"Hit's the nail,on the head ," so to speak (insightful article)

[hangloose]

<large snip>

Diamond's book chronicles the fates of dozens of failed societies over the centuries. He believes the common thread for failure, besides not taking environmental change seriously, is that "the elite insulates itself from the consequences of its actions" and is unwilling "to re-examine long-held core values."

Elites rarely suffer in war. It's the lower classes that do the fighting and dying. Elites do not worry about the limits of nature, because they know they have the wealth to insulate themselves from the consequences.

But if we fail to deal with the problems that are of our own making - nuclear proliferation, environmental degradation, economic inequality - the day will come when these ills will fuel a cataclysm of war and destruction that will engulf the world. Ultimately, there won't be enough money in the world to protect anyone from this nightmare scenario.

I'd like to think we're smarter than the baboons. I'd like to think we can learn from the mistakes of the past and heed the clear warnings that we have to change the way we think and live on this crowded little planet. History's path is littered with the wreckage of societies that didn't have the will to change. Is America next in line?

http://www.american-reporter.com/2,555/1.html