Economic Problems, a deepening (part three)
Another problem, that of the survival of the fittest, which originates in human nature, has been man’s legacy from the days when he lived a primitive life in the jungles to the present time. Today it is called competition.
“In the world of nature we behold the living organisms in a ceaseless struggle for existence. Everywhere we are confronted by evidences of the physical survival of the fittest. This is the very source of error and misapprehension in the opinions and theories of men who fail to realize that the world of nature is inherently defective in cause and outcome and that the ….”
-‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 400. (Talk dated 7 November 1912 in Washington, D.C.)
Questions:
- How is the law of the survival of the fittest the origin of all difficulties?
- Is survival of the fittest the cause of economic problems:
The following are ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s directives to overcome this problem:
“This [survival of the fittest] is the very source of error and misapprehension in the opinions and theories of men who fail to realize that the world of nature is inherently defective in cause and outcom…and that the defects therein must be removed by education.”
-‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 400. (Talk dated 7 November 1912 in Washington, D.C.)
“In nature there is the law of the survival of the fittest. Even if man be not educated, then according to the natural institutes this natural law will demand of man supremacy. The purpose and object of schools, colleges and universities is to educate man and thereby rescue and redeem him from the exigencies and defects of nature and to awaken within him the capability of controlling and appropriating nature’s bounties.”
–‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 353.
Questions:
- What remedies have been offered to solve this problem?
- What is the purpose and object of schools?
- Does man have the capability of controlling and appropriating nature’s bounties?
- Do you think that the economic systems of the world work on the basis of survival of the fittest?
- What is the opposite of survival of the fittest?