A society is collapsing when the systems it depends on for its basic needs can no longer deliver them reliably, and the institutions that would ordinarily repair those systems can no longer do it. — The Collapse Already Arrived, September 5, 2026
For years, I have been frustrated by the complete lack of urgency most white people exhibit in the face of multisystem collapse. Until recently, our dominant political and economic institutions functioned well enough for those considered white, insulating them from the failures built into the system.
For Indigenous, Black, and brown communities, however, systemic oppression has been a constant reality since European settlers arrived with settler-colonialism and chattel slavery. The demand for structural change has always been urgent, born of survival rather than a sudden realization that things are breaking down.
I recently wrote, collapse is already here. That is why it is urgent to work on these conditions now. And why it is crucial that those who want change rethink where they put their efforts and resources.
What has changed dramatically over the past several years is the institutions that would ordinarily repair those systems can no longer do that. The repair in the past was most commonly done by creating legislation to address social injustice and harms.
One of the great Quaker institutions is the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), established eighty years ago to do just that. FCNL has a wonderful history of being involved in passing such legislation. My parents and I served for years on the FCNL General Committee.
Today, that path is largely blocked. Supreme Court rulings have left political spending virtually unregulated, ensuring that lawmakers answer to concentrated wealth rather than the public interest. At the same time, rising authoritarianism has crippled Congress, while the Supreme Court has abandoned its role as an independent check on executive overreach. The institutions designed to repair the system are no longer capable of the task.
Because traditional reform has stalled, grassroots movements are rethinking engagement altogether.
it is crucial that those who want change rethink where they put their efforts and resources.
Jeff Kisling
The Points of Unity of Des Moines Mutual Aid, that I worked with for three years, recently added another point:
We are a revolutionary organization. We are united in a basic agreement that the ultimate goal of revolution is the abolition of the state and of social classes, and that the state’s institutions are not a means to achieving that end. We are against participation in electoral politics, because we are for the development of mutual aid as an alternative and widespread institution.
Des Moines Mutual Aid
Resilience Hub
The Great Plains Action Society’s Urban Resilience Hub in Iowa City is demonstrating what the alternatives to the collapse of those institutions look like. That’s why I participate in work there. And encourage others to support the Hub, and look for similar organizations in their localities to support. For Great Plains Action Society, donate here: Honor Native Land Fund
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