Almost certainly, the most important news from Europe this week is the result of a long-term study of insect life in the German countryside. This has shown that over the last 30 years - an incredibly short period in evolutionary terms - up to 84% of the TOTAL of insect life, over almost all species, has declined when the incidence of creatures is counted at the peak of the summer [when the populations of most insects should be at the highest level].
The importance of insects in the crop cycle for most plant types has been recognised by humans for millennia, and it has been re-emphasised as the population of bees has declined over recent decades with a whole series of diseases and alien species destroying the populations of hives and also the survival and reproduction of solitary bees. That this catastrophe has befallen almost all European insects in a very short period is truly alarming. Insects and plants have evolved symbiotically over millions of years; and mammals are utterly dependent on that symbiosis for their foods.
The culprits are well recognised, especially a small range of herbicides and insecticides that are used in massive quantities - particularly in Europe - with the desired effect of protecting crops in the short term. The lobbies for these substances to be banned will grow larger and louder from now on, with many farmers joining in as the risk to pollination of their crops hits their pockets.When the necessary measures have belatedly been taken, nature will almost certainly act as it usually has, and provide the climatic and other conditions in which populations can rebuild themselves quickly. But it may not work that way: the ecological disaster may already have gone so far that the spaces left by the vanished insects could be taken up by alien species that do not support the main farmed crops, and present health hazards to human beings.
There have been many, crystal clear warnings from various ecological pressure groups, not least the ludicrously-named 'organic' movement [who ever saw an inorganic cabbage?], and they have been ignored. The German data are incontrovertible, and are largely replicated across the continent: so something most be done, and will be done, and things may just turn out all right.
A parallel crisis has been reported from the mass use of antibiotics in cattle and other mammalian species of farmed animals and in zoos: the powerful chemicals become dispersed in the waterways and thus return to the life-cycle of which humans are a part: accelerating the rate at which viruses and bacteria evolve to counteract the effects of the drugs on their own ecology. The British medical establishment has warned that when the rate of evolution of bacterial and virological resistance to antibiotics outpaces the development of new and replacement antibiotics, it will become unsafe to perform almost any form of surgery. I include viruses alongside bacteria here because it has become common to give antibiotics to people experiencing virological attacks because in many cases patients find it has a placebo effect: thus they demand antibiotics and doctors often succumb to such demands in order to avoid complaints from patients. This matter has been presented to the media for several years, and the impact of the message has somewhat been muted by the development of more advanced antibiotics; but there is no assurance that the pharmacologists will continue to outpace the evolution of bacteria, and it is irrational for people to assume that science will always triumph.
There is nothing new in the reported decline of insect species: the decline in several bird species has been associated with the decline of their prey for several decades. But nothing adequate has been done about it, and now the 'eleventh hour' has passed and Europe is in the twelfth hour. This is a far more massive challenge than Islam, Jihad, populism, Putin or Trump: and it cannot be avoided.
Showing posts with label Islam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Islam. Show all posts
Friday, 20 October 2017
Saturday, 26 August 2017
Religion, Power and Money
Yesterday much of northern India - a vast area - was affected by riots, following the conviction of a guru of two rapes, which occurred several years ago. Along with the railways and Indian Army, the British Raj left behind for modern India a functioning system of courts: while slow and sometimes affected by corruption and political influence, the judicial system is broadly fair and follows the law. So there is a fair chance that the verdict will stand scrutiny.
That will not affect the actions of the people who want to believe that the man is a true prophet, and that he should be immune from civil penalties; and some among them will be incapable of accepting that he has behaved in ways that the civil law regards as criminal. He has been showered with praise and with a huge amount of money by the people who follow him. An unknown number of men have castrated themselves at his behest, as a way of assuring that they will lead pure lives [at least, in the sense of sexual abstinence]. This is evidence that the mesmeric power of suggestion that has emanated from him is quite exceptional. Rich and poor devotees have contributed to his fortune by making donations, by purchasing his goodwill and his guidance, and through buying his writings and watching the films of which he is the producer and the star.
I have seen no evidence that the guru has advocated that his cult should develop into a militant force such as has now become common in fragments of Islam. It is probable that the rioting arises from a sense of outrage and shock among his followers at his conviction, which implicitly challenges any concept of his perfection as an exemplary super-human.
Millions of people from all layers of Hindu society have paid a lot, relative to their income, to experience the mindfulness and inner contentment that they claim to receive from following his precepts. How far the rioting represents the resentment of shattered delusions, and how much anger at an apparent injustice, will become clearer as people settle down and contemplate their future in the acceptance this the conviction is a fact. Some people will quietly abandon his cult, some will proclaim their disillusion; and many others - perhaps millions - will assert that their faith is undimmed. His actions and utterances from now on will, of course, be hugely influential in determining whether the faithful hold firm and enable him to rebuild something like the position he has occupied in the recent past. It will be interesting to see how these matters pan out.
Meanwhile, this case provides an interesting contrast to what has happened in recent decades in Christianity and in Islam. The decline of Christianity in the developed West has continued, while it has continued to expand in competition with Islam in much of Africa. Throughout the world, the decline is most apparent in the sects and churches that are 'progressive'; while Christian denominations and sub-sets that adopt conservative positions have largely thrived. Similar trends are apparent in Islam. Most of the men in traditionally Islamic territories and communities continue to obey the Prophet's injunction to attend prayers in the mosque, while leading otherwise secular lives [though usually requiring their womenfolk to conform to conservative, largely tribal dress codes and patterns of behaviour]. Yet sub-sets of the community have been increasingly susceptible to backward-looking interpretations of the religion and of the Prophesies on which it was founded.
While many western Christians are less than lukewarm about the existence of Heaven and Hell, the attainment of unspeakable bliss in heaven after the travails, struggles and imperfections of life in the material world is the promised reward: to which jihadists are offered a short cut. The more conservative a sect's belief in Heaven and Hell may be, the stronger that belief is as a motive for how earthly life is to be conducted.
The guru is in the great tradition of self-proclaimed prophets who offer a means to achieve inner peace in this imperfect world, followed by celestial rewards. The millions of poundsworth of wealth that has been showered on him shows the ongoing potency of such promises and practices. The Econocracy have no explanation of this phenomenon - common all over the world and throughout humanity - of people willing to surrender earthly wealth for the hope of spiritual contentment. It is obviously an important aspect of human character and aspiration, which will merit further consideration as the interesting incident in India develops.
That will not affect the actions of the people who want to believe that the man is a true prophet, and that he should be immune from civil penalties; and some among them will be incapable of accepting that he has behaved in ways that the civil law regards as criminal. He has been showered with praise and with a huge amount of money by the people who follow him. An unknown number of men have castrated themselves at his behest, as a way of assuring that they will lead pure lives [at least, in the sense of sexual abstinence]. This is evidence that the mesmeric power of suggestion that has emanated from him is quite exceptional. Rich and poor devotees have contributed to his fortune by making donations, by purchasing his goodwill and his guidance, and through buying his writings and watching the films of which he is the producer and the star.
I have seen no evidence that the guru has advocated that his cult should develop into a militant force such as has now become common in fragments of Islam. It is probable that the rioting arises from a sense of outrage and shock among his followers at his conviction, which implicitly challenges any concept of his perfection as an exemplary super-human.
Millions of people from all layers of Hindu society have paid a lot, relative to their income, to experience the mindfulness and inner contentment that they claim to receive from following his precepts. How far the rioting represents the resentment of shattered delusions, and how much anger at an apparent injustice, will become clearer as people settle down and contemplate their future in the acceptance this the conviction is a fact. Some people will quietly abandon his cult, some will proclaim their disillusion; and many others - perhaps millions - will assert that their faith is undimmed. His actions and utterances from now on will, of course, be hugely influential in determining whether the faithful hold firm and enable him to rebuild something like the position he has occupied in the recent past. It will be interesting to see how these matters pan out.
Meanwhile, this case provides an interesting contrast to what has happened in recent decades in Christianity and in Islam. The decline of Christianity in the developed West has continued, while it has continued to expand in competition with Islam in much of Africa. Throughout the world, the decline is most apparent in the sects and churches that are 'progressive'; while Christian denominations and sub-sets that adopt conservative positions have largely thrived. Similar trends are apparent in Islam. Most of the men in traditionally Islamic territories and communities continue to obey the Prophet's injunction to attend prayers in the mosque, while leading otherwise secular lives [though usually requiring their womenfolk to conform to conservative, largely tribal dress codes and patterns of behaviour]. Yet sub-sets of the community have been increasingly susceptible to backward-looking interpretations of the religion and of the Prophesies on which it was founded.
While many western Christians are less than lukewarm about the existence of Heaven and Hell, the attainment of unspeakable bliss in heaven after the travails, struggles and imperfections of life in the material world is the promised reward: to which jihadists are offered a short cut. The more conservative a sect's belief in Heaven and Hell may be, the stronger that belief is as a motive for how earthly life is to be conducted.
The guru is in the great tradition of self-proclaimed prophets who offer a means to achieve inner peace in this imperfect world, followed by celestial rewards. The millions of poundsworth of wealth that has been showered on him shows the ongoing potency of such promises and practices. The Econocracy have no explanation of this phenomenon - common all over the world and throughout humanity - of people willing to surrender earthly wealth for the hope of spiritual contentment. It is obviously an important aspect of human character and aspiration, which will merit further consideration as the interesting incident in India develops.
Monday, 7 November 2011
Eternal Truths?
Having deferred the publication of its report on morality in the [business] City of London, the Saint Paul's Institute is now issuing it. A large sample of employees in financial institutions were asked basic questions: and the majority answered that the existing distribution of incomes was unfair, in their favour, and they saw no particular reason to do anything about it. There is no surprise there: but confirming common assumptions is a valid outcome of research.
The development of electronic trading in cyberspace is a huge source of earnings for the City workforce, and a lesser source of profit for their firms [where typically the firm is responsible for any losses, while staff take more than 90% of the return in salaries and bonuses]. This is a totally different market from the old-fashioned face-to-face dealing of the Stock Exchange before the 'big bang' of 1986. The occasion for the Saint Paul's report is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the loosening of market controls, which made possible the expansion of trade [especially of socially-useless churning of contracts] and the invisible evolution of electronic markets. The pre-big-bang markets could not possibly have run up the liabilities that almost sunk the economy in 2008; which could still cause huge problems if the running-repairs that were made in haste should be unsustainable in the long term.
Despite the unimpeachable evidence that Economics is a failed subject, with no scientific validity, Economists continue unabashed to draw large salaries for analysing City events, 'products' and firms. Little of what they write directly refers to the Economic theory that still has a monopoly of university syllabuses: much of their output is common sense, exposition of statistical data and the repetition of market folklore. But behind all of that their mental world is at least partially structured around normative theories that are at best unhelpful to any attempt to understand what actually happens in the economy, and at worst have served as the sanction for ruinous excess.
The Bishop of London has invited a retired banker - and active churchman - called Ken Costa to lead a new study of the relationship of humanity and morality to business. In an interview on the Radio 4 Today programme he proclaimed himself open to any new idea, he spoke of Ethics as a separable aspect of human cerebration, and he took it for granted that human business relationships exist in a 'market economy'. Perhaps due to the constraints of time, there was no exploration of what a market economy might be or how it may be improved, dismembered or renewed. Costa commented that views for and against 'capitalism' were polarised: that no side to the dispute was intrinsically right, and that any dialogue must accept points from both sides. Most ecclesiastics who have made any comment on these issues, especially in the context of the naive claims made by the campers at Saint Paul's, have been couched in soft-left platitude. As such, they have failed to resonate in the media and in bar-room discussions.
Historically the emergence of capitalism has been linked to Protestantism, with its tradition of encouraging individuals to implement their own interpretation of biblical teaching on morality; while Catholicism and Islam have been much more explicit in outlining an official interpretation of scriptural guidance on business matters. None of these streams of dogma has pronounced capitalism to be 'evil'; while socialism - especially explicitly-atheistic Communism - has been anathemised. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, said that "the making of money is a worthy and a Godly pursuit": but he, like all other significant religious leaders, also argued strenuously for the 'right use' of money and the obligation of the faithful to support the poor and needy.
Markets are merely social media: their purpose, structure, processes and rules are made by human beings who participate in markets on their own account or as agents of firms. Those individuals cannot avoid making their decisions in markets in the light of their understanding of their function; and of their personal needs, beliefs, prejudices, and judgements. These may or may not include religious aspects and ethical consciousness. Personal charity is still significant; but most of the care for the poor and needy - as for the sick - has been appropriated by the state. To pay for it, the state taxes firms and persons who participate in economic activity; and taxes are broadly proportional to turnover.
People decide on a daily basis whether to put a coin in a rattling collecting-box, as they hurry along carrying newspapers that show more and more 'gaps' in provision by the 'welfare state'; and most people are becoming more and more concerned that they will personally fall into some of those gaps. The perceptual separation of markets from society, with the political system taxing markets to maintain society, was slowly developed between 1870 and 1980, sanctioned by Economists: and now it is busted. A wholly new basis for understanding these relationships is essential. With the best will in the world, Saint Paul's Institute and Ken Costa will not resolve the dilemma with their existing intellectual resources.
The development of electronic trading in cyberspace is a huge source of earnings for the City workforce, and a lesser source of profit for their firms [where typically the firm is responsible for any losses, while staff take more than 90% of the return in salaries and bonuses]. This is a totally different market from the old-fashioned face-to-face dealing of the Stock Exchange before the 'big bang' of 1986. The occasion for the Saint Paul's report is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the loosening of market controls, which made possible the expansion of trade [especially of socially-useless churning of contracts] and the invisible evolution of electronic markets. The pre-big-bang markets could not possibly have run up the liabilities that almost sunk the economy in 2008; which could still cause huge problems if the running-repairs that were made in haste should be unsustainable in the long term.
Despite the unimpeachable evidence that Economics is a failed subject, with no scientific validity, Economists continue unabashed to draw large salaries for analysing City events, 'products' and firms. Little of what they write directly refers to the Economic theory that still has a monopoly of university syllabuses: much of their output is common sense, exposition of statistical data and the repetition of market folklore. But behind all of that their mental world is at least partially structured around normative theories that are at best unhelpful to any attempt to understand what actually happens in the economy, and at worst have served as the sanction for ruinous excess.
The Bishop of London has invited a retired banker - and active churchman - called Ken Costa to lead a new study of the relationship of humanity and morality to business. In an interview on the Radio 4 Today programme he proclaimed himself open to any new idea, he spoke of Ethics as a separable aspect of human cerebration, and he took it for granted that human business relationships exist in a 'market economy'. Perhaps due to the constraints of time, there was no exploration of what a market economy might be or how it may be improved, dismembered or renewed. Costa commented that views for and against 'capitalism' were polarised: that no side to the dispute was intrinsically right, and that any dialogue must accept points from both sides. Most ecclesiastics who have made any comment on these issues, especially in the context of the naive claims made by the campers at Saint Paul's, have been couched in soft-left platitude. As such, they have failed to resonate in the media and in bar-room discussions.
Historically the emergence of capitalism has been linked to Protestantism, with its tradition of encouraging individuals to implement their own interpretation of biblical teaching on morality; while Catholicism and Islam have been much more explicit in outlining an official interpretation of scriptural guidance on business matters. None of these streams of dogma has pronounced capitalism to be 'evil'; while socialism - especially explicitly-atheistic Communism - has been anathemised. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, said that "the making of money is a worthy and a Godly pursuit": but he, like all other significant religious leaders, also argued strenuously for the 'right use' of money and the obligation of the faithful to support the poor and needy.
Markets are merely social media: their purpose, structure, processes and rules are made by human beings who participate in markets on their own account or as agents of firms. Those individuals cannot avoid making their decisions in markets in the light of their understanding of their function; and of their personal needs, beliefs, prejudices, and judgements. These may or may not include religious aspects and ethical consciousness. Personal charity is still significant; but most of the care for the poor and needy - as for the sick - has been appropriated by the state. To pay for it, the state taxes firms and persons who participate in economic activity; and taxes are broadly proportional to turnover.
People decide on a daily basis whether to put a coin in a rattling collecting-box, as they hurry along carrying newspapers that show more and more 'gaps' in provision by the 'welfare state'; and most people are becoming more and more concerned that they will personally fall into some of those gaps. The perceptual separation of markets from society, with the political system taxing markets to maintain society, was slowly developed between 1870 and 1980, sanctioned by Economists: and now it is busted. A wholly new basis for understanding these relationships is essential. With the best will in the world, Saint Paul's Institute and Ken Costa will not resolve the dilemma with their existing intellectual resources.
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