Ok. I see where you are going here and I like it. Of course, as the game is now, it isn't something I would recommend, but I can see the potential and am excited.
I would respectfully add a few recommendations and suggestions that I think may be beneficial to the game.
I have read in the thread that you are looking into a trade aspect of the game and I wholeheartedly agree that this is necessary. Trade with other struggling communities or even more advanced communities could be very beneficial. Maybe have trade caravans or something who come to the village once a trade depot is built. However, I would ask that you do trade a bit differently than others do. Don't make it equal. For example, in Banished, you trade 500 goods for the same value of other goods and the merchant goes away.
I propose that you give us the opportunity to rip off the merchants or have them rip us off occasionally. This creates a reputation with their city. Your reputation with other cities determines how and what they trade with you. The reverse being true as well. The less reputable a merchant/trader's city is with my city, the less I can trade with them and the less equitable the trade negotiations.
I agree wholeheartedly with nox about raider retaliation. At some point we have to be able to force them to stop, or maybe make our own demands of them.
I would also ask for deeper resource management. For example: you have a chemist and a livestock ranch. Currently, your chemist only helps the hospital. Maybe offer options for the chemist. One option is to help the hospital. The other is to help the greenhouses. If this option is selected, and there is a livestock ranch built, this improves greenhouse yield. Make a clothing building to provide clothing from leather which is provided by the livestock ranch.
Religious preference should also affect punishments and laws. For example, Islam, Judaism and Christianity would be more accepting of harsher punishments for abortion than would Buddhism, for example. Vegitarians would be more acceptable to Hindus than to Satanists, etc.
Finally, even in the case of nuclear holicost, resource gathering is not going to be limited to scavenging. Maybe have resources that can be mined or gathered like rocks, iron, copper, granite, etc. And, where resources can be gathered, make it appropriate to the setting. For example, wells will produce less water in deserts than in forrest valleys. With these mined resources, obviously, comes the opportunity to manufacture things like defensive walls, batteries, firearms, etc.
I know that it is difficult to incorporate all these things into a game that already uses a lot of computing resources. So I look forward to seeing the final outcome. It should be great! Keep up the great work you are doing.