From The Technium
There seem to be about six species of collapsitarians:
Luddites, anarchists, and anti-civilization activists (see The Unabomber Was Right) who are trying the hasten collapse as soon as possible.
(There was a point after the hurricane season 2004 where I felt a measure of dependency and helplessness by living without amenities such as electricity and air conditioning for a week. The anarcho-primitivist hunter/gatherer ideal appealed to me for a long while after that. The first time I heard that hunter-gatherers work fewer hours, have a more egalitarian society and gender equality, I was hooked to the idea. The turning point was the realization that the grave state of biodiversity today cannot provide for 7 billion hunters and gatherers. A return to such would entail the Malthusian scenario. Many of the anarcho-primitivist writers openly accept the possibility. I do not.)
Goldbugs, survivalists, Y2K holdouts, and slightly right wingers who see collapse as the penalty for modern liberalism.
Conservationists and greenies who see collapse as the penalty for environmental sins.
Somewhat leftist anti-globalists who see collapse as the penalty for globalism. (I fall under this category –SR)
Critics of American super-power who see the collapse of America as an inevitable imperial overreach. Many are native academics, many reside outside of America, many are prominent historians. (I fall under this too –SR)
Former financial employees who see nothing good in, but no escape from, this doom.
(I favor a means of production that maintains the population instead of grows. This is not a matter of population but of consumption. I favor more efficient technologies that meet a diverse set of needs and provides for a sustainable set of amenities.)