I. NATURE
There are certain things found in Nature which apparently have no life and do
not grow or increase, and so get exhausted or consumed by being used. The
world possesses a certain stock or reservoir of such materials as coal,
petroleum, ores or minerals like iron, copper, gold etc. These being available in
fixed quantities, may be said to be 'transient' while the current of overflowing
water in a river or the constantly growing timber of a forest may be considered
'permanent' as their stock is inexhaustible in the service of man when only the
flow or increase is taken advantage of.
In animate life, the secret of nature's permanency lies in the cycle of life by
which the various factors function in close cooperation to maintain the
continuity of life. A grain of wheat falls from the parent plant. It gets buried in
the earth, sends out roots into the soil and through them absorbs nutritive
elements with the aid of moisture and the heat of the sun. It sprouts up into a
plant by this process. The plant shoots out leaves which help to gather
nourishment from the air and light, as the roots do from the soil. When some of
these leaves 'die' they fall to the ground and are split up or decomposed into
the various elements which the parent plant had absorbed from the soil, air,
and light. This is again used to nourish the next generation of plants. The bees
etc. while gathering the nectar and pollen from these plants for their own
good, fertilize the flowers and the grains, that are formed in consequence,
again become the source of life of the next generation of plants. When ready,
this seed falls to the ground and comes to life with the help of the soil that has
already been enriched by fallen leaves of the previous generation of plants.
Thus a fresh cycle of life begins once again. In this manner, life in nature goes
on, and as long as there is no break in this cycle, the work in nature continues
endlessly, making nature permanent.
II. WORK AND WAGES IN NATURE
'Work' in nature consists in the effort put forth by the various factors-insentient and sentient-which cooperate to complete this cycle of life. If this cycle is broken, at any stage, at any time, consciously or unconsciously, violence results as a consequence of such a break. When violence intervenes in this way, growth or progress is stopped, ending finally in destruction and waste. Nature is unforgiving and ruthless. Therefore, self-interest and self- preservation demand complete non-violence, co-operation and submission to the ways of nature if we are to maintain permanency by non-interference with and by not short-circuiting the cycle of life.
Even sentient creatures have to fall in line and function properly in their own
sphere if they are to exist. An earthworm by its movements in the earth, loose
is the soil allowing it to absorb air and water. When it feed on the earth
containing vegetable matter, it thoroughly mixes the various constituent parts
in its stomach and throws out a well prepared and fertilized soil- -worm casts-
from which plants can draw their own nutriment easily. 1Here is a sample of the form of vital co-operation eristing between soil, plant and animal life similar to the one where bees and butterflies fertilize the flowers of plants.
In return for such services or 'work' done, the worker unit gets its feed. In this
way nature pays its wages honestly in the form of food and nourishment in
return for every benefit received by her in obtaining cooperation and bringing
about co-ordination of the manifold factors-inanimate and animate-in air, land
and water.
The life in the vegetable kingdom is immobile. The seeds can only fall directly
below, near the parent plant or tree. If all seeds fall and germinate around the
parent plant it will create a suffocating congestion. It is necessary to broadcast
the seed further afield. To do this, nature commandeers the services of birds,
animals etc. Here the mobile creature performs a special function. A bird may
eat the fruit of a plant and pass out the seed, perhaps miles away. It does this
co-ordinating work as a part of its own existence and not as an obligation to anybody. It eats to satisfy its own hunger. While performing its own primary
function it fulfills its role in the cycle of life.
In this manner nature enlists and ensures the co-operation of all its units, each
working for itself and in the process helping other units to get along their own
too-the mobile helping the immobile, and the sentient the insentient. Thus all
nature is dovetailed together in a common cause. Nothing exists for itself.
When this works out harmoniously and violence does not break the chain, we
have an economy of permanence.
There are certain things found in Nature which apparently have no life and do
not grow or increase, and so get exhausted or consumed by being used. The
world possesses a certain stock or reservoir of such materials as coal,
petroleum, ores or minerals like iron, copper, gold etc. These being available in
fixed quantities, may be said to be 'transient' while the current of overflowing
water in a river or the constantly growing timber of a forest may be considered
'permanent' as their stock is inexhaustible in the service of man when only the
flow or increase is taken advantage of.
In animate life, the secret of nature's permanency lies in the cycle of life by
which the various factors function in close cooperation to maintain the
continuity of life. A grain of wheat falls from the parent plant. It gets buried in
the earth, sends out roots into the soil and through them absorbs nutritive
elements with the aid of moisture and the heat of the sun. It sprouts up into a
plant by this process. The plant shoots out leaves which help to gather
nourishment from the air and light, as the roots do from the soil. When some of
these leaves 'die' they fall to the ground and are split up or decomposed into
the various elements which the parent plant had absorbed from the soil, air,
and light. This is again used to nourish the next generation of plants. The bees
etc. while gathering the nectar and pollen from these plants for their own
good, fertilize the flowers and the grains, that are formed in consequence,
again become the source of life of the next generation of plants. When ready,
this seed falls to the ground and comes to life with the help of the soil that has
already been enriched by fallen leaves of the previous generation of plants.
Thus a fresh cycle of life begins once again. In this manner, life in nature goes
on, and as long as there is no break in this cycle, the work in nature continues
endlessly, making nature permanent.
II. WORK AND WAGES IN NATURE
'Work' in nature consists in the effort put forth by the various factors-insentient and sentient-which cooperate to complete this cycle of life. If this cycle is broken, at any stage, at any time, consciously or unconsciously, violence results as a consequence of such a break. When violence intervenes in this way, growth or progress is stopped, ending finally in destruction and waste. Nature is unforgiving and ruthless. Therefore, self-interest and self- preservation demand complete non-violence, co-operation and submission to the ways of nature if we are to maintain permanency by non-interference with and by not short-circuiting the cycle of life.
Even sentient creatures have to fall in line and function properly in their own
sphere if they are to exist. An earthworm by its movements in the earth, loose
is the soil allowing it to absorb air and water. When it feed on the earth
containing vegetable matter, it thoroughly mixes the various constituent parts
in its stomach and throws out a well prepared and fertilized soil- -worm casts-
from which plants can draw their own nutriment easily. 1Here is a sample of the form of vital co-operation eristing between soil, plant and animal life similar to the one where bees and butterflies fertilize the flowers of plants.
In return for such services or 'work' done, the worker unit gets its feed. In this
way nature pays its wages honestly in the form of food and nourishment in
return for every benefit received by her in obtaining cooperation and bringing
about co-ordination of the manifold factors-inanimate and animate-in air, land
and water.
The life in the vegetable kingdom is immobile. The seeds can only fall directly
below, near the parent plant or tree. If all seeds fall and germinate around the
parent plant it will create a suffocating congestion. It is necessary to broadcast
the seed further afield. To do this, nature commandeers the services of birds,
animals etc. Here the mobile creature performs a special function. A bird may
eat the fruit of a plant and pass out the seed, perhaps miles away. It does this
co-ordinating work as a part of its own existence and not as an obligation to anybody. It eats to satisfy its own hunger. While performing its own primary
function it fulfills its role in the cycle of life.
In this manner nature enlists and ensures the co-operation of all its units, each
working for itself and in the process helping other units to get along their own
too-the mobile helping the immobile, and the sentient the insentient. Thus all
nature is dovetailed together in a common cause. Nothing exists for itself.
When this works out harmoniously and violence does not break the chain, we
have an economy of permanence.
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