THE MAGIC WATERLILLY

There once was a magic waterlilly. It drifted all alone in a moat, that completely surrounded an old, medieval castle. Why was the water plant magical? The waterlilly split up during the night. So after one night, there were 2 waterlillies, the next morning 4, the day after that 8 and so on, and so on. After 20 nights half of the moat was felled with these beautiful flowers. The question is: How long will it take, before the lillies cover all the water.

Think about it; the question is crucial to decide, wether you are part of the problem or part of the solution. When your answer is 40, you don't understand the consequences of exponential growth. A method widely used in economy, banking and enterprise. Economy is based on growth, like the waterlilly is based on growth. Exponential growth, which means that the moat will be filled with waterlillies the next morning! An economy based on exponential growth needs disasters and throwbacks, to start all over again.

But we reached a limit. Oil for instance is getting scarce. The reserves are limited, while in the prognoses, we can grow on forever. It means that the oilcompanies are willing to risk enormous environmental disasters, to fulfill our short-time needs. Those same companies are having a huge profit, due to global warming. The North Pole-region can be exploited and polluted as well. Having no alternative, at least not one that they know of, citizens are manipulated to accept an environmental collapse, as a result of our behavior.

Let me illustrate my point, with a Chinese fairy-tale. The emperor had promised the inventor of the game of chess, that he would fulfill any wish. The emperor saw the importance of the invention and the pr-qualities of his generosity. The inventor seemed a simple man and the emperor invited him near his throne and asked him to utter his wish.

Slowly formulating the man said, while producing his chessboard.

“I wish me one grain of wheat on the first quadrant of the board, 2 on the next, 4 on the third ..” His Royal Highness interrupted his guest and said: “I will fulfill your wish. Come back in a week.”

Shortly after the inventor left the palace, the treasurer of the Emperor came and said, that the wish could not be fulfilled! After a while, the wheat designed to a quadrant, would be equal to the production of wheat of the whole Empire. In total the board had 64 quadrants. The last amounts would be astronomical.

The Emperor sat down for a while, after which he ordered the inventor and his family to be killed. In that way, the belief in the supreme powers of the Emperor would not be challenged. Machiavelli would have agreed.