A renaissance is a time of collapse and renewal—though when we’re living through one day-to-day, the collapses might be easier to perceive. The years 2000-2001 saw some particularly powerful images: the turning of the century clock, the fall of the World Trade Center, the slow-motion crash of the stock market as the dot-com bubble burst. And there have been other collapses since, including an escalating series of environmental disasters and the debt-driven meltdown of the Great Recession.…