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I would argue that opportunists taking helm is a direct outcome of the systemic pressures created by the early stages of the collapse. The dynamic is that people's material conditions start to decline which in turn leads people to become disillusioned with the political establishment. This opens up opportunities for people on the political fringes to come in and pose as fresh alternatives not tainted by the establishment.

This is precisely the dynamic we saw play out during 2008 crisis that gave rise to the occupy movement on the left and maga on the right. A lot of people lost faith in the system, and started looking for solutions outside mainstream politics. Trump seized upon the moment promising to drain the swamp, and so on.

I agree that there is a lot of institutional inertia, and this is a big factor in ensuring the collapse continues progressing unabated. Halting and reversing current trends requires honestly acknowledging root causes of the problems in order to take corrective action. However, existing political climate precludes this from happening as was illustrated during 2020 election. Sanders proposed some sound and necessary policies such as The Green New Deal, public healthcare, and student debt forgiveness. Yet, even these necessary corrective measures were rejected by the establishment.

Since the effects of the collapse are not evenly distributed, the plight of the working class is largely invisible to the policy makers. This creates a lag between problems occurring and the leadership becoming aware of them. Thus things have to degrade quite significantly before people in power become convinced of the severity of the problems.

The further along collapse of the empire progresses the more difficult it becomes to arrest it. At the same time loss of trust in public institutions and the rise of opportunists ensures that tough measures that are necessary become increasingly impossible to take politically.