Fascinating short TED Talk by Jared Diamond on why societies collapse. He cites five factors: resource depletion, climate change, relations with neighboring friendly societies, relations with neighboring hostile societies, and political, economic and social factors enabling society to enact change.

He also addresses a common question about collapse, which is why don’t people see the signs of collapse and do something about it. His answer is that a society can’t save itself when the short-term interests of the ruling elites conflict with the long-term interests of the society, particularly when the elites are able to insulate themselves from what is happening. Diamond warns that this condition is particularly applicable to the United States.

Makes you think. Watch it here:

SLATE recent republished a Q&A from Quora that makes for some real interesting reading. A reader asked, “If Every U.S. State Declared War Against the Others, Which Would Win?”

Jon Davis, U.S. Marine sergeant and veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, provides a long, thoughtful and detailed answer here.

Now somebody should sign this guy up to do a book.