This is a fiat world where everything is manipulated. The current behavior isn't really a good measure for the hypothetical behavior in this scenario.

- I agree with your statement to a small extent. However, there is a subtle difference between trusting Bitcoin and trusting the dollar. Trust in every other currency is only trust in the issuing party. The central party is the weak link because people are unpredictable. Bitcoin is predictable and trusting in math is more reliable than trusting in a person. The trust people place in Bitcoin is earned, the trust in central currency is given.

 - Bitcoin shares several of the advantages of fiat with the strong property rights of a gold standard. The data on your debit card is similar to Bitcoin. Plenty of people consider those strings of data valuable. You can have the convenience of our current system without the counter party risk. The problem I'm illustrating is a result of electronically transferring a tangible form of wealth. Bitcoin is redeemable anywhere as opposed to a paper note backing an asset where it can only be redeemed at a specific location relative to the asset it backs. The only way to achieve this with a currency backed by a commodity is to use a fractional reserve system.

 - The advantages are different from person to person. I can think of several advantages to real life situations. It might not be advantageous to you specifically but that's not an accurate representation for everybody else.

I think the collapse will be hell. I think it won't be the end of free thinking but that would be the cost of losing the struggle... There are guns on both sides... I hope the dollar doesn't fail but I also hope that an Asteroid never hits the earth, and humanity survives long enough to find life elsewhere in the Universe. Hope is important, but it's not enough without action.