How to Tell When a Country Collapses

I read a question the other day: How do we know when we’ve collapsed?

That’s a tough one. I’ve always thought of collapse as a rolling event. First, one thing stops working. Then another. Eventually, the whole system crashes because too many parts have failed.

For that to happen, the first thing has to stop working, and I'm arguing that we're already there with FEMA, Medicare, and Social Security taking center stage.

FEMA

FEMA’s response to the July 4th flood in Texas? Nowhere to be found. Over 100 people died after local officials refused an early flood warning upgrade from the Biden administration. Why? Because they “didn’t want to take the money” — their patriots-or-something excuse.

On top of that, Trump’s cuts at the National Weather Service left the system weak and hollow.

Then disaster hit. Everyone scrambled for help, but the government wasn’t there. FEMA just looked at the mess and essentially said, “I’m out.”

“It is unprecedented for the leader of FEMA to be absent from the public response to a disaster that has killed over 100 Americans,” Samantha Montano, associate professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told The Handbasket.

“Since taking office, Trump and members of his administration have declared their desire to reduce federal disaster support and to eliminate FEMA. Disaster assistance from FEMA was hard to come by for states hit by tornadoes in spring 2025.” – via Yale Climate Connections

It’s been over a month, and locals are still searching for missing loved ones and pulling bloated bodies from the debris.

FEMA, a critical piece of our homeland security, has collapsed. The agency meant to show up in times of disaster… didn’t.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Medicare & Social Security

A neighbor posted on Facebook about a surgery her husband had over six months ago. This week, they got an unpaid bill for over $6,000 because Medicare didn’t pay.

The surgery was supposed to be covered, but the Big Beautiful Bill gutted Medicare funding by billions, starving a lifeline that millions depend on.

After frantic calls, they got the bill resolved. They were lucky. But I expect the day will come when Medicare simply stops paying for essential care.

Next up is Social Security. Reports estimate that benefits could face a 20% cut by 2032. Another safety net, strangled until it snaps.

One day, it will just stop working.

The End Game

You might not believe it, but we are in the most dangerous of end games. We're living in a world that no longer makes sense. Trump is already busy rigging the 2026 elections. Once he runs in 2028 and wins, it’s checkmate. Game over.

I’d like to believe in the goodness of my fellow human beings, but the reality is, 77 million Trump voters don’t give a flying shit about you. If you’re LGBTQIA+, they hate you and want you gone. If you’re a brown child, they’d rather see you die in a concentration camp.

Old and unable to work? Just die. Caught measles? Here’s a pine box.

We are in an existential crisis, one where your life is on the line.

The question is: What are you going to do about it?