Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed |  | Author: Jared Diamond
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Rating:  440 reviews
Sales Rank: 940
Media: Paperback
Pages: 575
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0143036556
Dewey Decimal Number: 304.28
EAN: 9780143036555
ASIN: 0143036556
Publication Date: December 27, 2005
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Amazon.com Review
Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed is the glass-half-empty follow-up to his Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel. While Guns, Germs, and Steel explained the geographic and environmental reasons why some human populations have flourished, Collapse uses the same factors to examine why ancient societies, including the Anasazi of the American Southwest and the Viking colonies of Greenland, as well as modern ones such as Rwanda, have fallen apart. Not every collapse has an environmental origin, but an eco-meltdown is often the main catalyst, he argues, particularly when combined with society's response to (or disregard for) the coming disaster. Still, right from the outset of Collapse, the author makes clear that this is not a mere environmentalist's diatribe. He begins by setting the book's main question in the small communities of present-day Montana as they face a decline in living standards and a depletion of natural resources. Once-vital mines now leak toxins into the soil, while prion diseases infect some deer and elk and older hydroelectric dams have become decrepit. On all these issues, and particularly with the hot-button topic of logging and wildfires, Diamond writes with equanimity. Because he's addressing such significant issues within a vast span of time, Diamond can occasionally speak too briefly and assume too much, and at times his shorthand remarks may cause careful readers to raise an eyebrow. But in general, Diamond provides fine and well-reasoned historical examples, making the case that many times, economic and environmental concerns are one and the same. With Collapse, Diamond hopes to jog our collective memory to keep us from falling for false analogies or forgetting prior experiences, and thereby save us from potential devastations to come. While it might seem a stretch to use medieval Greenland and the Maya to convince a skeptic about the seriousness of global warming, it's exactly this type of cross-referencing that makes Collapse so compelling. --Jennifer Buckendorff
Product Description
In his runaway bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond brilliantly examined the circumstances that allowed Western civilizations to dominate much of the world. Now he probes the other side of the equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to fall into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates? Using a vast historical and geographical perspective ranging from Easter Island and the Maya to Viking Greenland and modern Montana, Diamond traces a fundamental pattern of environmental catastropheone whose warning signs can be seen in our modern world and that we ignore at our peril. Blending the most recent scientific advances into a narrative that is impossible to put down, Collapse exposes the deepest mysteries of the past even as it offers hope for the future.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 440
Buen argumento, puede resumirse November 19, 2009
Eric Mascarin (Panamá)
Esta es una obra demasiado extensa y repetitiva que pudiera resumirese en una cuarta parte de su contenido. Basicamente el autor nos muestra sociedades desparecidas (Mayas, Anazasi, Isla de Pascua, Groenlandia y otras) para ilustarnos como el abuso en el uso de los recursos naturales llevó a su terminación y finalmente a la desaparición de las sociedades que dependen de estos recursos. Luego pone el ejempo de sociedades acuales que están en el mismo proceso (Caribe, Africa) y finalmente concluye que es lo mismo que va a ocurrir en las otras sociedades mas modernas y finalmente el mundo mismo, el colapso. Repite los mismos argumentos en cada una de las sociedades abordadas para convencernos de la validez de su argumentos y llevarnos a una reflexión acerca del abuso en el uso de los recursos naturales que sustentan nuestra existencia.
 Ignore the Negative reviews; Diamond writes another MUST READ. November 6, 2009
Warren R. Grayson (Birmingham, AL United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I will not write about the book in particular in this review; there are plenty of good reviews here that do that. What I am addressing with my review are the negative reviews that criticize Diamond as promoting some-kind of Liberal/ Eurocentric Agenda, or those reviews that claim Diamond missed some facts, or those that claim he is distorting the truth in some way. These are by the way, many of the same charges made against his Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, which only won a Pulitzer-Prize. It reminds me of a line from Charles Pierce's book, Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free, in which he says something like: "the worst thing you can be in an America where everybody is an expert, is an actual expert." Point is, the man is an EXPERT in his field, let an expert on the subject speak; I hate to see all of these negative reviews disparaging the book by a bunch of amateurs.
Why do I care? Simply because GG&S was a great book, but Collapse is an immensely and infinitely more important book. This is END OF THE WORLD (as we know it) stuff Diamond is talking about here. Why anyone would get offended because Diamond may have fuzzied up some of the details of the Easter Islanders, Mayans, or Vikings (I'm not saying he did) is simply beyond me. And more importantly, THEY ARE MISSING THE POINT. The entire point of this book is to look at the relationship between (over)-population and limited resources; it's simple Malthusian economics, so again, why anyone would try to debate Diamond's central point is just plain idiotic (or maybe they are in denial).
Ok, I have said my piece in regards to the negative-ness. As to the book itself, I thought the writing style was superior to GG&S. The writing was crisp, succinct and less repetitive than GG&S. I love this book and highly highly highly recommend it.
This book, Living within Limits: Ecology, Economics, and Population Taboos, by Garrett Hardin (he is the guy who came up with 'The Tragedy of the Commons') is similar to Collapse and I recommend it also.
There's a pattern to societies that Collapse - Findout why November 2, 2009
Robert R. Rowntree (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
"Here's the short of it. There is British, Spanish and French colonies. Any idea which ones are in the mist of collapsing, not going anywhere fast or have for all intents and purposes collapsed. What does Vietnam, Haiti and many countries in Africa have in common. they were colonized by the French and are ultra poor. What do Mexico, most of Central America and the Philippines have in common - not rich but not real poor like the french colonies. There Spanish colonies. What about Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, the US, India. Derivatives of the British system. He has other arguements besides colonization. "
A Powerful Work on a Touchy Subject October 14, 2009
Richard Reese (Martinez, California)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Years ago, Diamond wrote an essay on the origins of agriculture titled: The Worst Mistake In The History Of The Human Race, which can be read here:
[...]
In a nutshell, Diamond said: "Recent discoveries suggest that the adoption of agriculture, supposedly our most decisive step toward a better life, was in many ways a catastrophe from which we have never recovered. With agriculture came the gross social and sexual inequality, the disease and despotism that curse our existence."
Collapse is not a critique of agriculture and civilization. Collapse is a book that explores why some societies collapse, and others survive. It takes a less radical stance, in an attempt to communicate with a more mainstream audience. Hence, in this examination Iceland is rated as a success, because it has survived for 1,000 years -- despite the fact that its modern industrial-consumer mode of living is absolutely unsustainable. Chevron is praised for being a tree-hugging oil company. And so on. Collapse gets a bit fishy in places, but overall it's solid and fair.
Diamond is a geography professor at UCLA. He has given many lectures on the Easter Island story. His students always have a difficult time grasping the image of natives cutting down the last tree on the island. "That's simply not possible -- people aren't that stupid!"
Well, unfortunately, yes we are, is Diamond's conclusion in Collapse. He shows us societies that collapsed because of problems that were known and correctable. In order to survive, societies need to pay attention to the ecosystem around them, take problems seriously, respond to them intelligently, and -- very importantly -- don't let dysfunctional cultural values take you down. Let go of obsolete beliefs before they destroy you.
Ultimately, responsibility for society's survival is in the hands of individuals. Diamond isn't an advocate for externalizing -- sitting around whining about naughty corporations and politicians. When the people get uppity, and demand change, change happens. This is one of history's most important and obvious messages.
Diamond concludes the book with the obligatory pronouncement of hope for the future. Yes, we are more aware than previous generations. Yes, we have a tremendous number of opportunities for improvement. Yes, we could really improve our prospects for the future, if we chose to pursue this. Well, miraculous change is fine with me, and if it happens, I'll eat my cynicism.
I liked the book. It addresses an uncomfortable subject that has been taboo from polite conversation for far too long. The clear message is that we should not feel safe and secure because we live in the most "advanced" society in human history, where legions of angelic experts are protecting us. We are in danger, and big trouble is not too far away. I agree. But we are not without options.
 nice October 14, 2009
Cherean Kendell
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
it came quick and right when i needed it. it was in very good condition.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 440
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