"Barring nuclear war, a government biowarfare agent let loose by accident on purpose, or an asteroid strike, people living in the territory of the US will cope with their insane government as best they can, and they will constrain it through quiet-quitting the state, calm disobedience of state authority, and rejuvenation of community. Actually, nuclear explosions, bio-warfare, and asteroids will be dealt with in much the same way. The problem is that our extremely vulnerable ruling class, and the state itself, are both wholly unprepared for emergencies, and have all the cohesion of a wet Kleenex.

"Realism requires we recognize that the ruling classes and the US government have no durable community and no internal integrity. The state is a pirate gang writ large. It is unified by criminal circumstance, functions by fear and tribute, and is surrounded by enemies who would see it stripped, drawn and quartered at first opportunity. It’s almost enough to make one pity the state, and mourn the ruling classes!

"Realism reminds us that desperate, declining states don’t fix themselves. They quickly become dangerous to innocent bystanders, enemies, and its own citizens – and these three categories become indistinguishable just as quickly. It’s happening right now in Ukraine, in Israel, and ready or not, in the United States."

Karen Kwiatkowski, Ph.D. is a retired USAF lieutenant colonel and farmer