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A review by aga_acrobat
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive by Jared Diamond
4.0
"Collapse" made me think. Not only about societies, but also about my resposibilities - over and over again. And that's probably the best thing I can say about any book.
Diamond is first and foremost a story teller, a spinner of tales. He puts dry and boring facts into an entertaining tale about people and their lives. He makes facts matter and gives them a human perspective. He entertains with facts. That's a rare gift.
Reading "Collapse" I travelled into past times and lost worlds. I saw societies emerge, thrive and collapse. I saw peoples make pig-headed decisions that would prove devastating to their future. And with every society I visited on this journey I asked myself:
What kind of society do I want to live in? How do we as a society want to manage our world? How do we preserve and change at the same time?
What about different visions people in a society tend to have? How do we reach an agreement?
What about government regulations? How many of them do I want to have in order to enforce more protection over valuable ressources? How many checks and balances do we need?
What kind of leaders do I want to have in our world to show good stewardship of our ressources?
What is worth preserving in my society for further generations? Which of my ideas, attitudes or values do I have to change to accomplish this?
Most books concerned with environmental issues make me feel overwhelmed. Like the world's gonna end soon, but I can't do anything about it.
"Collapse" made me think: How much am I responsible for the society I live in? Is it my responsibility to protect what I think is valuable? How do I do this?
Diamond is first and foremost a story teller, a spinner of tales. He puts dry and boring facts into an entertaining tale about people and their lives. He makes facts matter and gives them a human perspective. He entertains with facts. That's a rare gift.
Reading "Collapse" I travelled into past times and lost worlds. I saw societies emerge, thrive and collapse. I saw peoples make pig-headed decisions that would prove devastating to their future. And with every society I visited on this journey I asked myself:
What kind of society do I want to live in? How do we as a society want to manage our world? How do we preserve and change at the same time?
What about different visions people in a society tend to have? How do we reach an agreement?
What about government regulations? How many of them do I want to have in order to enforce more protection over valuable ressources? How many checks and balances do we need?
What kind of leaders do I want to have in our world to show good stewardship of our ressources?
What is worth preserving in my society for further generations? Which of my ideas, attitudes or values do I have to change to accomplish this?
Most books concerned with environmental issues make me feel overwhelmed. Like the world's gonna end soon, but I can't do anything about it.
"Collapse" made me think: How much am I responsible for the society I live in? Is it my responsibility to protect what I think is valuable? How do I do this?