See our posting of Part 1 a few days ago. TPOL is responding to so-called survivalists and preppers that claim that civilization is collapsing and doing so quickly.

Again, we restate: This is worth considering for lovers of liberty. Here is the last five of the ten reasons and in italics, TPOL’s thoughts about them. As we have written time and again, TPOL does not believe that civilization will truly end, even if empires fall and “Western Civilization” is replaced by something else.

If you thought answers 1-5 to “why is civilization collapsing?” were overblown and showed a distinct lack of basic science, be prepared: these next five are even more exciting!

6. Water Shortages – Rivers such as the Colorado River and countless others around the world are drying up because we use so much water for growing crops and industrial processes. Experts are predicting wars over water in the coming years. The Colorado is drying up because of the idiotic government actions (in Nevada, Arizona, and California). And people. The weird cult of green lawns coupled with government tax-paid subsidies for transporting water hundreds of miles are as much to blame (if not more) than any “industrial processes” or crops. And even when misused and polluted, water does not “go away” except for a minuscule amount that out-gasses to space. We pretty have no less water than we did 6,000 years ago. And then (as now) most of it is in the oceans and atmosphere. Yes, water is not used wisely in many places. Yes, there will be water wars in the future. But guess what? There have been water wars for 6,000 years: starting in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China. While water problems have contributed to civilizations’ collapse sometimes, they are generally not the cause. Again, this claim has been made for at least 60+ years.

7. Climate Change – Whether you think humans are responsible, or whether you think it’s naturally occurring, climate change is here and it’s causing megadroughts and straining our crumbling infrastructure. It will only make the other problems worse. Again, the climate is always changing and has been for the entire duration of man’s existence on this planet. What hubris to think that only now are we destroying our planet. Megadroughts have also happened now and then – some civilizations have been greatly affected by such, but the droughts by themselves did not cause immediate catastrophe. The claim that “crumbling infrastructure” is strained more by drought or other climate change is likewise hard to accept.

8. Biodiversity Loss – Species (especially pollinators) are going extinct faster than they did during previous mass extinction events. If this continues, it will cause food webs to collapse and make it even harder for us to feed our growing population. To our mind, this is difficult to connect to an imminent collapse of civilization, if it is even true. The rate of past extinctions is really not known: it can only be surmised. And one example the evolutionists and historical geologists claim (the meteor that supposedly ended the age of dinosaurs) was in fact, VERY quick! Is wiping out pollinators a serious problem? Absolutely. But (a) it is not an extinction event and (b) there are alternatives to pollination by insects. And even evolutionists agree that insects are incredibly resistant to being wiped out!

9. Migrant Crisis – If you think the border crisis is bad now, just wait. The UN believes there will be hundreds of millions of migrants in the coming decades. This alone could cause enough chaos to make society collapse. There have been times in history when mass migrations – mass refugee movements or even invasions – have led to chaos. And may have contributed to the collapse of an empire, a nation, or even a civilization. But that has been very rare, and in preindustrial civilizations. And hit nations and civilizations already severely weakened by internal problems. Admittedly, American civilization in 2023 HAS been greatly disrupted by massive problems. But enough to have such a catastrophic effect? Only a very low probability that is the case.

10. Increasing Conflict – As the world runs out of resources, countries will go to war with each other, fighting over what remains. This is a big reason Russia invaded Ukraine, for its rich natural resources. That war is just a preview of what’s to come. Folks, countries have ALWAYS gone to war with each other, whether it was due to a shortage of resources (real or perceived), so this is nothing new. And resources really had little if anything to do with the Russo-Ukrainian War: except for the “resource” of defensible terrain and the resource of NATO and American meddling. Ukraine is a pauper compared to the resources of even modern, reduced Russia. And this “reason” harks back to an earlier false claim that we on this planet are “running out of resources.”

The reason for bogus claims like this is to sell: the products that a “survival site” is selling advertising for – or the goods and services that the website itself is offering. Fearmongering sells things, as governments have shown us for years. And media. The good news about websites like this is that we are not forced to buy their junk. Unlike with government.

Lovers of liberty need to be prepared for chaos, for many of these items listed. But civilizations collapse for moral reasons, not economic and political ones. It is, first and foremost a matter of perception, intent, and moral courage to keep civilization going.