Past Present Future Where Are We Going? Societal Collapse – The Modern Age
53 snips
Mar 1, 2026 
Luke Kemp, author and researcher on societal collapse and geopolitics, outlines how states grow, centralize and sometimes unravel. He traces cycles of rise and decline, rethinks famous collapses like Easter Island, and contrasts ancient polities with modern imperial systems. The conversation explores what is genuinely new about modern states, democracy’s role and why empires today contract rather than simply collapse.
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Scale Limits Win Over Malthusian Doom
- Early state collapse is driven by limits in scale and control rather than simple Malthusian resource shortages.
- Luke Kemp points to technologies of control like writing, horses, and bureaucracy capping early empires' size and stability.
Power Corrupts Leaders And Drives Overexpansion
- Power often corrupts leaders biologically and psychologically, increasing risk-taking and overexpansion.
- Kemp cites neuroscience and social psychology showing elites become less risk-averse and overestimate their abilities once elevated.
Easter Island Collapse Was Colonization Not Pure Ecocide
- The Jared Diamond Easter Island narrative of ecocide is likely wrong in key details.
- Kemp notes satellite imagery and genetics show stable population until European contact, indicating collapse came from disease and slavery not environmental overshoot.
