A preview of the unpublished book A CIVILIZATION WITHOUT A VISION WILL PERISH: AN INDEPENDENT SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH by David Willis. CHAPTER 1: INDIFFERENCE (Part 2)
In 2011, Ian Chambers and John Humble published Developing A Plan for the Planet: A Business Plan for Sustainable Living. Below is a continuation of the summary of Part I: Understanding our current situation.
The time factor
If we had 100 years to address these issues, then negotiation and conflict resolution would be appropriate. However, scientists are already warning that global warming needs to be addressed comprehensively over the next 20 years if disaster is to be avoided. Shortages of water, food and energy are apparent on a global scale. Human population continues to grow, further accelerating the speed at which these changes are happening and the rate at which they must be addressed.
Crisis can also create opportunity
For the first time in history there is an increasing recognition that action needs to be taken on a global cooperative scale. Cooperation is possible when the need is fully understood. At no other point in the history of human civilization has a cooperative and coordinated approach to addressing the global challenges that we face as a civilization and as a planet been more apparent.
A cautiously optimistic approach
Causes of inaction are confusion, contradictory evidence, complacency, exaggeration by pressure groups, denial, and fear leaving people overwhelmed and paralyzed. Many of the problems are complex and long term in nature with inevitable fluctuations in evidence. This is why an overall plan which everyone understands and can play a part in is crucial, as it can show a way forward to address the challenges allowing success to build on success – overcoming the issues of complacency and fear, and replacing it with our requirement for moving forward rapidly – a cautiously optimistic approach. Failure to act can be blamed for the collapse of earlier human civilizations.
Why do Civilizations Collapse?
The reasons for the collapse of civilizations are captured well by Jared Diamond in his book Why do Civilizations Collapse? Sometimes they are destroyed by powerful neighbors or social and political changes. Many times, however, they have been driven by environmental changes, and a failure to address these, such as the degradation of the water supplies in the Fertile Crescent. In the broadest sense, the global challenges we face now on Planet Earth are a combination of all of these factors – environmental, political, social and economic.
Easter Island: The collapse of a civilization
On Easter Sunday 1722, Dutch Admiral Roggeveen landed on Easter Island in the Pacific, the world’s remotest island, to find a few thousand people living in abject poverty, fighting over meager food supplies and even resorting to cannibalism. Yet there was evidence of a once flourishing civilization, with over 600 huge stone statues each 20 feet or so high, produced by highly skilled craftsmen who knew how to transport and erect the statues, and with a social structure to support these craftsmen.
Two key challenges led to inevitable collapse
There were a number of clans each with a leader who managed the community resources, religious and ceremonial activities, including the building of the impressive statues. The ocean was the main source of food, accessed by fishermen in their large canoes. Two key challenges led to the inevitable collapse of this complex and sophisticated community: as the population increased to 15,000 people the demand for crops and fish escalated; and the rich forests and the island’s other natural resources needed for canoes, buildings, fuel and other purposes, were steadily destroyed. Their cultural ambitions blinded them to the threats to their quality of life – not dissimilar to what is happening on Planet Earth today.
Similarly, we on Planet Earth have nowhere else to go
Without timber, canoes could not be built and fishing became limited. Fishing nets, made from the paper mulberry tree were no longer available. Soil erosion led to reduced crops and the major source of food became chickens. Many native birds, mammals, reptiles and plants were pushed to extinction through hunting or habitat destruction. Streams and springs dried up with the loss of the forests. The social structure broke down as rival clans fought for limited resources. The challenges were similar to our current situation: unsustainable population growth; limited energy, food and water supplies; major impacts on forests, land and other plant and animal biodiversity. Similarly, we on Planet Earth have nowhere else to go.