Cause and Effect, Control and Responsibility
Cause and effect is a common method of organizing and discussing ideas so lets take a look at some cases relevant to this issue of PS. Mankind has always favoured coastal dwelling. The sea provided a rich harvest; and trade and communications were made easier. The sea has brought danger though and not just from storms. Ask any Greek islander why his village is on top of the highest hill on the island and youll get a history lesson on marauding Goths, Saracens, Vandals and the like, sweeping in over the ages causing mayhem to those living by the sea. Much safer to be on the hill from where you could see the enemy coming and better defend yourself.
Then there’s tsunamis – deadlier and more sinister than anything Man could conjure up. Whilst ports and shipping escaped relatively unscathed from the Boxing Day catastrophe and, as we report in our news section, were able to render much-needed assistance, we were all left shellshocked – even from a distance.
In the Aegean Sea and the Indian Ocean cause and effect were only too clear and teach us that what we cannot control, we can at least defend ourselves against. In other circumstances it is less so. The trade in vegetable oils is buoyant thanks in no small part to our growing health consciousness. The two principal vegoil crops, palm and soy, are on the rise due to a growing world population, rising incomes and changing diets. Trans fat-free oils are of increasing importance to the food industry and the consumer.
Excellent. So grow more and we’ll all live longer, healthier lives – and the trade will flourish. Maybe, but there’s a downside:
both crops are grown at the expense of the tropical rainforest.
In this case, cause and effect is clear but control and responsibility are issues too. Our responsibilities as stewards of the earth’s dwindling natural resources are in conflict with our responsibilities to feed and nurture a healthy population.
Then there’s the question of control to make sure our responsibilities are upheld. In the case of the palm fruit and the soybean, control needs to be exercised to ensure a balance between the two sets of interests.
In the UK, where state control sometimes seems so pervasive that we refer to it as the Nanny State, our government tends to follow a free market policy where business and industry is concerned but interferes considerably more (some would say excessively) in social matters. Its lack of intervention in the ports industry has brought calls for more ‘joined-up’ government to deliver a strategically thought out network of adequate container port facilities in order to ease road congestion and ensure we remain competitive in Europe. This is what the government says it wants. Later this year it has the chance to put its money where its mouth is.
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