Paradise for Sale: A Parable of Nature

by Carl N. McDaniel, John M. Gowdy

The grim history of Nauru Island, a small speck in the Pacific Ocean halfway between Hawaii and Australia, represents a larger story of environmental degradation and economic dysfunction. For more than 2,000 years traditional Nauruans, isolated from the rest of the world, lived in social and ecological stability. But in 1900 the discovery of phosphate, an absolute requirement for agriculture, catapulted Nauru into the world market. Colonial imperialists who occupied Nauru and mined it for its lucrative phosphate resources devastated the island, which forever changed its native people. In 1968 Nauruans regained rule of their island and immediately faced a conundrum: to pursue a sustainable future that would protect their truly valuable natural resources―the biological and physical integrity of their island―or to mine and sell the remaining forty-year supply of phosphate and in the process make most of their home useless. They did the latter.

In a captivating and moving style, the authors describe how the island became one of the richest nations in the world and how its citizens acquired all the ills of modern life: obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension. At the same time, Nauru became 80 percent mined-out ruins that contain severely impoverished biological communities of little value in supporting human habitation.

This sad tale highlights the dire consequences of a free-market economy, a system in direct conflict with sustaining the environment. In presenting evidence for the current mass extinction, the authors argue that we cannot expect to preserve biodiversity or support sustainable habitation, because our economic operating principles are incompatible with these activities.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Environment, Science

240 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1999

Reviews

[Ed Lehman · Rating 2 out of 5]

When discussing the island and islanders, this book serves as a valuable insight. When it goes into screeds about climate change, soil erosion and environmental degradation in general (not talking about the portions related to Nauru), I had the impression that the author had found a place to publish his Masters thesis...and it isn't a good fit.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the most notable aspects of the contemporary left, and that includes the authors of this book, is an appalling lack of self-awareness that would allow the readers to rise above the hypocrisy that all too many works end up in. The authors want to use Nauru as an example of error and use a supposed crisis in Nauru--a crisis that is not felt by the people of Nauru, much to the annoyance of the authors who want the reader to fear environmental catastrophe and anthropogenic climate change--as a means to encourage social change. Unfortunately, the authors' strident anti-Western and anti-Christian mentalities only serve to demonstrate that they are a slave to their own myths that they have insight and wisdom that lead them to think themselves to be more aware about how to live than those they are writing about and writing for. This combination of ignorance and arrogance makes for a frustrating read, and in general tends to be a feature of leftist writings in general, regardless of the subject matter that this flawed and mistaken worldview seeks to comment on. Those who lack insight are blind guides no matter where they attempt to lead others.

This book is about two hundred pages or so and is divided into several large chapters that contain material that should not be unfamiliar. The book begins with a list of illustrations and acknowledgements, though it is unclear why a sane person would want to be acknowledged by the authors or anyone of their ilk. After that the book begins with a prelude that, like the coda at the end of the book's main material, bookends the authors' speculative framework about supposed environmental wisdom in a frame story of the authors' own trip to the island, which was inspired (predictably and lamentably) by a misguided New York Times article on the island. In between these the prelude and coda are several chapters that provide a hostile view of Nauru's environmental stewardship and compare it to other examples cherrypicked from history. The authors start with a view of Nauru as a pleasant island in the period before and at the beginning of the Western knowledge, providing the "myths of pre-Western and pre-Christian and pre-Capitalist paradise" that are necessary for accounts like this one (1). This is followed by a chapter on the supposed progress that came to Nauru (2) as well as the supposed shadow that Nauru casts over the rest of the earth (3). The authors purport to be able to identify various myths in Western society without being self-aware enough about their own (4), and then closing with chapters that view science as a story (5) through the myth of enlightenment rationalism, discuss a love of cockroaches (6), attempt to frame a view of the market as servant (7), and claim that reality is a chimera (8), after which there are notes and an index.

Overall, this book is not worth the paper it was printed on, or the bytes of memory it would take to read as an e-book, as I did. If this book is not a good book, though, it is unfortunately a bad book in a way that is neither very enlightening or very surprising. Given the way that the authors choose to honor some myths (Malthusian fears of overpopulation, for example) over others demonstrates the lack of awareness on the part of the authors that they too believe in myths. But the predictable self-ownership of the authors in attacking myths and bad worldviews while not realizing the failures of their own worldview or the mythic nature of their own mindset. And given the stridency with which the authors hold their view, it is entirely predictable that Nauru's government wanted nothing to do with them, because Nauru's efforts at diversification should have been praised rather than ridiculed, meaning that the authors made themselves unnecessary enemies, which is sadly the modus operendi of the contemporary left.

[Encarni Reading The World Forever · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everybody should read this book to be more concious about the negative consequencies of not taking care of our world. I've learnt a lot about places I didn't even know they exsisted. It's a worthy reading.

[Jesus]

This is the saddest book I have ever read.

When I was a child, my family obtained an atlas. I looked through every page of that atlas. I studied it. The differences in design of each nation's flag intrigued me. Nauru's flag is a saffron line against a field of blue, the equator and the ocean. The island nation is represented by a star, beautiful instructive geographic abstraction.

The design delighted me, but what excited me most was the magic of this place actually existing. Could it be, a world so different from my own? The book was corrective, I found market forces shaped what was a paradise in my imagination to an inhospitable crag nigh devoured by voracious waves. The promise of that star in my memory still lingers though & I may find it yet.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nauru, a tiny, remote Pacific Island nation, is so isolated that it escaped European colonization for centuries after the rest of Micronesia. When phosphate was discovered in the late 1800s, life changed on the island. In less than a century, the ecology was decimated, the rapid population growth strained the natural resources to the breaking point and the adoption of Western culture had left the majority of adults with chronic health problems. The author sees Nauru as a cautionary tale for the entire planet if we continue to act as if resources and progress is limitless. I enjoyed learning about the history of this small nation. I was less impressed by the sections predicting planetary doom.

[Rhonda Hankins]

What happens when a small island country allows a foreign country to mine a resource there? In the case of Nauru, the self-sustaining tropical paradise loses much of its native culture, almost all of its natural beauty, and all of its ability to be self-sustaining. It's a grim story that plays out all over the globe.

"The story of Nauru is the story of all of us." (from page 7)

Definitely worth reading. A tiny island country with a really dramatic history and a bleak future.

[Chew B · Rating 5 out of 5]

an incredibly valuable read to understand our current economic and climate crisis.

[Meaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, having just finished this book, I feel incredibly depressed. Human beings are one of the worst things to happen to this planet. We have murdered our environment and it is in its death throes as we speak. Let's all just go and commit hara-kiri right now.

This is why I try not to read too much about the environment and global warming. It's just so incredibly sad.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sections of this book about Nauru are fascinating - a small island with an isolated population suddenly becomes part of the world economy. And, predictably, destruction follows. But, it was a little too textbook for generally reading. I already know about biodiversity loss, climate change, etc etc, so those parts were a little dry.

[Val · Rating 2 out of 5]

Global capitalism takes very little account of the environmental impact of trade. That is not a new idea, but Nauru is a demonstrative example of the fact. The island has been devastated and the short term benefits squandered. This is a depressing read.
The country could have benefited from a better, more long-term plan for development. The story could have benefited from a better writer.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to recommend this book to all those in our current government who feel Market should trump Nature.