Sustainable Societies

Introduction:
Sustainability is what prolongs survival and prevents decline. When referring to a sustainable society, it is generally said that a strong economy hand in hand with a good leadership system, which provides goods and services, allies and strong links between important nations with few or no enemies and a preserved and stable environment are the main factors of success. In determining the factors that lead to success, we must look at why past societies have failed. Why did they fail, and what can present day societies gain from studying their reasons of collapse? Some of the smaller societies have survived the longest, many due to a good economy or a particularly good system of trade. If a society has balance, harmony and equality amongst the people, set laws and common beliefs, it is far more likely to have a chance at survival than a society that is disorganized.

Hypothesis:
I believe the three main factors that contribute to a sustainable society are;
A) A structured government or form of leadership system that functions well and is able to adapt to continual change
B) A strong and healthy environment that is cared and managed for
C) Allies and a strong form of defense in case of invasion/war
These are the three points I will be discussing, and although there are many more needs a society has. For example, in studying the collapse of the Aztecs it was the pandemic of disease that was mostly responsible for their fall in the early 1500’s. The good health of a nation is vitally important, as is the cultural and religious system adapted by the people. However, I believe these to be the most significant factors.

Care and Prosperity of Environmental Resources:
For a society to be successful, it is evident it must have a good environment. Whether used for farming, its resources used for trade or for food supply, it must be cared for extremely well. There are all too many examples in history of the collapse of societies due to the lack of care for their resources. The care of the environment pairs with the governing of the nation, if the government sets laws in place to protect and conserve, and doesn’t miscalculate or over farm resources the environment stands a fair chance of remaining in good condition. If not cared for, issues such as drought, soil erosion and pollution begin to surface. As mentioned later, the Japanese are a good example of a society that has sustained themselves after severe environmental issues.

A study in 1981 showed that soil erosion was a major problem for the Dominican Republic. The erosion problem then increased by 400% is just 20 years, and things got far worse before they got better. However, the problem has now been realised and erosion is being cared for, and is slowly decreasing. The Dominicans also experienced other environmental issues such as deforestation. Once covered by 75% of forest and after much restoration plans locally and on a national scale by the government, the Dominican Republic is now covered by 45% forest. This percentage is a considerable increase of figures taken 20-30 years ago, and due to alternate fuels being discovered the resources are able to re-grow, and the land is looking far more nourished. Due to the strategies introduced by the government, like the forests of Japan, the trees will eventually be replaced.

Waste management is an issue for many societies, some of which have found a solution. Cities in Sweden recover energy from treated sewage with heat pumps, which in turn heat buildings through community energy systems. After heat is extracted from sewage, the water is cold enough to run separate district cooling networks which provide air conditioning in offices - reducing energy use. Organic waste is sent to sewerage plant and is treated with sewerage liquid which produces the methane that is used as bio-fuel. This process reduces landfill, and the gas being used does not contribute to the major issue of global warming. The Swedish are innovative, and this waste management program will take them a long way in terms of conserving their environment.

Water management is extremely important, as in Australia and also worldwide we are experiences conditions of extreme drought, and in most third world countries lack of clean drinking water.
Switzerland has introduced many programs that have advantaged the welfare of its environment. After introducing two monitoring programs of water management, hydro-power plants to reduce the impact of generating electricity on the environment, along with many local programs and inventive solutions to problems, the country is well on its way to a bright ecological future.

Government and adaptation to change:
This factor can be divided into two main sections; the strength of the government and the flexibility of political and cultural aspects in the situation of change.
The governments are the people that make all the decisions. If it wasn’t for a system of governance, who would restore harmony and peace between people? What would happen in the outbreak of war? How would people know how to behave? The government set the laws, and any good government in the situation of change will be flexible and adapt existing laws and forms of protocol if seen to be necessary. It is the responsibility of the leaders to respond to any threat that could endanger the welfare of their society and in threatening situations, be expected to make the best decision possible. Sometimes, this could mean going against original laws or beliefs that may be against the cultural beliefs of an entire nationhood. If a society wants to survive, it can all depend on how flexible it is willing to become.

An example of a good leadership system is evident in the nation of Sweden. Although ruled by a constitutional monarchy, which is a system fairly outdated in nations today the society is functional and well led. The Swedish are ruled by the king, but also have a democratic government, who are voted in by the people (known as the “Riksdag”) and who the king has no real power of. The Prime minister chooses which and how many ministers are to be included in his government The Prime minister also decides who will be the Heads of Ministries, and together with the ministers he is part of the Swedish Government.
If a proposal is put forward, and favoured by less than half of the members it is rejected. If the speakers proposal for a new Prime Minister is rejected more than four times, an election must be held within three months, unless a general election is due to be held during the same period. The Riksdag has the power to vote out any member, even the whole government if they choose. The people are treated as fairly as possible, and the government is responsible for many important areas that ensure they country is run well and run equally for all citizens. Gender quality, human rights and youth policies are three areas focused heavily on by the government. All members are elected by choice, and the public have the power to control who leads and represents them, as do they have the power to banish them from parliament. Referendums are often held, and they have the opportunity to voice opinions and are able to have an input in the changing or introduction of laws at any time.

A society that was on the verge of collapse, the Japanese were able to save their nation by the adaptation and flexibility when faced with severe environmental problems. Similar to the Easter Islanders, during the late 17th and throughout the 18th century the Japanese cut down their trees for further development of housing and infrastructure. This not only banished trees, but led to erosion and caused severe pollution. After finally realizing the damage, they were able to set into place a system of forest management that heavily penalized anyone found logging or damaging the remaining forest. Over time the forests were given to time to re-grow and through limited tree cutting over the past five centuries have been almost restored. They now hold one of the highest percentages of forest coverage per capita in the world. Due to the eventual quick action and flexibility of the government, they were able to save their country from certain eventual decline.

The Mayans give a good example of adaptations to change that didn’t at all work out. Believing their lack of resources (which were due to deforestation) was because they had made their gods unhappy, influenced them to further chop down trees. This only caused terrible shortages of trees and gave them even less environmental resources. They adapted their way of thinking in the wrong way, being influenced by their culture and this only made the future collapse of the society be brought on far quicker.

Allies and Systems of Defence:
In the occurrence of disasters or war a society needs allies it can fall back on for help. Alliances with other nations can result in agreements of trade and resources, which benefit both nations. Without alliances a society can be quickly wiped out in the case of war, small countries with lack of defense are the worst at risk.

Countries such as Switzerland have maintained neutral status when it comes to alliances, and therefore in the case of war does not get caught up in fighting nations. Countries such as Canada have made alliances to protect themselves in the case of war. Canada joined alliances with America, and being linked with such a strong nation are protected at all times as the Americans have many further alliances such as Australia.

The Roman Empire had the strongest military in its time in the whole of Europe.
Despite their numbers of enemies, the pure strength of their forces allowed them to out fight any army that they went into battle with. They were constantly inventing, and re-designing weapons and due to this the strength of their forces was continually increasing. They were always able to defeat the enemy, and therefore were able to survive.

Conclusion:
The societies that remain today are strong and have a good economy; many have developed forms of government and way of life from past successful societies. For a society to reach its full potential, it must adapt and find new ideas to resolve issues, such as the Swiss who are putting plans into action to make a change to the problems they face.

In studying the collapse, and the sustainability of societies I have come to the conclusion, that although there are three main factors that lead to the make or break of a nation, there are always going to be other contributing factors. There can never be a “set framework” as each society has different values, beliefs and way of life and will exist in a different way to any other. A successful society comes down to the harmony, equality and attitudes of the people in it, and if the people are willing to adapt to constant change they have a far better chance of surviving in the long run.


Bibliography:

“Principles of Society” (visited on April 8th 2008)
http://www.globallearningnj.org/global_ata/principles_of_a_sustainable_society.htm

“Societal Flexibility” (visited on the 11th of April 2008)
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=6C0oRg0NG8UC&pg=PA155&lpg=PA155&dq=successful+societies&source=web&ots=bLbMka2_-r&sig=GUQDPMbHAjw9kVl5kEDL7LFuto0&hl=en

“History of Japan” (last modified on the 19th of April 2008)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_history

“Collapse of the Mayans”- Michael’s Blog (visited on the 11th of April 2008)
http://shadeseven.110mb.com/mayan_collapse.pdf

“Dominican Republic Environmental Assessment” (visited on the 12th of April 2008)
http://www.usaid.gov/dr/docs/resources/dr_environment_assessment092001.pdf

“Trends of the Dominican Republic” (visited on the 18th of April 2008)
http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/for_cou_214.pdf

“Collapse of the Easter Islanders”- Harry’s Blog (last updated on the 16th of March 2008)
http://exsephiroth.blogspot.com/

“Collapse of the Aztecs”- My Blog (last updated on the 16th of March 2008)
http://emmahains.blogspot.com/

“Sweden Waste Management” (visited on the 17th of April 2008)
http://www.swedenabroad.com/Page____51405.aspx

“Garbage can be used in the wrong place” (last updated May 27th 2007)
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=6876b9f3-569b-4be9-a479-b4d7079303ff&p=1

“Switzerland Economy” (last modified on the 17th of April 2008)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland#Economy

“Water Quality-Switzerland” (visited on the 19th of April 2008)
http://www.swissworld.org/en/environment/water/water_quality/

“Roman Empire” (visited on the 16th of April 2008)
http://www.roman-empire.net/army/army.html

“Roman Army” (visited on the 16th of April 2008)
http://www.romanarmy.com/cms/

By Emma Hains