“our cities would already be wrecked”
Haven’t you noticed, their not our cities.
Only a fool would not recognize that, for good or ill, we are chained to our cities.
If someone is chained to a madman high on a ledge, he would be a fool to make jokes about the madman’s jumping off not affecting his own destiny.
If you think our 30 biggest cities exploding into 30 Mogadishus won’t affect all of us, you are a fool.
Do you think the denizens of those cities would stay put?
How many of the technical people and engineers needed for a recovery do you think live in the outskirts of those cities? When most of those people are dead from unsanitary conditions, starvation or social unrest who rebuilds us then?