Jared Diamond

I have had the pleasure of attending the esteemed Pulitzer Prize winning author and scholar Jarred Diamond at the US Special Events Center on Thursday the 2nd of March 2006. The lecture centered on Diamond’s new book Collapse; why States choose to fail and succeed. The short lecture, about an hour in length, profoundly changed the way in which the writer of this report viewed the emergence of the political ideology of "environmentalism". Although this relatively new political idea has not been popular in the past, it has become increasingly important in the political system. Diamond especially stressed this importance by explaining that some of the most advanced societies which where known to exist in the past -the Maya, the Anasazi, the Easter Islanders, the Greenland Norse- have all disregarded the environment, and have thus caused their collapse.
The scholar emphasized that if a civilization does not take into account the sustainable use of its environment, ultimately a civilization will collapse. This collapse is not limited to groups who have lived in what is now known as the lesser developed countries, the Greenland Norse for example, a blond haired, blue eyed group, failed to sustainably make use of their environment, thus causing a collapse of that civilization. However, there are other groups which have prospered in Greenland. These individuals fostered a close understanding with nature, and developed their society with the sustainable use of the environment in mind, and thus ensured that Greenland has the 7th best economy in the world.
There are other countries which saw environmental destruction as a way in which their society would collapse and sought to correct this by sustainable development. Japan for example saw a great increase in their technology after the Second World War and controlled habitat destruction while still building a strong economy. Also, a country which solved environmental problems in a way in which, as Jarred emphasized, is not an example which should be closely followed is n Rwanda. Because of the genocide, Rwanda corrected in a vicious manner the large problem of overpopulation and environmental threats which existed n that country.
Diamond also gave a wide array of examples of societies, both past and present, which caused their societies to collapse based on the destruction of their environment. The scholar’s most pertinent example of a past society which collapsed was Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean. This small island had a relatively large population, but soon faced problems of deforestation and subsequently starvation which caused a civil war as well as cases of cannibalism. Diamond also juxtaposed the Dominican Republic and Haiti with regard to their economic and environmental development. The two countries are on one island; Hispaniola, but differ so significantly that, as was explained by Diamond, when you stand on the border the Haitian side is brown and barren, while the Dominican Republic side is Green and lush. Diamond explained that, in part because of the Dominican Republics protection of the environment, its has been relatively stable compared to Haiti, which has sever environmental issues based on deforestation.
Diamond offered various solutions. He explains that environmental protection is not a luxury. He gives the example of New Orleans where the government failed to invest a few million dollars in the building of a new levee system, and now is faced with a multi billion dollar project not to mention the death of thousands. Diamond stressed the importance of environmental protection, both by governments, big co-operation, as well as individuals as central to the survival of our present society.