Economy got you down? 4 ways it could get (way) worse

Milla Jovavich dealing with a collapsed economy.

The way I see it, there are four main ways for society to come crashing down.

I'm actually pretty optimistic. It's just that a post-apocalyptic world appears to be gaining interest amongst the geek set yet again. My first brush with this mindset began with the off-grid moves inspired by early 1970s works like the "Last Whole Earth Catalog," evolving to the fiscal depression that accompanied the decade's end and the first of the real resurgence of zombies with "Dawn of the Dead."

Don't grok that? Sky-high interest rates and crap job prospects. Remember Foghat?

For the record, I have nothing against Foghat, or Foreigner for that matter. And the Sonics won the NBA championship so it wasn't all bad.

But back to the topic at hand. Dealing with all forms of the societal destruction I have in mind would require talents of survivalists, off-grid enthusiasts and teachings of pioneers from the past who created all they needed with a Bowie knife, some twine and spit.

Of course, my premise is heavily influenced by the devolving political global landscape, spiraling ecological devastation and science fiction with a good dose of Hollywood suspension of disbelief.

Scenario No. 1: Trickle-down. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the cyberpunk culture foreseen by writer William Gibson, specifically in his Bridge Series. In the third and final book, "All Tomorrow's Parties," he paints a society where the Golden Gate Bridge has become shanty housing and various corporations control everything except cardboard chic.

Scenario No. 2: Climate change. The never-ending pursuit of profits pushes the planet over the edge. Oceans rise, island nations disappear and hordes of refugees from low-lying coastal communities pour into higher ground, triggering economic disaster.


Scenario No. 3: War. Nuclear is possible. Iran seems to think it's a good investment. But look at the source. Nobody credits that regime with any real practical analysis skills. My guess is it'll be something like electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. Poof, all electronics gone. Back to bows and arrows.

Scenario No. 4: Biological disaster. Genetic modification, poisons or scientific manipulations on weaponized disease gone wild. It could happen. Consider this the zombie effect, popularized in the "Walking Dead" and the "Resident Evil" series in which Milla Jovavich stomps her way through impenetrable odds.

Obviously, I'm into Resident Evil.

The obvious answer to any of this is not to embrace the Koch brothers' vision of society. Theirs appears to be summarized by the phrase "mine not yours." And good old Mitt Romney's got an energy plan that sounds basically like a return to an era in which the fouled London air of a Dickens' novel is a good thing.

But choices will have to be made. Clean energy is an option. It's not without problems. But the cost of fossil fuels is far more than what we pay at the pump or by the ton for coal. The cost to health and environment will become vastly more noticeable in the next few years.

The ramifications of doing nothing or embracing the "we can't afford it" mentality will cost tremendously in the end.

And that end could be a big disaster.