Societal collapse often becomes self-reinforcing, as severe crises necessitate significant structural changes. However, the ability to make such adjustments typically requires a level of foresight and proactive action that would have avoided this situation in the first place. This creates a death spiral where opportunists rise to power by promising quick fixes and easy solutions, while continuing to exacerbate problems because nobody is willing to acknowledge or accept the difficult truths about what it takes to genuinely address these issues.