Thank you, dear K. De gustibus ...
Best wishes to you, as always.

"Civilization" is a pretty nebulous term, and I probably should have been slightly more specific. Current civilization as we know it (especially here in the US) is highly technologically-based and highly integrated - both between communities but even between nations. Much of the actual transfer of wealth happens in the form of electrons rather than hard currency transfers. So what happens if those pathways disintegrate? Banking is acknowledged by many to be the primary cause of the rise of the modern economy. If it crumbles under the weight of debt and inflation, much of the world's wealth is wiped out overnight as the infrastructure with which to conduct the modern economy goes with it.

There has never been an economy like the one in the world today - but few realize quite how fragile it truly is and how many things come crashing down when it fails. During the 1930's and the Great Depression, times were hard for many, but because wealth was still rooted in physical means, the effects were felt by many but could be worked through. If our economy collapses due to hyperinflation, inability to service debt, or a major disruption to the lines of communications between economic parties, there is no fall-back. We don't have a primarily agrarian populace who can go back to working farms. Farmers themselves are highly dependent on technology in modern agriculture practices - especially the resupply of fuel for mechanized production. If we have a true disaster, we will be far worse off than the unemployed in the 1930's because less than 10% of the people will be able to cope with the changes.

As to the Germans, they absolutely would have used atomic weapons, but probably first against the Russians. They would have targeted Moscow and left Russia reeling in its effects and decapitated for leadership while pointing at the devastation and warning the British and Americans to back off. Japan had a much larger problem there, because their only real chance to use a nuke effectively would have been to sneak a submarine to the US Pacific Coast and bomb San Francisco - an incredibly tall order given the lack of re-supply for such a vessel (especially later in the war) and the increasing vigilance of coastal patrols after events such as at Ellwood in 1941. Atomic weapons are incredible overkill against military targets excepting command-and-control installations like the Pentagon, SAC in Omaha, Nebraska, or entire carrier fleets. Even the US had problems building more than the first two - they had no plans other than invasion to fall back on if Japan had failed to surrender after Nagasaki.

I like that movie! It's called "They Live". Favorite line; when Roddy walks into a bank carrying a shotgun and says "I came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I'm all out of bubble gum".

Yes... I recall seeing that movie ~30 years ago. Do you think they could make ... and market a film like that today? I doubt it ... just too damn close to the truth.

why wouldn't one see it as childish, teenage behavior expressed by these people? why give it more importance than that?

on the other hand, American citizens travel across the mexican border like they are real people and not criminals. I live in Mexico and the US border patrol is austic.

melting pot except that if you let too much into the pot too quickly, your culture can change radically in ways you dont want. Check out germany with the 1.5 million muslims refugees. Their ideas are NOT even similar to western values. I think if they want to come to a place, it should be because THEY want to melt into the EXISTING culture in the recipient country; not that they want to change it

1.5 million individual Ayn Rands coming to a country all at once wouldn't have an effect on its culture?

she can be vetted though, as all potential immigrants should be. She wouldnt have a right to immigrate anywhere she wanted in my humble opinion. If we want to live among people with the same ideas as ourselves, we would need to check them out for permanent visa or potential citizenship. Ayn Rand would qualify easily with me.