23 CONFLICTS BETWEEN LIVING THINGS
Both in human life and in animal life, conflicts are unfortunately frequent. In the case of the human being there are two main causes, one of them is the existence of selfishness, which can also exist among animals and occurs when an individual dominated by an excess of confidence tries to question the rights of others. The second reason occurs due to weather disasters, which cause hunger, which in turn favors confrontations, but due to advances in science this problem may be close to having a solution. Unlike man, the main cause of conflicts between animals are predators that continually chase their prey to feed on them, but it is important to note that these animals do not necessarily hunt out of evil, but because nature has designed them to feed on that way.
It is possible that the origin of the predation is simply the interest of some animals to feed on others, because they consider it preferable to feed this way rather than doing it on plants, but it is also possible that it has been designed by nature as a means to avoid the proliferation of corpses It is true that scavengers already exist for that, but the usefulness of predators is that they prevent old animals from a slow final agony and the risk of contracting contagious diseases that this may entail. Viruses also participate in this function, when animals do not have natural enemies, it is as if it were a natural euthanasia system. It could then be said that predation works as a recycling system prior to the action of scavengers, it is as if the animals ate themselves before the deterioration of the organism reaches an extreme situation, therefore, it is reasonable to think that the just predators evolved from carrion.
In other words, predation would first act as a means to prevent the appearance of corpses, and then the scavengers would act to finish off the remains that the predators had left behind.
Another source of conflicts between animals but which does not occur between people is the confrontation that occurs in some species during the breeding dates, when the males fight to keep the females. In this case, as in the previous one, it is difficult to know if this custom arose from the interest of animals to have more females or if it was nature that prompted it as a means to facilitate that the healthiest animals and free of genetic diseases were the ones that fertilize the females. In this regard, humans do not have that problem, because as with other species, it is normal for most couples to be monogamous, which allows them to get a partner without resorting to violence. It is true that through the voluntary choice of a partner many hereditary diseases can be eradicated, but there are always those that are not visible to the naked eye, therefore, it would be advisable to check all citizens to be able to eradicate the most difficult to discover defective genes.
If all this were true, it would show that the most important factor causing conflicts between animals is their inability to control the environment and all the biological processes that surround them without confrontation, but it would also show that these problems are not inevitable in the world being human and consequently there is no compelling reason why peace in the world cannot be achieved.
In my opinion, all the problems that exist in nature, both humans and animals, could be solved without resorting to violence, because scavengers already exist to clean nature of dead animals and to avoid the final agony of animals old bacteria and viruses also exist. Nor does it seem convincing to propose predation as an essential system to regulate the excess of offspring, because the facts show that those animals that do not have natural enemies have only the number of offspring that the environment can support without predators. That is, how valid would it be to say that predators hunt their prey because they have too many young than to say that prey have too many young because there are predators that hunt them. Nor does it seem essential to me that there must be confrontations between animals for reproductive reasons. The proof is in the large number of species that there are in which the males do not fight to get the females because they are the ones who decide how they want them as a couple, and therefore they are subjected to a kind of examination called courtship to check if their health is adequate before having babies with them. For this reason, it seems to me more likely that both predation and reproductive fighting are actually the consequence of the will of the animals. In other words, a custom that could begin as a voluntary act performed for mere convenience ended up becoming something hereditary through progressive natural selection. As for the question of why natural selection chose that path, instead of another more peaceful one, my opinion is that it would be the consequence of the excessive value that primitive beings place on the material aspect of life, including animals and the people. Because the world evolves from chaos to order and brutality is more typical of ignorant beings than of cults. It should not be forgotten that natural selection is also greatly influenced by our own will. It is also possible that since animals do not have the technical means that people have, that has been the only means they have found to solve their biological problems.
But, even if it were true that predation is necessary to prevent nature from being filled with dead animals or that these could be a source of diseases, however, the conflicts it generates would not have to occur in the human species, because unlike of animals, man is perfectly capable of burying or recycling corpses without requiring the intervention of predators. Therefore, it is absurd to think that violence cannot be eradicated from society. Because once the human being is able on the one hand to live accepting his technical limitations and on the other to control all the climatic and energetic circumstances that surround him there will no longer be any excuse for not living in peace. Because it is clear that when food and energy resources are sufficient for everyone, then the most important thing has to be the distribution of goods and not economic growth. It is absurd that there are countries in the world with a per capita income much higher than what is needed to live comfortably and yet they do not allocate the necessary money to protect the environment. It is necessary for these countries to stop their insane obsession to put growth before ecology, therefore, it is essential that an international treaty be signed that commits all nations to this. Today, the world's oceans are becoming a garbage dump for the richest countries and that is obviously a contradiction that makes human beings a serious danger to the planet worse than any viral epidemic. For this reason, it is necessary for human beings to stop giving priority to having more money when that money implies the destruction of forests and the environment, which is becoming increasingly unbreathable. The truth is that humanity is closer than it seems to being able to close the circle that would avoid those factors that cause conflicts, because if technology and moral progress are properly combined, the world can achieve peace. Because all human beings belong to the same species and predation is not normal between individuals of the same species. The confrontation for reproductive reasons is not logical either, because unlike the animals between human beings, marriage has always been allowed for everyone, although in the past it was the parents who were generally the ones who the partners of their children.
It could be said then that the factors that cause conflicts between people are reduced to two. The first would be hunger, which in some cases is caused by weather catastrophes and in others by uncontrolled population growth. But these problems could be solved if governments took the decision to consider all people as part of a united system to avoid that no one lacks what is necessary to live, this would be done by guaranteeing work by law to all citizens. Once this has been achieved, it would be reasonable to prohibit begging as there is no one left unattended. For this to be possible, it would be necessary to implement a birth control system, whereby each city could only have the number of inhabitants it was capable of supporting, thus the circle of social needs would be closed.
The second problem that causes confrontations is vanity, because although it is true that throughout history weather disasters or famine have been two important factors that have caused conflicts, it is also true that in many other cases it has been vanity and overconfidence what causes them. Therefore, once the material problems are solved, there will only be one obstacle to achieving peace, and that is to resolve the serious moral vacuum that exists in society, therefore, it is essential that parents teach their children where their rights end and where those of the rest of society begin. Arrogance is like a disease of the spirit that corrodes the soul of those who allow themselves to be dominated by it. For centuries, the spiritual aspect of life has been relegated to the background by society and this has made it very materialistic, but it is important to give each thing its fair value, because the spiritual dimension of life must be exactly the same. It is important that the material dimension, therefore, it is necessary for humanity to give it back its rightful place and teach young people that justice and coexistence should be the pillars of humanity.
From the moment the universe began, it has progressed from fire to cold and from chaos to order, this applied to man means that the possibility that all social needs can be resolved is closer than it seems, therefore, only Governments must have the courage to recognize this truth and take the necessary measures to solve it. Throughout history, governments have always acted through improvisation, due to their ignorance and their inability to control the world around them, but today, they already have the necessary means to close the circle of social needs Therefore, they only need to understand this truth so that the world can achieve peace.