Sunday 1 December 2013

Absurd Abundance


I vaguely recall the American comic Bill Cosby telling his son that he can erase him, and make other one like him only better. My quotations may not be exact, but the sentiment is there. Mr. Cosby seems to be saying:  “Son, behave. I don’t need you. You need me.”
Perhaps it is time for us to start behaving. Nature provides us with free food, drink and other appurtenances of comfortable living. We waste them. All of us. Well, the vast majority.
In my last blog I wrote about the absurd abundance that nature built into our biological system. Yet nature did not stop there. It continued its extraordinary generosity throughout flora and fauna.
Did you ever wonder why does nature work on the principle of almost inexhaustible affluence? Think of the seeds and spores it produces from a single tree, a single rose, even grain from a stalk of wheat, apples in a single orchard.
Surplus. Overabundance. Generosity.
Almost inexhaustible.
Almost. Not quite.

Could it be that nature, in her wisdom, or out of the benevolence of the universe, wants to protect us, humans, from ever running out of nourishment? Or from other materials we need to build shelter, keep us warm?

We define financial independence by living from interest (including dividends and suchlike) from the riches we have accumulated during our, so-called, productive years. Nature keeps producing, presumably in the benevolent hope that we can live in perfect comfort and affluence while we inhabit our physical bodies.
And yet…
And yet we abuse her gifts. We no longer live from the absurdly generous interest that nature provides. We grow fat, obese; many of us accumulate much, much more that we need. More than one car, more than one dwelling, millions in our bank accounts—the list goes on. We wallow in our greed, and will continue to do so until we run out not only of nature’s interest, but of the capital itself.
Perhaps it doesn’t matter.
After all, we create our own universes, our realities in which we abide for short stints: our reincarnations.  Hopefully learning. After all, none of what we can perceive with our senses is real. Remember? Have you read my Delusions—Pragmatic Realism? You don’t have to, of course. You can find it all out for yourself, by yourself. After all, we all travel different paths, and hence we all pay the piper according to our understanding. But be sure, sooner or later, we all pay the piper. Nature is our bank and we all live on borrowed money.
Isn’t it fun?

We have a new pope who seems aware of the depth of depravity towards which humanity is careening. I once wrote a novel in which, likewise, a newly elected pope did what was necessary to save us from our greed. It is the sequel to The Avatar Syndrome. You might enjoy both stories. Let me know. 





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2 comments:

  1. Pithy Monday musing. Question. How with the palpable truth of your observations do you keep believing that anything you say ( or write) can possibly make a difference? My current itch. All suggestions on a postcard please.

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    1. There are 7 billion of us. Even one in a million gives me good odds that someone might affirm his of her ideas, or just wake up. After all, many are called... Anyway, I do what gives me greatest pleasure. I am a sower, not a reaper.

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