Why there are poor old men?

One day on my way, I saw an old man stooping over his fallen bicycle and picking up his spilt lunch-box from the road. It was a pitiable sight to watch. I could read the agony in his face over his lost lunch. He was quite old to drive a bicycle on such a road but his worn out dress and thin constitution showed that he had no other go. This sight provoked a chain of thoughts in my mind in an effort to understand the existence of social inequalities.

My thoughts lead me to the same dictum again "survival of the fittest !" At all times during this earth's history, those who are either physically or mentally strong dominate and exploit the weak . All the wars and invasions give testimony to this. They were quests of the stronger people to acquire more power and wealth. This kind of behaviour at many levels of the society will invariably lead to accumulation of wealth and resources with some people while some suffer a deficit of the same. In the long run, a society with a very inequal distribution of wealth and resources has emerged.

So, the culprit is the survival instincts in each and every being that lead him to dominate the weaker one. One might ask, why should the instinct be towards dominating the other? Why not there be live and let live? If there is no domination, and resources are equally distributed, then there will be competition which is unfavourable. So to avoid competitions, to make the weak more weaker and unable to compete with the stronger, the stronger have to dominate. Well, as a biologist, I cannot blame those instincts which are the very ones that make this life existant and as per Darwin's theory, has made evolution possible.

So, it appears to me that social inequalities are inevitable if survival has to be possible.

Now, an interesting question is, is it good to attempt to equalize the disparities? I leave it to the reader's discretion for now. I 'll post my own thoughts on it later.

Following one's own mind..

At times, the situations are so very unfavourable in one's life that a person is forced to do things that he/she doesn't like to do. It may be a result of wrong actions which do not comply with the person's nature and attitudes. What to do in such a situation? Refusing to act according to the demands of the situations may lead to friction in relationships and might earn a bad reputation . On the other hand, submitting to the situation might cause a lot of mental and/or physical stress and lead to unhappiness and frustration. What is the solution in such a situation?

According to our convention, placing one's happiness above others' happiness is considered to be a selfish and bad act. Sacrificing one's happiness for the sake of others is considered to be a virtue and especially women are always expected to have that virtue :-)

I am questioning the above things. I feel self- preservation is a right of each and every individual since he/she is born to live and his/her natural instincts are to preserve their own happiness. In such a case, how can an individual be expected to sacrifice his/her happiness for the sake of making others happy? It is the upto the others to take care of their happiness.

Let the fittest survive !!!

So following one's own mind in unfavourable situations and placing one's happiness above the others' is a very sane means of survival. Though there would be frictions and bad reputations in the short-term, happiness will be there in the long-term.