Sustainable Societies

Avtaar Dhalliwal

In terms of societies, “Sustainable” is defined as: An ecosystem condition in which biodiversity, renewability, and resource productivity are maintained over time. This means a society where renewable resources are produced at a higher rate than its consumption, which comes to address the main cause of collapse as I have found it- Lack of Environmental care (Resource depletion). In order for a society to become sustainable, there are numerous aspects of societal management which are needed, such as a positively developed Economy, Warfare, Government, Environmental care and Climate. The foremost aspect being resource management, which is required in all societies in order for them to succeed and become sustainable. Environmental erosion such as Deforestation, resource management and Lack of Allies are several causes of societal collapse which can be overcome quite easily if the necessary precautions are taken to action, which will be further explained using societal examples later in this report.

Those causes of collapse and others, including Enemy invasion, and lack of trade partners are all causes which can be conquered mainly by good governance. A government which strengthens alliances with neighboring societies, establishes trade partners and resource management plans would be considered sustainable; also having an adaptable religion and cultural practices would increase their society’s chances of survivability.

My Framework

My framework outlines the common causes of societal sustainability, and the factors which contribute to what makes it sustainable. For example, a sustainable society will most likely have a stable economy, but in order to maintain economic stability, the society’s investments must be less than its returns or gains.

In my framework, I will be discussing 4 main principles on what enforces a sustainable society. Firstly, a developed Warfare, which will outline a society’s reliance on Allies. Secondly, a Stable Economy, which will explain how a society’s wealth impacts its survivability. Thirdly, Good Governance, which will show how an able government can help sustain society and adapt to crisis. And Lastly, Environmental care and Climate. The necessity of efficient resource management in a declining society, and how general care of the environment can assist in its sustainability.

Warfare

Warfare is a highly reliance factor which is needed to ensure a society’s sustainability, which is mostly about defensive relations with other societies for protection. If strongly-developed warfare is present in a society, the government would have established alliances with neighboring societies, for defence and fortification. Although alliances have proven to protect societies, making them stable, some societies are not in need of ally fortification. There are 2 main reasons for this, because either that society is very powerful in terms of warfare, and believe they are self-sufficient. Or that they are completely neutral, and therefore have no allegiances or enemies, although for societies such as this there are obvious flaws. The absence of alliances would mean no trade partners, and also without allies, the society would be completely vulnerable if they didn’t have their own defences. There are multiple societal examples of this, as well as those explaining how alliances can fortify a society, making it more sustainable.

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire concentrated all their resources into producing, as they believed, an impenetrable army which invaded new land in order to become self-sufficient.

Switzerland

Countries such as Switzerland remained completely neutral in terms of warfare, sustaining without alliances and therefore enemies, so that they didn’t need to take part in any wars.

Canada

One example of a country which uses its alliances for means of protection is Canada, which could quite easily be invaded by other countries if not for its alliance with America.

Australia

Australia is another country that ensures its security through strong relations with powerful allies. Since its discovery and captivity in 1778, Australia has retained strong relations with other countries, as it relied on Britain for protection in the past, and still continues to construct alliances. Although Australia has a military, its capability to defend itself is weak, as in terms of population, it is one of the smallest countries in the south-east Asian region. Therefore, instead of using resources in procuring defences, it maintains strong relations with powerful societies such as the United States to ensure its security.

Economy

In order for any society to become or remain sustainable, the presence of a stable economy is necessary. The stability of the economy relies on the society’s investments being less than its gains, producing profit which makes the economy self-maintained. Although in order for the economy to be successful in those societies who have insufficient resources, trusted allies are required for positive transactions of trade. Besides trade, there are other factors which together form a strong economy. Low unemployment rate, Low expenditure and borrowing by the government and its people and high availability of basic goods and services. Another major factor is investment in the industry, to increase productivity for export, and reduce the country’s reliance on imports.

Singapore

Singapore is an example of societal sustainability assisted by strong, sufficient economy. Although the country, as well as its economy is very limited in size compared too many others, it still shows signs of stability, being a major trade export. Even though Singapore has very limited natural resources and is focused on manufacturing and exporting, it still remains with budget and trade surpluses. Being a reasonably wealthy country due to its economy, Singapore is able to invest into other areas making it more sustainable. Fueled by its wealth, Singapore is unlikely to collapse in the future, but remain sustainable as long as its economy maintains itself.

Governance

The governance of a society plays a highly dependable role, as it is responsible for all decisions and its citizens. There are numerous principles in which a government must address in order to remain/become sustainable. Such as transparency, the citizens’ access to information chosen by the government. Governments which have limited transparency ultimately lack public confidence, and are the type of governments which become corrupt. The other most important principle for governance is the willing or ability to adapt to crisis, which could be resource depletion or perhaps threat by neighboring countries which have not been allied with. If the government can recognize the problem, and adapt their usual ways to address it, for example using a resource management plan, they stand a much better chance of sustaining themselves. Besides just the government adapting, religion is needed to adapt as well. To forget their usual practices in order to preserve resources or anything else needed to evade the crisis. Although for some societies such as the Mayans, who were a highly religious civilization, setting aside their culture would have been very difficult, as it was one of the most important practices in their life. For societies like this, failing to adapt would have been a cause of their downfall and collapse. The decisions of the government greatly affect the society’s well-being, in beneficial and sometimes, limiting ways which can cause the collapse of a society. For example the Roman Empire, who after losing the battle of Adrianople in 378CE, had recruiting problems. The government chose to recruit Germanic barbarians into their army and by 400CE, 30 to 50 percent of their armies consisted of Germanic mercenaries. They eventually revolted and caused the downfall of the Roman Empire.

Despite how governments have sometimes made the wrong decisions, there are examples depicting governance as a positive role in a society’s sustainability.

India

A perfect example of this is India, and their “Green Revolution” regime. Due to the food shortages caused by World War 2, approximately 4 million Indians died of famine. It was after this that self-sufficient food was deemed as a highest priority for the country. The growing population and limited agricultural season left India highly dependant on imported resources, which could have caused the collapse of India if those trade routes had been compromised. They tried being self-sufficient in terms of food, but were quite unsuccessful. The government knew drastic actions were in need, and so they implied the Green Revolution scheme, which was a regime that supported the growth of hybrid crops. The farmers and citizens endorsed this new idea and supported the government. Within 30 years the crop yield had more than tripled, thus making India sustainable. Without the government’s decision or public support, the country would not have been successful, and would be in a much worse state of famine today. This proves how a strong reliable government can save a society from collapse, and bring them into some state of sustainability.

Environmental Care and Climate

Environmental care is one of the most important principles of my framework. Including the preservation of all resources, such as Water, forestation and vegetation conservation, the goods of the environment are relied on by all of society as their main means of resources. As well as environmental maintenance, this consists of soil fertility, care of flora and fauna, and waste management. For sustainability, societies also require an efficient climate. A climate with low pollution, adequate rainfall, neutral temperatures and importantly, the absence of extreme conditions or natural disasters, which have been the downfall of many past societies. As you can see, it is crucial to have a sufficient level of environmental care if a society is to succeed.

Japan

An example of societal sustainability due to environmental care is Japan. Japan made efforts to reverse their crisis situation, where they were left with very limited forests due to deforestation. They implemented a forest management plan, which reduced the amount of logging, as well as a tree planting program. In addition, strict laws were legislated and new standards put into place to reduce pollution from the mines. Now, after over 30 years, Japan has replaced 67% of its surface land, making it highly forested and a much more sustainable asset to Japan.

Dominican Republic

Another example of a positive response to environmental crisis was in the Dominican Republic. When the Dominican Republic was first discovered, 70% of its land was forested, but by the 1980’s, much of the forests had been logged for agricultural land or fuel. Although, the government recognised the crisis before it was too late, and implied several counter-actions to save their forests; Alternative fuels such as gas were made cheaper, deforested land was reforested and included into the increasing area of protected land. By 1998, most of the re-planted forests were deemed stable, and there were definite signs of recovery in all forested areas. By protecting their forests, soil erosion and water pollution was prevented, as well as the preservation of fauna. There were no future loss in forests overall, showing how resource management effectively stabilized their environment, making their society sustainable.

Contemporary societies

Today’s societies are very different then those hundreds of years ago. We have learned from past society’s downfalls, in order to fortify our own civilizations. Over time, what people think and believe has changed drastically, and today’s cities are far more advanced. Despite how complex contemporary societies may be, they can still collapse from very similar difficulties. The ideas they hold determine their values and priorities, and therefore the outcome of their society.

Contemporary cities such as Switzerland and Bhutan are 2 societies that have addressed multiple points of this framework, and therefore making them sustainable. Although unfortunately, there are some cities, for example- Zimbabwe, who are the complete opposite. Fuelled by a series of bad government decisions, Zimbabwe is on the verge of collapse, and would have to make drastic actions in order to postpone their decline.

Conclusion

In my opinion, these are the 4 most important principles of sustainable societies, although they still just outline aspects of a stable society. These principles; Self-sufficient Economy, Developed Warfare plans, Good Governance and Environment/Climate care are all interlinked. In order to maintain a sustainable society, most if not all of these principles are required, and without them, a society is likely to fall.

Sources:

Internet
"Fall of the Roman Empire", 2008, Sean Ding, docs.google.com/View?docid=dccp4pm7_5cxmc6jgw
"Collapse of the Easter Islanders", 2008, Harry Bird, exsephiroth.blogspot.com/
“Economy of Switzerland”, 2004, http://www.indopedia.org/Economy_of_Switzerland.html
Japanese history, http://discovermagazine.com/1998/jun/japaneseroots1455
Sustainable development, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html
Sustainable Development, http://www.oecd.org/topic/0,2686,en_2649_37425_1_1_1_1_37425,00.html
Sustainable development, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development
Economy of Singapore, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Singapore

Books
Diamond, Jared M. (2005) Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Viking Books, New York