Jared Diamond’s Words of Wisdom on Modern Collapse
In a time when stock prices, gas prices and more change dramatically within days, hours and minutes, it’s hard to imagine that anyone five years ago could have had a cogent take on today’s troubles. Until you watch Jared Diamond’s talk on why societies fail, given in February 2003 in Monterey, California.
Diamond, in case you’re not familiar with him, is a professor of geography and physiology at UCLA and author of the eye-opening book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.
So how right-on was Diamond’s outlook a full five years ago? Check out this quote:
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“One blueprint for trouble, making collapse likely, is where there’s a conflict of interest between the short-term interests of the decision-making elites and the long-term interests of the society as a whole, especially if the elites are able to insulate themselves from the consequences of their actions. Where what’s good in the short term for the elite is bad for the society as a whole there’s a real risk of the elites doing things that will bring society down in the long run.”
Or this one:
“Those same issues of conflicts of interest are accute in the United States today, especially because the decision-makers in the United States are frequently able to insulate themselves from consequences by living in gated compounds, by drinking bottled water and so on. And it is within the last couple of years it’s been obvious that the elite in the business world correctly perceive that they can advance their short term interests by doing things that are good for them but bad for society as a whole such as draining a few billion dollars out of Enron and other businesses.”
Or, finally, this one:
“People often ask me, ‘Jared what’s the most important thing that we need to do about the world’s environmental problems?’ and my answer is the most important thing we need to do is to forget about there being any single thing that is the most important thing that we need to do. Instead, there are a dozen things, any one of which could do us in, and we’ve got to get them all right. Because if we solve eleven and fail to solve the twelfth, we’re in trouble … The fact is that our present course is a non-sustainable course, which means by definition that it cannot be maintained. And the outcome is going to get resolved within a few decades.”
Rather than sound the voice of doom, though, Diamond offers hope … if only we as a society can get our act together. The problems we face, he said, are solveable and they will be resolved one way or another. Whether they’re resolved pleasantly in a manner of our choosing, though, or unpleasantly in ways we don’t want, he said, is up to us.
Watch Diamond’s entire talk here.
