But first, he is confronted with the reality that he is not a blissfully wandering thinker on an idyllic island, but one of thousands of day tourists whose mere presence exposes Porquerolles to increased erosion, water shortages and the risk of forest fires, while at the same time providing an economic livelihood for many of the island's inhabitants. A local rubbish collector he meets on his hike tells of the tensions between various factions of the island's population. These different factions of the island's population, can be broadly divided into economisers and ecologisers.

Perhaps the most interesting part after his talk with the local and offers a certain expansion of the concept of socioeconomic class to include a territorial and ecological component. It is not the struggle for the means of production that is the predominant problem on Porquerolles. Instead, it is the struggle for the ecological and cultural basis of reproduction on the island.

Finally, Schultz takes a look at the super-rich, who try to escape social reality with luxury bunkers and space exploration, to completely detach themselves from the unwashed masses, which will probably only help for a short time.

Overall, a quite plain essay that takes a relatively broad look at the most common self-doubts and questions of young ecologically-minded people in the West, but then stops there without any deeper analysis or search for alternatives. Most likely to be of interest to those interested in sociology but not a must-read and certainly not worth the 15 quid for the paperback. If you want to take a look at it, I recommend pirating it/buying it second-hand.