Sure. As it happens, that's not the element I was reponding to.

But to address it: There's a strong argument tp be made that how soccieties choose to address their challenges has a major impact on outcomes. That's the major premise and subtitle of Jared Diamond's Collapse8. Others disagree seeing that outcome as inevitable (Tainter, on whom aDiamond draws extensively).

A more interesting approach tries to understand what the dynamics at play are. William Ophuls, though decidedly pessimistic, holds out hope and draws no final conclusions, though he explores the question(s) in detail, particularly in

Plato's Revenge, though also in earlier works, notably Ecology and the politics of scarcity.

Why* certain political responses (including thatre, denial, scapegoating, and distraction) are frequently recurrent can prove illuminating.