I think we are looking at late Roman Empire stuff.
The central government issues insane orders, and the average folks just run and hide as best they can....
Civilization is very fragile—and I am having trouble seeing a scenario where we get it back...
The enemies of civilization are in every nation and every state in this country. War can’t fix that.
Yeah, the Ottoman empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Soviet Union, take your pick. They're littered throughout history - rotted from the inside until they finally fell over. People will set up their alternative societies, alternative means to survive in spite of the despotism, like they've always have. During the reign of Obummer I remember how bad things got during his second go-round. Lot of bartering went on, some of which I participated in. Lot of organized criminal gangs arose, which was rather unusual for my area. Not just the casual thievery that's in the usual background noise of society, but prolific organized groups that went out on the hunt night after night. Daytime wasn't exactly safe either. This current regime is lining up to be worse, in time.