Wednesday, April 23, 2008 Arinday: Rice, population explosion and nature By G.H. Arinday Jr. Sunfare
ZENO'S Stoic school of philosophy in ancient Greece would not have effectively rivaled the Sophist's brand had it not been for Chrysippus who solidified its concept.
The general Stoic principle states "the slightest thing that happens takes place in accordance with nature and its reasons". Stated otherwise, Nature dictates events to take place and there is none in the universe to hinder its tracks, not even outside of the cosmic hemisphere. It sounds like the principle of predestination, but it is not and all things are fashioned out as long as they are agreeable to Nature.
In a deeper sense and more confusing, it cites as an example that some misfortune may claim some good persons, "not as punishment for wickedness, but in accordance with some other lines of administration."
Another study of the Stoics about the "surplus population" a great number of them are sent out to other lands or colonies or they "stir up wars against their neighbor, so God provides occasion for our destruction." However, it further cautions us to reject the notion that "God cannot be the cause of impiety". Such philosophical nuggets create a lot of "mote in a sunbeam". Perplexing, indeed.
The fate and nature of the universe govern all things, which Homer observed, "The will of Zeus is done!" Another mind-boggling profound statement, you may say.
But anyway, in the present state of the world, aside from the pocket wars in some parts of the globe, the daily carnage in Iraq among the Shiites and the Sunnis, the ideological armed struggles in Latin America, including our own three-decade long insurgency, we have the food crisis complemented by the going up and up of the prices of the prime commodities. The price of the fossil fuel is still very much low according to the Iranian ayatollahs.
The food and price crises are global in nature. And yet, some of our publicity-crazed politicians would consider it as a domestic political affair, a gross mismanagement of the State affairs, a dastardly claim suborned by a wayward tri-media to support some vested groups wishing to wrest power in an extra-constitutional manner.
What a calamity! Even a nincompoop of a president would not wish these things to happen because no one in his or her right mind would like to go down in history as the most incompetent leader.
In the current hysteria, if we have to conform to the tri-media waywardness, an ontological point has been forgotten: You cannot defy the natural phenomenon. Nobody wants to get hungry but the converging varied forces of Nature have set upon us, challenging us to study even the least workable factor of political economy.
Even in our efforts to look for substitute for fossil fuel, some political leaders exposing their ignorance about Nature's vagaries have belittled the search for cost-efficient bio-fuels. Some attributed the food crises to the conversions of agricultural lands to subdivisions, a very simplistic analysis. Is the population explosion not in need of space for decent living?
Instead of taking seriously that a grain of rice is the heart of life, we wish the same with the filthy waters of politics. The need for more supply of rice should not be gruelled in a political pot. Instead, look for the means in our own domestic yard to supplement the usual food. Mendicancy and slothness are cousins of hostile nature. Add "militancy" for elfish reasons and we aid haplessness to create contrived social unrest.
Given the preponderance of the Sophist's attitude, what the Stoics have advocated recognizing the inevitable intervention of Nature in human life is it not worth trying to relive the first question asked by Man about the role of Nature in our existence?
If indeed that "the slightest thing that takes place in accordance with nature and its reason", is it not upon is to inquire into such "reason"?
It is diabolical to make hasty conclusions that the worldwide crisis on food and prices are intentionally done. And for what reason, if it is so? Is it not inconsistent in our quest for peace and global harmony envisioned by no less than the United Nations?
Under the current crises, is it not inevitable that those black-hearted businessmen would take advantage of the situation just to earn a fast buck? It is a problem addressed not only to the authorities but also to the average citizen to make courage in unmasking those engaged in diabolical schemes.
But to make rice a political issue, only those with wicked intentions would dare the same to create a situation of a social volcano. It is not surprising that in the coming days, some group would simulate a riot in the streets of Metro Manila.
We are creating our Doomsday-the way we look at the grain of rice as a political tool.
