Societal collapse

I made

my first ever short film in college, which is called Social Collapse, which actually came out 10 years and four months ago.

and it sort of yeah I mean it got like 8,000 views for my first ever short film and I didn't really know what I was doing so I was like maybe there's got some gravitational like towards it

yeah what

was that about? so it's called Social Collapse which was made in 2016 and it was almost like a an observation of how life's becoming with people, where they're just constantly on their phones.

And I had to go and buy, it was really awkward, I had to go and buy a bunch of handcuffs, right? For one of the big scenes.

There's no king shame in there, okay.

And so far, God's providence has been just exceptional in allowing me to move forward.

The book that we're talking about today, Christ or Collapse, is actually the culmination of about 20 years as a social scientist.

And I thought it was just about time to put the record straight and to show people that The empirical evidence for Christianity is unparalleled.

That is to say, Christianity is unmatched for bringing flourishing.

So I think it's a worthwhile point.

And I think that's why this conversation is helpful and important.

Now, the title, Christ or Collapse, it's a good title.

It's catchy.

Let's see if I can slaughter that French name well enough.

It's Etienne Alexander Beauregard, and he wrote an interesting book, more than political philosophy and things like that, but it's called Anti-Civilization, the Collapse of Society and the Case for Common Good.

It was actually a pretty depressing read, but hopefully he's got some more optimistic solutions and sorts of things he can offer as we talk about those in a bit here too.

Young guy, and well, we need those young perspectives because he's getting stuck with the country we're leaving behind for them.

And he's got concerns and he's written about them at length.

And I found it interesting and a bit dark, though.

And again, the title of his book says it, you know, Anti-Civilization, the Collapse of Society.

And perhaps you'll correct me, I'm awful with French names.

It's raining in the Pacific Northwest and it's amazing.

I feel like fall matches the vibe of societal collapse so much better than summer.

Honestly, don't you? It's just a little more atmospheric, I guess, for the decline of society.

Before I just jump in here, I want to make clear up front that this isn't going to turn into a full on Dolly Parton Stan account.

Crop failures meant famine.

Famine meant social collapse.

And into that weakened, starving world came one of the deadliest plagues in human history.

Within a decade, entire empires were on their knees.

Several wealthy estate halls that had been continuously occupied for generations were suddenly abandoned in 536-537, just left empty, with valuables still inside.

The owners didn't move somewhere else, they just vanished.

presumably, dead, possibly the entire local population wiped out by some combination of famine, cold, and the diseases that followed, the archaeological signature of social collapse preserved in abandoned buildings and disturbed stratigraphic layers.

in china similar patterns appear tax records show precipitous drops in registered households meaning either mass mortality or mass migration as people fled failed agricultural regions imperial granaries were empty trying to relieve widespread famine records describe snow in august in southern provinces frost throughout summer in the north the kind of climate chaos that would have been unthinkable before it happened And here's what's really terrifying about all these accounts, both written and archaeological.

here a city lost heart by reason of the overwhelming flood and in spite of superior commercial advantages was outgrown by a rival fifty miles away at the same time the case of dayton ohio should be borne in mind here also was a flood-stricken city and she became the gem city of the west the principle thus appears to be that progress in catastrophe is a resultant of specific conditioning factors some of which are subject to social control it is indeed this very thing which makes possible the hope of eventual social control over disaster-stricken cities and the transmutation of seeming evil into tremendous good and this is in addition to the many practical social lessons which we have already been intelligent enough to preserve such as those of better city planning and a more efficient charity organization how much of man's advancement has been directly or indirectly due to disaster the question asks itself and is a question as yet without an answer when the answer is at last written will there not be many surprises pit rivers tells us that the idea of a large boat might have been suggested in the time of floods when houses floated down the rivers before the eyes of men a terrible storm at sea gave america its first rice footnote in this storm a ship from madagascar was driven into a south carolina port in gratitude the captain gave the governor a sack of seed footnote city planning may be said to have taken its rise in america as a result of the chicago fire and the role of catastrophe in the progress of social legislation is a study in itself the impetus thus received is immeasurable historically labor legislation took its rise with the coming of an infectious fever in the cotton mills of manchester in seventeen eighty four after the cherry mine disaster legislation ensued at once again it was the triangle fire which led to the appropriation of funds for a factory investigation commission in the state of new york the sinking of the titanic has greatly reduced the hazards of the sea it may easily prove true that the prophets of golden days to come who invariably arise on the day of disaster are not entirely without ground for the faith which is in them and that catastrophes are frequently only reagents of further progress but this is merely introductory thought becomes scientific only when its conclusions are checked up and underwritten by observation or experiment prior to such procedure it must still remain opinion or belief the whole subject is it must be repeated a virgin field in sociology knowledge will grow scientific only after the most faithful examination of many catastrophes but it must be realized that the data of the greatest value is left ofttimes unrecorded and fades rapidly from the social memory investigation is needed immediately after the event it is therefore of the utmost importance that sociological studies of chicago galveston baltimore san francisco and other disaster cities should be initiated at once footnote it is perhaps due to the reader to say that while this volume treats specifically of halifax the writer has studied the records of many disasters and these have been kept in mind in drawing his conclusions he participated in the rescue and relief work at halifax in nineteen seventeen and at the time of the titanic disaster accompanied one of the expeditions to the scene he was in new york when the wall street explosion occurred and made a first-hand study of its effects of such a series if the work can be done this little volume on halifax is offered as a beginning it is hoped that the many inadequacies of treatment will receive the generous allowances permitted a pioneer and of section two

Section 3 of Catastrophe and Social Change Catastrophe and Social Change Based upon a Sociological Study of the Halifax Disaster by Samuel Henry Prince Chapter 1 Catastrophe and Social Disintegration halifax is the ocean terminal of the dominion of canada on her atlantic seaboard it is situated at the head of chibucto bay a deep inlet on the southeastern shore-line of nova scotia it is endowed by nature with a magnificent harbor which as a matter of fact is one of the three finest in the world in it a thousand vessels might safely ride at anchor the possession of this harbor together with ample defenses and a fortunate situation with regard to northern europe established the garrison city early in the year nineteen fourteen as the natural war base of the dominion its tonnage leaped by millions and it soon became the third shipping port in the entire british empire hither the transports came and the giant freighters to join their convoy cruisers and men-of-war put in to use its great dry dock or take on coal here too cleared the supply in munition boats some laden with empty shells others with high explosives destined for the distant fields of battle How much of the deadly cargo lay in the roadstead or came and went during those faithful years is not publicly known.

Certainly there was too much to breed a sense of safety, but no one gave the matter second thought.

All were intent upon the mighty task of the hour, sufficient unto each day was each day's evil.

They came in close procession, and as if to crown and complete the terrors of the great catastrophe, thunder rumbled, lightning broke sharply, and lit up weirdly the snow-clad streets.

Such was the catastrophe of Halifax.

a calamity the appalling nature of which stirred the imagination of the world the description here concluded brief and inadequate as it is will sufficiently indicate the terrific nature of the catastrophic shock and explain how utter and complete was the social disintegration which followed There was the disintegration of the home and the family, the reproductive system of society, its members sundered and helpless to avert it.

There was the disintegration of the regulative system, government was in perplexity and streets were without patrol.

And fear does not need much evidence.

This is the human side of civilizational collapse.

Not just death from the catastrophe itself, but the multiplication of danger after the first shock has passed.

A failed harvest becomes famine because grain cannot be moved where it is needed.