When looking back at the world’s great civilizations, one notes they all reached an expiration point. What drives their decline and ultimate collapse, however, is one of the most debated topics in history. According to noted scholars Joseph Tainter and John Michael Greer, collapse occurs when a civilization reaches a point of unsustainable complexity that requires ever growing amounts of resources that are increasingly hard to obtain, making them vulnerable to internal and external shocks. Tonight we’re joined by Twitter collapsologist Borzoi to discuss these tendencies as they pertain to the United States, Western, and modern civilization as a whole.
— Brought to you by —
Very special guest Borzoi
@asianwolfhound
The Myth of the 20th Century – Episode 125 – Collapse of Complex Societies – Borzoi Edition
— References —
– History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides (431 BC)
– Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon (1776)
– Decline of the West, Spengler (1918)
– A Study of History, Toynbee (1934)
– The Limits to Growth, Behrens et al. (1972)
– Collapse of Complex Societies, Tainter (1990)
– Innovator’s Dilemma, Christensen (1997)
– Complexity – A Guided Tour, Mitchell (2011)
– G-Zero, Bremmer (2012)
– Decline and Fall – The End of Empire and the Future of Democracy in 21st Century America, Greer (2014)
– Anti-Tech Revolution, Kaczynski (2016)
– Exit Strategy – Navigating the Decline of the American Empire, Smith (2019)
– The Management Myth – Taylorism and the Origins of Scientific Management, Myth of the 20th Century (2019) – https://myth20c.wordpress.com/2019/05/29/the-management-myth-taylorism-and-the-origins-of-scientific-management/
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