This suggests an interesting strategy for altruistic futurists: Instead of trying to predict how trends are going to go and attempting to influence them from the better, just accumulate money in a donor-advised fund (or probably a more flexible investment vehicle, really) and take it out in the event of a true emergency. ("Civilization's rainy-day money.")

Some thoughts on this idea: It might be a good idea to establish a mailing list to coordinate with others doing the same thing. For certain unpleasant scenarios, the government can be counted on to intervene. But it's not obvious that their intervention will be quick or effective. Given government's existence, however, our comparative advantage might be in intervening before things reach a full-scale crisis.