The Collapse of Western Civilisation

By Janusz Meyerhoff

It’s not a question “if”, it’s the question “when” something will collapse! What will come to an end first: overpopulation, economic collapse, shortage of crude oil, unpolluted air, uncontaminated land, pure water, natural resources, etc? However, something eventually will come to an end. Another danger is when some country or terrorist groups will use the atomic bomb. The global warming is already occurring, what consequences it will bring is anybody’s guess!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781300231899

Book preview

The Collapse of Western Civilisation

Janusz Meyerhoff

THE COLLAPSE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION

COPYRIGHT

Janusz Meyerhoff

ISBN 978-1-300-23189-9

2012 First EBook Edition

INTRODUCTION

Every few months some preacher is announcing another day of the end of the world. Then this specific day comes… and nothing happens! Now the most popular date is the 21 of December 2012, the end of Mayas 13th Baktun. Also belief of Hindu religion is that the end of Kali Yuga epoch is near. Many other religions believe in cycles, some hundred thousand years long. Nostradamus predictions are very popular; however they can be applied to almost every era of history. All these predictions are based on faith, not on reason.

But what is the meaning of the end or the world?

1. Planet earth will be completely destroyed.

2. A catastrophe which will exterminate all life on Earth. 

3. A disaster which will annihilate all human beings.

4. The collapse of our civilization due to human actions.

This book is about number 4.

The disappearance of civilizations can have several causes:

1. Natural causes: droughts, earthquakes, volcanoes explosions, tsunamis, asteroids or comet impacts, etc. very little can be done about them.

2. Human actions: overpopulation, the collapse of   the economy, the contamination, the exhaustion of natural resources, atomic bomb, etc. – all of them could be prevented by intelligence and common sense.

THE EXPLOSIVE INCREASE OF POPULATION

It took humanity 150 thousand years of evolution to reach world populations of one billion at the beginning of the 19th century. Later on bigger increase of population started because of industrial revolution. By the year 1950 the number of people on Earth reached 2.4 billion. However, from that date the demographic explosion was just mind-boggling. In the year 2011, around seven billions inhabit our planet. Why did that happened?

Around 1950 the conventional agriculture employed method like crop rotation, use of natural fertilizers and instead of tractor employed horsepower, which did not pollute the air, neither contaminates the soil. Of course this method of agriculture production gave a fraction of today’s crop only.

However new technology introduced after the year 1950 based on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, genetically altered crops and massive use of agricultural machinery multiplied the production of foodstuff (So called Green Revolution).

But this Green Revolution has very bad side effects. It contaminates water, destroys the fertile top soil, pollutes the air we breathe, annihilates ecosystems, and kills enormous number of different species, etc. - by using chemicals obtained from hydrocarbons: crude oil, gas or coal. It should be called Green Catastrophe! This system increases production but the price is very high.

In consequence what we are eating now is not