Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
The upshot of this book by Jared Diamond is that the decision makers in a society are unlikely to make sound decisions if they are insulated from the average members of the society. Case in point: New Orleans, where the poor occupied the low ground and the rich (and the politicians) occupied the higher ground. The rich in this case is unlikely to care whether the dikes are in good repair. This is in contrast to the Nederlands where everybody is potentially underwater and the dikes are always in good repair for the good of all.
This analysis can be extended to the global financial crisis. The rich and the politicians in this world are usually the ones who suffered the least and they make decisions based on self interest, not for the good of the whole society. Case in point, Henry Paulson, Dick Cheney, Phil Gramm, George W Bush. They were insulated from the average American and they don't see the harm that their decisions can have on the average middle class American. If you made 700 million from the financial industry as Paulson did, or 40 million from the oil industry as Cheney did, you are less likely to suffer any personal economic harms from oil price spikes or financial collapses.
The famous quote from Phil Gramm, the ex-senator from Texas and the original co-campaign manager of John McCain was that this economic crisis was a "mental recession", blaming the average American for not being able to cope - how insulated do you have to be in order to make a statement like that?
The conclusion from this book is that no matter what political parties you belong, it is good for the society as a whole if the rich and the powerful suffer along with the average or the poor. It forces the decision makers to choose the right paths and ultimately be enviromentally and fiscally responsible for the whole society, instead of a few.
http://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Societies-Choose-Fail-Succeed/dp/0670033375
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_(book)
The upshot of this book by Jared Diamond is that the decision makers in a society are unlikely to make sound decisions if they are insulated from the average members of the society. Case in point: New Orleans, where the poor occupied the low ground and the rich (and the politicians) occupied the higher ground. The rich in this case is unlikely to care whether the dikes are in good repair. This is in contrast to the Nederlands where everybody is potentially underwater and the dikes are always in good repair for the good of all.
This analysis can be extended to the global financial crisis. The rich and the politicians in this world are usually the ones who suffered the least and they make decisions based on self interest, not for the good of the whole society. Case in point, Henry Paulson, Dick Cheney, Phil Gramm, George W Bush. They were insulated from the average American and they don't see the harm that their decisions can have on the average middle class American. If you made 700 million from the financial industry as Paulson did, or 40 million from the oil industry as Cheney did, you are less likely to suffer any personal economic harms from oil price spikes or financial collapses.
The famous quote from Phil Gramm, the ex-senator from Texas and the original co-campaign manager of John McCain was that this economic crisis was a "mental recession", blaming the average American for not being able to cope - how insulated do you have to be in order to make a statement like that?
The conclusion from this book is that no matter what political parties you belong, it is good for the society as a whole if the rich and the powerful suffer along with the average or the poor. It forces the decision makers to choose the right paths and ultimately be enviromentally and fiscally responsible for the whole society, instead of a few.
http://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Societies-Choose-Fail-Succeed/dp/0670033375
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_(book)