collapse of the old society

Regular people are not alarmed. They still buy fireworks, go on road trips, and consume like they've been taught their entire lives. The select few that ARE alarmed can't do anything with a system built from the ground up to reward indifference to the environment. You need to worry about your fellow man a lot more than you need to worry about hunger or fire if you are privileged enough to even be a part of this conversation. And that's the whole problem. Humanity, as a species, is violent, duplicitous, and primarily motivated by self enrichment. The best thing we as a species could do for the cosmos is build the machines that will keep us occupied here instead of strip mining the stars. We can't be trusted with not destroying the universe to make the ultimate fidget spinner.