It was the greed that did it. The old world had succumbed to de Toqueville's prediction after all. When there were more people demanding than there were providing, the system was doomed. The collapse had started slowly, and almost imperceptibly in the last years of the twentieth century. Most people vaguely noticed that things seemed unsettled and rather more dangerous than they would have preferred, but the constant barrage of government propaganda had deceived them. These were the Golden Years, they were told, the time when everyone could have everything, at no cost. Young people, old people, disadvantaged people, all had "special" programs to help them achieve the happiness that their society had deemed them entitled to. Suddenly and inexplicably, everyone was a member of a "minority" and had a hyphenated group name with which to demand even further "special" treatment. The notion that one could prosper by borrowing was universal. No one expected the bill to come due.

But it had, of course. And when it had, society was unable to pay up. The government of the world's biggest and most powerful country collapsed when it had had to forfeit on its financial obligations. This took down the other countries in turn like a line of dominoes. Economic chaos always triggers political chaos and the whole degenerated almost overnight into the worst form of barbarism. Industry stopped in its tracks; services evaporated. Only the stolid farmers continued, and their efforts were hampered by loss of the chemicals and machinery they had grown accustomed to. Food production dropped drastically and what little there was could not be adequately distributed.

In the big cities, life was desperate. Every small plot of land was converted to a garden, guarded by armed men 24 hours a day, and even so, often the object of small wars. Law and order ceased to exist when simple survival often depended on the ability to rob and murder.