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How Is America Going To End?~Josh Levin

How Is America Going To End?Slate's "Choose Your Own Apocalypse" lets you map out the death of the United States.

By Josh LevinUpdated Monday, Aug. 3, 2009, at 2:34 PM ET

If and when America expires, we probably won't agree on the cause of death. For proof that autopsies of empires are inconclusive, consider the case of Alexander Demandt, the German historian who set out in the 1980s to collect every theory ever given for why Rome fell. The final tally: 210, including attacks by nomads on horseback, blood poisoning, decline of Nordic character, homosexuality, outflow of gold, and vaingloriousness.

In tribute to Demandt, I've gone looking for every possible reason why America could fall. I've paged through the work of scholars who have studied the characteristics of declining and failed societies. I also collected theories from futurists, doomsayers, separatists, economists, political scientists, national security experts, climatologists, geologists, astronomers, and a few miscellaneous crazy people. The result: a collection of 144 potential causes of America's future death.

Of course, the fall of America probably won't come to pass for any single, isolated reason. A nation as powerful, cohesive, and enduring as the United States won't go down easy—the death of the United States will be the consequence of a bunch of different stressors converging at once. What are those stressors going to be? Will America go down as part of a worldwide collapse, or will we perish as the rest of the globe flourishes? You can take a stab at answering all those questions with our "Choose Your Own Apocalypse" tool. (Note: While many of the factors here represent a threat to the entirety of human civilization, the title of this feature should not imply

that the end of America is equivalent to the end of the world. We're not that self-obsessed—"Choose Your Own Apocalypse" just has a nice ring to it.)

Scroll through the list of theories for America's demise, then select up to five that you find most persuasive. (If you'd prefer, you can also read all 144 end-of-America scenarios on a single page.) As you're making your picks, you'll get real-time updates on the apocalypse you've chosen—our Apocalypse Matrix reveals if your American end times will be bloodless or violent, and whether you blame man or nature for the country's downfall. You can also compare your choices with those of the average Slate reader. And check back on Friday to see our final "Choose Your Own Apocalypse" report, including the most popular scenarios by age, gender, location, and political affiliation.

Launch "Choose Your Own Apocalypse."

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  1. Tue Aug 4 18:36:48 2009

    Secession

    • Likes: 0

  2. Bobby AndrewsTue Aug 4 18:36:48 2009 Hey Matthew! How about B.C. Alberta & Alaska? Can you say Queen Sarah Palin? Sorry, you were probably sitting down to dinner(heh-heh)

  3. Matthew WhiteTue Aug 4 17:47:31 2009 The last time Quebec made noises about secession, I read an article which said that in the event it actually happened, British Columbia and Alberta would probably form some kind of union and go their separate ways as well. This would leave the remnants to "cling to Ontario for dear life"; although at that point, I'd have to imagine that New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island's best option would be to join the U.S.

  4. Tue Aug 4 17:27:09 2009

    Of the 144 scenarios listed in “Choose Your Own Apocalypse,” which do you think are most likely to contribute to the end of America?

    • Likes: 0

  5. Facebook UserTue Aug 4 17:27:09 2009 This it cool, you choose your vision of an apocalypse, and your choices show your viewpoint. I was proud to be a humanitarian internationalist. Check out the link, I found it on Slate, and it is interesting.

  6. Tue Aug 4 17:12:57 2009

    Do you think America will end on account of climate change?

    • Likes: 1

  7. Alan AugustsonTue Aug 4 17:12:57 2009 An "end" to America would be the biggest favor we could do to the rest of the world. No more "Vampire Nation" consuming a quarter of the world's resources. People around the world could go back to feeding themselves, rather than starving in order to overfeed US. No more American military and economic hegemony, no more living under the continual threat that we'll just storm in and take everything... Perhaps, REAL peace on earth. For a while, anyway. Hopefully, the rest of the world will be able to keep some new power-in-waiting from taking our place...

  8. Bobby AndrewsTue Aug 4 16:32:24 2009 I agree with an earlier comment that we should merge with Canada! Total control of 20% of the world's fresh water supply. Our retired people won't have to go there for prescrips. They get cheaper cigarettes and we get a break on Moosehead beer. This is a win, win situation! Let's hear it for "The United States of North America" (heh-heh)

  9. Alex WalkerTue Aug 4 16:07:37 2009 Climate change, even a small climate change, will be a factor because there is a faction in the U.S. that refuses to accept *any* change. That means that this influential group will find excuses to blame scapegoats for what is happening.

  10. Tue Aug 4 13:48:39 2009

    How the World Might (Almost) End

    • Likes: 0
  11. Tue Aug 4 18:16:01 2009

    Will the United States, Canada, and Mexico ever merge into a single political entity? Or Will the United States ever go to war with Canada or Mexico? If so, why?

    • Likes: 0

  12. Alex WalkerTue Aug 4 18:16:01 2009 Trouble is, for every person from the U.S.A. like me who wouldn't mind becoming Canadian there would probably be two or three wanting to make Canadians into "Americans."

  13. Alex WalkerTue Aug 4 18:14:28 2009 It's certainly not hard to imagine a lot of folks moving from the U.S. to Canada. Montreal is my favorite city in North America. Problem is, right now it's too damn cold. If Montreal warmed up a bit, I'd be there.

  14. Alan AugustsonTue Aug 4 17:15:51 2009 We're already pillaging the Canadians for their hydrocarbon resources... and destroying the Mexican family-farm economy by flooding them with cheap produce... at some point, it makes sense that Canada and Mexico should wise up and put a stop to our policies, triggering conflict... Unless their leaders have been bought off. Which seems entirely likely.

  15. Bobby AndrewsTue Aug 4 16:42:51 2009 I wouldn't mind going to war with Mexico. Remember, they beat the French on Cinquo de Mayo. How hard was that? What did they do after lunch? Besides, we could force them into exporting the brown label of Coronna which puts many American beers to shame. (heh-heh)

  16. Troy WoodleyTue Aug 4 13:37:39 2009 I doubt that even a significant minority of American voices would call for the annexation of Mexico as that would be volunteering to take destabilizing drug war, government corruption and immense poverty as America's direct responsibility

  17. Jack MchughTue Aug 4 12:41:42 2009 it is far more likely that US, Canada and Mexico join into a large North American Union than the US would break up.

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  1. TruBluAug 04 23:09How will America end Slate's "Choose Your Own Apocalypse" http://bit.ly/vNQpv Seems I'm a "humanitarian internationalist". WTF #endofusa

  2. rtrac3yAug 04 22:26#86 Globalization: America falls relative to other nations' rise ~ #endofusa ~ alternately #104, megadrought kills amber waves of grain.

  3. josh_levinAug 04 21:29Most popular scenarios out of 144 in Slate's #endofusa game: peak oil, loose nukes, antibiotic resistance. Least popular: Pax Indica.

  4. mojowenAug 04 21:16Slate's list of possible America-doomsday scenarios is mostly goofy, which makes it oddly reassuring http://is.gd/22DKb USA USA #endofusa

  5. slatefrayAug 04 18:141 wacky #endofusa scene: In retaliation USCorp hired ninja clan to break into Liberian headquarters and steal the widgets http://tr.im/vstC

  6. slatefrayAug 04 18:13Some clever #endofusa scenarios: Secession http://tr.im/vsyo Tea-party inspired coup http://tr.im/vszq Corporate takeover http://tr.im/vstC

  7. slatefrayAug 04 18:13@josh_levin Pretty funny Fray doomsday scenarios responding to #endofusa http://tr.im/vssA I like Ben’s movie pitch http://tr.im/vsuK

  8. harpermaddoxAug 04 16:23David Foster Wallace's O.N.A.N. could happen. Let's not have the populists elect Johnny Gentle in 2012. #endofusa http://tr.im/uV4W

  9. FortWorthCajunAug 04 16:11@Msphixit Agree. To say nothing of other, terrible manmade problems, like some terrible science experiment gone awry. #endofusa

  10. FortWorthCajunAug 04 15:51Funny that no one mentions the natural threats that are more imminent than global warming, like the Yellowstone supervolcano. #endofusa

Hashtag: #endofusa Article: http://tr.im/uV4W Twitter

Josh Levin is a Slate senior editor. You can e-mail him at sportsnut@slate.com and follow him on Twitter.
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