The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain neutrality in times of moral crisis.

~ Dante Alighieri ~

I’ve been reading book after book trying to understand where the world was, where it is now, and where it is going. I finally discovered Diamond’s new book. Now that I’ve finished reading it, I have a better context for understanding people, nations, and the world, as well as a framework in which to consider the challenges we all face.

It begins by reminding us that the Chinese character for crisis consists of the characters that represent danger and opportunity. Both await individuals, nations, and the world as we all evolve.

The author begins with individual crises, based on his own life experience, and 12 factors that influence the outcome of a person’s crisis. The first two of these factors are “the recognition that one is in crisis” and “the acceptance of personal responsibility to do something.” He then proceeds to list 12 somewhat similar but somewhat different factors that influence outcomes for nations facing crisis, including “national flexibility” and “national core values.”

Then consider various countries, as well as the factors on the list that affected each nation for better or for worse. He mainly chose countries in which he has lived, learned their language and got acquainted with the citizens. Some crises followed a single event and others unfolded over a period of time. At the end of the book, consider the crises the world is facing and how factors might influence the future outcomes of the world and its people.

The United States has enormous advantages in terms of relevant positive factors. However, it raises four fundamental problems: “the accelerating deterioration of political commitment, the state of our elections, the economic inequality of Americans, and the decline in American investment in human capital, including the well-being of all our people.”

It concludes with a consideration of world problems, including nuclear weapons, global climate change, the depletion of global resources, and global inequality in living standards. For him, these are problems that affect the human population of the Earth, which raises the real possibility of extinction of our species.

Treat all of these questions in well-reasoned detail. Although many of these problems are complex, Diamond presents them in a way that the attentive reader will easily understand. At first glance, our future looks dire. Yet many people and nations have emerged from their crises with more manageable lives and societies. All is not lost, but we have a lot of work to do. I hope you are willing to do your part.