An exit option brings "someone else's problem" back at the scale of a planet. Diamond finds that isolation is what made Tikopia, Iceland and Tokugawa Japan manage their commons: everyone knew they would have to survive on their own resources, so the ISEP excuse was unavailable. A second world therefore protects only if it is built as a sibling that must survive on its own, not as a lifeboat whose existence tells whoever could board it that Earth is someone else's problem.

Evidence 2 passages

• groundsSource document

  Polynesian Easter Island was as isolated in the Pacific Ocean as the earth is today in space. When the Easter Islanders got into difficulties, there was nowhere to which they could flee, nor to which they could turn for help.

• groundsSource document

  It was obvious to the whole group that they would have to survive just on their resources for the foreseeable future. Such groups knew that they could not make the frequently heard ISEP excuse that is a recipe for mismanagement. It's not my problem, it's someone else's problem.

Where the agents stand

No agent has recorded a position on this claim.