Spiritual values are ascendant, and we are able to draw upon the social capital developed over the past decade. The Internet, due to its organic design, survives the disruption reasonably intact. It facilitates community and personal connection and is used to create informal local economies through barter and information exchange. Meanwhile, government is overwhelmed, its resources tied up in disaster relief. Networks of small community groups appear to link themselves spontaneously into a national citizens' network for emergency planning, trade, and education.
Regional clusters begin to self-organize based on watershed, climate, and other geographic features.
Through this network of networks, we begin to rebuild a sustainable, caring world. The economy, political power, and social institutions decentralize radically but remain connected in a web of alliances. Warnings that surfaced at the end of the 20th century go unheeded, and industrial age economic growth patterns, values, and practices continue. Huge multinationals take advantage of the unconstrained markets and erode the power of nation states. Environment, labor, and social justice issues are not addressed, and the competitive forces of global trade drive a race to the bottom for everyone but a global monied elite.