The Dystopians - Review

Filed in archive Op-Ed on January 21, 2009

The article starts off with US resident Dmitry Orlov, from Leningrad, who has been living on a semi-self-sustainable boat in a form 'bourgeois survivalism' for 2 ½ years, riding a bicycle and skipping the TV.

After the downfall of the Soviet Union he learned a lesson for future reference: "When faced with a collapsing economy, one should stop thinking of wealth in terms of money."

In his 2008 book, "Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects," Orlov identifies the ingredients of what he calls "superpower collapse soup" - a severe shortfall in the production of crude oil, a worsening foreign-trade deficit, an oversized military budget, and crippling foreign debt.

Excerpts and Commentary on Ben McGrath's "The Dystopians" - Jan 26th, New Yorker