Thank you for this story, it is very well written (as always). Maybe those of us who are on the Eastern block or near it can recognise striking similarities from the late 1980s and early 1990s and perhaps act as messengers for the rest of the world. Sadly, there are parts of the world where these processes run in real time, or as Terrence McKenna once said: “The apocalypse is not something which is coming. The apocalypse has arrived in major portions of the planet and it's only because we live within a bubble of incredible privilege and social insulation that we still have the luxury of anticipating the apocalypse.”

My opinion on the matter was finalised here on Medium. Prior to that I held belief that we can engineer our way out of it. Even when I read Bill Gates' book last summer I still thought we can. But the math behind it is much simpler than it seems (primary school level) and once you understand that any other conclusion is almost impossible. We need a miracle or else the is game over. Now I'm baffled how an erudite such as Gates can be so naive. Or perhaps I think too highly of him.

Your final thoght about Rome is the only thing that keeps me from freaking out. :)