The Law of the Jungle: In Canada is Trust crumbling ?
Our misguided understanding of the Law of the Jungle: brute force and self-interest are how you survive is destroying us
Now this is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back –
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.”
This essay is my response to the recent news that over 30 home owners in Toronto have had their homes sold without their knowledge by organized crime. It feels like we cannot trust anybody or any system we have and I find that very, very disturbing. Not only in and of the fear and isolation is creates but the fact that we cannot possible address our environmental crises if we cannot cooperate and trust each other. Back in the day when I was kid trust was just assumed. My farmer neighbour tells me his Dad just shook hands with a neighbour [and then signed a scrap of paper] to buy his land. I ran out with my friends at breakfast and was told to home for dinner – and my Mum had no idea where I was and was not worried or anxious. No more. Let’s explore this new country of Canada that we are in where it is starting to feel like a very distorted and destructive version of the Law of the Jungle seems to be spreading like a virus.
Rudyard Kipling, in the day of the British Raj in India, wrote the Jungle book in 1894 which included The Law of the Jungle – quoted at the end of this essay. His law of the jungle is a law that wolves in a pack are supposed to obey. His poem says that ‘the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack’, and it states the basic principles of social co-operation. Somehow we have twisted this idea of the necessity of social cooperation, which is based upon deep and abiding trust, into a social Darwinistic chaos of individualism where all good is defined as what is good for me is good. Our societies are becoming jungles where the principle that those who are strong and apply ruthless self-interest will be most successful. Unless we change direction that is world we headed for… and how are our efforts to prevent the worst of climate change and biosphere destruction when this perverted Law of Jungle reigns supreme>
Canadians used to live in a safe bubble away from the troubles of the world. No longer. The desired “civil society” we so value is crumbling. This is NOT bad news, if you are brave enough to admit that life always has hiccups that can be over come – IF, only IF, you admit to the challenge you are experiencing. Thus our first step as citizens of our fair country is to admit that we have a BIG problem, a problem that runs deep and will require some fundamental changes in our values and world view. So, let’s start with some headlines to make the point that we no longer live in a society where you can automatically trust another person or organization. Those golden days are over and anybody who is naïve enough to trust all they hear is eventually going to get S….ed. You may think the following headlines reflect rare events -no longer. After reading them you should be asking yourself: “what the HELL is going on in my [once] civilized, peaceful, boring Canada- once the envy of the world?”
Toronto Police are on the hunt for 10-15 youths after they allegedly swarmed and attacked two TTC employees on a bus in Scarborough
Toronto police deploying dozens of officers to patrol city’s transit system after surge in violence
Couple whose Toronto home sold without their knowledge says systems failed to protect them
How organized crime has mortgaged or sold at least 30 GTA homes without owners’ knowledge
We all know that the foundation of Civilization is trust. We do our special role in society because we know that although we give my many freedoms we benefit even more from the reciprocal, trusting exchange of goods and services we get in return for what we do. We all know this, and yet, here in Canada, right before our eyes, we can see this trust, this social cohesion crumbling before our eyes. And what do we do? We think if we pass new laws or create new regulations or finally begin to enforce the rules we already have all will be well. Wrong. The rot runs much deeper than that. I am sure that you have read the recent headlines about housing scams and Toronto violence escalating out of control: these kind of headlines used to be reserved for barbaric USA…. no longer, their social breakdown is now ours.
If you have the same feeling that I do that the social contract in Canada is failing and need to be rebuilt take a read of a part of some research on how dangerous it is for democracies to stop supplying basic needs like affordable housing and safety. [see last reference at the end]
History shows that societies collapse when leaders undermine social contracts
In a new paper, anthropologists examined a broad, global sample of 30 pre-modern societies. They found that when “good” governments—ones that provided goods and services for their people and did not starkly concentrate wealth and power—fell apart, they broke down more intensely than collapsing despotic regimes. And the researchers found a common thread in the collapse of good governments: leaders who undermined and broke from upholding core societal principles, morals, and ideals. The researchers also examined a common factor in the collapse of societies with good governance: leaders who abandoned the society‘s founding principles and ignored their roles as moral guides for their people. “In a good governance society, a moral leader is one who upholds the core principles and ethos and creeds and values of the overall society,” says Feinman. “Most societies have some kind of social contract, whether that’s written out or not, and if you have a leader who breaks those principles, then people lose trust, diminish their willingness to pay taxes, move away, or take other steps that undercut the fiscal health of the polity.”
And a big part of trust is that basics of life are affordable for “normal” working people. Well, housing and food are the basics. And they are not affordable – especially housing. And we all now know that without affordable housing a host of social, psychological, addiction, family breakdown and mental health issues follow. Here are a few headlines that make the point clear.
Severely unaffordable housing sucking the life out of Canada’s biggest cities
The Bank of Canada estimates half of Canadian homeowners who took out a variable-rate mortgage with fixed payments are no longer paying down any principal on their loan and is only covering interest
In Toronto 50,000 fewer children under the age of 15 since 2001 in a city that’s grown by more than 300,000 people over the same period.
So what can you do?
Rebuild trust with the people you know and your community. Get to KNOW them and help them out. Keep your word. If you say it, mean and do it. Don’t accept lies from your political leaders or good intentions that are never kept. In whatever way to can demand honesty and thoughts and deeds that are in touch with reality. What is reality? Acknowledging our limits. Living with our limits. Doing our best, but knowing we are bound to often fail. And then getting up and trying again to bring light into darkness. But don’t be naïve either – that will destroy your idealism in a flash. And remember, you and I in many ways like wolves – we are social beings. It’s not about you or me – it’s about US, it’s about the wolf pack. When the pack does well, we do well. So let’s ensure that we have the resources and systems, which are limited, to allow every Canadian to enjoy a high quality of life. Does that mean limiting our population? Of course. Does that mean limiting our consumption? Of course. When we live within our limits we can thrive – just like any forest and wolf pack – only when we live within the limits of our place in our ecosystem can that ecosystem thrive and we thrive with it.
Competition is the law of the jungle, but cooperation is the law of civilization Peter Kropotkin
Here is the full poem by Kipling.
NOW this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back—
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
Wash daily from nose-tip to tail-tip; drink deeply, but never too deep;
And remember the night is for hunting, and forget not the day is for sleep.
The Jackal may follow the Tiger, but, Cub, when thy whiskers are grown,
Remember the Wolf is a Hunter—go forth and get food of thine own.
Keep peace with Lords of the Jungle—the Tiger, the Panther, and Bear.
And trouble not Hathi the Silent, and mock not the Boar in his lair.
When Pack meets with Pack in the Jungle, and neither will go from the trail,
Lie down till the leaders have spoken—it may be fair words shall prevail.
When ye fight with a Wolf of the Pack, ye must fight him alone and afar,
Lest others take part in the quarrel, and the Pack be diminished by war.
The Lair of the Wolf is his refuge, and where he has made him his home,
Not even the Head Wolf may enter, not even the Council may come.
The Lair of the Wolf is his refuge, but where he has digged it too plain,
The Council shall send him a message, and so he shall change it again.
If ye kill before midnight, be silent, and wake not the woods with your bay,
Lest ye frighten the deer from the crop, and your brothers go empty away.
Ye may kill for yourselves, and your mates, and your cubs as they need, and ye can;
But kill not for pleasure of killing, and seven times never kill Man!
If ye plunder his Kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy pride;
Pack-Right is the right of the meanest; so leave him the head and the hide.
The Kill of the Pack is the meat of the Pack. Ye must eat where it lies;
And no one may carry away of that meat to his lair, or he dies.
The Kill of the Wolf is the meat of the Wolf. He may do what he will;
But, till he has given permission, the Pack may not eat of that Kill.
Cub-Right is the right of the Yearling. From all of his Pack he may claim
Full-gorge when the killer has eaten; and none may refuse him the same.
Lair-Right is the right of the Mother. From all of her year she may claim
One haunch of each kill for her litter, and none may deny her the same.
Cave-Right is the right of the Father—to hunt by himself for his own:
He is freed of all calls to the Pack; he is judged by the Council alone.
Because of his age and his cunning, because of his gripe and his paw,
In all that the Law leaveth open, the word of your Head Wolf is Law.
Now these are the Laws of the Jungle, and many and mighty are they;
But the head and the hoof of the Law and the haunch and the hump is—Obey!
References
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-ttc-transit-violence-1.6726802
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/couple-toronto-home-sold-says-system-failed-them-1.6726043
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/01/26/opinion/unaffordable-housing-canada-biggest-cities
https://phys.org/news/2020-10-history-societies-collapse-leaders-undermine.html
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