Philosophy - Being stuck in the Monkey Trap - a lesson of greed

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Today's inspiration for this thoughtful post came from seeing some Baboons while we were on holiday in Betty'sd Bay. The troop walks up and down in the little town, scavenging food where they can.

Please are asked to make sure that windows are closed when they are away from home and not to leave any food unattended for long.

I was talking to someone about ideas. I like talking about ideas rather than about gossip and most ordinary things. This is something that probably grants me some eye-rolls from among the assistants at work.

The conversation and the Baboons made me think of how Baboons were caught in traps back in the day (It is illegal to do now I am sure). While looking around on the internet I see that there is a Monkey Trap that uses the same concept for a number of different monkeys all around the world!

The baboon trap or monkey trap is something that is applicable to humans too. Makes you wonder about us not being very different from monkeys after all. It is a wonderful little anecdote about the concept of human greed!

So how the Baboon trap works is where Pumpkin seeds to some other yummy thing is placed inside a calabash or box that has a hard casing that a baboon cannot break. A hole is made just large enough for the Baboon to put its fingers into with a flat hand.

Once inside, the Baboon grabs hold of the yummy stuff inside generally with a full fist and then tries to pull their hand out. They cannot! They are stuck with a hand enlarged by the things held in their hands.

Now the Baboon is stuck. They will literally sit there for hours, not letting go of their prize. Their greed for the thing in the trap traps them. There is nothing stopping them. They are free without freedom. They could LET GO and run away but mostly they sit there and people can walk right up to them and they are unable to think of a way out of the trap.

Farmers used this method in the old day to kill Baboons. The same style of trap is used all of the world effectively against all sorts of monkeys... including human monkeys.

So what is to be learned from this?

Greed is a powerful trap.

We ourselves as humans get stuck in positions because we are unable to let go of the incentives. Freedom to be wherever we want to be but without the freedom to do so because of the traps in the human mind.

A lot of this has to do with material things. I observe several castes of human in society that are at different levels of wealth and wellness. There is a scale between true wealth and false wealth.

Two people, when compared to one another might not be what they seem:

Case 1: Man with expensive clothing and accessories, sports car, fancy bachelor's pad that is ultra modern with stunning views of the ocean. The perfect poster/magazine lifestyle. Works in finance or sales. Has a gold credit card.

Home is owned by the bank, car is owned by the bank, credit card is 50-80% of capacity most of the time. Needs to constantly work and grind or else he will be destitute in a matter of months.

Case 2: Man who dwells in a small village near the sea in a small home that has a little garden twice the size of the home outside. Does not own a car, walks or cycles to the local shop. Ownes some clothes, mostly basic except for a suit for weddings, church or other events. Catches fish from the beach. Grows food in his garden. Collects rainwater from his roof and purifies it.

He ownes his own home and property with a garden. Does not need to work a hellish pace in a high-paying job. Has a small investment tucked away for rainy days. Catches fish to eat and surplus is traded at the grocer for coffee, sugar and other supplies he cannot make himself.

You could recreate this example to represent any person you know or yourself and decide for yourself what your situation is. In the two cases above, which man has the most freedom? Which one appears to be more wealthy and which one is truly wealthy?

It seems pretty obvious that the man in Case 1 is only going to keep looking the way he does as long as he keeps running in the hamster wheel. The moment he stops, he is stuck.

The other man can live pretty independently for most of the time. Should he save a little money he can go for a no-debt holiday and take a bus, train or plane to where he wants to go. He could take a day off any day he wishes and sleep in or go take a walk and visit a friend. He could fish one day, work in the garden the next and change what he does for the day depending on his needs.

The first man must wake up Monday to Friday. Get into his fancy car and sit in traffic, just like another poorer man with a beat-up car on his way to a different 9 to 5 job where he stacks boxes on shelves. Both of them (Case 1 and the new Case 3 man) have the same life, with different aesthetics. Work, don't get sick, don't take time off, if you do, you cannot afford rent/bond.

I have been reflecting on this as there must be a bigger goal in life and in mind and not just a Baboon Trap of a life for myself and my partner @clairemobey. We have been looking at our little holiday town and thinking of where we would like be... possibly in the next 10 years!

And what will we do in the 10 years coming before then...

This is much to think about!

Thank you for reading and have a great day!

Cheers!
@zakludick

Hive South Africa