The Two Jungles : Jungle of Nature (marine and terrestrial),

and the Jungle of Civilized Man

By Apolinario Villalobos

In a jungle, the rule is survival of the fittest, based on the two main players – the predator and the prey. The strong is the predator and the weak is the prey. While in the marine and terrestrial jungles, the relationships are multi-layered depending literally on the size of the creatures, in the jungle of the civilized man, there are just two layers – the strong and the weak.

In a way, the aforementioned relationship checks overpopulation of both jungles. This is aside from the death caused by occurrence of diseases and natural disasters. Without deaths, the world should have been overpopulated long time ago yet, bursting to the seam, as they say.

Unlike the marine and terrestrial jungles where inhabitants have no choice, in the jungle of civilized man, there is a choice for the furtherance or extension of existence, by man himself, despite the mentioned occurrence of natural disasters, thanks to the wonder drugs and medical technology.

In the jungle of the civilized man, war ensues when the strong tries to overrun the weak who somehow tries to fight back. Some unfortunately, are devastated by natural calamities such as drought, flood, typhoon, and earthquake. And worst, is when man chooses to self-annihilate himself by his unscrupulous throwing of refuse to the oceans and rivers, as well as, ruthlessly cutting down of trees and digging down in search of minerals and oil.

In the jungle of the civilized man, those with unsatiated desire for enrichment, just go on with their business, thinking that for as long as they have the money amassed by all means –exploitation, graft, corruption, drug deals, plain robbery, etc., they can live on as they want. Those with less of the monetary potency coupled with a damned attitude, leave everything to God as regard to what the days to come will give them. But those who are conscious of their limited stay on earth, be they moneyed or not, exert effort in preparing themselves – this is when the wise choice is put to the fore.