Collapsitarians Unite

OK. This blog is about challenging the status quo institutions, like the Republicrats. Some posts are of the "How to" variety. Others are of the "Who is in our Camp?" variety. This post is of the later variety.

So, there is this new term, "collapsitarian." I'm not sure if it's a serious term or not, but it does capture the essence of a segment of society that feels, at the gut level, we oughtta just let this patched up, phoney capitalist system fall of its own weight.

Granted, the more sober of this sect realize that many people's lives would be harshly affected. But, that can be attributed to "sacrificing" for the long term good. That is, IF we are really serious about "Freedom and Justice for All," noble causes, giving our blood for democracy, then we should be willing to weather a collapse as the price of achieving our goals.... but to wish this upon others is what gives some pause.

Well, implications aside, some of those who want to government jobs recognize that allowing the "collapse" is the price society might have to pay to get the establishment monkey off it's mutual back.

Who are these "collapsitarians?" My first thought was, "Sounds like anarchists to me." Yup. Smash the State baby. But, according to Virginia Heffernan, and you don't need a freelance writer to tell you this, the unorganized coalition includes anarchists, libertarians who oppose the financial sector bail out, Luddites (Heffernanism), survivalists, "green types who see collapse as our comeupance, critics of American exceptionalism (is the US really exceptional, or is that a myth?), and people like an older African American woman I work with who know in their gut that the longer we prop up the system, the longer the wound will fester.

I could say more, but I'll leave you with a reference to a piece that presumably coined the term. Supposedly, and I've not read it myself, a January 2009 New Yorker piece quoted James Howard Kunstler, author of the peak-0il piece The Long Emergency.

So, there you go. Another take on who is challenging the establishment. You don't have to feel all alone.

Final Note: As of the writing of the post, Google only has about 1,170 entries for the term "collapsitarian." The term is actually in Merriam-Webster dictionary. Go figure.
Sources:

Mother Jones, "Let the End Times Roll," Virginia Heffernan, July/August 2009 Issue. (A light piece that goes off on the tangent of critiquing the "new thing" crowd that frequent workshops and conferences on "the new thing."