Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe

Doom is an interesting hodgepodge of thoughts about catastrophe. It takes as its impetus, the Covid-19 pandemic. In physical impact, covid-19 is much more similar to the 1950s Asian flu than the 1910s Spanish flu. It seemed to primarily impact the old and did not spread extremely fast or kill a large number of people. However, it was unknown. The reactions were extreme. Leaders were criticized on all sides for doing too little or too much. The author argues, however, that the leaders are primarily figureheads. Most of what takes place is controlled by the undercurrents of society.

The book goes through many previous cases of "doom". There were previous plagues and falls of empires. We tend to differentiate between "natural" pandemics and "human caused" wars. However, they are often quite similar. The natural disasters are often exacerbated by human actions. The wars and conflicts, on the other hand, are often driven by the undercurrents of society. This is the opposite of the "big important person" theory. Here the leader has some influence, but a lot of it is controlled by the movement of society. Disasters such as "famine" are almost always accompanied by government incompetence. A well functioning government can usually ensure that people are fed. There are also cases of people causing damage by working around bureaucracy. (Insurance wouldn't pay out for earthquake damage, but would for fire, so there is incentive to set fires after an earthquake.) There were a number of factors, almost all due to human actions that lead to the deadliest airplane crash (in the canary islands.)

The end off the book has an exploration of different books about disaster and post apocalyptic situations. Books from 1984 to the Three Body Problem explore various concerns that we have in our society. China and the west are engaged in a new cold war. The government institutions that exist are getting bigger and bigger, but not necessarily better at dealing with "unknowns". New unknown catastrophes will continue to occur.