What does Diamond see as an important lesson we can draw from the Dutch polder system?

In
Collapse: How Societies Choose to
Fail or Succeed Jared Diamond argues that
the Dutch polder system
provides us with an example of environmental sustainability through

cooperation.

A polder is a piece of low-lying land reclaimed from the
sea. In
the Netherlands, about 20% of the land has been reclaimed in his way
so it is important to have
an effective system in place to ensure long-term
environmental sustainability. And this system
depends for its effectiveness
on people in different polders working together to ensure that no
one drowns.
It isn't the case that rich people live safely on top of dikes while the poor
eke
out a parlous existence on the polders below sea-level; if the dikes and
the pumps and all the
other crucial elements of the polder system fail, then
everyone will drown, rich and poor
alike.

Diamond holds up
the polder system as a paradigm example of how we
should all work together to
stave off environmental disaster. Far too often, especially in the
West, we
tend not to notice the damaging environmental impact that our actions can have on
other
parts of the world. But as Diamond points out, such an attitude is a
recipe for disaster. Unless
we acknowledge the fundamental interconnectedness
of humankind, as the Dutch do in the operation
of their polder system, then
there is every danger that the Earth will hurtle towards
environmental
catastrophe at a truly alarming rate.

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