An interesting short lecture by Dmitry Orlov, whom watched the collapse of the USSR unfold over several visits to Russia in the late 1980s and 1990s.

There are many striking similarities to what is happening in the US now. The largest commonality is mass impoverishment.
http://fora.tv/2009/02/13/Dmitry_Orlov_Social_Collapse_Best_Practices#Superpower_Collapse_Soup_Comparing_the_US_and_USSR

Also his blog site has many hard learned survival practices he saw as the USSR collapsed:

http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2011/06/road-ahead-for-community-action.html