If Civilization Collapsed Tomorrow… What Would Actually Matter?
- rhairston70
- May 21
- 4 min read
It’s a strange thought.
We spend so much of our lives surrounded by technology that it almost feels permanent. Phones. Internet. Streaming. GPS. Instant communication. Grocery stores always stocked. Power always flowing.
But every once in a while, something happens in the world that reminds us just how fragile all of it really is.
And lately?
There’s been a lot of reminders.
News stories about rising global tensions. Nuclear concerns creeping back into headlines. Simulations discussing “safe states” and fallout zones. Entire articles analyzing which countries might survive a modern catastrophe.
That’s not sci-fi anymore.
That’s the news.
The Return of an Old Fear
One thing that caught my attention recently was the growing number of discussions around nuclear survivability.
According to several simulations and analyses, places like:
Australia
New Zealand
Iceland
remote parts of Canada
portions of the American Northeast and Midwest
are considered among the “safest” areas in the event of large-scale nuclear conflict.
Not because they’re invincible.
But because they are:
geographically isolated
agriculturally sustainable
less strategically important
lower in population density
And honestly… that idea hit close to home for me as a writer.
Because the foundation of War of the Umanomagi begins with exactly that concept:
A forgotten continent. Far from the centers of destruction. A last desperate attempt to preserve humanity before civilization collapses.
In my world, Australia becomes the birthplace of the Six Kingdoms because the Creator uses magic to shield it from annihilation.
But the deeper idea underneath that story isn’t really about magic.
It’s about what survives when everything else falls apart.
Strip Away Civilization… What’s Left?
If modern civilization vanished tomorrow:
no phones
no internet
no supply chains
no social media
no infrastructure
What would actually matter?
Would people rediscover:
community?
spirituality?
storytelling?
craftsmanship?
family?
nature?
Would we finally need each other again?
That question sits at the heart of so much fantasy literature.
And honestly, maybe that’s why fantasy feels so powerful right now.
Fantasy worlds are often built after collapse:
Middle-earth after ancient wars
Westeros after fallen empires
post-apocalyptic futures rebuilding into mythic societies
Even Star Wars begins in the ruins of a broken republic.
There’s something deeply human about imagining not just the end of the world…
…but what comes after.
Technology Connects Us… But Also Separates Us
This isn’t an anti-technology rant.
I’m typing this on technology. You’re reading it through technology.
But I do think modern life has created a strange contradiction:
We are more connected than ever…and often feel more isolated than ever.
In War of the Umanomagi, one of the core themes is that humanity became so dependent on technology and systems that it lost intimacy, spirituality, and connection with the world around it. And in their own hubris, they launch their nuclear weapons.
The Creator doesn’t save the world with machines.
He saves it through:
sacrifice
willpower
magic
connection to the land
and ultimately through other beings coming together to preserve life
That idea resonates with me more now than when I first wrote it.
Because when people discuss surviving catastrophe, they rarely talk about surviving alone.
They talk about:
communities
food
water
cooperation
shared skills
rebuilding
Human things.
Core things.
Maybe We’d Rediscover Storytelling
One of the first things humans do after survival is tell stories.
We’ve always done that.
Stories help us:
process fear
preserve memory
pass down wisdom
create hope
If civilization collapsed tomorrow, I genuinely think storytelling would survive longer than most technology.
Around fires. In shelters. Through songs. Through myths.
Maybe that’s why fantasy matters so much.
Fantasy reminds us that humanity has survived dark ages before.
Nature Would Matter Again
Modern life lets us ignore nature most of the time.
Climate-controlled homes. Digital environments. Artificial lighting. Food arriving from thousands of miles away.
But collapse changes priorities quickly.
Suddenly:
fertile land matters
clean water matters
weather matters
seasons matter
And interestingly enough, many of the places considered “safest” in global catastrophe discussions are areas with strong natural sustainability:
Australia
New Zealand
Iceland
remote farmland
isolated mountain regions
In other words:
Places still closely connected to the natural world.
That’s not just survivalism.
That’s perspective.
The Creator’s Greatest Magic Wasn’t Power
In War of the Umanomagi, the Creator opens himself to unimaginable magical forces to save the continent. But looking back, I don’t think his greatest act was magical power itself.
It was refusing to give up on humanity.
During war. After destruction. Even after civilization proved capable of destroying itself.
He still believed something worth saving remained. And maybe that’s the real question underneath all of this.
If civilization collapsed tomorrow…
What parts of humanity would deserve to survive?
Maybe We Secretly Crave Rebuilding Stories
I think modern audiences are exhausted. Not just politically or economically. Spiritually.
People are overwhelmed by:
constant information
outrage cycles
digital noise
endless consumption
So maybe we gravitate toward fantasy because fantasy imagines rebuilding meaning from ashes. Not perfection. Meaning.
So I’ll leave you with this:
If modern civilization vanished tomorrow… what do you think humanity would rediscover first?
Community? Faith? Nature? Violence? Storytelling? Tribalism? Magic?
And maybe the bigger question:
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