A Mystery of Life - Choosing how to use resource, fairly   Desmond Hughes

Whilst we are bombarded with information on external affairs that we can’t control – such as news of celebrity deaths, information on sports stars’ opinions and wars between countries managed by governments, to name a few current examples, we also quite pathetically (myself very much included) struggle with our internal resource expenditure – how much exercise can we fit in each day, do our limbs or other body parts resemble that famous Instagram poster, have we subscribed our children into enough after-school programmes and the never-ending string of mundane but individualistically important conundrums.

Distilling these battles can be difficult without taking a serious time-out for self-reflection – which not everybody has the luxury to do often. Amidst my own battles, I go hiking in Phuket each Saturday in order to spend up to six hours walking through sometimes challenging terrain, with often stunning views and a healthy supply of mosquitos and different interesting characters, some resident and some transient, who frequent the walks. This has helped greatly with trying to see the metaphorical trees clearly through the morning mist; but ultimate answers to the puzzles of life will inevitably remain elusive.

Nevertheless, it has occurred to me recently, perhaps behind the curve of many others, that the common thread amongst the world’s external battles and our internal struggles is that of resource allocation. In essence, it seems that most humans and animals are all battling over their share or others’ share of resources. Sometimes this is done rationally, but ofttimes not so.

From the moment we wake up, the resource battle begins, including in Phuket, my principal home residence. How much road space can we hog whilst we drive to work or our children to school. Can we cut in front of someone to “win” that extra ‘ten seconds’ that we will surely waste on meaninglessness inertia later on in the day. The roads we use, the manner in which we conduct ourselves in transportation and the majority lack of respect for sharing resources is unfortunately indicative of a selfishness inherent in the human race. Some might say, the reason why we are forever doomed to toil the land. 

As we drive to our morning destinations, it is evident that many Phuket residents live near to, or even with a view of, the sea and beaches. These geographical gifts symbolically represent local and global resource struggles with an almost unmatched poignance. Some selfish participants dispose of their trash recklessly without knowledge or regard for our ecosystems and future. Others seek to interrupt or mitigate this negative feedback loop by picking up the trash on beach walks or investing in robotic marine systems that hoover up this symbol of basic human evil. For those that wish to visit the beaches and see the sea, the options become more limited as luxury homes and hotels continue to compete for the vistas, trickily making public accessways difficult or inconvenient in order to steal exclusivity for temporary guests.

However, during my hikes I have been inspired that there is still hope when witnessing local communities still living near to beaches and the sea in simple but nicely set out housing designed specifically to accommodate a ‘Thai way’ of living, allocating their space without 4-metre high walls and sharing their meals – fruit and vegetables from their trees and plants – with family, friends and neighbours. Beyond Phuket’s fine shores and Thai communities’ generosity of spirit, the global extractive tourism battles rage on and resource selfishness prevails.

Whilst reading the news on my precious resource rich iPad over a coffee served by cash and resource poor Myanmar temporary workers with nominal legal rights, I often hear Eastern European and Russian language voices which, due to my lack of linguistic depth, represents an impenetrable but fascinating tilt to the sounds of the day. I glance down at the headlines and see economic leverage and life changing peaks and troughs undulating over the OPEC-driven barrel production and price setting, together with more news on the supply of weapons to Ukraine and increased sanctions on Russian nationals wherever they might be. Have the lessons of the past been forgotten? Do new governments and politicians pore over history and consider the ramifications for society and their own nationals over each of their decisions, or do they think more of the here and now and the resources which might trickle or flow into their own coffers.