I've Always Been Interested In A Lot

Not Until The Beginning Of The 20th Century Did Europe's Urban Populations Finally Become Self-sustaining: Before Then, Constant Immigration Of Healthy Peasants From The Countryside Was Necessary To Make Up For The Constant Deaths Of City Dwellers From Crowd Diseases.

For Anyone Inclined To Caricature Environmental History As 'environmental Determinism,' The Contrasting Histories Of The Dominican Republic And Haiti Provide A Useful Antidote. Yes, Environmental Problems Do Constrain Human Societies, But The Societies' Responses Also Make A Difference.

In Much Of The Rest Of The World, Rich People Live In Gated Communities And Drink Bottled Water. That's Increasingly The Case In Los Angeles Where I Come From. So That Wealthy People In Much Of The World Are Insulated From The Consequences Of Their Actions.

A Blueprint For Disaster In Any Society Is When The Elite Are Capable Of Insulating Themselves.

Lest Those Islands Still Seem To You Too Remote In Space And Time To Be Relevant To Our Modern Societies, Just Think About The Risks... Of Our Increasing Globalization And Increasing Worldwide Economic Interdependence.