Closing the 'Collapse Gap': the USSR was better prepared for collapse than the US

[Tarrel]

His book, "Re-inventing Collapse", is superb. He had a unique perspective, having moved to the US in his teens, he then went back to the Soviet Union numerous times during the collapse of the state, and was able to observe it almost as a bystander. He's right; the Russians were better placed to deal with collapse than the West is. They were already used to shortages, and a "make do and mend" culture. (My Dad's from Poland. I travelled there extensively before the fall of the Berlin wall, and it had similar problems). The Russians' better position didn't stop them going through hell though.