I am an academic at heart – that is, I love learning. What I find confusing is how LONG it
takes me to complete non-fiction books.
You would think that my love of learning would prompt me to keep
reading. But it doesn’t. Even more, writing about what I learned?
Well, apparently that takes me even longer. I finished Collapse:
How societies choose to fail or succeed almost a year ago. My OCD tendencies don’t allow me to
move that book from my “To write about” pile to my “Read” shelf. I must move that book!
To preface, this review will outline arguments made in the
book and my opinion on those arguments.
If you want to read the book with an unbiased mind, don’t read this
entry. . . at least not now. Come
back later and we can discuss it then.
Collapse chronicles
the history (and collapse) of several civilizations in places ranging from
cities and States in North America to small islands in the Pacific to the large
ice-covered country of Greenland and the massively overpopulated China.
While at times the content was intriguing and even thought provoking
and worthy of some conversation, after 500 pages, the message soon became
redundant. Let’s look at some of
the examples and you’ll see where I’m coming from.
First of all, let’s look at Easter Island. This island is located out in the
Pacific Ocean and as the author describes “is the most remote habitable scrap
of land in the world” (pg 79).
Diamond argues the reason why the island collapsed and is the way it is
now is simple: the islanders used too much wood and hence obliterated their own
chance for survival. Why cut
down so many trees? Well, the
habitants built outrageously large wood structures (cultural) but they also
used it for their very survival: for housing, warmth etc. Additionally, the trees also provided
food since their diet consisted mainly of birds and forest creatures that lived
in those trees. Unfortunately, the
climate and location prevented sufficient replenishment of these trees. With no trees come no food, no shelter,
and ultimately no people. Diamond
also explains that the island suffered both major epidemics and exploitive
slavery brought on by European explorers.
For a reason that I do not understand, Diamond lessens the role of these
external factors and insists that the island’s collapse is the responsibility of the islanders and their poor
sense of sustainability and environmental concerns. I’m not against sustainable practices and environmental
concerns, but to blame the islanders for their own collapse solely on these
reasons is too singularly focused and agenda-driven.
Let’s move on.
In both his description of the Polyneisan Islands as well as the Native
American population in southwestern USA, the reason for collapse was again
simple. One word:
globalization. In these
situations, the Polynesian Islands and southwestern US (Native Americans)
relied too heavily on outside sources for essential aspects of their
survival. When these sources dried
up, the societies failed to thrive.
The argument is believable,
but I think it would be hard to find many people who think globalization is the
worst thing for society.
Hilariously, several hundred pages later, Diamond argues my point. Why did Norse Greenland collapse? They
failed to “globalize” with the Inuit.
So what is it? Rely on your
own resources or source out what you can’t find at home? Which causes societies to fail? To me, the answer is simply complicated.
Diamond’s two main arguments that societies fail due to lack
of environmental concern or inappropriate globalization strategies fall short. Half-way
through the book, my prejudice was formed and the rest of book became redundant
and less informative.
That being said, I enjoyed the historical aspect of this
book, which is actually one of the reasons I picked up this book in the first
place. And for all I know,
you might agree with Diamond. Read
it and let me know!
