"THE ENDS OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW THEM"

This article raises questions that have troubled me. I am hoping you will add other readings as well as your perceptions.

Hi Maple,

What about it troubles you?

My first perception is that you should c&p the entire article so we can read it.

McGentrix, I thought the BY JARED DIAMOND would be enough of a referral. Alas, as the article is now archived (cost), I see I should have included the article. I you are willing to wait to read it, I am willing to purchase the artical.

Bless you rosborne979, but I shall have to reconstruct the article in my mind. I'm not sure that I can.

For a number of years, I have been uncomfortable with the health of our society. Mr. Diamond's article jelled, for me, the reasons for my concerns, specially as it relates to "historical collapses" of societies.

THE DAMAGE THAT PEOPLE HAVE INFLICTED ON THEIR ENVIRONMENT... During my lifetime, America has led the way in the consumption of natural resources. Our industries churned out record amounts of pollution. In the name of growth, our leaders continue down trend.

CLIMATE CHANGE...Our planet has tip-toed through 25,000 years or so of a fairly stable living environment. Otherwise, scientists tell us there have been constant shifts of climate. Now, the continental sized pieces of ice are melting. The sinking of the heavy salt enriched waters is dwindling, thereby, affecting the world wide circulation of the ocean water.

ENEMIES... Have I misread the newspapers or has our government's policies set us apart from other countries? Are we creating enemies?

CHANGES IN FRIENDLY TRADING PARTNERS...

SOCIETY'S POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESPONSES TO THESE SHIFTS... Greenland was once covered with trees. The people of those early times totally consumed that which kept them alive. A reading of history reveals those society's who survived and revived, and those which are memories recorded by scholars.

Hi Maple, I'll try to get back to this tonight. In general, I have a pretty optimistic attitude about things, so maybe I can cast a rosier light on some stuff here

"Report: Global Warming at Critical Point"

By ED JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

"LONDON - Global warming (news - web sites) is approaching the point of no return, after which widespread drought, crop failure and rising sea levels will be irreversible, an international climate change task force warned Monday..."

'... "An ecological time bomb is ticking away," said Stephen Byers, who was co-chairman of the task force with U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe (news, bio, voting record), R-Maine. "World leaders need to recognize that climate change is the single most important long-term issue that the planet faces." '

Mapleleaf: If you cite an article from the NY Times or any other subscription-only website, you should copy-and-paste the entire article so that the non-subscribers here can read it. That's also a good idea because, as you discovered, the NYT archives its articles after a few days so that they're inaccessible even to subscribers (unless they're willing to pay a fee).

I didn't read the article, but from your description I wouldn't put too much credence in Jared Diamond's warnings. I've read his Guns, Germs, and Steel and thoroughly enjoyed it, but we need to remember that Diamond is a professor of geography, not political science. As such, I'd expect that he would take a geographer's view of politics, which may or may not be sound.

The five factors that he identifies with the collapse of nations -- the damage that people have inflicted on their environment; climate change; enemies; changes in friendly trading partners; and the society's political, economic and social responses to these shifts -- appear to explain too much, and so don't really explain anything at all. "Enemies," for instance, is practically a given for any great or medium-sized power: for totally insular nations without enemies, no one cares if they collapse. To say, then, that nations that have enemies might collapse is like saying that most nations might collapse. That doesn't really explain anything about the nature and process of "collapse."

I have been in the hospital for 17 days with acute appendixous...then my kidneys failed, followed by my digestive system. I improved enough to come home Friday.

Wow, sorry to hear you ran into those problems. Glad you're back and doing well.

Hope you can pick up the thread. Sorry for your health problems.