Environment and Society
Maladaptive resource management in prior and present societies
The situation with the Vikings on Greenland gives a good example of this. Trading walrus ivory with Europeans was an important part of the Economy. The iron was important for the Vikings in fighting against the Inuit people. The Europeans essentially started to trade for elephant ivory instead. There were good growing conditions in some western parts of Greenland in the summers and they lived off animal products, i.e. pastoralists. During the period the Vikings were there they became Christians and landowners and the church controlled most of the land. The Vikings disappeared in the 14-1500s. There was a middle ice age in northern Europe so that the summers was shorter and it was harder to keep the animals. They didn’t want to adapt to become hunter gatherers for several reasons. They where superior people and wouldn’t give up on their beliefs. If they did as the Inuit people, the elite (church) would loose its power. Religion made interaction with the Inuit people illegal and the Vikings where natural conservative.
With the Easter Island Polynesians there was a similar development. When they arrived in 400-900 AD there was plenty of vegetation and animal life. The tree resources where important because they used the wood to make boats and harpoons to go deep fishing since there was no corral reef around the island. With the boats they could also escape to other islands. After some time when the population grew and clans where formed, they started to raise erected statues for different reasons. One important reason was that it was a competition and a signal of group strength to have great statues. This reflects what we read in Kasser’s book on materialism. It also reflects the big houses we build today in the suburbs. It is an inefficient use of resources. The Polynesians had to use wood to raise the statues and there was no higher authority to create policies on how much wood they could take. If
The situation with the Vikings on Greenland gives a good example of this. Trading walrus ivory with Europeans was an important part of the Economy. The iron was important for the Vikings in fighting against the Inuit people. The Europeans essentially started to trade for elephant ivory instead. There were good growing conditions in some western parts of Greenland in the summers and they lived off animal products, i.e. pastoralists. During the period the Vikings were there they became Christians and landowners and the church controlled most of the land. The Vikings disappeared in the 14-1500s. There was a middle ice age in northern Europe so that the summers was shorter and it was harder to keep the animals. They didn’t want to adapt to become hunter gatherers for several reasons. They where superior people and wouldn’t give up on their beliefs. If they did as the Inuit people, the elite (church) would loose its power. Religion made interaction with the Inuit people illegal and the Vikings where natural conservative.
With the Easter Island Polynesians there was a similar development. When they arrived in 400-900 AD there was plenty of vegetation and animal life. The tree resources where important because they used the wood to make boats and harpoons to go deep fishing since there was no corral reef around the island. With the boats they could also escape to other islands. After some time when the population grew and clans where formed, they started to raise erected statues for different reasons. One important reason was that it was a competition and a signal of group strength to have great statues. This reflects what we read in Kasser’s book on materialism. It also reflects the big houses we build today in the suburbs. It is an inefficient use of resources. The Polynesians had to use wood to raise the statues and there was no higher authority to create policies on how much wood they could take. If