Easter Island Decline

The Once-ler was driven by the short-term benefit he saw in the truffula forest. The behavior of the Once-ler can be rationalized by the statement Garrett Hardin wrote, “As a rational being, each herdsman seeks to maximize his gain” (1244). While the Once-ler was driven by short-term benefit he was blinded to the long-term effects of his action. The people of Easter Island had similar circumstances. They too were blind to the long-term effects of their actions. The people saw great spiritual value in the Moai, as stated by PBS’s quote, “believed by most archaeologists to

However, how they got to this is because they had used up all their natural resources. Such as in the Lorax the Once-ler cut down all of the trees to create his Thneed. That there was not anymore trees. By this there was not photosynthesis happening so the air was bad. On Easter Island it was that there was nothing to eat, because they ate all of the natural resources up. So the people resulted in eating each other.

Both Easter Island and The Lorax have many things in common , one similarity is overuse of resources. In the Lorax the once-ler invaded and cut down all the Truffula trees to make a thread for universal use. While on Easter Island the native people cut down all the palm trees to make canoes but to manly make boards to move there giant statues around that were made out of stone. Both the Lorax and Easter Island used up all their trees so production of their products had to stop, however they do have their differences.

In the article by Jared Diamond, many interesting theories are discussed about Easter Island’s history and decline. Diamond makes connections to the environmental challenges we face today and he compares the catastrophe of Easter Island to our current over consumption of natural resources. While this article makes for an interesting read, much of it is offered from a single perspective and little counter evidence is offered. The author writes in a way that could engage a non-academic audience who may not be interested in counter evidence, or proper referencing. The article lacks credibility due to its narrow scope and conversational diction. At the root of this discussion however, is the notion that the Rapa Nui people were

Farming in Hawai‘i has always been an essential part of life, and sustainability. It has kept us well-nourished, in shape, and grounded to our ‘āina. Through farming, Hawaiians were able to learn the way of their land. They knew the importance of creating life when life was needed, but they didn’t have to modify it, in order to sustain themselves. Everything was done according to the schedule of the elements, not according to the schedule of the people. Over the past few decades, farming has been modified to fit a more demanding, productive and higher income society. Farming in Hawai‘i has changed from traditional, to simply just a mass production of food. The amount of time we allow our food to grow decreases with every new innovation. With Genetically

     The people of Easter Island came over to their new land, and recognized that it was ideal for them to settle. The land was lush; the sea was providing a bounty of fresh fish, and other seafood. The earth was dark brown, and very rich. Everything was just the way it needed to be to support a growing community of people.

The foundation of any food system includes natural resources and the knowledge and skill to manipulate them with technology and labor. The economic ability to apply each of these is also paramount to the functionality of that system. “Long Island’s unique ecological and socio-economic environments are the result of our region’s mix of topography, climate, land use, history, traditions, government policies, and economic practices.”(“LI Food System Report Card” 2014) Researching the deep history of this bioregion confirmed my suspicions that human impact poses the greatest strain on this food system.

While the original way still makes sense, there could be a time when they ran out of seeds and needed a different way to farm. This improves farming in a sense of being able to use different resources based on different needs. With these farming developments, scientists are given the ability to improving what gives the people life: food. Which can give the idea of scientists as a provider to the people. Through research, science was given the power of improvement upon the island to create a better quality of life to the people.

The humans living in that period were unable to supplement their previous diet, which was rich in protein, and their culture was devastated as a result; this then, is an example of progress (better hunting methods) that led to the failure of an entire culture as its problems were left unsolved. In his third chapter, Wright examines two particular civilizations that thrived but eventually declined due to resource depletion. What is interesting is the similarities that can be drawn from the examples of Easter Island and Sumer, like the widespread ignorance of the masses to actively prevent the abrasion of their land, the perpetual idleness of people to not do anything even when there was enough time to stop the tragic collapse, to current-day situations of people who even flat-out deny climate change and claim it to be part of the left-wing agenda. On Easter Island, it was over-logging that led to their collapse, since as their ecosystem withered away, logging became scarce, and wars broke out for those sparse resources. In Sumer similar environmental destruction occurred (i.e. overgrazing, land clearing), which should alarm the world population of today of what may become of the high levels

There are many theories surrounding Easter Island. One popular theory is that the rats caused the island to collapse by eating on the plants. Rats may have hurt the food source but Polynesians also ate them to survive and the finding of rat bones proves just how much they ate them to stay alive. Another theory surrounding Easter Island is the Long Ears vs Short Ears theory. This theory suggests that there was a fight between the short eared and long eared people of Easter Island. There a good deal of theories with little evidence and not that many scientists backing up most of the

collapsed heavily in their heartlands, where ecological demand had been highest, but left remnant societies who descendants have come down to modern times” (102). Again, Wright paints a very bleak portrait of progress and human consumption. However, he again fails to connect two very important dots. First, progress has led to an increased understanding of how the world works, especially agriculturally. While our current knowledge is not exhaustive, we have a better understanding of how not to strip the land of its nutrients. How not to cause erosion in the fields. Is it not possible that progress has led to a more clear understanding of farming and environmental issues? Did the people of Easter Island and Sumer know the things that we know? I doubt it.

How did such a small remote island become inhabited? Well the first human inhabitants of Isla de Pascua (the Spanish name for Easter Island; its Polynesian name is Rapa Nui) are believed to have arrived on Easter Island in a party of organized emigrants around 300-400 A.D. Tradition underlines

Easter Island: is an island located in the South Pacific, part of Chile. Considered one of the most removed inhabited islands in the world. the island famous for many Balmway , a rocky statues now along the coastlines. Easter Island have removed hundreds of exotic statues similar, the scientists could not yet explain the riddle of this similar statues spread everywhere on the island, especially on the

The gist of this lecture was of how the demise of many historical civilizations is related to significant influences from environmental changes. John H, Chafee lecture began by identifying why societies collapses and states that there is overwhelming evidence that it consists of self-inflicted ecological suicides and inability to master their environmental problems. He specifically goes in depth to describe the mystery of Easter island and how the actions of the islanders such as the elimination of the forest and the birds set of chain reactions which only further fueled the seeds of revolution that would come and play an active role in the society's collapse. His in depth examination of Easter island served a purpose of helping him show how

Geologically, Easter Island is one of the youngest inhabited territories on the earth. Its inhabitants, the Rapu Nui, have endured epidemics or disease, famines, slave raids, civil war, cannibalism, and have seen their population crash on more than one occasion. Easter Island is famous for its statues, the Moai. Easter Island is a Chilean territory located in the south eastern Pacific Ocean. It has a population of six thousand and has an area of 163.6 km2 .Easter Island is famous for its 200 stone statues. The Moai as they’re known were made by the local people from basalt stone picks and hard volcano ash. They were made to show remembrance to their gods and ancestors. I will be exploring what caused the downfall of Easter island.