Another blockbuster by Diamond. He describes some major societies and why they collapsed or will collapse, including the Greenland Norse, the Mayans, Anasazi, China, and Haiti. He sites a set of factors but the crowning reason is abuse of the environment in every case. Underlying that is the decision by these societies to destroy their environment in the face of certain death. He says that their vision was as blurry as ours is now as we destroy our planet.
His detailed descriptions of the economies/environments of Easter Island, Rwanda, Australia, and others are riveting. He refutes the idea that the world can produce enough food using fertilizers to feed everyone (rendering economist Jeremy Sachs End of Poverty irrelevant).
He stunned me by stating that Australia can support a maximum of 8 million people (half what it has now) and should stop immigration immediately. He does not mention Canada, but I am sure he would say we are headed in the same direction.
In the last few chapters of the book, he describes examples of responsible development including a heartening description of Shell Oil's operations in New Guinea.
A must read for anyone interested in our world.
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