Stated slightly differently: tear down the current economic and social system, give the govt more power during a crisis, and with that power the liberals in govt can choose who are the winners on the way back up.
Of course, one of the flaws in their reasoning is that it does not cause shooting to break out, that Americans in the heartland are still willing to compromise and negotiate with them and resolve things through political means (rather than extrapolitical means), and that the "enlightened" liberals will be running things and making the decisions after the collapse.