A review by antony_monir
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond

3.0

Collapse is a book on ecology and agriculture masquerading as a history book. There is some history but the main focus is anthropological in nature. This is not a bad thing, however, since the book is full of information about various societies and the reasons behind their collapse. While critics of this book talk of "environmental determinism" I do not think Jared Diamond is actually advocating for that. It is true that his main thesis is overstated but it still is mostly valid. I don't think anyone can deny the importance of the environment on people's activities and behavior which is why I think the main criticism for this book should focus on the ideas that Diamond defends. In the early chapters of the book which focus mainly on ancient societies, Diamond says that sometimes people need to change their values in order to adapt and survive. Yet, he fails to recognize how the value we place on "profit" and capitalism is leading to environmental degradation. Diamond practically undermines his own point by being too focused on his values to recognize the flaws in our current system. I am not saying we need to start a communist revolution but it is important to recgonize the flaws in our systems so we can avoid the fate that befell all those societies that were described in the book. As Diamond says, we have the power to change things for the better. We are not just the product of our environment, we also have the potential to change it. Final rating: 3/5 (minus 1 point for a weird statement comparing chinese immigrants to exported pests from China)