A Great Deal Of Nonsense

“Hollaway has written a classic, the African version of Clausewitz’s Vom Krieg”
The Natal Witness
John Hollaway’s new book points out that for the first time in the history of life on earth a large section of human society has created an environment so secure that it is no longer necessary for its members to have numerous children for their culture to survive. Yet there is a feeling within this group that the economic system which produces such safe and comfortable lives draws too deeply on the earth’s resources for it to be allowed to spread to the rest of the globe. Development aid is not intended to create wealthier populations but is given out in the hope that the poor can live more happily in their time-honoured ways in harmony with the environment, as Rousseau envisaged with his ‘Noble Savage’. Poverty alleviation, not wealth creation, is the mantra.

Samuel Johnson called Rousseau’s ideas ‘A great deal of nonsense.’ With wit and pungent examples, John Hollaway demonstrates that they are indeed a fantasy. Sustainability? There is no evidence that there will not be sufficient resources as long as the market place dictates their price. Global warming? The evidence is confusing, inconclusive and being hyped by the proliferation of environmental lobbies who have jobs to protect. Biodiversity? We don’t even roughly know how many species there are to start with.

There is no evidence that mankind cannot reverse the negative trends that he may have caused in the environment. There is no evidence that the wealthy countries of the world are the biggest threat to it. There is no evidence at all that savagery is ennobling. The irrefutable evidence is that poverty is associated with wars, disease and pollution, and poverty is what must be defeated. This book sets out how it can be done

‘A Great Deal of Nonsense’ is an epochal follow-up to John Hollaway’s exposé of the aid industry in his book ‘All Poor Together’.

The eminent correspondent Michael Hartnack, who holds an honorary doctorate for his brave defence of the truth in Zimbabwe, wrote ” Read it or book your ticket out.”

Title: A Great Deal Of Nonsense: Poverty and the Noble Savage
Author: John Hollaway
ISBN: 0-7974-2734-1
Soft cover
326 Pages
RRP: £9.95

To order this book e-mail John Hollaway