Socialcollapse

socialcollapse
JakeBaum
KennethBagley
February22nd,2016

Socialcollapse

Incollaps(madebyJamesDiamond)ittalksaboutthecollapseofpastsociety,
andexplainshowwecouldpossiblymakethesamemistakes.Causingamodernsocial
collapse.Inthebook,DiamondasksWhatcausedsomeofthegreatcivilizationsofthe
pasttocollapseintoruin,andwhatcanwelearnfromtheirfates?.Heattemptsto
answerthisquestionbycomparingmultiplesocietiestofindoutthesimilaritiesbetween
eachoftheirdownfalls.Onpagethreeheexplainshisobjective.Hisobjectiveishis
question,whichhehonesbydescribingcollapseasAdrasticdecreaseinhuman
populationsizeand/orpolitical/economic/socialcomplexity,overaconsiderablearea,
foranextendedtime(collapspage3).

Thelastsocialcollapsethatwehadwasin2005august23duringhurricane
katrina.WhenabaddesigncausedoneofthelargestcitiesintheUnitedStateto
become80%submergedin20feetdeepwater.
InthispaperI'mgoingtotalkabout
howoneofthebiggestcausesofacollapseishumanviolenceandhumanerror
likethepoordesignoftheleviesandtheinvasionofGreece.

Socialcollapse

3
HurricaneKatrina

HurricaneKatrinawasoneofthecostliestnaturaldisaster,andoneofthefive
mostdeadlyanddevastatinghurricanesintheworld.Itwassobadthattheyarestill
tryingtocleanitup,andthereisstillanestimateofaround750peoplemissingdueto
hurricanekatrina.withwindsupto175milesanhour,itcoveredabout80%ofNew
Orleansinwaterthatreachedupto20feetdeep.Ithadimpactedabout90,000square
miles.ThereasonwhyithadcoveredsomuchwasbecauseKatrinahadbrokendown
theonedefenseNewOrleanshad,thelevies.Thereasontheleviesbrokewas
becauseitwasonlysupposedtowithstanduptoalevel3hurricane(katrinawasalevel
5).Thisandforthefactthattheleveiswereverypoorlybuilt.Ifithadnotbrokethere
wouldhavebeenlessdestruction.Howeverthehurricanewasonlythebeginningof
neworleansproblems.

Aftertheflood,millionsofpeopleweretrappedwithnowayofgettingincontact
withtheoutsideworld.Themajorityofthesepeoplewereverypoorandhadno
transportationtogetoutbeforethestormhadhit,andpeoplewhodidnotknowthe
severityofthestormanddecidedthattheywerejustgoingtowaititout.Essentially
theyweredoomedfromthestart.Itwasestimateddeathtollofabout1836
,primarily
fromLouisiana(1,577)andMississippi(238).Overhalfofthesevicterweresenior

Socialcollapse

citizens.duringthewaitmattersonlygotworse.theclimanthadchanged,andthe
temperaturandgoneuptothehundres.becuaseeveryonewasonthereroofesthere
wasnoairconditionerorevenshadetohelpcopewiththeheight.Insteadofdrowning
alotofpeoplegotsickfromheatexposuerordeidofaheatstrock.mostoftheelderly
weretheoneswholosttherelivetotheintensesummerheat.lotsofrapistsandlooters
tookadvantageofthecrisisandtookwhatevertheywant.Itgottothepointwhere
people.wouldcarryaroundshotgunsandjustshootpeopleinthestreets,mistaking
themforlooters.

alotofthepeopletrappedhadblamedthegovernmentforhowbaditgot.
MainlybecauseofthetimeittookthemtogetpeopleoutofNewOrleans.Alsoforthe
lakeseriousnessgeorgebushandthegovernmentshowtowardsthesituation.
WheneverthepresidentwasaskedaboutKatrina,itwasalmostlikehekeptonpushing
itasideandmakingitoutthatthemainthingweshouldbefocusingonisAlkide,and
Islam.Itwasliketheydidn'tcareaboutthelivesofthepeople.alotofpeoplebelieved
itwasaracething,giventhefactthatNewOrleansispredominantlyblack.inan
interviewwithKanyewest,hestraightuptoldthemthatgeorgebushdoesn'tcare
aboutblackpeople.evenwhenthegovernmentannouncedFEMAitmadepeoplewait
uptothreemonthswithoutgettingthemtheirtrailer.eventhoughmostofthetrailers
wereready

Socialcollapse

tobeused.Thenwhenpeoplefinallygottheirtrailersitwasfoundoutthattheywere
verycheaplymadeandbrokeveryeasily.

MycenaeanGreece
MyceaneaanGreecewasthelastphaseofthebronzeageinancientGreece.
theyhadbeenfirstadvancedcivilisationinthemainland.Theyhadawritingsystem,
urbangovernment,workofart,ext.Ithadbecomethehistoricalsettingoftheancient
greekliteratureandgreekmythology.Howeverin1200BC.invadersfromthenorth
leadastringofattacksthatultimatelyleadtodownfallofMyceaneanGreece.These
invaderwereahalfcivilizedpeoplecalledDorian.Theyspokeadifferenttypeofgreek
languageandwereanewwaveofgreekmigration.

Thereasonfortheseattacksarestillunknown,however,itistheorisedthatthey
wanted

tostoptheadvanceofthenewphilosophy.
Thefirstwaveofdestruction
occurredindifferent

partsofgreece.Inboeotia,thedorianburntthecityintothe
ground.Nearby,thecityofOrchomenoshadtobeenburnttotheground,andInthe
Peloponnese,anumberofbuildingssurroundingthecitadelofMycenaehadbeen
attackedandburned.Theserandomattackshadmadetheothercitiesdobbelthere
deffense.ThesehoweverleadtonoavailfortheDorianhadstillburneddownthecities

Socialcollapse

andmurderthepeopleinside.Therewasonlyonecitythatwasabletofightoffthe
attackersandthatwasthecityAthens.
WesternRome
Thefallofromewastheprocessofdeclineinwesternrome,inwhichitsgreat
territorywasdividedanditslawswerenotupheld.Romehadlostthestrengththathad
alloweditgiveasenseoforderandmaintainitscontrol.Alotofhistoriansmention
factorthatleadtothecollapsesuchasthechangeofreligionfrompolytheismto
christianity,thenumberandhealthoftheRomanpopulation,thedecreaseofsizeand
effectivenessoftheRomanarmy,andtheconstantincreasingpressureofthe
barbariansoutsidetheRomanculture.

WhenpeopletalkaboutthefallofRomeitwasreallyonlywesternRomethatfell.
afterChristianitywasproclaimedtobethenewreligiontheemperorsplittheempireinto
twoparts:thewesternhalfcenteredinRomeandtheeasternhalfcenteredin
Constantinople.ThewesternhalfwasRomanCatholicandspokeLatinwhereasthe
easternhalfworshipedundertheeasternorthodoxbranchofchristianity.Astimewent
on,theeasternpartofromwasathrivingempire,whereasthewesternparthada
seriousdecrease.InfacttheeasternhalfcontinuedtoexistastheByzantineEmpirefor
hundredsofyearsafterthefallofthewesternsideofrome.Thereforethefallofrome
onlyreferstoonehalfoftheromanempire.

Socialcollapse

7
MutapaEmpire

Themutapawasashonakingdominsouthernafricawhichstretchedfromthe
ZambezithroughtheLimpoporiverstotheIndianOceanWhicharenowthestatesof
Zimbabwe,SouthAfrica,Lesotho,Swaziland,MozambiqueandpartsofNamibiaand
Botswana.Becauseofthestrongholdthatthemwenemutapahadovergold,the
mutapawerebasicallyinvulnerabletoattackandeconomicmanipulation.However,
fightingamongdifferentfactionswhichledtoopposingsidescallingonthePortuguese
formilitaryaidwasposingagreatthreat.Thoughttheportugueseseemedfinewiththe
inevitablecollapse.

In1629themwenemutapahadaplantothrowoutPortugesefrommutapabutit
failedandwasoverthrown.ThePortuguesethenassigningMuvarFileptothethrone.
Mutapahadmadetreatieswithportuguese,however,theywerenotreallyupheld.Even
thoughmutapawasaclientstateitwasstillkeptindependentwhereasPortuguesewas
increasingitscontroloversouthafrican.Beginningthecolonialsystem
.
Overthenext
severalyears,mutapalostitsindependenceandhadseveralrulers,thelastofwhich
beingtheRozwiwhoquicklygrewtiredofmutapa.Theylefttogosecuretheirposition
inthesouthmakingmutapaanindependentstateagain.Whenthelastmwenemutapa
diedin1759ithadsparkedagreatcivilwarforthethronewhichMutapanever
recoveredfrom.The"winners"endedupgoverninganevenmorereducedlandfrom
Chidima.


Socialcollapse

Conclusion

reaserchingandwritingthispaperhasmademerealizethatmostoftheworld's
greatestsocialcollapsesaretheblameofhumans.Katrinewouldseemtobethemain
causeofthecollopsofNewOrleans,whichitdoeshaveabigpartinthefall.Itwould
havebeenalotmoremanageableifthedesignersofthelevieputmorecareintothe
design.Alltheotherexampleswerealsocausedbyviolenceanderrorcausedmainly
byhumans.ThisiswhatdiamondistryingwarnusaboutinCollaps.Heistryingto
explainthatviolencewillhavecatastrophicconsequences.Justlookatwhatwedidto
iran.webombedalotoftheircitieswhichcouldverymuchleadtoacollapse.andif
we'renotcarefulwetocouldfallintochaosanddisappear.


Socialcollapse

Annotatedbibliography

http://www.historywiz.com/mycenaeanfall.htm
thisblogreallyhelpedmeunderstandwhythedoriansbroughtdownGreece.itgoes
verymuchintosomegooddetailonthetheory
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/myce/hd_myce.htm
thissitedidnotexplainthefallofGreece,howeveritshowedmetheiradvancement.it
showedalotofitsfamousartandgreece'sfamousbuildings.
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/datamine/2015/08/28/nooneknowshowma
nypeoplediedinkatrina
Thiswasapastnewsarticlethatifound.ittalkedmostlyabouttheyarestillfinding
deadbodyfromkatrinamorethan10yearsafterthehurricane.Thenitgoesontoshow
acartofhowmanypeoplediedineachagegroup.
https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11factsabouthurricanekatrina
thisbloggavea11factsaboutKatrinathatmostpeopledon'treallyknowabout.the
questionrangefromhowmuchitcostedforthedamagestohowbigthehurricanewas
ext.ifoundittobeaveryusefulsightandaveryreliablesight.
http://www.ushistory.org/civ/6f.asp

thisbloggaveamoreindetailedversionofthefallofrome.ittookeverydetailinto
considerationanddidnotleaveanythingout.
Socialcollapse

10

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_the_Western_Roman_Empire
thisblogsightgavemeamorecondensedandsimplifiedversionoftheroman
collapse.thoughitdidnotgointogreatdetailitshowmeamaytoexplainthefallof
romewithouttalkingtomuchaboutthesubject.
http://www.history.com/news/historylists/8reasonswhyromefell
thereweremanydifferentreasonswhythemightycityofromefellintotheBarbarens
hands.Thissighttakeseightofthosereasonsanddiscusseachofthemingreatdetail.
thiswasthemainsightIusefrommyinfoonthefallofRome
http://tftcforafrica.weebly.com/theriseandfallofmutapa.html
Ididn'tusethissightformitinformationforsay.thogheitdidtalkabouttheirfall,I
mainlyusedthetoseehowicouldcondensethethetopicsoiwouldtalktomuchabout
theMutapa.Thogheitdidgivesomegoodinformationonthemutapasrise.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Mutapa
Iusualdon'tusesightlikewikipediatogetthemajorityofmyinformation,however,this
author'sattentiontodetailontheirfallwasgreat.itwasoneoftheonlysightsthatreally
talkedabouthowtheyfelltoitsneighboringstates.pulsethesourceswereveryreliable
seeinghowwhatitwassaywasbackupbyother,morereliablewebsites
TheFallOfRomebyDonaldL.Wasoonoublise16october2015

thiswasanothersightthatwentintogreatdetail.Howeveritreallyonlywentintodetail
abouthowchristianitywasthestartoftheirdownfall.