Ronald Wright, novelist, essayist, historian and philosopher, whose studies in history and archaeology reveal disturbing patterns in the rise and collapse of human societies – patterns that we are repeating today.

Archaeology, says Ronald Wright – who began as an archaeologist – “is perhaps the best tool we have for looking ahead” because it allows us to see patterns in the rise and fall of human societies over the ages. It tells us “that people all over the world, time and again, have made similar advances and mistakes.”

When societies fail – and almost all do, sooner or later – the story is remarkably consistent, as Wright points out in A Short History of Progress (2004). We see failing societies “sticking to entrenched beliefs and practices, robbing the future to pay the present, spending the last reserves of natural capital on a reckless binge of excessive wealth and glory.”

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This interview is part of The Green Interview, an archive of resources pertinent to an understanding of the future of life on earth and humanity’s roles and responsibilities in sustaining it. The archive was produced by the late Silver Donald Cameron and Chris Beckett during the 10 years before Cameron’s death in 2020. Through the efforts of family and friends and the generosity of private donors, The Green Interview has been made freely available to all who would find it of benefit. Its permanent home is with the Science, Environment and Economy Archives of Library and Archives Canada.

Books by Silver Donald Cameron: http://www.silverdonaldcameron.ca/wri...

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