Finding a balance between our aspirations, our quests for economic independence and the unpredictable twists of life, in my opinion, have reignited the old theory of survival of the fittest in our modern history and existence.

A 21st Century Survival Of the Fittest

Adeola Aderounmu, Sweden.

The cascades of events since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have not been palatable, globally. The astronomical increase in the prices of food, the astronomical increase in the interest rates charged on mortgage, the increase in the cost of all forms of transportation and the overall rise in the cost of living have very devastating consequences on human mental health, and in fact on our existentiality. The unbelievable and unbearable increase in the cost of living definitely have effects on our social interactions. Indeed, it redefines our thoughts about the essence of life/living.

The balance between our aspirations, our quests for economic independence and the unpredictable twists of life, in my opinion, have reignited the old theory of survival of the fittest in our modern history and existence. Nowadays, if you cannot survive, you are doomed. You are on your own. Now we know how it was when Darwin proposed survival of the fittest. We now understand how environmental factors selected the organisms that were on the right side of the survival curve.

It would be too abstract to write about this essay without using some personal reflections and experiences. When you hear for the first time how the rate of suicide in Europe is high, you would find it absurd as a typical African. But after accumulating experiences and participating in the European (western) life, it would no longer shock you to even see African settlers in Europe adding to the suicide pool in Europe. I could also do this essay from the living in Africa perspective. Even if not well documented, I known that suicide rate in Nigeria has also escalated. It is harder to live during this Era, or maybe this is what all adults above the middle age realize when they get there.

I read about a couple here in Sweden who seek divorce and they must sell their house. But under the present economic hardship in Europe, they will be unable to pay off the loan on the house after selling it. Neither of them has the economic capability to keep the house. This is how the life in Europe have destroyed the well-being of people. No matter how hard you work, you always feel like you are inadequate financially, the fear of your economic instability can drive you insane. You may even question your existence because of your inadequacies.

Among other consequences is high rate of death from high blood pressure/hypertension. It is very hard to cross the middle age in Europe without suffering from high blood pressure. The credit system, the loan system and the mortgage system give you a false array of economic stability, until something very serious goes wrong or you get to a moment that you realized that you didn’t really get it all figured out before you went for it. A war is something seriously gone wrong. Economic downturn is something very serious. High interest rate is something very serious. Sudden unemployment, incapacitation and other things that can turn our lives upside down are serious occurrences.

Who profits from our miseries? Where do all the sudden increase in rents and interest rates end up?  We work the same hours, we put in the same efforts as when the economy was good as when it turned bad. From a lame man point of view, my take is that the global work force if feeding the greed of the insatiable. The global work force must pay the price for the capitalism-based world economy.

Forgive my ignorance, I cannot understand why my bank should get richer at my expense if there was no one behind the scenes. For that is exactly what it is when the bank’s interest rates dip holes in my savings. They know they will come for our savings; so they told us to save for the rainy days. Then they make the rain fall in many ways: war, inflations, high interest rate, high cost of living and general instability in the world order.

As it is, we are fighting for our lives and no one cares if we survive or die under these strangulations. As it we have not had enough, they set Gaza on fire to distract us from our goals to survive. They make life more meaningless, so we could pity ourselves and at best compare our difficult lives with those who are massacred in Gaza and Ukraine. Head or tail, global citizens are at the receiving end. They are fighting to survive either economic hardships or a permanent state of war.

I hope what I’m trying to say here made some sense.  I’ll leave it as it is.

aderounmu@gmail.com