Introduction to Business and Society-Persuasive Essay
Introduction
In his book titled The Short Story of Progress, Ronald Wright analyzes civilizations that have witnessed rapid growth and supremacy. He also elucidates the fatal fall of many such civilizations and enjoins that over-exploiting the environment can lead to ecological catastrophe. By finding answers to questions relating to human origins, reasons for existence and destination of the progress pursuit, Wright warns the society from traversing through progress traps, created by humans themselves, blinded by a short term urge to modernize. “We can go to understand the reckless aspects of human nature and circumvent the danger of arrogant self-destruction, of which there are many warning signs” (O’Leary).
Thesis
This essay attempts to identify the difference between sustainable progress and unmaintainable progress. It provides guidelines for escaping progress traps, by observing and taking key inferences from Ronald Wright’s Short Story of Progress. It is asserted that inventions and innovations which take humans on a mad race for growth are not necessarily navigating them to progress and may in fact result in degradation of the ecosystem. The essay tries to arrive at the quantum of optimal progress that protects the human race from the ill-effects of over development or unprecedented progress.
Organization of essay
This essay differentiates good progress from bad, moral progress from material progress. It proceeds to analyze the factors responsible for progress traps going undetected and applies the teachings of Wright in helping mankind not to fall prey to cultural and societal collapses. Wright’s vivid descriptions of ancient civilizations have been analyzed and both natural and social factors responsible for the mass extinction have been highlighted. . The Victorian ideology of progress has been discussed in light of the fact that many civilizations collapsed and progress could not maintain its trend. It concludes with ways and means to sustain and improve our civilization
What is unsustainable progress?
It is difficult to discern and earmark a civilization as unsustainable, especially in the growing years, when there is rampant growth and prosperity. Wright analyzes the rise and fall of civilizations, right from the Stone Age, to identify reasons for their downward deluge. Over population aggrandizes resource consumption and hence the civilizations lack the ability to regenerate. This is when progress becomes unsustainable and collapses on moral, ecological and social fronts. But what worsens the problem is the lack of awareness of these progress traps. “It is true that humans are tragically slow at becoming aware of self-made threats to survival, as they are often subservient to their own systems for too long” (O’Leary). When innovations resulting from progress become too difficult to be managed, they start devouring the society of its goodness and result in break-down of the entire system.
Progress traps that threaten civilizations
Wright has detailed the fall of Eater Island and Sumer civilizations as progress traps created by progress itself and its mismanagement. These civilizations were not doomed for collapse. There have been years of real progress that have been witnessed by both. Nature has bestowed civilizations with gifts of soil, water and forests. The ancient civilizations also flourished with wealth of human capital. Real progress was brought about by excellence in farming, agriculture, trade, architecture and education.
The progress traps lay hidden in the form of depletion or over use of both natural and social resources. Covetousness for nutritious food, supremacy, wealth and esteem ruined Easter Island and Sumer. “Effective food security was as rare in the past as it is today in the Third World” (Wright). The upheaval can be linked to ecological imbalance and depletion of succulent natural resources. Equally unsustainable were the Roman and Mayan civilizations where population explosion and agrarian failure were the pitfalls. Wright drives home the concept that when progress starts creating problems with no tangible solutions, they become progress traps.
Progress traps are not restricted to ancient civilizations alone. In the film, Surviving Progress, Director Mathieu Roy and Harols Crooks expose the damages caused by overdevelopment with striking footages of real life incidents. The film also contains many interviews from Raquel Taitson-Queiroz, Environmental police officer, Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, Michael Hudson , Economic historian, Jane Goodall, Primatologist and David Suzuki, Geneticist. “Local environmental problems can be exported across the world with modern technologies while placing the global economic ladder on ever shakier ground” (Moser-Katz and Ritchie). Though the society is at the height of technical advancements, it fails to see that this is an era of limits, defined by nature. For example, while the concept of producing energy from algae is a scientific revolution, it is limited by the fact that there could be economic and environmental impacts.
The Pyramid Scheme that brought down civilizations
A Pyramid Sales Scheme in the modern parlance means an illegal and seemingly enticing business scheme where the members attract more members to the network, under the false promise of lucrative returns. The Pyramid collapses when the top of the pyramid has finished feeding off the bottom, for generations. The over-rich center, not able to contain its own success, starts diffusing power to the periphery and collapses. The progress of Rome and Maya are like pyramid schemes, which appear prosperous only during the growing years, oblivious to the intensified use of resources from the peripheries. This suction of natural resources burdens the center with load in excess of carrying capacity, resulting in degeneration of the pyramid.
In pursuit of material progress, both the natural and the human capital were cashed in such alarming proportions that demand exceeded supply manifold. Though hailing from different social systems namely the New World and the Old World, the Mayan and Roman civilizations came into existence at the same time and were quick to rise to prosperity. They were also strong enough to linger effectively even after their cultural collapse. The Mayans were known for their expertise in art and architecture, in advanced arithmetic and accurate astronomical calculations. However they drew extensively on existing sources of wealth and energy. “Such a civilization is therefore most unstable at its peak, when it has reached maximum demand on the ecology” (Wright).
Wright guides us to the presence of a human or a social pyramid and also a natural pyramid, which are less visible than the ones that are huge and are made of stone. The top of the Pyramid grew unmanageable, resulting in doomsday. The factors that spelt disaster included soil erosion, deforestation, health hazards, over population, malnutrition of the masses, inflation, corruption, barbarism, revolts against the political system and concentration of wealth at the top of the pyramid. “Towards the end, all classes seem to have suffered a general decline in health and life expectancy” (Wright).
The Victorian Ideal of Progress
The Victorian Ideal of Progress advocates that change is inherent in mankind and is irreversibly headed towards progress. However, the term material progress cannot be used synonymously with moral progress. Progress is not merely measured by its contributions to improvement. Wright demonstrates the example of hunting, which progressed materially in the Stone Age, in terms of sharper instruments and other advancements in hunting methods. Nevertheless, this material progress only led to the creation of progress traps. When indiscriminate hunting led to extinction of large animals, hunting started becoming unsuccessful, trapped by progress. The Old Stone Age hunter failed to identify the trap. “His very progress, his perfection of weapons and techniques, led directly to the end of hunting as a way of life” (Wright). Wright explains that by adhering to the Victorian ideology of progress, human beings do not realize that they are dangerously close to the jaws of progress traps.
Escaping progress traps
It is possible to escape progress traps and revive before collapse, as did the civilizations of Egypt and China. The Egyptian civilization was enriched by the Nile. Egyptians employed nature-friendly farming methods, compatible with the natural water cycle. The narrow valleys prevented building up of salt. The Chinese civilization arose almost 1000 years later and yet has kept pace with and even surpassed the Egyptian civilization. Even after fall of the Han Dynasty, China revived, by taking cue from Indian methods of paddy and rice cultivation. These civilizations did not build on farmlands and preserved the woods. Egypt was worst hit by rocketing prices of wheat. China was torn by the peasant revolt. However, these civilizations were able to bounce back, despite the inflation, rebellion and social failure. This is because of inbuilt and natural resilience in the ecosystem that could absorb the shocks of depletion of natural resources. Wright rightly refers to this as living within means.
The way that leads to sustainable growth
As conscious and responsible human beings who can protect the present civilization from progress traps, the younger generation is urged to focus on sustainable progress. A progress that does not deplete natural resources or pollute the ecosystem is the need of the hour. “The complexity of modern civilization has obscured an ecological crisis through a finely crafted system of markets and trade” (Moser-Katz and Ritchie). A civilization that is blinded by overdevelopment will not accord priority to moral progress. A change in the thought process of fellow human beings will lead the society towards sustainable growth, in other words, real progress. The ecosystem must be replete with clean air, rich woods and water resources. It is essential that ecological balance is maintained. Stringent legal measures must be enacted to make deforestation as a punishable offence. Disposal of wastes must be carried out in an eco-friendly manner. Technological advancements must not belittle the importance of preservation of dwindling natural resources.
Conclusion
Wright has analyzed famous ancient civilizations that have fallen prey to over development. He has also compared and contrasted them with civilizations that have stood the tests of progress traps. Though some critics have blamed Wright for his pessimistic approach to modernization and technological advancement, it is true that any progress that creates or leads to the rise of environmental and social degradation is only creating progress traps and not real progress that can subsist for ages. The quest for planets safe for human life should continue.
Works Cited
O’Leary, Daniel B. Escaping the Progress Trap. Montréal: Geozone Communications, 2006. Print.
Moser-Katz, Seth, and Justin Ritchie. “Episode #41 // surviving progress.” Podcast Episodes. Extraenvironmentalist, 27 May 2012. Web. 1 Feb. 2017.
Wright, Ronald. A Short History of Progress. Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 2009. Print.
(Wright)
