Opting out of public life

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Epicurus was political insofar as he saw that it was in the best interest of society that people carry out agreements that promote fellowship and common sense cooperation. This implied a contractual form of government.  But Epicurus and his followers disapproved of advocacy for social change. They saw political struggle as creating unnecessary stress, and advocated civic tranquillity, living unnoticed, abstaining from public life and the avoidance of anything that made enemies.  This was approach to politics that suited those living under authoritarian (Alexander, the Roman Emperors) rule.

But is it appropriate for us today? We do not live under a totalitarian regime, but our freedoms are being whittled away, both in the US and in Europe, in the name of defending our freedoms.  How far can we be true Epicurians and ignore politics, and at what point do we get involved and resist?

Incarceration reform: a further thought

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We can all applaud the bi-partisan effort to reduce prison populations.  But fewer prisoners in due course means fewer actual prisons, does it not?  So which prisons will be kept and which closed down – the public or the private prisons?  I am offering no prizes for anyone guessing which!  Since politicians will not wish to offend their paymasters, the end result of what seems an intelligent, moderate and humane movement will be that the whole prison industry with end up in private hands.

The original idea of putting criminals away in prisons was correctional.   You hoped that prisoners would reflect on their misdeeds and resolve to go straight once released.  Private prisons can have only one objective, and that is profit.  To imagine that they will “correct” anything is naive.  Aside from anything else they are certain  to use the cheapest employees they can find, and employ the fewest.  This task of dealing with convicted criminals is the task of government.

Let us be careful what we wish for!

Get a life!

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Rudyard Kipling argued in “Stalky & Co” that much of the value of British public-schools (private boarding school) experience lies in learning to oppose the dictates of routine, the cult of athleticism and the public parading of patriotic sentiment.  Probably some of the most unpopular sentiments expressed in a book, guaranteed to cause fury today among those who fiercely oppose private schools, or who sit in front of the telly watching sport.

  I learned little or nothing at my school about chemistry, physics and even mathematics (although I can do mental arithmetic without resorting to a cellphone).  But what I came away with was a huge distrust of group-think, convention, acceptance of the status quo, nationalism parading as patriotism, and the obsession with sport, important though teamwork and exercise undoubtedly is. I relate to Kipling’s words.

The other night I attended an event where a football helmet signed by some prominent sports personalities from the local team was being auctioned for the cost of feeding the Washington homeless for a month.  I scarcely recognised the name of the team.  But this is a direct effect of boarding school, I guess.  Everyone else was excited about a helmet.  Not me.  I like to follow the example of Epicurus – come into my garden and talk about real life.

 

A warning: you reap what you sow!

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Americans have become  heavier over the years – and not just Americans – and the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes has rapidly increased.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 10 percent of American adults have Type 2 diabetes, and that 86 million (!) adults over age 20 are prediabetic.

Call that 86 million and 1.  The writer has recently been told that he is on the cusp of being diabetic.  This despite an excellent diet,  lots of excercise, and weight less than when he was 18.  (all my clothes seem too big for me). Now all sources of sugar have been reduced – no sweets, cakes, puddings, sweet drinks (and even chocolate has been reduced to a measly one square of dark chocolate a day). We will overcome!

This situation is probably long- standing and is caused by a life-long sweet tooth and a foolish belief that, if you get enough excercise, you will be o.k.  Ignorance is bliss.  The truth is that eating too many sweet things all one’s life probably (?) gradually degrades the pancreas, which metabolizes the sugar, leaving you wishing you hadn’t guzzled that fruit cake over the years.  Now I am faced with reversing gears suddenly and with vigor. Ouch!  ( I mention this as a serious warning: sugar is a poison).

“The good news here is that by finding people while they’re still at that abnormal blood sugar range and making lifestyle interventions at that time, we can reduce the burden of diabetes,” says Dr. Michael Pignone, chief of general internal medicine at the University of North Carolina.

“New trials since 2008 that have more definitively shown that intensive lifestyle interventions directed to people who have abnormal blood sugar but not yet diabetes are effective in reducing the progression to diabetes and improving cardiovascular risk factor control,” Pignone says.  (source NPR Oct 2015)

All very well, but in America they even put sugar in prepared soups. Suddenly, one is peerring at every label: can I possibly eat this?  Epicurus probably ate simply and healthily; wish I had!

 

Eat less meat!

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Livestock rearing  accounts for 14.5 per cent of the world’s human-caused emissions, nearly half of that coming from growing  and shipping the corn and soy that most of the animals eat. (UN Food and Agriculture Organization).  A typical meat-eater’s diet is responsible for almost twice as much global warming as that of a vegetarian and almost triple that of a vegan (“Climatic Change”).  And cutting your meat intake in half could cut your carbon footprint by more than 35 per cent (study by Oxford University)

Particularly damaging to the planet, according  to the National Academy of Sciences, is beef. It results in five times more greenhouse gas emissions than pork or chicken, while requiring 28 times more land and 11 times more irrigation. There is also the issue of cows and their natural habits.

As a clincher, the World Health Organization has just announced that processed meats, such as bacon, sausages and hot dogs, can cause cancer, and that meats including beef, pork, veal and lamb are “probably carcinogenic”.  A group of 22 scientists reviewed the evidence linking red meat and processed meat consumption to cancer, and concluded that eating them regularly increases the risk of colorectal cancer. They class processed meat in  the same category as  tobacco smoking and asbestos, not equally dangerous, but bad for you in quantity (reported in The Lancet).

When US Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack and health and human services secretary Sylvia Burwell, suggested to the House Agriculture Committee a while ago that Americans should eat less meat for the sake of the environment, Republicans went ballistic. You’ve guessed it: the agricultural lobby at work. So difficult to get simple, intelligent things done.  (Excerpted from a New Scientist article, October 2015).

Epicurus enjoyed a Mediterranean diet, I have no doubt.  I must say, so do I. Epicureans for wine and pasta!