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The
Risk of Universal Death
--
Dr R Neerunjun Gopee
Last
week we wrote about the social and survival issues that the
“celebration” of World Population Day was meant to
evoke, amongst which violence and the transgression of human
rights figured very strongly. There are rights and rights,
but we must also remember that all rights have their
corresponding responsibilities, and that these deserve our
equal attention when it comes to exercising those rights.
This is a matter for deeper and continuing reflection, and
should be the concern of all citizens who wish to live in a
more secure, more peaceful and saner society. All points of
view must be given legitimate hearing in the appropriate
forums, and we must all work towards gaining consensual
views which can serve to guide all of us in the right
direction for a fulfilling life in the larger context of our
plural society.
Although
there is a persistent perception that we are living, in this
country, on a social volcano waiting to erupt, I take the
more optimistic perspective that despite all our seeming
differences there is a stronger undercurrent of mutual
understanding and tolerance that has allowed us to do better
than most of those in a similar situation in terms of size,
resources and population and which is reflected in our
overall social and economic performance indicators.
As
evidence I would like to point to the fact that every single
Mauritian has friends from all communities in the island,
and the sincerity of these friendships has got nothing to do
with the individual’s community. Take also the recent
problem of the distribution of methadone at Victoria
hospital. Despite the most visible manner in which it was
brought to the fore, and the hullabaloo that was created
around it, with a couple of very strong messages and signals
both from the authorities and from society at large this
matter was resolved without any violence to speak of.
If
at all, as there are always two sides to a coin, the
incident has brought out some of the dimensions of drug
addiction that had perhaps not been factored in when working
out the programme initially, and which will perforce have to
be taken on board in future. A bit of lateral thinking may
even lead us to be thankful to the forces vives for
having alerted us to the complexity of the attendant issues
as a pointer to the way forward.
At
the same time, this is a powerful reminder of the point made
above, namely the intimate nexus of the
rights-responsibilities duality: they could indeed be the
obverse and the reverse of a coin. And in dealing with drug
addicts, this aspect absolutely has to be taken into
account. It is a fact of human nature, of our social life,
that both the carrot and the stick are necessary to get
things moving – at least for a larger number of the
population than we would have wished for – and in dealing
with social deviants in particular we have to keep this in
mind more prominently.
On a
larger scale, we have greater knowledge about many things,
and this has led to greater prosperity, but at the same time
the dark side of the picture is that all this does not seem
to be taking all of us together towards the larger good that
we are always dreaming of. Almost half a century ago, the
well-known Western philosopher and pacifist, Bertrand
Russell cautioned us by reminding us that 'Knowledge is
power, but it is power for evil just as much for good. It
follows that, unless men increase in wisdom as much as in
knowledge, increase of knowledge will be increase of
sorrow.'
In
the Russell-Einstein Manifesto of 1955, a warning was sent
about the potential for destruction of the expanding nuclear
arsenal: “We appeal, as human beings to human beings.
Remember your humanity and forget the rest. If you can do
so, the way is open for a new paradise; if you cannot there
lies before you the risk of universal death.”
Social
thinkers have painted for us the scenario of a nuclear
winter, when all of earth would have been razed to the
ground, and the consequent radiation does not allow anything
to grow, as the earth is scorched beyond the possibility of
recovery. The few humans that remain are all decaying from
radiation-inflicted disease, incapable of reproducing the
race – and in any case what for: there will be nothing to
feed on! Plus the atmosphere itself is now hostile, filled
with damaging rays, and the sunlight does not come through.
Scary
scenario indeed! But we do not have to go as far as this –
not too far-fetched alas! – bleak picture. It is true that
the world population is increasing, and scientists have
projected that it will stabilize around nine billion by the
year 2050. The traditional thinking is that war, famine and
disease will interact to keep the growth of population in
check, but we have become more skilled at conquering
disease, and there are fewer wars, which tend to be
concentrated in certain areas. This leaves us with famine,
which is the problem that is looming very large
indeed.
As
Arthur Koestler wrote, also about half a century ago, we
have all the scientific and technological know-how to feed
the population of the world a few times over. The problem is
one of societal organization to share and apply this
knowledge, and to ensure the distribution of the fallouts.
And this is where the crucial issue of wisdom comes in, an
increase in knowledge not being accompanied by a
corresponding increase in wisdom. If only there were a
vaccine against ignorance, or an injection to boost wisdom!
I ask for forgiveness from my medical bias – and
acknowledge that each one of us has to “cultivate” and
grow into wisdom slowly and painfully. But we have the
collective wisdom of humanity to fall back upon, and we can
let this be our starting point to avert the looming spectre
of universal death as food and energy security threatens
with such gravity.
Let
us, like the philosopher who sees the Universe as a whole,
begin by seeing humanity as a whole, and our
interconnectedness. Unless we consciously develop and adopt
such a world-view, the risk of universal death is indeed
only too genuine…
RN
Gopee
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