Beyond survival

Intuition and instinct, we could argue are some of the abilities we need to survive this world just as beasts of nature survive in the wild. A lioness innately knows it needs to feed on meat but will still have to learn the techniques from its mother as it tags along on hunting expeditions. Their bodies are fully adapted to this type of work, from their vision to fur which resembles the tall savannah grass. A pride of lions will do anything to secure a meal, there is nothing much to consider or think about. Even if it was the last Zebra or Wildebeest, they wouldn’t care to ration the food for as long as it can sustain them but in their defence they have no capacity to know the population of herbivores in their habitat. Nature balances itself as herbivores feed on plants, carnivores hunt herbivores and when they all die, decomposers break down the complex body into nutrients that can be absorbed by plants. If the balance was disturbed and carnivores were more than herbivores, lions will not think about feeding in moderation or what they will leave for future generations. They’ll feed themselves silly as if it was business as usual. Some of us operate in this manner, where the end justifies the means. It does not matter how we achieve what we have set out to do, doesn’t matter what is at stake or who might suffer as long as we are good that’s all that matters. We should have blinders like a race horse, not looking left or right, set on our goals with tunnel vision. Not caring who we hurt, what resource we deplete, if we cause havoc or imbalance in the work ecosystem. We can go further to say this type of thinking is excusable. When subjected to poverty, you shouldn’t worry about anything else except your survival or your dependant’s survival. The Environmental Kuznet’s Curve shares the idea that as a country’s economy grows, inequality reduces and when the population reach a certain average income they become more responsible with the environment and invest more in its restoration. The reasoning is, as people earn more money they get more opportunities to increase their education, improve their living standards and this has the knock on effect of better decisions concerning the environment because people have information about its importance and money to spare to improve aesthetics and quality of life. A country that hasn’t yet experienced industrial growth or agricultural revolution will be more concerned with growth than conservation because the large population are poor and have no incentive to conserve the environment, they just want to survive. Is this method of living sustainable? Environmentalists tell us we should use our resources with future generations in mind. Christians believe that we have an obligation to take care of God’s creation and we were put on this earth to achieve a purpose beyond our self like Jesus did. Buddhists believe we are an extension of nature and our morals affect the environment. Maybe we should hold ourselves to a higher standard and avoid our personal ambition turning into narcissism, where we lack empathy and only think about our end game. If we think after we are successful we’ll get a chance to mend relationships, restore the environment or roll back the effects pollution, we might not just get that chance for a do-over. Yes we must do our best to live a comfortable life but let us not drown a neighbour while we try to keep our heads above water.