...and Despair. (Shelly)
Here's a quick teaser for the Collapse discussion; a summary of the
prologue. Hopefully we can draw a little more interest.
The above quote is from Shelly's poem Ozymandus:
I met a traveler from and antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered vissage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stampt on these lifeless things,
The hand that mockt them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
Apparently the society that begat Ozzie's Mighty works has collapsed. But
how come?
Diamond defines collapse as a drastic decrease in human population size
and/or political/social/economic complexity, over a considerable area, for
an extended time. He believes that past collapses (the Anastaazi, the
Maya, Mycenean Greece, Minoan Crete, Easter Island etc.) have one thing in
common; ecocide or unintended ecological suicide. This ecocide came about
as a result of factors both natural and human as a result of any or all of
the following reasons: deforestation and habitat destruction, soil
problems, water management problems, over hunting, over fishing, effects
of introduced species, human population growth and increased per capita
impact.
He says that when he began to plan the book he thought it would just be
about environmental damage, but that he arrived at a five point framework
of possible contributing factors: environmental damage, climate change,
hostile neighbors, friendly trade partners and the societies response to
environmental problems; the last of these proving significant in every
case.
Another interesting question he discusses here is the controversy
surrounding the verdict that many of these societies did things to
contribute to their own decline. Many indigenous people insist their
ancestors were "gentle and ecologically wise stewards" and "could never
have done all those bad things"
He also discusses practical lessons that may be learned by studying these
collapses; what made them vulnerable, what were the processes, why did
they fail to see it coming and which solutions succeeded? Some societies
survived potential problems and others proved fragile.
He also wonders if technology has made us more or less vulnerable.
That's all I've got time for right now. I'm on vacation (and away from my
computer) for the next four days. I'll get started on Part 1, Modern
Montana, when I return. Any suggestions on or off list are encouraged and
appreciated. I'm new at this and could use the help.
By the way I’m reading the trade paperback, Penguin, 2006, 575 pages. I
got it for $10 at Costco.
--
Doug
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