Collapse Acceptance and the Way Forward

We expected gold. Perhaps not gold, but some version of a capitalist's dream, a future where we would receive rewards for playing along with the status quo, a utopia that would somehow arise, despite the damage done to our planet and ourselves in the process; despite the early signs of the sheer impossibility of it all. Capitalism breeds denial, and the pursuit of wealth for wealth's sake has never served us in the end. And so the End is where we find ourselves now; possibly not the end of Earth itself, but certainly of the empire that has brought about this ruination. Not just one empire, mind you. In our interconnected world of globalized commerce and intertwined infrastructure, Empire, with a capital E, is going down. Our world is bursting at the seams, with humanity having infected every corner of the globe. And what we are/have become, really, is the definition of a parasite:

"Pa∙ra∙site: an organism living in, on, or with another organism in order to obtain nutrients, grow, or multiply often in a state that directly or indirectly harms the host." - The Merriam Webster Dictionary

The difference between us and the common tapeworm is that we can live without draining our host. Money, convenience and material objects are no motivator for other parasites. For many, you take away the host and food source, the parasite dies. It only asks for subsistence. We, on the other hand, demand an infinite smorgasbord of resources, a buffet with no end.

What we call civilization is crumbling at our feet. Many started to see the signs decades ago, like the Club of Rome scientists in the 1970s. Others saw the cracks in its structure in 2008, when the world dove into a deep recession. Others, like myself, required a more startling, dystopian wake-up call, and came to in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. I am seeing now, however, that the rise of authoritarian powers in the United States and many other countries around the world has brought a much larger segment of the world's population to the conclusion that we have crossed a line that cannot be uncrossed. The time for policy changes and enacting new, more sustainable ways of existing on this planet within a civilization such as ours was decades ago. Knowing these facts is often called collapse awareness. Not just knowing it, but getting to the point where denial of collapse is impossible for you is called collapse acceptance.

What I'd like to add to that process is a third stage: collapse adaptation. Professor Jem Bendell has already created a movement around Deep Adaptation in response to collapse, based on his 2018 paper of the same name. Below are what he calls "The 5 Rs of Deep Adaptation":

1. Resilience

Question: What do we value most that we want to keep, and how?

This R is about identifying and then holding onto what matters most – such as community, care, rights, solidarity, meaning – rather than the conveniences and behaviours that require unsustainable systems.

2. Relinquishment

Question: What do we need to let go of so as not to make matters worse?

It involves letting go – of fossil-fueled comforts, economic myths, toxic identities, and destructive habits.

3. Restoration

Question: What could we bring back to help us as difficult situations unfold?

Here, we can invite consideration of traditional knowledge, community practices, and relational ways of being that industrial society eroded.

4. Reconciliation

Question: With whom and with what could I make peace with to lessen suffering?

Here, we can face the grief and existential fears associated with collapse and make peace with limits and loss, to centre our active compassion, even amid breakdown.

5. Reclamation

Question: What can we reclaim about our lives, communities, economies and nature from dominant systems and beliefs?

This R is about agency, power and dignity – reclaiming meaning-making, local control, spiritual autonomy, and relational depth from the alienation of modernity and global capitalism.

*Excerpted from https://jembendell.com/2025/05/25/the-5rs-of-deep-adaptation/

How, then do these facets of collapse adaptation apply to the real world, in our everyday lives?

I think that the answers to each of the questions in the five Rs are varied and mutable. Answer them for yourself, and see where that takes you. The point is effective action. Once you have seen and accepted this reality, action is needed—and not action that depends on the current systems that govern us, as they are or have been. Marching in the streets is a well-intentioned endeavor, but these new actions must be in line with the reality we are currently living in, and what will most likely come in the near future. What can we discard? How can we reclaim the old ways? How can we transform ourselves and our communities?

One foot in the apocalypse, one foot in the office

Enter any discussion or online space where the topic of collapse is brought up, what you'll find is that among those who have accepted it, there is the lingering question: how do I exist as I did before(going to work, going to school, paying bills) when I know now where we are headed?

Unless the collapse-aware party is independently wealthy, life and work must still go on. And as mortgages are paid, credit cards are swiped, and we enjoy the conveniences of living in a wealthy, developed country in this time and place, collapse is still lurking. It does not stop for the rotten fruits of capitalism. The challenge we face is to change the ways that we live now. To move through the five Rs of Deep Adaptation, to live deeply in the face of destruction, chaos, and uncertainty. As author John Michael Greer says, "Collapse now, and avoid the rush".

We always want the band-aid ripped off, we have no patience for a slow apocalypse. We imagine a zombie pandemic, a cataclysmic earthquake or eruption of global proportions. We are not ones to prepare or voluntarily let go of conveniences, usually. But we must. And it must begin now.