Sustainable Societies!

Introduction
Many past societies have collapsed however a select few have overcome certain problems and sustained themselves for a large period of time. What is it that sets these societies apart and makes them sustainable societies? The term sustainable means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. www.bemarchitect.com/ glossary.shtml) This is the definition I have chosen to base my report as I feel it is the most succinct and self explanatory one. In order to be declared fully sustainable, a society must be successful in all the different factors. As there is a word limit on this report, I shall only discuss each factor briefly.
The first factor which affects sustainability is the Environment, which branches off into resource management and other factors. The second factor is relationships with other countries/ societies which branches off into warfare and trade. And the third factor is internal structure which includes government and flexibility of Culture and religious beliefs. The fourth and final factor is economy. All these factors are inextricably intertwined and achieving sustainability in one aspect will make it easier to be sustainable in the others.

Environmental Factors
In order for a society to achieve complete sustainability it is essential that it has a healthy ecosystem and manages their resources and waste products successfully. Due to the word limit on this assignment I will focus on only one aspect which is Resource Management.

Resource Management
In order for a society to be sustainable it needs manage its resources successfully. By managing resources successfully, a society must have enough of the resource for the present but should also consider the future and manage resources so they have enough to meet their needs at all times. Environmental resource management is especially critical as many of the collapsed societies failed as they did not manage their environmental resources properly, especially wood and water. This aspect like all the others is connected with flexible culture/ belief system as poor resource management can usually only be overcome if the ruling culture/ belief system can evolve and change to adapt to the problem. This is clearly evident in the cases of the Mayans and Easter Island as they did not adapt their religious practices in order to better manage their environmental resources.
One example of a civilization that managed their environmental resources very poorly is the Easter Islanders. They severely depleted their environmental resources through deforestation and this in turn led to their collapse as it made their ecosystem more fragile. The Mayans also severely deforested their once plentiful forests which in turn severely harmed many other aspects of their environment such as top soil condition etc. Their deforestation, combined with overpopulation and outside factors ultimately led to their demise. Both these civilizations did not think of the problems caused in the future by their heavy deforestation and therefore did not successfully manage their resources.
Tokugawa Japan used to take part in heavy deforestation which put them on the verge of societal collapse. However, the elite and the masses of Japan recognised the need to preserve their forests as they expected their present and future problems to be solved with present resources due to their isolated location, lack of foreign trade and renunciation. Also at the time, Japan was experiencing political stability and had confidence in their future which encouraged the leaders to plan and manage resources for the future. As a result Japan introduced a range of policies which combined with social support eradicated deforestation and helped their environment become more sustainable. This example clearly shows how good resource management leads to the society becoming more sustainable however just achieving sustainability in this aspect alone will not make the society fully sustainable. In order to achieve complete sustainability the society must achieve stability in all the aspects.

Relationships with other countries/societies.
In order to achieve sustainability in this area, the society in question needs to have successful relationships with its neighbouring societies. These relationships can include those for trading resources as well as alliances in time of war. It is vital that the society has either got weak enemies or strong alliances as otherwise it will be prone to attacks and invasions. Therefore, in order to be sustainable in this area, a society must have powerful allies and strong enemies and useful trade partners if they are needed. Although this aspect might not have been entirely relevant in the past when geographically isolated societies did not have any relationships with neighbouring societies, it is of vital importance now mainly due to the technological advances which make it easy to attack, invade and trade with countries that are geographically far apart.

Warfare
In order to prevent Invasion and attack the society needs to have a strong army or powerful alliances. Countries that can be easily invaded need the support of stronger and more powerful countries in order to be sustainable. One example of a society that had a powerful army which made made them virtually impenetrable was the Roman Empire. They concentrated all their resources into making a very strong army that invaded new land and were quite impenetrable and safe from attack. For some countries such as Switzerland that has maintained a strict neutrality when it comes to war and would not need to build a strong army as they don’t have to partake in wars.
One country that makes uses of its alliances in order to ensure its safety is Canada. Canada could easily be invaded by other countries however they are allies with America. America is probably the biggest threat to Canada as it can easily invade it as it is geographically close and is much larger and more powerful than Canada. Being allied with America also protects them from other enemies as America, being the most powerful country at the moment will attack anyone who tries to invade or declare war on Canada. Another country that avoids invasion/attack because of having powerful allies is Bhutan. It is quite prone to attack from neighbouring countries however have become allies with them which ensures their safety.

Trade
Trade is also an important factor in relationships between different countries/societies. Those who have limited resources in one area due to environmental/economical restrictions can trade with other countries to obtain more resources.


Internal Structure
The internal structure of the society is important in the quest to achieve complete sustainability. It is important that the ruling body/ government are interested in the welfare of the society as a whole and are not corrupt. It is also essential that the society is willing to adapt their culture and systems of beliefs in order to address problems in the most efficient way.

Government
The government or ruling body of a society plays a key role in determining how sustainable the society is as they make the major decisions which affect all the other aspects of this framework. It is therefore vital that the government is transparent and not corrupt. It is important that the leaders of the government are looking after the wider societies concerns and not their own. In addition, they need to be willing to adapt to solve problems that befall them.

Flexibility of Culture and Religious beliefs.
In order to be sustainable, the society must have a flexible culture or system of beliefs. They need to be flexible in order to adapt to the environment and to properly address and solve problems that befall them. If a society has a flexible culture they can usually withstand pressure from the environment, war or severe climate change as they develop new ways to manage resources that benefit their current situation. This is similar to one of Jared Diamond’s points in the framework: Response to society. This aspect is linked to every other as a problem in one of the other aspects can be overcome if the leaders/government of the society is willing to change their cultural and religious beliefs to adapt to the crisis at hand.
One example of a society that collapsed due to the inflexibility in their religious beliefs and culture was the Mayans. They were affected by a severe drought and had limited resources. Yet, they continued with their deforestation in order to fulfil religious obligations. If they had adapted their belief system in order to save precious resources they would have been a sustainable civilization. This is similar to the Easter Islanders who also collapsed due to inflexibility in their religious beliefs who created Moai statues by depleting their resources and further exacerbating their fragile ecosystem and this is what ultimately lead to their collapse. Japan is an example of a flexible culture which resolved their problems when in relation to the deforestation problem they had. (For more information refer to Resource Management) They modified their cultural practices and averted possible collapse.

Economy
A stable economy is vital to a societies success. In order to have a successful economy, its investments should be less than its returns or gains in order to make it profitable and it should also have positive terms of trade.

Trade is also an important factor of a successful economy. Those who have limited resources in one area due to environmental/economical restrictions can trade with other countries to obtain more resources.
Other factors that are indicative of a good sustainable economy include
· Low unemployment rate,
· Low expenditure and borrowing
· High availability of basic goods and services.
· Government investment in the industry to help lower the reliance of imported goods.

A society that exemplifies these factors is Singapore as it has a strong and stable economy despite its small size. Despite its lack of natural resources, it concentrates on manufacture and export and remains with budget and trade surpluses. As a result, Singapore has a successful economy which results in it being more sustainable.
Another country that is flourishing in the economical sector is Switzerland. Despite having little natural resources it still has one of the world’s most advanced and prosperous economies. Trade is a key part in Switzerland’s economy as the country is dependent on exporting goods for its income. In addition, it also imports resources to expand the range of goods available in the country.

Conclusion
This is just a brief framework of factors that lead to a societies sustenance for a long period of time. All these factors are interwoven and a society will therefore only achieve total sustainability if all of the factors are sustainable and stable. It is important for countries that are on the verge of collapse now to address their problems in order to achieve sustainability.


References

Internet
"Collapse of the Greenland Norse", 2008, Nathan Axtens, docs.google.com/Doc?id=df4nvf23_9cbqbzfdx
"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
Economy of singapore, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Singapore
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


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