A couple of centuries ago, on what was probably an otherwise unremarkable day, a member of the Rapa Nui people cut down the last tree on Easter island.
I wonder what he thought as it came crashing to the ground. Perhaps, “Well, it’s the last one anyway, so what the hell?”
Did he wonder, fleetingly, if the word for tree would disappear from his people’s language? After all, of what use is a name for something that no longer exists.
Or maybe he thought, “It’ll be alright. Somebody will figure something out. We’ll be okay.”
But it wasn’t alright. And within a few generations, the island was unable to support a community.
What led me to think about this was an article about how the G7 Countries still subsidize the fossil fuel industry to the tune of $100 Billion a year. I wonder if those governments too are thinking, “It’ll be alright. Somebody will figure something out. We’ll be okay.”
Meanwhile, I wonder how many degrees those government ministers have between them. I’m guessing, quite a lot, and probably from prestigious universities.
And yet… and yet… they seem to be no smarter than that islander who cut down that last tree all those years ago.
It’s thought that the Rapa Nui people destroyed their forests to make logs to move the giant Easter Island heads into position, and to get them vertical. So, they were driven, we believe, by religious fervor.
I rather think the fossil fuel industry folk, and the governments that support them, are driven by the same motivation. But they worship no all-powerful being. Their gods are so much more banal.
Money.
And Power.
Meanwhile, I wonder what words our grandchildren, and their children, will no longer have a use for.
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