Deathwish politics is at least as old as the mid 1950's when impending nuclear Armageddon was on the cards.
Out of that came a sect of American evangelical fundamentalists who believe in "The Rapture". Many prominent US political figures were and remain associated with it.
Right now many of these types are rubbing their hands with glee over the middle-East conflict, hoping it will escalate as prophesied.
A subset of the latter. There are those who begin with the premise that the world is going to hell and then seek out (and amplify) any evidence they find that resonates with their bias. Doomers, if you will. It's not even that difficult to identify these folks, but as soon as one does the retort is invariably some form of "you have your head in the sand".
So many people fantasize about moving to a farm in the country. Collapse-advocates want events to force them (and everyone) to make that change. A collapse is ideal because they will be forced to do something they fantasize about and not miss out on anything new that modernity creates (because modernity will be gone).
"They"? You are overgeneralizing a group you are not a member of.
What you're describing covers exactly zero of the "doomers" I know - most are just depressed PhD biologists or polymath economists modeling a tragic collapse.
Look up the revised World3 models, IPCC's BAU scenarios, go review Hot Topic and the critiques since then, check out the Existential Climate Risks survey of experts... talking about the risks of collapse, and fearing it happening, is quite rational.
Casting the group as expecting some absurd "population collapse without civilization collapse", or cheering on a massive societal regression, is a clear signal your sample set is biased.
Anyway, the vast majority of climate scientists and economists don't think that civilization will collapse. Maybe they aren't "polymathic" enough for you. Even if they entertain the possiblity of collapse, they aren't certain about it (again, compare to the linked article).
At any rate, the idea that scientists can model the collapse of civilization is silly. We can't model the market and civilization is much more complex.
> Casting the group as expecting some absurd "population collapse without civilization collapse", or cheering on a massive societal regression, is a clear signal your sample set is biased.
I don't know what the first part of this means. There absolutely is a "collapse community," well represented by the linked article and elsewhere on the internet, and I think it's very clear that they eagerly await the collapse for transparent psychological reasons.
Do we really know what they think? I suppose we know what they say. To the question of the article, let's say that one or more of them are actually fairly certain that collapse is coming within a few decades - what would be the point of telling anyone that?
But anyway, the whole idea that scientists can predict the collapse of civilization is wrong. At some level this is a question of optimism vs. pessimism. That's not a question of models, it's a question of taste or, as the kids say, "vibes".
If someone were of the honest opinion that broad scale collapse was imminent I can only expect they would also not expect fame afterwards. Anyone sharing this opinion disingenuous is more likely to be sharing it for gain before the collapse that may never come, via book sales or speaking engagements for example.
On the other end you have zero proof that you are not the one in denial right now.
I personally am probably a doomer as you call it, I really think it will go downhill for at least a century, probably more. Not sure if we'll go back to middle age or stone age. The planet will survive, humans will survive, but it won't be pretty.
I don't think we can manage to achieve real net zero CO2 before a very long while (many decades). It would simply require humans to trust each other and sacrifice in a scale that has never happened before. I have little reasons to believe this can happen, definitely not fast enough.
And co2 is just one problem.
And yeah I can attest that there is a certain appeal. Psychologically it’s that post apocalypse survival brings purpose to an otherwise easy, almost pointless existence, I think this is widely understood no?
I will also say that post apocalypse survival is a simple game to play, dig a hole and live in it, I could buy an entire lifetime of gaseous oxygen and bury it in the ground with me at current prices. The level up is to ensure the survival of one’s local community. Master level is Elon Musk style interplanetary insurance.
Seems a commonality among any kind of end-of-times cultists, they’ll try to befriend you and woo you into being on their side. That their bunker was a sane investment, that you should sell all your assets and invest in silver or sheep or small arms. That their calculations are a bit off, that it’ll actually be next Fall not this Spring.
But, above all else, that I’m right and you can be too if you just believe like I do. Except I don’t believe, I know.
Oh, you won’t know like I know? You’re just another sheep, another one of them.