Talking Shop: Gluttony Personified

“As long as the vice of

gluttony has a hold on

man, all he has done

valiantly is forfeited.

As long as the belly is

unrestrained, all virtue

comes to total naught.”

— Pope Gregory I

Enough has been written about Global Warming, Climate Change and other calamitous fallouts of mankind’s deadly flirtation with everything nature has to offer, to quench man’s insatiable need for ‘more’. I shall write a bit on that in the paragraphs below—including some very red flags raised by S&P Global Ratings—but let’s begin with the subliminal greed and material gluttony that has turned us into less than humans, and man into something less than man.

We begin with one of the National Capital’s more expensive and educated localities (the word ‘educated’ used here is open and susceptible to interpretations and hypothesis on many fronts), which showed me yet another glimpse of what happens when the curtains go up and the innards hiding behind reveal how man is becoming less than man.

Back to this educated colony, where one Mrs Bahl, in a bid to entertain her guests from the United Kingdom, struggled to order ‘home delivery food’ from the neighbourhood club as repeated calls from her mobile device went unanswered. With numb fingers and her stomach growling and snarling for sustenance, Mrs Bahl finally succeeded. Food ordered and payment made, Bahls & Co waited for the bell to chirp, announcing the beginning of indulgence. The chirp never came.

Troubled by the elusive chirp, Mrs Bahl made more unanswered phone calls. She eventually trudged to the ‘guilty’ club to fret, to fume, and hopefully (and finally), to consume. “The food was delivered over an hour back” was the stony reply thrown back at her. “But I never got any”, she retorted.

Arguing and Barking Later…

A lot of back, forth, arguing and barking from humans and stomach(s) later, the Sherlocks concluded that the food had indeed been delivered. But where the hell was it?

With knives out for war, as also forks, spoons and other killer items of cutlery, the Bahls and the club management turned into Watsons on Baker Street. After a lot of digging, sleuthing and investigating, the rowdy band of Watsons discovered that the missing food had been handed over to a bunch of motley drivers standing outside the Bahls’ ground-floor home.

And in a display of admirable dedication to the one who pays the salary, one from this pack of drivers had promptly handed the food packets to one Mrs Dalal, living on the first floor of the same building. Not one to look a Gift Horse in the mouth (or go against such divine blessing from God), Mrs Dalal polished off the miracle nourishment provided by the Almighty, helped by her own troupe of guests.

The obvious question: “What of the Bahls”? Well, the hungry hosts and guests vented spleen on the errant club with such ferocity that more food was scrounged up and re-delivered, this time to the intended recipient. As to whether the Dalals ever paid for their Godsend, well, the jury is still out. What is certain is that the club and colony’s social media tribe indulged in a late-evening and early-morning diatribe. Most laughed at the incident, while some envied the good fortune that smiled on the Dalals so soon after Diwali. Others finished the social media ink and got finger-end treatment—from the Bahls, and due to typing too much on WhatsApp groups.

Of Gluttony and Smog

Similar gluttony has led to forsaken things happening to the world, its localities and geographies, and to its weather patterns and climate. The dangers of Climate Change, brought about by man himself, are no longer predictions; they’re a reality unfolding before our eyes. Temperatures are rising, ice caps are melting and sea levels are inching up, swallowing coastlines one hectare and colony at a time.

Extreme weather events—wildfires to hurricanes and floods to cloudbursts—are becoming more frequent and devastating. In all corners of the world, people are facing the wrath of nature, be it floods displacing communities or drought crippling farmers’ livelihoods. Ingrained sagacity makes us realize that this is all being done by man, who still doesn’t seem to care about the future. This man’s stooges sit on the dais at Global Summits and COP Meets, ironical because they are the ones really responsible for this mess. The irony comes because these chosen/elected few hold the power to make the effort and stem things, but they just don’t.

The world is dangerously close to a tipping point. Scientists warn that beyond a certain threshold, the planet’s natural systems will spiral into irreversible damage. When we cross that point, impacts will intensify dramatically and deleteriously, with ecosystems collapsing and species, including man’s own, facing existential threats.

S&P’s Deadly Warning

In the midst of this climate chaos, S&P Global Ratings has raised some very pertinent issues. Among the findings of a recent research report are warnings that almost all non-US sub-national regions risk rising exposure from climate hazards, with the magnitude differing by hazard and region. Almost all regions are projected to become hotter and drier by 2050, while some will see extreme flooding. Without ‘adaptation investments’, this could increase credit risks for Governments.

S&P says compound climate hazards—droughts followed by floods after heavy rainfall—are more likely to occur in sub-national regions by mid-century. Compound events can exacerbate economic impacts and increase both the costs and urgency to implement conciliatory measures. “Adverse impacts on Governments’ credit quality is also likely to be uneven. Transmission channels to credit-worthiness also depend on the authorities’ ability and willingness to help shoulder the costs of adaptation and resilience measures,” the report says.

What the above translates into is that economics could also be critically impacted. A consolation prize is that while climate data can help inform analyses, it alone won’t necessarily lead to rating actions. Of course, such data could provide a starting point for discussions with management and influence forward-looking credit opinions.

Clearly, Climate Change isn’t just about warmer days or rising seas. It is about food insecurity, health risks from new diseases and mass migrations triggered by unliveable conditions. It is about economics and global finances too. Each delay in action deepens the crisis. Carbon emissions need to be drastically reduced, and man must transition toward sustainable practices. The choice is man’s—act now, or leave a legacy of chaos. The tipping point is here. With action, there may still be hope.

The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist. He can be reached on [email protected]. Views expressed are personal