Constitutional Collapse

Jared Diamond has done it again. In his Pulitzer-winning Guns, Germs and Steel, now a recommended text for all students of human society, he asked the question of why some societies are more successful than others, and delivered an impressive argument about geographical factors being the biggest determinant. In his thematic sequel, Collapse, he asks the question of why some societies are greater failures than others. The answer is inexorable and tragic; and as in most tragedies, we see the end while we watch the protagonists stumbling to understand what is happening to them.

It is happening now everywhere we look. Sometimes, we are so enmeshed in the nets of our traditions and hallowed beliefs that we don't see how these will tie us to a slow and evil fate. Diamond takes us through the dying-out of the Norse in North America and the Easter Islanders in the Pacific. He makes successful arguments that their own beliefs doomed them. The extrapolation to modern societies leaves me chilled. It renews my determination to continue the fight for true education.