THRIVING ON FEAR:AN ADDICTION

Finally the swine flu got the better of me,and I was down in the docks for the last 3 days.While stating the fact that it is not at all a good experience to be suffering from the disease(for reasons that are non-medical),being in the thick of things earned me some well-deserved rest and a few odd insights into current affairs that I would like to share here.
The most unnerving experience was being at the receiving end of a panic button unnecessarily pressed by the hospital staff and by my spouse.Being diseased and soaking in the effects of the pandemic panic almost got the better of the professional medic inside me,but somehow I managed to hold on to the attitude of a rather amused and bemused spectator.That is when the devil must have taken control of my brain,grossly idle in convalescence.

Take this one.What would happen if the entire population of a midsize town in our country were to be stricken by swine flu?There could be any number of knee-jerk and stress reactions from the system that seems to prevail : quarantine the affected,keep the pigs out,collect blood samples for confirmation,dispense medication to anyone and everyone,clear all hospital beds for victims to this particular disease alone,contact the disease control centre,do whatever else is possible and keep the authorities informed.
Would any of these have meaning,even if achievable?Medicines will reach the nearest patient,and we don't have more than what would cover 5 percent of the population.The mortality rate being 5 percent,that looks accurate,but there is a 95 percent probability that you will not reach the 5 percent that would benefit.To do the best then would be as good or bad as to do nothing.Don't lament action.Don't celebrate inaction.

I tried the entire scenario with a variant.Suppose someone in the disease control centre maliciously reported that the entire population is infected.The human reactions would be exactly the same,even more vigorous,with a central agency supervising.People shall be told not to panic.The health minister,if he visits the town and mingles with the population,will be proclaimed a hero for risking his life.There will be deaths as per normal incidence.But panic and circumstance shall force the coroner to report these deaths as due to the disease.A month later,after fluctuating reports and various trial medications and rituals,the authorities shall victoriously declare how 99 percent of the population was saved.The health minister can now vie for the post of prime minister.The pharmaceutical industry,which knows something of what actually happened,would join the bandwagon,if only to push a new premium drug for upmarket prevention.Surely part of the proceedings will go for the minister's campaign.The press,despite its investigative arm,cannot write but favourably,if the public sentiment is overwhelming.
In an intensely interactive world,moving all the while from one transaction to another,with deals and gains decided at the microscopic level,with far too many players and stakeholders,a calculating mind can slowly start changing the rules.By the time it is noticeable,the momentum and returns are such that many more would join in gradually.It would be a folly not to;in fact,one may be duty-bound to play his role.

The uncertain times that we have created are due to collective global fear-mongering.No one nation can be blamed.Each one seems to have played its role when the ball fell in its court.If one enumerates all the human tragedies of the decade,he doesn't have a clue for a single one,because the urgency to stop them has not arisen.We are still trying to 'master' them.And that is unlikely to happen.
The human mind possesses a well-known property called 'Addiction'.It thrives on perpetuation.Are Violence,Espionage and Distrust becoming the essential instinct for our survival-our next step to evolution?Are we entering the age of ongoing weekend war converts between nations,with a global trophy every four years? Will this become the next edition for soaps and reality shows?One does not know what will take one's life-swine flu,a bullet,a new drug trial,toxic environment with our ecological balance smashed to smithereens,lack of insurance,communal clashes,or the stresses of an economic meltdown.

Anyway man never had the option of choosing his end.We,however,have all got some role in the process of making decision on how to live.Just why can't we come down to simple means?There is one compelling reason-we all have got just one life to live.And finally,we all began as human beings.