Actually...
Maybe not to this kind of paradigm-shift extreme, but many people in the northeast are thinking in these terms. I know a local community nearby that is shifting towards complete self-subsistence, and my college and town really encourage local food production and sustainable living. Some people here like to talk about the "Slow Food" movement (as opposed to "Fast Food"), and other similar shifts in the way we think about food systems.
I imagine such shifts are harder in the city, but personal change is always a good start. Here's my list:
I went vegetarian in January. But it's just as reasonable (and often more feasible) to just reduce your meat/animal product consumption -- say 1 less portion a day. If every American ate 1/3 less meat, that would be equivalent to 1/3 of Americans becoming veggies.
Switch your lightbulbs. Incandescent -> CFLs saves a lot of energy.
Air dry your clothes. The amount of energy used by the dryer is unacceptable considering you can just wait half a day for your clothes to dry.
Recycle & reduce consumption of packaging.
Consume less. Easier to do out in the country where there isn't easy access to goods, but honestly what products do you really need?
This is obviously a very simple list mostly concerned with CO2 emmissions.
The tougher questions are social--what kind of society and culture do you want to build and live in (whether or not the state "collapses")? But in reality, we should be asking these questions anyway, even without a political, environmental, or social crisis on our hands.
And in that sense, I think truthmove's focus on education, knowledge, self-awareness and rational and respectful conversation are pretty good places to start.