The struggle for existence

Thomas Malthus, 1766-1834.

I've been musing off and on here lately about Charles Darwin and the legacy of his thought. If you like that kind of thing, check out some of last week's posts.

As Darwin began to build his theory of evolution, he struggled for some time with finding the mechanism that might drive it. He found a clue in reading Thomas Malthus' An Essay on the Principle of Population, which incidentally became very popular amongst Victorian era reactionaries who opposed any improvement in the condition of the working classes.

Malthus' basic idea was that production of food and other necessities could only increase arithmetically (think 2+2+2...), whereas population tended to increase geometrically (think 2*2*2...). As he put it,

I think I may fairly make two postulata. First, That food is necessary to the existence of man. Secondly, That the passion between the sexes is necessary and will remain nearly in its present state. These two laws, ever since we have had any knowledge of mankind, appear to have been fixed laws of our nature, and, as we have not hitherto seen any alteration in them, we have no right to conclude that they will ever cease to be what they now are...

Assuming then my postulata as granted, I say, that the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man. Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio.

(Malthus' ideas caused all kinds of political mischief, but I'll leave that for another day.)

For Darwin, the basic dynamic Malthus discussed was useful in looking at the evolution of species. The tendency of plants and animals to produce more offspring than could possibly be supported led to a "struggle for existence" with which natural selection could work. Given that struggle, those organisms best adapted to environmental challenges would be more likely to live to maturity and produce offspring.

As the saying goes, even a wild hog can dig up something useful sometimes. More on Malthus to come.

INTOLERANCE. Here's a photo essay on intolerance in America by way of Time Magazine.

SOLAR ENERGY might be getting more affordable soon.

CRY, CRY, CRY. It seems to serve an evolutionary purpose.

MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL is the topic of this NY Times editorial. I don't think they're for it.

THE GROWING GAP. America's widening class divide is the subject of this Gazette rant.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

THE FIRST OLYMPIANS

Dionysus and friends, courtesy of wikipedia.

The series on the Odyssey continues, although you'll also find links and comments about current events. If you like an occasional ancient Greek fix, please click on earlier posts. The series started Aug. 4.

As noted yesterday, the Greek gods who were such major characters in the Iliad and the Odyssey were a lot different from what we're used to these days.

Here's a striking contrast. In a monotheistic framework, it is idolatrous and impious to worship more than one god. In the Greek religious system, it would be just as impious to worship only one at the expense of the whole. That was one theme in the Greek tragedy Hippolytus by Euripides, in which the title character worshiped only Artemis the hunter goddess and neglected the love goddess Aphrodite to his own destruction. Like the letters of the alphabet or chess pieces or a deck of cards, the gods only made sense as part of a system.

Greek religion had no creeds or scriptures and didn't place an emphasis on personal piety or beliefs. Nor did it have as elaborate a system of priests and religious officials as many other societies.

The Greek gods weren't all that interested in micromanaging human morality either, although they did have some standards. Zeus, for instance, was the patron of oaths and the laws of hospitality which protected guests and hosts. Hera was the goddess of marriage (not entirely successfully). The gods tended to punish human excess and arrogance to protect the rights of supplicants and sanctuary.

If they didn't crave personal piety, they wanted respect. In a way, the gods couldn't exist without people to worship them and they enjoyed the aroma of sacrifices.

Aside from that, they didn't care too much about people. Some had their favorites, such as Odysseus' patron Athena, but in general they probably cared less for people than some people care for their pets.

On the positive side, it probably would occur to the Olympians to punish the majority of mankind in eternal fire, although they did reserve special punishments for people who personally ticked them off.

Next time: the lineup.

THE GOOD SAMARITAN should be welcomed back to the public sphere like the Prodigal Son, as this piece argues.

TIMETABLE? McClatchy reports that the US and Iraq are approaching an agreement on the withdrawal of US troops.

LEAVING WAR TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR. The US has spent $100 billion on private contractors in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

CREDIT CARD DEBT is a serious issue for college students. In one survey, typical respondents will graduate with more than $2,600 of it. That's not counting student loans.

BIG BOXES GO SOLAR. A number of retail giants are installing solar panels on their roofs to capture energy.

ALMOST UFO HEAVEN. El Cabrero's beloved state of West Virginia has yet another distinction, as the Beckley Register Herald suggest:

West Virginia prides itself as a land of majestic mountains, sparkling streams, coal to feed hungry power plants, a unique place in American history and a fiercely independent people accustomed to overcoming hard times with a resiliency unrivaled by anyone else.

Now add another chapter to the 35th state’s storied history — more documented UFO activity than any other place in America.

Even eclipsing Roswell.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

POLYTROPOS

The world of the Odyssey, courtesy of wikipedia.

Note to first time visitors: Goat Rope is all about The Odyssey these days, although you'll also find links and comments about current events. The series started with yesterday's post.

Pardon El Cabrero's atrocious Greek, but one of the words Homer uses to describe Odysseus, hero of the Odyssey is something like polytropos, which means something like "many-turned." It fits pretty well.

Our hero is a man of many turns in more than one sense of the word. He is indeed widely traveled, having left his native Ithaca in the Ionian Sea to besiege Troy in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). After fighting there for 10 bitter years, he's only halfway done.

Due to his own royal screwups and the anger of the sea god Poseidon (note: try not to tick him off--he holds grudges), his homecoming is as dangerous and lengthy as the war itself. He's basically battered about from one end of the Mediterranean to the other and even visits the land of the dead.

He's also a man of many turns in the sense of cleverness and stratagems. Even in the Iliad, he is known for his mastery of strategy (and even deviousness). He was, after all, the author of the idea of the wooden horse that brought down the city of Troy, which 10 years of hard fighting failed to do.

These are traits he also needs on his way home, although they can get him into trouble as well. Indeed, like many veterans of combat or other stressful situations, he has been in strategic/survival mode so long that it's hard for him to turn off the switch and function in any other way--even when he really should.

Even the meaning of his name is associated with pain and anger--it means something like "he who gives and receives pain," which fits for his loved ones as well as his enemies. Odysseus is a deeply damaged and flawed character. In fact, he comes off as a "stage villain" in later Greek tragedies such as Ajax and Philoctetes, which emphasizes the manipulative and smarmy aspects of his character.

As a soldier and survivor, he is damaged by what he has undergone. But as a military commander, he repeatedly failed his men--so much so that none of the more than 600 Ithacans who followed him to Troy survived.

Jonathan Shay, a psychiatrist who works with veterans and author of Achilles in Vietnam and Odysseus in America, argues that the Odyssey can be seen as

a detailed allegory of many a real veteran's homecoming. Time and again Odysseus shows himself as a man who does not trust anyone, a man whose capacity for social trust has been destroyed. This is the central problem facing the most severely injured Vietnam veterans. Odysseus stands for the veterans, but as a deeply flawed military leader himself, he also stands for the destroyers of trust. Homer's Odysseus sheds light--not always flattering light--on today's veterans and today's military leaders.

I'd only add that his story sheds light on a whole lot more. Way more on The Odyssey to come. I ain't even warmed up yet.

THE ECONOMIC HEART OF THE MATTER. According to Robert Reich, it's inequality and the fact that wages haven't kept up with the cost of living. This item about low wage workers from the Washington Post is a good example of this. Ditto these items from McClatchy.

ON A SIMILAR NOTE, a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that the value of food stamps hasn't kept up with inflation. Most people who get food stamps come from working families.

THIS IS KIND OF COOL NEWS for a hot planet. Researchers at MIT have apparently made a major breakthrough in solar energy research which could have far reaching--and positive--ramifications.

BOREDOM IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL said Kierkegaard, but it also is central to learning and creativity.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED