Is American Civilization Headed for a Downfall?
By Kate Mewhiney
The United States is the richest and most powerful nation on earth. We've gotten used to getting what we want when we want it, without giving much thought to the consequences. Despite recognition of problems like global warming, limited energy resources and overpopulation, there is an attitude that those problems will affect the future and not us, so they're not our responsibility. But this arrogance and short-sightedness could send America the way of past civilizations like the Maya of South America, the Polynesians of Easter Island, and the Roman Empire.
In "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" Pulitzer-prize winning author Jared Diamond illustrates how our society could easily join the list of failures. Diamond lists factors that contribute to the downfall or success of a civilization, but ultimately what determines whether a society succeeds or fails is how the civilization responds to its problems. Some, like the Inuit of Greenland, succeeded and are still alive today. Others, like the Norse of the same region, were unwilling to adapt in order to solve their problems, and as a result died out completely.
The United States is a civilization that is not responding well to its problems. We know what's wrong with the country. The list of grievances is long and detailed, and the excuse of ignorance is no longer viable. But knowing isn't enough. However, action will require a major overhaul of American life. There aren't many willing to support such an idea, particularly if it means sacrificing any of the comforts of modern life.
Americans aren't willing to stop driving inefficient gas-guzzling cars despite continually rising fuel prices, because getting a smaller car or riding mass transportation would be less convenient. We don't care about conserving our resources because there will be no consequences for wasting fuel or energy in our lifetimes. We pass our problems onto future Americans, and the list never shortens. It only grows with each generation.
In an interview, Diamond says that one of the lessons he took away from writing "Collapse" was that the most successful societies are ones in which the governing elite did not isolate themselves from the populace. Those who suffered along with their people were more motivated to take action.
By those standards, America has already failed. With the gap between the richest and the poorest in this country continuing to grow, the rich have completely insulated themselves from the problems of our society. Those in charge are in no rush to solve any of them, because they can afford to remain unaffected by them.
These attitudes have left us unprepared for the future, and will ultimately lead to the destruction of American society. Despite all the comforts of modern technology, we are no better than those fallen civilizations of the past, and we are on the fast track to join them. If we continue at the rate we're going, it won't be long before American civilization is nothing more than a cautionary tale in history textbooks.
The United States is the richest and most powerful nation on earth. We've gotten used to getting what we want when we want it, without giving much thought to the consequences. Despite recognition of problems like global warming, limited energy resources and overpopulation, there is an attitude that those problems will affect the future and not us, so they're not our responsibility. But this arrogance and short-sightedness could send America the way of past civilizations like the Maya of South America, the Polynesians of Easter Island, and the Roman Empire.
In "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" Pulitzer-prize winning author Jared Diamond illustrates how our society could easily join the list of failures. Diamond lists factors that contribute to the downfall or success of a civilization, but ultimately what determines whether a society succeeds or fails is how the civilization responds to its problems. Some, like the Inuit of Greenland, succeeded and are still alive today. Others, like the Norse of the same region, were unwilling to adapt in order to solve their problems, and as a result died out completely.
The United States is a civilization that is not responding well to its problems. We know what's wrong with the country. The list of grievances is long and detailed, and the excuse of ignorance is no longer viable. But knowing isn't enough. However, action will require a major overhaul of American life. There aren't many willing to support such an idea, particularly if it means sacrificing any of the comforts of modern life.
Americans aren't willing to stop driving inefficient gas-guzzling cars despite continually rising fuel prices, because getting a smaller car or riding mass transportation would be less convenient. We don't care about conserving our resources because there will be no consequences for wasting fuel or energy in our lifetimes. We pass our problems onto future Americans, and the list never shortens. It only grows with each generation.
In an interview, Diamond says that one of the lessons he took away from writing "Collapse" was that the most successful societies are ones in which the governing elite did not isolate themselves from the populace. Those who suffered along with their people were more motivated to take action.
By those standards, America has already failed. With the gap between the richest and the poorest in this country continuing to grow, the rich have completely insulated themselves from the problems of our society. Those in charge are in no rush to solve any of them, because they can afford to remain unaffected by them.
These attitudes have left us unprepared for the future, and will ultimately lead to the destruction of American society. Despite all the comforts of modern technology, we are no better than those fallen civilizations of the past, and we are on the fast track to join them. If we continue at the rate we're going, it won't be long before American civilization is nothing more than a cautionary tale in history textbooks.
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