Jared Diamond on avoiding "Collapse"

BookBlog on Diamond:

Here's why the book is so good.

In addition to stories about civilizations that collapsed as a result of environmental degradation (Easter Island, the Maya), Diamond also tells the story of societies that managed to avoid environmental distruction through prudent and farsighted decision-making (the Japanese Tokugawa shogus decided to stop logging and reforest; Tikopia, the Pacific island that decided to stop raising pigs because the pigs were destructive to the island's fragile vegetation, though pigs were prestigous in Polynesian culture. Diamond provides examples of societies (including Japan) that made decisions to protect their environment by top-down command, and societies that made similar decisions through bottom-up processes (like the New Guinea Highlands).

Diamond does comparative analysis, assessing various environmental and geopolitical factors, showing, for example, how Easter Island's ecosystem was more fragile than other Polynesian colonies, and how Greenland's environment was less appropriate for Scandinavian customs than other Norse colonies. He shows how environmental initial conditions interacted with cultural practices and decisions to facilitate decline. The comparative approach lends credibility to the analysis of contemporary cultures (Australia, China) threatened by environmental degradation...

As a member of book and media exchange groups this is what I love. Someone who begins by saying this is why this book is so good.