A critique of the general concept: A culture may remain "in a state of collapse" for a long, long time.
I think the "in a state of collapse" expression is a bit misleading with wrong connotations. A culture neglecting the real-world constraints is not necessarily collapsing. A better analogy would be swimming against the current -- you can do it for a while by spending a lot of energy, but sooner or later you'll run out and the current will sweep you away.
What is energy in this analogy, and where does it come from?
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
Notes for future OT posters:
1. Please add the 'open_thread' tag.
2. Check if there is an active Open Thread before posting a new one. (Immediately before; refresh the list-of-threads page before posting.)
3. Open Threads should be posted in Discussion, and not Main.
4. Open Threads should start on Monday, and end on Sunday.