Selection 42

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Jared Diamond

Diamond talks about how environmental and climate problems caused by growing populations have always been around but they are just recently becoming larger and recognized as global issues. Past societies have survived and been destroyed because of the choices they made. Today we must make these same choices which can be difficult and go against the norm of what we have been doing for centuries, but they are essential if we want a good life for future generations.

He goes into more detail about societies that have collapsed and vanished with no one knowing what has exactly happened. Climate change can contribute to a society collapsing, however it is not always a major contributor. Recent discoveries has led to these abandoned ruins being related to "unintended ecological suicide-ecocide." What they believe to have happened is that with over population and a shortage of food, societies must expand, develop, and increase their production. This leads to pollution and unsustainable practices which can drastically change climate creating droughts or freezing temperatures. With these problems coming from population growth the risk of collapse today is evident in third world countries and with the same problems plus new ones it is possible in the future for well-developed societies. But are these predictions accurate with today's technology and what we're doing now to prevent a global collapse? Is more needed?

I think that these predictions are accurate, even though we have good technology and knowledge of what we are doing to our environment, I believe not enough is being done for the amount we are over populated by. More people need to help out and there should be more incentives out there to help people contribute.

What Diamond talks about further is that it is hard to understand past societies collapses and what exactly made some collapse and others survive. And did those societies know what they were doing to their environment and did they do anything about it? This could be the difference to whether a society died or thrived. He then discuses four factors that can help lead to a collapse: environmental damage caused by the people, climate change which would effect the people, hostile neighbors which can help in causing the collapse, and friendly trade partners; which if they weaken then their partners who they supply weaken. A fifth factor that always helps prevent a collapse is the societies response to its environmental problems. Diamond then talks about himself and the different jobs he has had and how they have helped the environment and the environmental community. An interesting point he talks about is how he has worked for big businesses like oil companies and how some have said that "he has sold out to them," but his reply is that he only reports what he sees. He believes that if environmentalists are not willing to work with big businesses it won't be possible to solve the worlds environmental problems.

I totally agree with this because it is better and easier to solve a problem if you work with the company and not against it. This way you can convince them from the inside and you don't look like an outsider that's trying to stop their business entirely.