There are many ways Trump could trigger a global collapse. Here’s how to survive if that happens | George Monbiot

It could be wildfires, a pandemic or a financial crisis. The super-rich will flee to their bunkers - the rest of us will have to fend for ourselves

Though we might find it hard to imagine, we cannot now rule it out: the possibility of systemic collapse in the United States. The degradation of federal government by Donald Trump and Elon Musk could trigger a series of converging and compounding crises, leading to social, financial and industrial failure.

There are several possible mechanisms. Let's start with an obvious one: their assault on financial regulation. Trump's appointee to the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Russell Vought, has suspended all the agency's activity, slashed its budget and could be pursuing Musk's ambition to delete" the bureau. The CFPB was established by Congress after the 2008 financial crisis, to protect people from the predatory activity that helped trigger the crash. The signal to the financial sector could not be clearer: Fill your boots, boys." A financial crisis in the US would immediately become a global crisis.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist