Diamond's Article #5

Diamond discusses the comparative method in order to gain insight about the causes of a failing society. By comparing societies of the past with other similar societies you can draw conclusions on what led them to fail or succeed. Noting in particular that one cause has to do with ecological problems. Past societies contributed to their own collapse because they had damaged their environment too much and exhausted their resources.
In a sense, a society can choose whether it succeeds or fails by the choices it makes. A society that does not utilize its environment properly can be just as doomed as one which mistreats it. It's all relative to what we do with what we have and how we use it. Generally, my contention is that what's good for the world should be what's good for me, however, the choice is not always that simple. It seems like only recently products on the market have begun to advertise it's goodwill. Every now and then you will see a product with a label on it that reads "when you buy this product you are supporting wildlife" or "5% of the money from this purchase goes towards saving the forest." It takes a smart consumer, someone who is alerted to the troubles the world is facing, to support the companies who will support the environment (and other issues). This is how the modern world will most effectively change it's course. It won't happen without awareness and action, by action I mean that when you go out there you are thinking. You aren't being misled by the politics and advertisements trying to get you to buy their product although they have some of the worst business practices on earth. I think if more people simply "tune-in" the world won't be such a bad place. After all, history only repeats itself if we let it.