Great essay Mike. Collapse got a bad rap from Jared Diamond. New evidence on Easter Island (Slave Traders and "Walking Heads") suggests the they adapted pretty well. The US has been in Collapse for a few decades now (as an Empire and as Nation State), but how we adapt or not is still up for grabs. If we get any more "drill baby drill" and forever wars, we can kiss our collective ass goodbye. Note: https://medium.com/@daneke/whistling-past-the-graveyard-from-blood-and-oil-to-the-ponzi-empire-eb0f56fd3e57