Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Summary of Selection 42


Many past societal collapses were at least partially triggered by ecological problems. This has been confirmed by scientists in many disciplines. The term ecocide means unintentional ecological collapse, and in the past has been caused by any/all of these environmental actions:
-deforestation and habitat destruction
-soil problems (erosion, salinization, loss of soil fertility)
-water management problems
-overhunting/overfishing
-effects of introduced species on other species
-human population growth
-increased per capita impact of people

The environmental problems facing us today include all the problems that contributed to the collapse of ancient civilizations, plus more, including:
-human caused climate change
-buildup of toxic chemicals in the environment
-energy shortages
-full human utilization of the earth's photosynthetic capabilities

Environmental risk is greatly debated. Are the dangers exaggerated or underestimated? In any case, we should learn from past civilizations and take practical lessons from them. We would like to know what made them vulnerable, the process of the ecocide, did they not recognize the problems, did some societies find solutions? This is a complicated matter because there are many differences and similarities between ancient societies and ours.

However, a societies collapse cannot be solely attributed to environmental factors. Some things that may contribute are the inherent fragility or resilience of the ecosystem combined with the imprudence of the people living there. Unforseen climate change can put a society that already has some depleted resources over the edge. Hostile neighbors may take an opportunity to overrun a society when they notice that they're weakened due to environmental factors. A society that is dependant on a trade partner for essential items may fail when the trade partner is no longer able to provide them. Finally, the societies response to environmental problems is a factor in every case. Whether a problem is recognized and dealt with or ignored until full scale disaster strikes is key!

All people, whether they be "environmentalists" or "big business people" must recognize that a common solution must be found...and since we all live in this world together we must find a solution together. That means working together and trying to understand one another!