Safety is Primal

My long-ago cousin took off like a hare in the lush grassland of Bhar-El- Gazel. There was a man-eating lion in the ‘hood, and cuz was not about to become somebody’s dinner. He leapt and caught a branch of an olam tree and quickly reached the highest fork created by fractal geometry in nature. The lion circled the tree and made tentative attempts to climb but gave up and sauntered off.
Cousin Lawiyeolore, a tall lanky lad, was safe—safe enough to climb down.

“Huh!” he sighed. He rubbed his stomach—he was hungry. He picked up the fallen olam fruits. Then, an anyeri scrambled into the nearby shrub. He got a stick and beat the shrub and the anyeri darted out, and he chased it and killed it. He soon made fire, and roasted the delicacy. Next, he would go on the prowl to ravish some nubile “gazelles” whose pointed breasts pulsated with desire. In time Lawiyeolore would go on to sire many juniors and princes who knew how to feed themselves and be safe to reproduce more.

Meanwhile, cousin Lagoro, Lawiyeolore’s brother, was a weakling who perished in the vagaries of the random incidents of the grasslands. He never had a chance to propagate his kind. So, the ones with safety consciousness became the successful and dominant for generations after generations to my day.

Along the way, as communication ability developed, cousin Lawiyeolore banded or allied with Lacwinyecol and others. Lacwinyecol was very dark-skinned and stocky. His band came from across the river. Cuz soon learned that, while Lacwinyecol was not good and tracking game, he was crafty as sin—long before sin was invented!

Each time Lawiyeolore killed an anyeri, Lacwinyecol would sound the lion alarm. This would send cuz running and leaving his kill for Lacwinyecol to grab and run in the opposite direction. So now, each time cuz saw Lacwinyecol, his heart would go racing. Protection against danger generated the feeling of fear, which was to later generate other kinds of feelings. Deception (and/or conning) was also discovered.

Safety was the DNA’s way of protection to live another day and procreate and replicate itself. When fear (and its various permutations) came in as a localized feeling and showed itself when not warranted, the bands were in for trouble. Unfortunately, to this day we still employ these feelings in a world which is less dangerous. That is why we are in awe at the exploits of the suicide bombers. What ever happened to safety and fear with these people? The answer is: Mind Assassins.

Young Muslims have been inoculated against fear by a meme of the promise of virgins in the after-life. How much better for spreading one’s genes and blowing up your worst enemies at the same time! Sign me on! It seems counter intuitive, but the DNA was conned!

And so, we are eleven years into the 21st century, and the idea of individual freedom has supposedly reached the ears of millions across the globe. Why are there fiends who still sit with their boots on the head of millions, and live in luxury while the majority of the populace scrounges? What up? Safety and Fear. We know that when fear is overcome, things happen. What happened to Marie Antoinette and her beau? The French chopped their heads. Museveni, no matter what one thinks of him, discarded fear and the losers in his exploits are wailing to this day.

The millions of slaves the world over have to reach critical masses in their locations for the idea of individual freedom that transcends safety and fear. Only then can they use their numerical advantage to change the status quo. Hunger is probably a critical trigger, not press freedom, nor elections nor any of the higher stuff.