Easter Island: a lesson to be learned 3825

DTJ

There's plenty of evidence though of things getting worse. And it's not the first time...

Easter Island example... "Greed and the desire for social prestige dictated decisions." (I guess

the Hungry Lion was there too.)

'The article on Easter Island moved me a lot. I could not understand how some people do not see the obvious parallels between what their society did and what we are currently doing to the environment. Easter Island was a virtually inaccessible island in the Pacific Ocean that was at one point in history populated by a flourishing civilization. As

Ponting describes, Easter Island is "a striking example of the dependence of human societies on their environment and of the consequences of irreversibly damaging that environment." The people were originally Polynesian and arrived at the island by traveling in double canoes. They created a very advanced society with access to only

a very limited range of resources. The climate of Easter Island made it

difficult to grow most plants, and most of the animals on the island had been brought by the people. With time though, the people figured out a simple diet that allowed a large amount of free time leftover. The people prospered and created a system of family clans each of which

had their own specific religious shrines. Rituals and ceremonies became

central to life on the island and as it was manifested in their communities, required the building of huge platforms and statues. Unfortunately, the people on Easter Island failed to consider their effect on the delicate ecosystem. They completely deforested the island

and were left with even less resources than they had started with. The separate clans had to guard what little resources they had and became engaged in continual combat. They people even had to turn to cannibalism. The groups eventually unable to sustain themselves or the environment around them.

The story of Easter Island is a shocking one, but what most affected me

were the similarities between then and now. Resources were used without

regards to the future and how they were damaging the environment. Greed

and the desire for social prestige dictated decisions. I would not doubt that there were people on Easter Island who questioned what the inhabitants were doing to the environment, but their voices went unheard. According to Ponting's article, it appears as though the deforestation happened very suddenly, but I cannot believe that the people on the island did not notice the dwindling amount of trees growing on the island. Despite this, they continued to cut them down for their own selfish needs. This is incredibly similar to what groups of people have done throughout history. We used wood and deforested extensively even after we realized it was becoming scarce. Only the economics of the situation caused people to slow down and it seems like

we will run into the same problems with oil. I wonder what it will take

for humans to realize the damage they are causing the environment and have this be enough impetus to change the way we run our society.'