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  • The Easter Island Crisis

  • On Easter Island there once lived a people

  • who were content with life.

  • They were particularly proud of two things.

  • One of them was the fine canoes they were able to build.

  • They needed the canoes to catch porpoises

  • far out to sea

  • so that they could eat until they were satisfied.

  • The other thing they were proud of,

  • was the fine stone statues that they built to honour the gods.

  • With the aid of logs and ropes the statues were put in place.

  • They felled trees to clear land for cultivation

  • and for building houses,

  • so many trees had to be sacrificed on Easter Island.

  • But you cannot run out of trees, can you?

  • Time went on and the forest and the woods on Easter Island started to shrink.

  • The chieftains on the island became restless.

  • How could they build boats if there were no trees?

  • But an inhabitant said

  • that you can surely build boats from something else.

  • But it is not just our fault”, said another one.

  • The other villages surely down more trees than we do.

  • A third said:

  • "if we stop building statues many will be unemployed

  • and the statues are our religion.

  • We must build higher. Higher than the other villages."

  • They continued to chop down trees

  • but built fewer canoes.

  • When many people starved to death

  • the Easter Island villagers understood

  • that food was more important than statues.

  • How could things go so wrong?

  • Let us do it again and do it right!

  • The statues are more important than the trees!

  • Surely you cannot take down more trees

  • than the number that grow in their place?

  • You ought to understand that the people

  • of the future need just as many trees as we do.

  • What egoists you are!

  • Are you not ashamed of yourselves?

  • Shape up!

  • You seem to lack concern

  • about future generations.

  • If only somebody had told them straight,

  • the Easter Island residents would have fared better.

  • Now we stand before a similar challenge.

  • The rich people in the world

  • have a life style that adversely effects the climate

  • and creates worse conditions for future generations.

  • So do what the Easter Island residents did not do.

  • Tell them off!

  • Fight for political decisions that are good

  • for the people of the future,

  • so that it turns out better this time.

  • Why not support the petition web site

  • Radikaliseraklimatpolitiken.nu for example?

  • And remember, the future generations are already thanking you for your effort!

  • The Story about the Easter Island

  • is adapted from the book Collapse by Jared Diamond.

  • This is a Swedish petition with the aim of influencing Swedish politicians.

  • Please act to influence politicians in your country to take decisions

  • that will decrease emissions in your country.

The Easter Island Crisis

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