Analyzing five risk factors for societal collapse (population, climate, water, agriculture and energy), the report says that the sudden downfall of complicated societal structures can follow when these factors converge to form two important criteria. Motesharreis report says that all societal collapses over the past 5,000 years have involved both the stretching of resources due to the strain placed on the ecological carrying capacity and the economic stratification of society into Elites [rich] and Masses (or Commoners) [poor]. The so-called Elite population restricts the flow of resources accessible to the Masses, accumulating a surplus for themselves that is high enough to strain natural resources. Eventually this situation will inevitably result in the destruction of society.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 09:14:41 +0000