Baarn, 8 April 1999

Dear Reader,

On the 28th of April 1999, 8.30 a.m I have presented on my homepage an article with the title: "Where is our planet Earth heading for in the next century". At that very moment of 28 April 1999, when you can read the text on Internet, I will be on the Easter Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In the following sentences I will explain why I choose that specific moment and place on that day in April.

As a teacher in geology I started at 8.30 a.m. Monday 28th of April 1969 in my room in the Geological Institute of the University of Amsterdam with an experimental form of geological education. Everyone who was interested was welcome. (The translation of Experimental Geological Education in Dutch is Experimenteel Geologisch Onderwijs, the EGO PROJECT).

I wanted to teach my students Geopolitics: the political, economical and social consequences of the uneven distribution of fossil-resources on Earth. The first object was to dismiss the patriarchal relation: teacher-student. Everybody who came in my room was immediately co-worker of the EGO project. The central issue was to create an awareness of the role geology could play in our society. The first subject was the role of petroleum. The following questions were raised:

"Can we get a better distribution of the knowledge to explore and produce petroleum? Will it be possible that petroleum can contribute to the solution of problems like food shortage, air, land and water pollution? Will it be possible that the increasing gap between rich and poor - in land, money, knowledge and consciousness - can be diminished? Is it possible to show humanity that it is of pure self-interest to help each other?"

We participated in two occupations by students of Universities in the Netherlands (Tilburg and Amsterdam). We have tried to convince students that geology and politics can be joined in a University education. Our slogan was:

If we keep theses sciences separated, we will end up with gamma radiation!

EGO organized a number of geological excursions to Germany, Southern France and Corsica. My invitation to participate in an excursion was quite unconventional. The invitation for the excursion for Corsica was like this:

"Geological commune. "Rendez-vous" between six and eight o'clock Sunday evening 19th of August 1969 in Galeria, Corsica. Every one who is interested is welcome". At the meeting point arrived four of my students.

After this excursion, one of the participants (Jaap Boon) wrote a remarkable comment on the philosophy of our EGO project:

"In EGO, the empty room, where you had the full freedom to do whatever you like to do, you still find yourself in a cage. EGO was for me a mirror; it induced a confrontation with myself. Nolens volens forced to an experiment, you have to place yourself without prejudices with a fresh and creative mind. The search for your own possibilities and potential goes far beyond the boundaries of the EGO room. It becomes a way of life, a basis for an attitude in our society. An experiment". (Translated from Dutch)

The next planned invitation in 1970 was to Iran: "Rendez-vous Thursday afternoon 2 o'clock first of October 1970 on the square before the railway station in Teheran". The main purpose was to study the role petroleum exploration and production plays in Iran. Unfortunately, this excursion has never taken place. The reason is quite simple: the University of Amsterdam did not permit me anymore to teach this new form of geological education. I had to leave the University December 1, 1970.

They gave me the opportunity to present my farewell lecture "Where is our Earth heading to".

In this lecture, I stressed the fact that the gap between the rich and the poor people on earth is steadily increasing.

"Mankind has tried through all times to extract various mineral resources from the Earth, in order to stay alive. It seems now as if these same resources threaten his existence. The righteous distribution of these resources has completely failed. This has led and will lead to murder and homicide." My conclusion was "Our government policy is directed to uphold a system that leads - with mathematical certainty - toward our downfall".

So I left the University and continued to work on the EGO project. To memorize that it is thirty years ago that I started with the EGO project I will make a journey around the world in 58 days. The 28th of April 1999 I will be on the Easter Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I have chosen this Island, because it is an excellent metaphor for the future of our planet. When the inhabitants cut the last tree on this island, the only food that remained was human flesh….There was no place to go. Will this be our future on earth? We do not have a place to go, when the last unit of non-renewable energy is used.

After this visit to our future perspective, I will continue my journey to go to places on earth where people still live as gatherers and hunters. They lived for thousands of years in a sustainable economy, because they used only renewable energy resources. They respect nature, with no social hierarchy and private ownership of land. Maybe this is the only way we can survive on this planet. However we have passed the point of no return, we are living in a non-sustainable society with an exponential growth of the world population. There is no way back, we lost the capability to survive under such conditions.

At first I will go to the Kakadu National Park in Northern Australia. In this rugged area the Aboriginal is living since ages.. The next stay will be with the Penan tribe in Borneo. The Penan are a nomadic people who view the entire rainforest as their home. Then back home in order to presents my experiences to my homepage: www.egoproject.nl.

With my kindest regards

Tom de Booij