Someone give me an estimate as to how long it would take for society to collapse without...

[meeksgeek]

21. Couple of interesting reads (if you like serious science fiction)

Post-apocalyptic fiction is one of my personal favorite genres. I hope I don't get to live it...

First on the list is John Wyndham's spectacular novel "The Day of the Triffids." I don't care for the movie that came out in 1962 and haven't seen any other versions that made it to the screen. The book is amazing, and if you read it carefully you will note that the event that kicks off the novel was brought on humanity by their own actions, it was NOT some outside force.

Second is the Coyote series by Allen Steele. This is more about an inter-stellar colonization effort, but notable is the fact that the majority of the original colonists were fleeing the right-wing United Republic of America and (later in the series) an Earth that had developed serious habitability issues. There's some very interesting material in these books.

Also the Daybreak series by John Barnes... as well as some of his other books. His vision of the future isn't too pretty but it's very thought-provoking.

There are many others; I tried to name some that aren't too well known (like The Road Warrior... ugh).

To respond to the original question: I think the centralized distribution system in the USA is a colossal house of cards and I hope I don't get to see it fall. I think if it did, it would happen very fast - think days - because so few people here know how to do things for themselves. Once the fuel is gone, food deserts expand rapidly, deliveries stop, and trash pickup ceases. The cities would not be a good place to linger, and frankly many people aren't in the physical condition to set out on a miles-long journey on foot or even bicycle.

People like me who have some staples on hand will probably be okay for a little while, and I am certainly capable of hiking 12 or more miles a day with a load, because I've done it. I can cook over a campfire, and have lived that way for as long as a week at a time; but even so, I don't know how to really feed myself in the wild, beyond knowing a little about which plants I can eat, and how to make water safe to drink. I'm no hunter because of vision problems and anyway I don't own a gun or any other hunting weapon. Come to think of it, I not sure I would actually have enough valuable skills to survive, and help others survive, even if I found a community to take me in... that's a big if, though. Most communities in this situation would be small, isolated at first, insular, and later under the control of local "warlords" for lack of a better term.

Note that the Mormons are supposed to keep a one-year supply of food and other useful items on hand for emergencies...

There is a Chinese curse that goes, "May you live in interesting times."