Dmitry Orlov came out with a book last year titled "Reinventing  Collapse" where he compares the collapse of the Soviet Union with what's going on now in the United States.

His attitude towards this bleak version of our future has a surprising upbeat tone to it. He points out some simple things we can change now to be better prepared for what he envisions as a tough ride.

I got attracted to his way of thinking by watching this  very informative interview on Russian television. His blog has even deeper articles he's written on the subject, including a radical way of using sail boats to solve some of the problems he predicts are already unavoidable.