A view
propounded by Richard Dawkins and others is that the organism is a mere
vehicle for genes to perpetuate themselves. Over the course of
evolution, the initial formula of direct and complete perpetuation of
genes of an organism by binary fission or parthenogenesis has given way
to the lottery of sex with a 50% chance of successful propagation of an
individual's genes. Many rational explanations from out-competing
rapidly reproducing parasites to sequestering harmful mutations and
providing a template for repair and restitution have been advanced for
the wasteful preference for sexual reproduction over cloning. Meiosis
evolved to make the lottery reasonably fair. The history of genetics is
replete with segregation distorters and other selfish genes that have
successfully beaten the system and the resultant counter-strategies of
the parliament of genes to neutralize this advantage. Nevertheless, as
pointed out by Trivers and Burt in a recent exhaustive monograph on
genetic conflict, there are circumstances when this extreme selfish
attitude can lead to extinction of the species.
Even in animals not expending effort for parental care, the mating
instinct is powerful enough for them to jeopardize their life by
uttering loud mating calls that may attract predators. In the Black
Widow spider and other Arachnid species the male literally courts death
to mate. In death he serves as a vital nutrient for the female spider to
be nourished enough to give birth to more viable progeny and leaves
behind his broken penis as a plug to prevent another male from
fertilizing the female’s ova. Is there a more unselfish father?
Cecidomyian gall midges have two evolutionary strategies labeled "r" and
"K". They can lay eggs and have male and female progeny or can reproduce
by parthenogenesis bearing females. Aphids behave similarly. In the
latter mode the offspring develop within the body of the mother’s
tissues and literally eat their alive mother from the inside and
perpetuate this mode of reproduction, suffering the same dismal
consequences. These flies feed on mushrooms which are rare and difficult
to find, but once found serve as food for a few generations. The
strategy to reproduce prolifically is called the "r" strategy and the
offspring are without functioning wings as they have enough food and
don’t need to fly searching for nutrition. When food is scarce and the
mushrooms are eaten they revert to winged children of both sexes and
sexual reproduction to explore and find a new mushroom. Is there a more
unselfish mother?
Reproduction is so vital that in primates like us evolution has
programmed orgasmic pleasure and an insatiable instinctual desire for
it. Unfortunately evolution has no foresight or plan and functions by
chance and necessity as emphasized by Nobel prize winning Monod in his
book. Thus it evolved in us a neocortex that allowed us to analyze and
find the secrets of our own existence. When we found oral
contraceptives, it broke the chain between sex and pregnancy. We
liberated human libido to attain fulfillment without the consequences of
pregnancy or parental care and investment. The only reasons to have
children are the hope that they will support parents in their old age
and the vicarious pleasure of transferring our unfulfilled ambition in
the hope of their realizing it. Leakey, on discovering a healed
fractured femur fossil in a protohuman remarked that it was a proven
example of compassionate care by relatives or friends that let the
invalid survive due to the care and efforts of others. Thus in less
developed societies with no social safety net the rates of birth are
higher, as parents look upon children as a form of insurance.
In the West where the state provides cradle to grave security as in
Europe, the birth rates have dropped precipitously. In America with its
Darwinian capitalism and religious orthodoxy they have held at
replacement levels. There is an additional factor in Europe and America
that has led to decline in the birthrates. The second reason to have
children once the economic necessity has been eliminated is the
vicarious pleasure of basking in their glory. Unfortunately rabid
individualistic rebellion has made the young unwilling to channel their
life towards the fulfillment of this parental desire. They choose to
satisfy their own goals and often ignore their parents’ ambition. The
deprived older folks without raison d’etre are then led to
acquire trophy spouses, indulge in conspicuous consumption or hanker for
power. This severely suppresses the desire to have children and leads to
a self-gratification psyche, destined to die out as it cannot propagate
genes or ideas.
Affluence and satisfaction make individuals and nations risk averse.
History is replete with the course of rise and fall of civilizations on
that basis. Another of Dawkins’ innovative ideas is what he calls memes
which are ideas that propagate in a Lamarckian mode due to our gift of
the neocortex and speech. They are not always benign and in their most
malignant form are exemplified in religious zealotry. Religion has its
benefits in that it can put restraints on selfishness and bring about a
civil society amongst the non-intellectual masses, but it can also
become a scourge as in the Crusades or Jihad.
The compound problems of the West are a mind-set of secular humanism,
affluent security and selfish gratification that take away the desire
for risk of life, expending time, effort and money to invest in
children. The few children raised are affected by lack of parental
interest to rebel with greater selfishness which translates into their
having even less or none. The need for affection is met by pets with
unthinking loyalty. The intolerance for suffering pain and heartache of
begetting and raising children is leading to a demographic meltdown
requiring increased immigration to meet the fiscal needs of funding an
unfunded and over generous social security and old age safety net. The
racial prejudices have encouraged immigration from North African and
Middle Eastern countries. The same racial prejudices have prevented full
social acceptance and integration. The alienated new immigrants regress
to religion and their more intimate understanding of Western
exploitation with the encouragement of zealous fanatic preachers sows
the seeds of domestic terrorism. This leads to states with declining
native populations locked in a combat to death with an extremist
orthodox Islamic foe willing to proliferate faster and committed to its
cause even on the pain of death. It is a no-brainer which side will
triumph given time, despite the West having phenomenal advantages in
technology and arms. Iraq and Afghanistan are classic examples of the
failure of military superiority, as was Vietnam. Of course the hands of
the West are not pristine and without stains of sin and it needs to
redress the exploitation and oppression of the Muslims and begin a real
dialogue and not the phony double talk of the current American
administration with its fear and war mongering.
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