Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

If you liked...Suggestions for further reading

Collapse

Collapse is a big read, but even its 42 photos seem short given the number of cultures and locations covered. To help visualize the settings a few extra photos will help. So this doesn’t become a huge undertaking—these suggestions for further reading start as a “simultaneous reading” list with three juvenile books.

• Caroline Arnold, Easter Island (2000)
  The history of Easter Island and its inhabitants presented chronologically with excellent color photographs.
• Clayton Bennett, Montana (2001)
  Facts about the state, a short history, and plenty of photographs and illustrations.
  Melvin & Gilda Berger, The Real Vikings (2003)
  With maps, illustrations, and photographs this book illustrates Viking history, daily life, and their influence on other cultures.
• Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
  Do your part for recycling and check out the book. A tie-in to the documentary film of the same name it’s a battle cry for the problem of global warming.
• Cecelia Holland, The Soul Thief (2002)
  A young Irish lad sets out to rescue his twin sister who has the “Second Sight” after she’s abducted into slavery during a Viking raid. This tale of romance and suspense set during feudal times combines elements of mysticism with period detail.
• Dr. Seuss, The Lorax (1971)
  An Inconvenient Seuss. Straight out of the first Earth Day is a bedtime story to keep you up at night wondering “Do I need a Thneed?”
• Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories (1976)
  Diamond visited Montana's Blackfoot River, the setting for trout fishing in Maclean’s novella. In Collapse the river was the scene for toxic arsenic levels.
• Thor Heyerdahl, Kon-Tiki (1947)
  A nostalgic favorite of Diamond's—even if he has since dismissed Heyerdahl's Polynesian theories. True-life high seas adventure.
• Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Earth From Above: 366 Days (2003)
  Amazing aerial photos give new perspectives to environmental awareness.

Major Societies Studied

Collapse

• Montana – modern society; facing decisions regarding mining and forestry and issues of soil and water contamination
• Easter Island – past civilization that declined from the 1680s onward; example of collapse due to human environmental impact without significant influence by other factors
• Polynesia – only three habitable islands in chain: Mangareva, Pitcairn & Henderson; Pitcairn and Henderson provide examples of collapses triggered by the breakdown of an environmentally damaged trading partner
• Anasazi – pre-Columbian culture that existed in the Southwestern United States; illustrates the book’s themes of human environmental impact and climate change intersecting, environmental and population problems spilling over into warfare and the strengths and dangers of a non self-sufficient society dependent on trade
• Maya – society located in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and adjacent parts of Central America; most culturally advanced society in the pre-Columbian New World; partially preserved written record; illustrates a less fragile environment than that of Easter Island or modern Australia
• Iceland, Greenland & Vinland – these Norse settlements experienced different fates; the Greenland Norse perished while the Inuit (who also settled Greenland) survived
• New Guinea, Tikopia, and Japan – successful societies demonstrating two approaches to solving environmental problems, bottom-up and top-down
• Rwanda – modern society in East Africa; high population density fueled by an increase in food yield resulting in a population growth
• Hispaniola – two countries, The Dominican Republic and Haiti, on one island; different attitudes, institutions and government policies have led to very different environmental (and economic) situations
• China – society with one-fifth of the world’s population; multiple environmental problems; demonstrates the effects of modern globalization on environmental problems
• Australia – arguably the most fragile environment of any First World society; illustrates all five factors of Diamond’s framework

Discussion Questions

Collapse

1. As an introduction to your group: What natural areas have you visited? State parks? National parks? Have you visited or lived in rural areas or in other countries?
2. What do you think of Diamond's theories and research?
3. Have your thoughts changed about the societies studied? What was your previous knowledge and ideas about these societies? Did you know anything specific from books, media, or school?
4. As Diamond asks, who should pay for the environmental costs of mining being carried out now? What about the costs of future mining? (p. 468)
5. What are your experiences with streets, sidewalks, parks, and parking lots? Do you have to drive to get to a park? Can you make comparisons with other cities? Can you compare transportation and leisure time in any other cities? What are your thoughts on natural areas for the public?
6. Keep track of the purchases you make in a day (or week) and save every package and container. Where do the foods and products come from? How much metal is used? How much packaging is used? How much do you sort for recycling? What are your thoughts on local conservation? What locally-produced goods have you purchased?
7. Think about the energy expenditures in the course of your day. What are necessary? What wasteful areas do you notice? What are some efficient or beneficial areas, organizations, or businesses? Is conservation a private enterprise or a government responsibility? What do you think of the Dutch “living in the same polder”? (p. 520)
8. Do you agree with Diamond’s claim that, "the parallels between Easter Island and the modern world are chillingly obvious?" (p. 119) Do you find anything in San Antonio a parallel to anything on Easter Island? Do you see parallels to Montana?
9. George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." What are lessons for today? Consider Chapter 14’s question, “Why do some societies make disastrous decisions?”
10. What are your thoughts to the dozen “one-liner” objections on pgs 503-514?
11. “What can I do?”