A big shout out to Pat Wetzel, Simon Pearce, Matthew Curlewis, Patrycea, Virginia Linnell, Christine Mose, Mark Haubner and so many others for the great interaction this morning, during the latest episode of the Collapse Life/Courageous Conversations book chat.
This week, Zahra and Susan continued their discussion of Reinventing Collapse, by Dmitry Orlov, focusing on the first few chapters and their relevance in 2026. Drawing on Orlov’s unique perspective, having lived through the Soviet collapse and later observed the United States from within, they explored whether the US and the broader Western world are now following a similar trajectory.
The conversation highlighted striking structural similarities between the Soviet Union and the United States: both functioned as industrial empires built on cheap energy, unsustainable debt, military overreach, proxy wars, and expansive incarceration systems. Orlov’s argument that energy, not ideology, was the true engine of empire resonates strongly today, as the US faces rising energy costs, declining living standards, and increasing reliance on foreign financial support.
One central theme of the book, which featured in the discussion, was the collapse of national “myths.” Orlov argues that the Soviet Union fell when belief in its founding myth of ‘classlessness’ evaporated. By contrast, the American myth of upward mobility and the middle class has proven more durable because it frames failure as personal rather than systemic.
However, rising inequality, debt, and declining quality of life are increasingly straining that belief. This discussion connected this erosion of trust to growing authoritarian tendencies, expanding detention infrastructure, surveillance, and the redirection of public funds toward security rather than social wellbeing.
The episode also explored how people respond under collapse conditions. Drawing lessons from the Soviet experience, the conversation included wonderful interaction from the audience, emphasizing adaptation rather than panic: informal economies, mutual aid, tradable skills, and community networks more than money when official systems failed. Yet the participants in the discussion cautioned that today’s digital surveillance, biometric ID systems, and centralized control mechanisms introduce challenges that past societies did not face.
We’ll close out the discussion of Orlov’s book next week as we talk about resistance, mitigation, and adaptation. Hope you will join us!
Get the book: https://amzn.to/3LlQeZZ (affiliate link)
