æThe great news about piles,Æ says an ageing Porthos in the film romp DÆArtagnanÆs Daughter, æis that they help you forget your rheumatism.Æ

This fundamental truth can be broadened to cover a multitude of problems. Coping well with adversity is one of the planks that help keep the human race afloat in the river of life. Many people learn to live within vastly changed circumstances brought on by accident, illness, or straightened finances. Change may occur through sophisticated means which could only apply to a human or through means that could apply to any animal life form.

It is contrasting events like the recent IRA bombs in London and the present snow and cold winds that bring this difference into focus. The bombs being entirely constructed by humans for political motives and the snow and cold winds occurring naturally. But the effect of both is the same, loss of life, chaos in the immediate environment and fear of more to come. The Sea Empress going aground at Milford Haven and producing an oil slick combines both elements, with a sophisticated machine being destroyed by natural forces and resulting in disaster for the environment.

It is a strange incidence of evolution that an animal species has become so sophisticated that the simple rules which govern behaviour are ignored. For example, during cold weather, in a modern car the driver will sit in shirtsleeve order and allow the heater to keep the temperature high. This is fine until the snow comes and the road becomes blocked and the car is stationary and runs out of petrol so the heater goes off and itÆs night and the temperature is minus 10 and it is death by hypothermia.

We of the western world have forgotten the basic tenet of our existence. We are an animal like any other. We exist because there is enough food and warmth for us to survive and our predators are kept at bay. These rules that govern the numbers and health of a life form have become blurred for the human race by our superficial coating of technology and education. As recent events in Rwanda, Bosnia and London have shown us this veneer is very thin. The animal within is ready to emerge at a moments notice even after decades of quiescence. When this behaviour occurs the old clichΘs are spilled out liked rotting prunes. æThey behaved like animals!Æ is a favourite. This is taken to be a term of abuse, implying that the individuals have sunk to deeds of depravity that no human should ever contemplate let alone enact. What is actually happening is that the humans are behaving quite naturally, like animals, defending their turf by the most vicious and frightening means they can. Anyone who has witnessed sparrows fighting over a piece of bread will know that share and share alike is not on the menu. Fear is a great weapon of conquest and preservation.

Road Rage is a perfectly natural phenomenon and the actual killing or maiming of irritating road users is not surprising. Those who carry out the apparently repellent task of torturing their fellow humans tend to be simple mundane unimaginative folk who can live easily with the screams, smells and sights of dismembered corpses.

So what we have is millions of so called educated humans living under an unnatural imposed set of rules. These rules have evolved as the framework within which the majority of the human race can survive and prosper. The rules vary by geographical area. Throughout history some humans following certain rules have conquered another group and have imposed their rules. This creates even more tension as local rules suit local conditions. The imposition of the strict rules of Victorian Britain on the continent of India are a case in point.

The more sophisticated the human race becomes the more the reality of our situation on Earth recedes. It is highly likely that we are only here for period of time. Long in terms of a single human life, very short in terms of the history of the globe. Maybe just the present life forms on earth will disappear, maybe the whole globe will go bang. What makes it go bang may be a result of our actions accidental or directed, or as a result of external forces. A major meteorite may strike and thatÆs that. DonÆt bank on the Patriot missiles to stop one, they didnÆt stop the Scuds in the Gulf War.

A very wise woman once said to me that she rejoiced when floods killed 30,000 in Bangladesh. Not because she was sick but because she was wise enough to know that the earth can only support a certain number of humans and that this catastrophe acted as a safety valve for millions of other humans.

If a species is left to proliferate unchecked it will alter the environment. The foot wide toads introduced into the cane fields of Queensland Australia to kill bugs have become a menace. Millions of these marauding monsters are now hopping amok amongst the locals even attacking cats and dogs. Some action will be taken to curtail them which will probably eliminate them, unless they can evolve fast enough to produce a strain which is immune to the action

If too many humans are bred large numbers will be eliminated one way or another. World War II was about living space for the German people and a greater economic area for the Japanese. These requirements culled a substantial number of humans.

So just remember this we are as vulnerable to the elements on this earth as any other species. The weather can stop more than football matches, even the Channel Tunnel, presumably built partially on the premise that is was weather proof, was shut. Planes will fall from the sky, cars will collide and ships will sink as a result of inclement weather. In spite of all our progress we are no better than an ant colony and one of these days the Monty Python foot may tread on us.

æAs for man , his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone and the place thereof shall know it no moreÆ. Psalm 103.

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