Parasites - We can do without them

The Predator Hunter

In the animal kingdom there are the predators, the prey and the producers. Let me elaborate, the producers are the naturally occuring tress, plants, grasses and ferns in our ecosystem which produce the basic food from the Sun, carbon dioxide and water. The very act of photosynthesis to produce oxygen for all other living things survival is already a tremendous miracle in itself. The Sun provides the basic building blocks of energy - heat and the trees and plants take it from there on. So they produce food for themselves, flowers and fruits for reproduction and invertedly also food other insects and animals.

So the food chain begins, insects take the nectar or birds and other animals eat the fruit or the leaves. Larger animals eat the smaller insects and animals until at the top of the food chain is the predator, normally a carnivore like the lion, tiger or eagle.So Man has been very successful in tapping on the basic food chain and making themselves the kings ot the food chain.

Then there are the unwanted creatues, for some reason, still around after many milleniums, the scavengers and the parasites. I can think of the use of the scavengers when the rotting carcass of the dead animal is left in the African savanna, many many vultures and hyenas attack it for their source of food. And the unseen microorganisms of flesh eating bacteria which ultimately make the dead carcass into nothing more than some dried bones.

The worst are the parasites, they pretend to be symbiotic on the larger animals bodies like the leech, the flatworm and the hookworm draining the host human of essential food and nutrients and ultimately drawing so much nutrient that the human either takes painful medicine to kill the parasite or dies from the parasite although that would be bad for the parasite as it would lose its hosts nutrients and ultimately need to find another host or die a natural death.

So it is with our human relationships with our family, friends and acquantences. Do you know who you are in the socio-economic food chain. Are you a producer, predator, prey, scavenger or worst of all parasite ?? Some elaboration :

a) Predator - Similar to the hunter, where the person hunts and seeks out business or money from either ventures or companies, equities, assets,properties and from these, will be able to make a living, sometimes very good living out of his predatory skills.


The ever dependable Tree or Producer

b) Producer - Similar to a farmer, whereby he or she is working in a company, or is managing a family fulltime, such as a homemaker. He or she works in improving his career,buys long term security like insurance and is viewed as an asset to his or her company for his work experience and skillsets and views.

c) Prey - These are the customers of predators, they can be small business owners, on the one hand either selling out their businesses, or making profits for the predators. They can feed on smaller prey ie. buying or merging with similar or smaller sized companies and developing into a larger entity.

The prey can also feed on the producers so the prey-producer is the typical small business man and housewife
combination where the prey brings back the small money (catches from his business deals) and the producer grows that throught long term assets purchase and for the next generation. Periodically the prey will rely on the producer for food, ie. when his business is near failure or needing cashflow to fund it.


Hyenas and Vultures - Scavengers

d) Scavenger - These troll around looking for gems in the garbage, so they make off after the predator has made his meal, ie. when the big business deal has been sealed and there are many small deals which need tying up. A subcontractor comes to mind. Sometimes small business owners fall into that category.


Bloody Leeches - Parasites !

e) Parasite - These are the worst kind. These people feed on the kindness of the producer, prey, predator and practically anything. They are called the 'hangers on' who ask for free meals and think that the cushy jobs are owed to them. They have a deluded sense of self-worth and end up a) making the most noise without producing anything worthwhile or b) stay quiet and suck the goodwill and money out of the kind host.

The world would be a better place without the parasites, but they seem to be a resilient lot.

Reflect a little today, which ones are you ?