How would you like to visit one of the most incredible islands on the planet?
A place straight out of a dream. A fantasy from a travel magazine that no longer exists.
A perfect, never-ending beach with warm clear water.
Long straight lines of coconut trees filled with the world’s largest and most incredible tasting crab.
Sharks like puppies playing in the surf. The perfect sunset. And not a soul in sight.
This is Ant atoll. And for a man like me at least, this is paradise.
Although these islands once held entire villages worth of people, today there’s no infrastructure beyond a handful of cottages.
Cabins really. There are no restaurants, no stores, dinner literally walks at your feet.
All that's here are small bungalows with wood floor mattresses and bucket showers. Paradise.
And yet, you can’t rent these. You won’t find them on Airbnb.
You certainly can’t show up unannounced. Because this is the private residence of a king.
William Hawley. The Rohsa of Kitti. And the only way to stay on his island is to earn it.
Because here’s the thing, William Hawley is a good king. Who married a wise queen, no less.
And in my opinion, he rules from the heart.
Which I suppose makes sense, because his kingship is not just from lineage, he was chosen, at least in theory, because he was the best man for the job.
And as a tribal monarch within a secular nation, his role is first and foremost the protection and upkeep of his culture.
It’s why he was given the land. It’s why he was given the money. It’s why he was given Ant.
But if you watched our episode on his ancestors, you know that the power and status of Pohnpeian royalty
has always been shown by how much they can give back to their people, and today that remains as strong as ever.
It’s just, egalitarianism isn’t as easy as it seems on paper. Heavy is the head that holds the crown.
Even if that crown looks suspiciously like a baseball cap.
And I’d argue that statement is particularly true of those rulers who have to preside over the death of what was once a thriving social order.
People who somehow held things together even after facing apocalypse.
Because to be a tribal ruler, at least today, is to defend degraded environments, traditions,
and beliefs with fewer tools than those doing the degrading.
If it’s hard to be a king in victory, I’m certain it’s harder in defeat.
But that’s not what you’d think of meeting the Rohsa. He just seems nice. Genuine. Like he’s truly trying to take care of his people.
Not just with his money, but with his time. With his labour.
Hell, when I met him he was sitting in a front loader, working alongside his sons to help build a soccer field for the local school.
His wife, the Rohspen, was planting a yard full of trees.
They’re the only royalty I’ve ever seen do any physical labour. And to me at least, that matters.
At his home, we walked around a great outdoor hall being built by the road.
It’s a place to host feasts, to meet, and consult with his clan.
Historically, this type of hall has been the most important symbol a Rohsa can provide for his people. It says that he’s listening.
And William Hawley is certainly listening.
Which, I suppose, is why I’m here. Because the FSM is not a heavily touristed country.
And a man with a platform even as small as mine doesn’t really pass through here lightly. Word gets around.
And so before I knew it, I found myself here. On Ant atoll. Guest of a king.
And I suppose I earned my way here with an unspoken trade. For me, it would be an experience that I’ll never forget.
But for him, it would be an opportunity to speak to a foreign audience.
Which is something not as easy as it sounds this far out in the Pacific.
He’s facing a challenge that I don’t think any of us can truly fathom.
In his world, he might be among the wealthiest and most influential men in society,
but translated to ours, he’d likely be unable to afford a family home in a major city.
In his world, his words ring out across the entire chain. But in ours, he’d struggle to even explain why he even matters.
International wealth is purchasing power. It's fame. And Pohnpei only has so much of that to go around.
So despite all his status, there’s many things that the Rohsa lacks that he needs to be a good ruler. None of which are his fault.
And the one that he’s most hopeful for from you is expertise.
Because Micronesia might be an incredible place, but like with all places, it has serious structural problems.
It has a tiny population with virtually no capital and with few resources, no real future capital to come.
Virtually any truly advanced education, skills, or funding has to be brought in from abroad. It isn’t a slight against them to say that.
This isn’t their fault. It’s just how things are in a tiny place. Problems are harder to solve when you have few hands to solve them.
And one of those problems is Ant.
I know it doesn’t look like it, but Ant is dying. In fact, you might even say it has all but died.
Because, well, egalitarianism is complicated. A Rohsa’s job is complicated.
It's to give back to his people, sure but what does that mean in practice?
I mean really, you have to break it down into which people specifically and what they're allowed to do with it.
People traditionally came to Ant to hunt. It has the coconut crab, the world’s largest and arguably most delicious crustacean.
It has safe fishing, calm water, and ever since the Nanpei plantation stopped farming, uninhabited land.
It's a poacher’s paradise.
So when those previous Rohsa’s people came to strip these islands of their last remaining resources, those previous Rohsas allowed it.
They saw egalitarianism as meaning that land was for the people. It's just every choice is a balance.
And the scales of an ecosystem can only tip so far.
So as those coconut crabs died off and the rats took over, soon enough all but one island was completely overrun.
By the time William Hawley got his crown, Ant was devastated. It remains devastated to this day.
But the Rohsa’s greatest dream is to return this to what it once was.
And that’s not just William Hawley's, but other Rohsa's before him. A back and forth throughout time.
A debate about egalitarianism.
And so to watch their watchmen, they’ve hired more watchmen, and fought that common tragedy with more commons.
They've paired up with the secular government and signed internationals agreements to create a protected ecological zone.
One of only 600 or so on the planet. Not just to protect it from their people but also their future selves.
They’ve funded and housed rangers to stop the poaching. They've teamed up with organizations to help bring life back to the reef.
They’ve brought in volunteers to clean up the endless trash that floats in from the Chinese shipping fleets.
They’ve even created a nascent tourist industry charging wealthy foreigners for lagoon visits to help pay for the upkeep.
To put it simply, they’re trying.
But there have been setbacks. Failures even. Because for all his good intentions
the Rohsa simply doesn’t have the manpower or the resources to make this work the way he wants.
When a Kosraean clam farmer brought him some animals to help restock his reef,
they died before they even got to spawn.
Because without an expert on site, it was almost impossible to get them to thrive. And who pays for that expert?
For now, it's a dream.
The other great dream of the Rohsa is a gymnasium for the local school named after his ancestor.
In the jungles of Pohnpei, for a child, even a cut field is kind of a big deal. A place to kick a ball.
But the Rohsa dreams of more than grass. He dreams of a concrete slab and a roof over their heads. A place to play in the rain.
It’s just there’s no way he could ever fund that.
These are the dreams that got me to Ant. Even if they were somewhat unspoken.
But just like that Rohsa, I also understand my limitations. I could never crowdfund that gym. Not even close.
I can’t save an island with thirty thousand views. Unless, one of you runs an international charity?
Which I hope you do, I suppose, but thankfully, either way, you can still help.
Because as of right now, the small amount of support that Ant does receive comes from a wonderful organization called OneReef.
A Micronesian NGO dedicated to keeping the natural beauty of these islands alive.
The Rohsa had nothing but positive things to say about them
and asked me to make this video specifically so that tens of thousands of people would know that he’d thanked them.
That’s how I earned my way to Ant.
And although it might seem a world away, you could go to Ant too.
You could earn your way here through philanthropy, a research project, volunteerism, or just spreading the world like I did.
So if you'd like to help that Rohsa, why not join us.
If any of this has resonated with you, then please just send OneReef a quick email thanking them for what they do.
I promise it will matter. Because speaking as someone who reads every comment, there’s nothing better than positive feedback.
A few dozen pats on the back might not seem like much, but I promise you it is.
And so to end this video, I just want to say it from the heart.
To the people at OneReef. From the Rohsa, from me, and from every one of my viewers who takes the time to email:
thank you for helping Ant atoll.
I hope you get to stay there someday, because I’m certain you’ve all earned it.
This is the beautiful atoll of Ant. And this is Rare Earth.
The only reason these spaces are open when my tattoo guy comes back, that's where my grandchildren's names go.