We needed a better explanation for the situation, five years after the event
So we see streets piled up with garbage, abandoned stadiums, etc.
This would occur if there was a full financial meltdown, so why didn't they say that?
Also, I'd like to think that Americans in a time of crisis would have banded together and gotten to work cleaning the place up. Maybe even mention a new government or a new america, something like that would have been cool.
Maybe militias rule each city, and America becomes tribal or something. That would be interesting.