The
introductory to this article is premised by the following quote: “Those who
cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Many have heard this quote
from George Santayana or some variation of the same meaning, so what Diamond argues in "Collapse" is that the problems of tomorrow will ultimately rely on the decisions we make
today, and we can learn from the past when doing so. These
decisions may prove to be difficult, going against a general understanding of
nature some may feel is innate in us as human beings.
Diamond’s "Collapse" delves deep into these issues relying on examples of past societies to
explain the possibilities that have led to the decline. He cites many reasons
in why a society might fall: political, economical, and social factors to name
a few. Although these aspects may have contributed to the decline, there is
evidence that societies have fallen because of ecological degradation.
There are common themes which
lead to the collapse of past societies. When a population expands and takes
free reign on the resources provided by the environment, a positive feedback
loop occurs which ultimately exacerbates the problem. Population, therefore, is intrinsic to a collapse caused by ecological degradation. A simple scenario
like this may occur: an increase in population leads to an increase in
agriculture, which leads to soil degradation, which leads to less produce
attained from agriculture, which leads to overhunting and fishing to prevent
starvation, which leads to public unrest causing problems for the power elite
in charge. These practices become unsustainable and eventually contribute to
the ruin of the land.
While
these issues are relevant to the past—and, most would argue, still prevalent
in the present—Diamond states that new challenges await us in the upcoming
decades: human induced climate change, pollution in the environment, a shortage
of energy, and the utilization of the Earth’s photosynthetic capacity are all
matters humanity must address now or in the nearby future. Unless we address
the issues today, a reduced standard of living may be imminent in the years to come.
However,
there is a conundrum when invoking the past: “The controversy involves resistance
to the idea that past peoples did things that contributed to their own decline”
(206). Of the many societies that have fallen into collapse, there
seems to be an overarching theme in how they were reduced to this fate. Although
it would be imprudent to blame a collapse solely on environmental degradation, it most
certainly is caused by these set factors or a combination of more than one:
environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors, and a shift in the political and economical policies. The societal
response to these problems must have bearing on the eventual outcome.
The
issue of the impact humans have on the environment is mired in controversy.
There are people from one sector that will deny any anthropic impact, grossly
accusing climatologists of fearmongering and pandering to the worry of the
public to initiate change; thus, people who partake in the environmental discussion
fall between two ends of a spectrum: environmentalists and
non-environmentalists. Where environmentalists claim economic and population
cannot be sustained and is in dire need of addressing, non-environmentalist
will state that the information out there is grossly misleading. This division
in views is one we must address, as both are engaged in the dialectic
concerning the environmental issues we face today.
Critical Thinking: Are societies that damage their
environment doomed to collapse? Is ours?
No, not
all societies that have contributed to the degradation of their land is doomed
to collapse. As illustrated by Diamond in “Collapse”, the Norwegian colonizers
of Iceland encountered a similar topography from what they were used to, but vastly
different in reality. They ravished the land of resources, but they were able
to right the ship once they realized the error in their ways; therefore, it became
solely dependent on the societal response to these issues that decided their
own fate. However, there must be some point of no return where the population
will die out before changes can come into effect. Is Earth doomed to collapse?
Not unless we make drastic changes to our lifestyles and realize that Earth
itself is fragile place.
Works Cited
Diamond, Jared. “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or
Succeed.” Sources: Selections in
Environmental Studies. Ed.
Thomas Easton. United States, 2014. 204-209.
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