Listened to May 2024.

Little or no swearing. Only listened to 2 hours. Too much gunplay for me.

Totally agree with the author’s repeated statement, “All empires collapse eventually.” Over 50 years ago I took Latin in high school, and my Latin teacher was a big fan of the Roman Empire. The Babylonians, Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Greeks, Romans – all their empires eventually collapsed.

The absurd debt of the USA, 16.7% of US population as of 2024 are addicts, and the prevalence of violence, dishonesty, and criminal behavior makes for a poor prognosis.

Just not interested in the guns. I prefer end of the system novels that talk about gathering useful people, helping others, growing food, etc. I do not think survival dependent on gathering supplies, which eventually run out. I think more about what my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents did from the Civil War up to and through the Great Depression of the 1930s to survive. You need food and clean water to survive. You do not need paper goods or plastic. You need a heat source in the winter. You do not need AC in the summer.

When my 10 year old grandfather hit his foot with an ax while chopping wood, there were no doctors or hospitals around. My great grandmother sat on him and sewed his foot up. Would prefer stories about how to deal with things like this without the modern “conveniences” and packaging available today.