Did War Replace Covid Fear? Is Fear Resolving Another Fear? Read this Interesting Perspective of Ecology, Economics and Education of fear?

Dear Friends and Students

A few weeks back Covid fear was mongering around us! As of yesterday we had more than 10000 cases! However, nobody seems to be worried too much! One problem ate the other problem. A big fish eats smaller fish. A big fear eats small fears. The current fear of war ate the Covid fear.

Whole world runs on fear! Fear drives the economy, Jobs, Medicines, Education and so on. Cyber security is born out of fear of cyber-attacks. Cryptocurrency is born out of fear of physical bank’s transparency. Defense industry is born out of fear of insurgency. Criminal Law is born out of crime. This list continues!

Recently I was reading an article “Ecology of fear”, published in Current Biology, ScienceDirect (sciencedirect.com ). Liana & Michael, Department of Biology, Western University, Ontario, Canada writes, ecology of fear determines conservation. Fear can kill! Fear effects numbers! Fear affects offspring or fecundity. The survival of young depends on the actions of their parents in most birds and mammals but it is not pertinent in the majority of other species. Fear is likely to affect prey populations because scared prey eat less. In the wild, predators not only kill adult prey but also prey offspring. Parent birds that heard predators, laid fewer eggs, incubated them less well, fewer hatched, and fed their offspring less, hence fewer survived! With the net result they produced 40% fewer offspring than parents that heard non-predators. Scared prey eat less, because you cannot have your head up looking for predators and your head down looking for food at the same time.

Fear drives economics and education! Today the whole world is running after that fear! I am really worried to see a few students studying abroad are fleeing back to Home land. Why? There is some sense of security in their homeland. It is natural and emotional. Today I saw a group of students holding our Indian Tri color flag while crossing the Poland border! I heard a few saying how the National flag was saved?

Country is not a geographical border. It is a community with certain culture, ethos and values. In the last 1000 years there were many invasions across the world. Geographical borders are changing but the cultural roots are intact, otherwise these wars would have not erupted.

Similarly, Fear is an economic cancer. Fear defines the Great Depression and the Great Recession! “A recession is likely to start at some point this year!! (bloombergquint.com). Again IT hiring impacts if it becomes true! Chip Companies Predict Limited Supply Chain Disruption as Russia Invades Ukraine! Ukraine supplies more than 90% of U.S. semiconductor-grade neon, critical for lasers used in chip making. The gas, a byproduct of Russian steel manufacturing, according to market research firm Techcet, is purified in Ukraine. Thirty-five percent of U.S. palladium, used in sensors and memory, among other applications, is sourced from Russia (news18.com)

Scientifically it is proved that Local (within 100 kilometers of where you live), seasonal food eaten fresh and cooked at home, is always the best option. Local foods tend to taste fresher, have more nutrients, and use less packaging. Supporting local food businesses leads to strong local economies.

What should be the strategy? Try Pakka Local, if it doesn’t work Go Glocal (Global+Local)! Still not convinced, Set Global!!

If there are mistakes in my personal views, my sincere apologies!

Ravi Saripalle