The Ancients taught us that Nature has strict unwritten laws. Survival of the fittest may not be the kindest rule, but the fittest are also the ablest. But it ensures the wellbeing of the species. Kindly note that “fittest” here does not mean the strongest. The law of the jungle teaches that sagacity, speed, adaptation, camouflage, power as well as many other qualities combine in the case of species that survive. Elephants use their prodigious clan memory to locate the best water sources. The cheetah outruns the swiftest deer to kill it and eat. Monkeys use a near human cognition to survive rather than become extinct, no little thanks to human research on these cousins of theirs. Camouflage is what makes carnivores such successful hunters. Again, elephants use their sheer power to forage for food on tall trees.
Human beings fancy themselves to be a superior species mainly because he is able to build on past experiences. His knowledge bank is therefore vast. His ability to retrieve and use this is what makes him stand out among the rest of the creatures in creation. The ancients taught us that we see herds of bison, deer, zebra etc., graze peacefully and fearlessly near a well-fed pride of lions, even though they are their natural prey. This is because they are confident that they will not be attacked until hunger strikes the lions again. This is from their experience. However, they will not be able to strategize how to prevent or in the very least escape when the next attack occurs. This is a combination of their understanding as well as the limits of it. They are certain, again from experience that these wild animals will not kill them as a pastime or because they differ as species.
Human beings have reached the first quarter of the 2000s. Let us take a look at how we fare when compared to our so-called savage ancestors. Even a casual look at the surviving buildings as well as the ruins in our country point to a rich past, where precision of construction was prevalent, rather than a rarity. Look at our roads which are built and inaugurated with such fanfare only to be washed away in the next two monsoons! The older high rises are much tougher than the newer ones, which often give the Leaning Tower of Pisa a run for it’s money, albeit less aesthetically.
There have been huge advances in technology and science. But there has been no corresponding growth in philosophy. Philosophy is not just a subject to be learned, analysed and commented on. Each of us, whether knowingly or unknowingly, live according to a set of values. These can be taught, copied or arrived at independently. Without basic values a person is adrift and flits from random direction to direction. All these do not apply to recluses and people who have retired from society. For a society to function well there has to be a group of common laws, that ought to be followed by all. This is the price each individual has to pay for the security of being part of a clan. When these rules become too stultifying, we have a totalitarian social structure.
There have been many, many branches of philosophy. From Emperor Akbar’s Deen Ilahi which had just two followers, to philosophies with huge followings, the variety available is stupendous. Add the God element to philosophy and it becomes a religion.
Physically, persons are born in singles, including twins, triplets and so forth. Their fingerprints are unique. Likewise, the tenets they live by should be unique as well. Trying to merge one body into another forcefully would end in a grotesque product. Then why is it that people, with access to so much general knowledge insist on foisting their beliefs on to others? Physical infections are identified and treated. Then why not some of the worst atrocities contained in some philosophies? The ancients taught us that any philosophy which declares that anyone different from oneself has to be curtailed if not actually punished and exterminated is faulty. This belief has to be thrown out immediately. The people who follow this has to equally so, taking a page from their own book of Life.
Ideas can and should never be controlled. First of all, this is not possible as they have not yet found out a way to control thoughts. It is the application of these toxic ideas which are deadly. The first crucial decision is this. Is George Orwell’s “1984” our ideal society? If so, inertia will take us to those murky realms very soon. On the other hand, if a fair society is our goal, it is important to unashamedly identify the danger spots. Does your philosophy encourage you to kill, maim or torture people just because they are different from you? Are you to plant obstacles of any kind in their path, not limited to normal competition (survival of the fittest)? If so please reassess and change your value system or be ready to be exterminated yourself, the ancients taught. There cannot be a double standards about this as it will result in people being two-faced as a matter of fact.
It is said that drunkards have a tendency to make everyone drunk. Vampires are reputed to drink the blood of their victims to increase their brood. There is a modicum of safety in numbers. So it is quite natural to try and increase one’s group. Per se this is not a fault. But when the methods used for that become unpleasant, then it becomes an problem that requires urgent handling.
Some people are reticent to declare that making women second class citizens is an evil practice. This is unabashed slavery in the modern times. There are ladies who are perfectly content to look after their homestead, families and children. Urging them to be career women against their wishes is equally wrong. Ladies over a certain age may feel unprotected outside of a burqa or ghoonghat. This privacy of theirs has to be respected and protected just as the forceful covering of women’s bodies have to be abhorred.
When violence is unleashed against women, especially in domestic situations, our first instinct is to distance ourselves from them. “Personal matter!”, we mutter and assuage our conscience. A person randomly beating someone else becomes assault. Within the four walls of a home, whether it is a chiffon and pearl clad lady or one with a torn blouse and sari, the indignity is the same.
There is a trend among new age parenting which urges the adults to be the best friend of their children. Every parent is exhorted to have all the qualities found in best friends. But it has to be within the framework of parenthood. Children love fairy stories. This is their first exposure to evil, whether it be an ugly witch, giant or stepmother! But then, as in most fairy stories, evil is vanquished in very controlled circumstances which make the kids feel safe. Likewise, the gentle authority of a parent makes for a healthy child.
To bring a child into this world is a huge responsibility. The choice is 100 percent that of the adults with the helpless kid having no say whether it will be a cherished member of a family, an embarrassment to be abandoned in orphanages, a battering ram for parents to vent their frustrations or an aborted blob in a petri dish. It is the caregivers who have to guide the children into becoming productive and functioning members of a society they are part of.
Left to themselves children do not even notice differences like colour of the skin, religion, political beliefs etc. Their views are often coloured by the adults around them. It is horrendous when there is a four year old, waving a gun, shouts that she or he wants all people of another religion dead, on social media. What is even more scary are the number of likes and the quality (or lack of it) of the comments which follow.
Grandparents are a natural haven for kids. The joint family structure is collapsing. Harried parents who do not have the time for themselves find themselves saddled with a very demanding mini-adult. TV, more often than not, becomes the de facto nanny. The almost endless spewing of hatred in the media becomes their staple fare. They cling onto outlandish escape routes, whether it be mindless sex, alcohol, drugs or gangs which make them seen and therefore relevant in their own eyes. Being relentlessly exposed to conflict make them uneasy with congeniality.
The roots of terrorism lie here. Declamations against terrorism are useless unless followed up with solid action. Certain bombastic politicians (aren’t they all) declare that millions of dollars have been spent to exterminate terrorist camps in remote villages. They fail to recognize suave, well-educated, sophisticated people well within their system who encourage terrorist activity, albeit inadvertently. They fail to recognize that a so-called man of God preaching to say fifteen boys who are young and frustrated are the laboratories which grow and nurture terrorism. A fair grasp of the local language and three rickety benches are the only infrastructure needed for this. Millions of dollars are often misused in bombing innocent people.
One very effective method of smoking out terrorists is to make the people who help them accountable. Houses are given on rent, provisions are delivered etc, all for cash. Without this larger support group, the terrorists cannot survive for long in normal society.
British law cites that it is better to let a hundred guilty men go free than to imprison one innocent man. But equally, no sympathy should be shown to people who kill as a matter of habit. Killing is their first option; not their last unavoidable choice. It is better that they themselves are exterminated unapologetically to save many potential victims who may fall prey to their shenanigans. Will a father wait for an assailant to actually attack his daughter before reacting or would he be proactive in his defence of her?
Wars usually have dangerous economic consequences. It is much easier to stoke conflicts to stay alive, while paying lip service to the need for World Peace. It may be noted that none of the stake holders or their family are ever at any risk because of these conflicts. Unless strict and quick action is taken to disabuse any “philosophy” of violence, with its attendant bloody destruction, modern day man is doomed to make the dark Era of the Middle Ages look positively kind and inclusive. Or could we return to the wisdom taught by the ancients and be kind to nature and to ourselves?
