, oil, etc.). This can be staved off (at least temporarily) through innovations that increase productivity or the procurement of more energy resources. In the case of the Roman Empire, this was resolved via conquest. However, as the Empire expanded, so did the cost and complexity of its maintenance. Energy resources are finite and imperialism has diminishing returns.

One of Tainter’s most important observations is that some societies are functionally unable to “voluntarily” collapse due to geopolitical pressures. For example, the Western Roman Empire was able to devolve into smaller, simpler entities (e.g. Diocletian’s Tetrarchy), as its competing neighbors were small tribal societies, less complex and powerful than Rome. However, Byzantium, the Eastern Roman Empire, bordered the equally powerful and complex Parthian-Sasanian Empire. If Byzantium was to self-collapse and devolve, it would have undoubtedly been conquered by the Parthian-Sasanian empire and absorbed into their realm. This would have prolonged the existence of their complex society, but may have resulted in the total destruction of the Byzantine people.


Anti-Collapsitarianism

(A few thoughts on ideas I see championed by various Collapsitarians. There’s probably more to say on this topic but I don’t want to invest too much time in this).

Accelerationism, the most renowned Collapsitarian ideology, can be succinctly summarized as “losing is winning” or “cope: the ideology.” It stems from anti-capitalist theories that aim to end capitalism by expanding capitalism and accelerating towards technological singularity, the point at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible.

The basic theory of political Accelerationism is as follows:

Intentionally worsening social material conditions to accelerate the collapse of “The System” (note: the system is rarely defined) will allow revolutionaries to violently take power — or force the “lemmings” (lit: normal people, working-class, proletariat, peasants, etc.) to spontaneously rise up and depose the current ruling elite, at which point, revolutionaries can take their place and crown themselves dictators for life (or something).

Note: I would define “The System” as the fusion of Globalist political apparatus (UN, EU, etc.) and the international corporate technological system (big tech, corporations, etc.) since it’s all owned and controlled by the same small gang of people.

Managed decline

The most obvious flaw with Accelerationist theory, from a Right-Wing or nationalist perspective, is that societal collapse (or managed decline, at least) is precisely what Globalist elites are gunning for. They’ve been steering Western Civilization towards total implosion from the moment they secured political hegemony at the end of the Second World War. Every Globalist policy, from debt slavery to mass migration, is designed to destabilize society while reducing all non-elite living standards to slum-tier slavery. With the dawn of the “New Normal,” this is now more true than ever. Globalists proudly announce their schemes to transform the entire West into a dystopian multiracial slave colony (preferably populated by an amorphous, nondescript race, akin to modern South American “Hispanics”), whereby the masses are housed in human bug hive “Smart Cities” and subsist on a diet of maggot paste and lab-grown “meat.” They just dress it up with some shiny, deceptive branding; Agenda 21, Sustainable Development Goals, The Great Reset, etc. Elites may be planning to create some sort of technologically advanced breakaway society, from which they can lord over technologically impoverished Western vassal states. Ultimate endgames aside, Globalists have implemented Accelerationist principles far more effectively than any self-proclaimed Accelerationist could ever dream of doing.

Elites hold all of the cards

Who would win in a shit-hit-the-fan collapse situation: The ideologically cohesive Globalist elites, who comfortably control all of the wealth, technology, military, and infrastructure, or the insanely divided, impoverished multi-racial masses, who are already devolving into the most basal forms of interethnic conflict? It doesn’t take a genius to predict the outcome of such a scenario: Resource scarcity would drive the lower masses to interethnic and interracial genocide, while the elites either flee the country or sit out the carnage, protected by their minions. It’s probably worth noting that this scenario — the reduction of the West to a ruinous shit heap plagued by interethnic/interracial violence and genocide — may be the desired end-goal of Globalists, who can easily set up shop in the East (Russia, China, etc.), as they are currently doing. Nevertheless, any societal collapse in the West would play directly into the hands of elites, simply resulting in further consolidation of their power.

Peasant revolt

The first and most obvious flaw with the “autonomous peasant revolt” theory is that there is barely a single example of a successful peasant revolt in the entirety of human history, autonomous or not. Any historically successful revolutions have always had some degree of elite support and, more often than not, revolutions are simply one gang of elites using the masses as a weapon to depose and replace another gang of elites. Marxism is the prime example of this process.

A more pertinent question may be whether or not the average individual is even capable of violent revolution today, given the grotesquely debased state of modern man. A revolution in a non-collapse scenario is a big ask for a morbidly obese population with the testosterone levels of a 12-year-old girl. In a collapse scenario, the average modern man would more happily masturbate himself to death while he starves than join a violent struggle for resources, let alone an ideological political struggle.

Starving the system

A common strategy advocated by collapsitarians is “Starving the Beast.” The idea is to convince as many regular people as possible to abandon the system by living off-grid, locally and sustainably, and by escaping the financial system via cryptocurrency, and so on. Once a critical mass of people have abandoned The System, it will supposedly collapse due to a “lack of fuel.”

Everyone Retvrning to Tradition and living innawoods sounds nice and cozy, except for one glaringly obvious problem: The people attempting to starve the system will never convince enough regular folk to abandon their creature comforts and join what most would regard as a hobo enclave. Factor in mass migration and everyone who drops out of the system will be instantly replaced by welfare-loving migrants. The system provides the masses their every material want and need in excess, and is specifically designed to pacify their anger and protests as the West sinks further and further into decline. See: pornography, junk food, media entertainment, mental health “medication”, etc. The average individual is completely reliant upon the system, and generally too impoverished to establish a homestead and escape its clutches. Plus, we already know what happens to any vaguely Right-Wing off-grid homesteads: Waco and Ruby Ridge.

Survivalist enclaves and nomadism

Also known as “suicide.” White survivalist enclaves will simply lead to the extinction of Whites, as overwhelming quantities of migrants are imported into our countries, with no resistance from the native populace. There are countless historic examples of White peoples being overwhelmed by excessive migration, the Scythians or Tocharians, for example. Take a look at Xinjiang and Kazakhstan and you’ll see what remains of them: A few rare instances of blue eyes and red hair among populations that are otherwise phenotypically East Asian. Steady mass migration and miscegenation is, historically, the number one path to extinction for an ethnic group or race. Likewise, becoming a nomadic stateless population will lead to “Ashkenization” (becoming a mixed-race via outbreeding). Both of these “solutions” will result in the same fate that our enemies are currently attempting to inflict upon us.

Conclusion

Becoming less reliant upon the system is generally a good idea, it’s certainly advisable to grow your own food and live locally. However, Accelerationism and other strains of Collapsitarianism are pure cope. These ideologies convince people to either sit back and do nothing while their enemies literally ethnically cleanse them, or start fedposting like a doofus and end up behind bars or dead — but not before wrecking the public image of nationalism and giving elites more reason to crackdown on political dissent (which, of course, accelerationists would argue is a good thing, because “losing is actually winning”).

The Globalist system is far more stable and versatile than people think. The fact that South Africa, Brazil, Zimbabwe, and Venezuela are still afloat should give you an idea of how much deterioration a society can take before it collapses. The West is far more likely to break out into widespread inter-ethnic warfare before any societal collapse occurs, as seen with the inter-migrant race wars in France, but even that scenario is less likely than a steady managed decline into complete shit.

Removing yourself from society removes yourself from the political power process, which is the equivalent of tossing aside a videogame controller and throwing a hissy fit because things “aren’t fair.” It isn’t a solution, it’s escapism. You can dance around in the woods wearing Viking helmets as much as you want, but it fundamentally helps nobody and your descendants will meet the same fate as all other Whites.