Think about an issue in your personal life/history that required a critical decision. What about that particular situation made the decision a hard one to make? How did your solution differ from another potential reaction and how different would the results have been had you chosen that other reaction?
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Diamond discusses the issues of contemporary Montanan society and posits that it is a helpful example when reflecting on the pre-Collapse period of past societies faced with similar challenges. Do you agree that Montana's issues (choose at least 1 below to discuss) resemble the challenges that led to the downfall of past societies? How are they, or their surrounding circumstances, similar or different? Finally, what in your opinion are the crucial things a society must consider, admit, discuss, and ultimately take action on in order to overcome it's problems? For example, could Montanans just continue to turn a blind eye to the toxic waste from its mines or allow unsustainable logging/ agricultural practices and still survive?
1) Increasing population, 2)immigration, 3) increasing scarsity & decreasing quality of water, 4) locally & seasonally poor air quality, 5) toxic wastes, 6)increased risk of wildfires (or other human activity-induced natural disasters), 7)forest deterioration, 8) loss of soil or its nutrients, 9) loss of biodiversity/ damage from introduced pest species, 10) the effects of climate change.
Be sure to discuss Diamond's concepts of the 8 kinds of Ecocide as well as specific examples from Ch. 1 and the other chapter you choose.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
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