As for government, I was thinking in terms of the foreign aid administration or something like that which would take you around the world and, like an NGO, have you helping very poor people advance.

But civilization isn't going to end. At the absolute worst, it will simply change, as it has all the time in the past. Yes, it's now changing at a faster rate and that's disconcerting (our evolutionary environment was not one of fast change). But the human race isn't going away any time soon.

As for the collapse of Rome, that took place very slowly indeed over several centuries. And keep in mind that, contrary to what a lot of people think, the collapse of Rome in the west (Rome in the east kept going for another thousand years) simply meant that Roman civilization was replaced by other, different civilizations.

There's no chance of that ("sitting on ruins") whatsoever. At all. Though I do know that you're by no means the only person to be worried about that. There are millions of other people who feel the same way. Let me tell you how I approach it.

First, at least for me, there's no problem at all if the human race disappears at some way distant point in the future. The world will be perfectly fine without us and there will, no question, be other supposedly "intelligent" species around the universe.

Second, the human race isn't going to die out any time soon, for any reason whatsoever, especially from "catastrophes." There are far too many of us. No pandemic, no nuclear war, no economic breakdown is going to cause the disappearance of the human race. In all circumstances whatsoever, there will simply be too many survivors and they will carry on human culture for a long time.

Third, there won't be any "collapse of civilization." There may be "failed states" here and there for a while, but though most people today appear not to know it, there have always been "failed states" and in due course they're replaced by normally governed entities. As for any "collapse of civilization" due to economic reasons, it won't happen. Modern economies provide too many important things to too many people to be permitted to die. There is no reason to believe that we can't adjust to any supply shortage that shows up.

What we'll face, always, are new and different challenges which, as human beings, we're the best species to overcome, however difficult they may be. We really are smart little suckers, and when we get serious and organized we achieve miracles. Sorry, it's true. Take care!