Chapt 17

Sumner's passion and empathy for our future world is a relief - if only we had a few Sumner's out there who are in charge of making the big decisions we might be better off. I agree with most of what he says and what he cites from Diamond's work, but I'm not so sure of his analogy of civilization 'falling off the cliff.' I think the reality will be instead a slow decline into the rough, dark surf below. We've already begun our decent down the cliff long ago. If human beings have proven anything 20,000 years its that we're amazingly resiliant and resourceful, if not stubber and pig-headed. In the end, like Sumner, I agree we'll come out fine in the end, although how much we lose in the process will be the key factor.