I can see gold and silver returning as "natural currency" - that is to say, outside of government control, probably in response to hyperinflation, but to expect anything from government in crisis other than jackboots and jingoism to me seems naive. I think it's more likely the government (meaning of course the USG) will find some pretext to start a war and use that as an excuse to remove dissidents and rule by decree. You almost have that now, and if the backdrop were a severe energy crisis leading to (more) war in the mid-east, you'd get a lot of support from the great unwashed who just love flags and marching music as long as they're part of the parade.

I'll just add and extra thought or two to what I wrote.

Wars tend to be telegraphed - there's always some pretext established before we go off to war. Pearl Harbor, Tonkin Gulf etc. I think 9-11 served that purpose as far as gaining a foothold in Afganistan - and frankly, it didn't matter that Iraq had nothing to do with it as long as people believe they did, so there's another forward operating base that's close to the oil.

War is convenient in the sense you can get away with things you can't easily do in peace time - property seizure, currency controls, rationing, freezing foreign assets and so forth. As for the rest of the world, how many depend on US grain for their daily needs? Without oil, no grain, so you'd have a lot of tacit support from dependent nations.

Not saying it will happen - Just another one of the many scenarios that should be considered.

ebear