Commentary How does a society collapse? According to Joseph Tainter, a renowned anthropologist, societies collapse when they display a profound loss of sociopolitical complexity. But, I argue, there is another reason why societies collapse; it involves self-reliance, or lack thereof. The more a country relies on another country for support, the greater the chance of collapse. Self-sustainability is the key to progress. This might sound like an obvious point to make, but it’s one that many countries around the world have repeatedly failed to heed, including the United States. Today, from South America to Southeast Asia, import dependency reigns supreme. “Dependency” being the operative word. Take Nepal, for example, a country I have spent plenty of time in (my fiancée comes from the capital, Kathmandu). The Nepalese economy is heavily dependent on imports of basic materials, including coal briquettes and ovoids, as well as a whole host of other solid …