Every time I analyze a statement in the press made by a Zambian public figure, I always factor in errors by the scribe. Any literally piece put out is laced with a high dose of subjectivity. Even when one tries to reproduce a statement word for word, the possibility that the scribe edited out some parts that they thought were irrelevant, or an idea not properly articulated, is high. In essence, any reported item is subject to "the power of the pen." This as true in Zambia as is in America.
The article below is the best example of the obvious distortion of information by the reporter. I have dissected Kombe Chimpinde's article to show how long he'd been out to lunch. Read on...
UPND has not run out of options to win in 2011 - Mweetwa
By Kombe Chimpinde
Fri 24 Sep. 2010, 17:50
THE UPND has said that it has not run out of options to win the 2011 elections.
And the UPND has complained that they have sacrificed enough including Namwala member of parliament major Robby Chizyuka because of their commitment to the Pact.
Speaking when he featured on 'People’s Last Say' programme on QFM radio last night UPND deputy spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa accused its partner the Patriotic Front (PF) of not being committed to the Pact that has been on the agenda of Zambians.
The foregoing paragraph is reporter Chimpinde's take on what Mweetwa said. It is supposed to be very clear in its construction. But as any language teacher would observe, it is long, winding, and poorly punctuated. I am not a language expert myself but I am always a sucker for a well written article. The italicized part of Chimpinde's sentence is likely to lead a reader to thinking Mweetwa is an object or is the partner of PF. A rational thinker would, however, know that UPND deputy spokes person Cornelius Mweetwa is not an object. Therefore the use of the word its in the sentence is a distortion. It may not be intentional but the totality of the errors in the opening paragraph reflects possible thinking impairment in the writer.
“What is happening in the Pact is not actually indisciplined. I think its lack of commitment within the Pact. I am saying this because indiscipline is when someone in the political circles is contrary to the party's position. When you walk out alone and say as far as am concerned I stand for something that is contrary to the party's position then you are said to be indisciplined. This we did in UPND when we expelled Namwala MP Major Chizyuka because he was taking a stance that was contrary to the party's,” he said.
In the above paragraph, I am assuming Chimpinde is transcribing the voice of Mweetwa on some contraption of some sort. I understand Mweetwa may have said "indisciplined," in place of "indiscipline," may not have used proper syntax when making his comments, but I think Chimpinde had time to insert proper punctuations in the sentence. I mean when you quote someone quoting someone else, you need to use appropriate punctuations to mark the beginning and end of the second quote. On this one, Chimpinde had been out to lunch for too long!
Mweetwa said that UPND expelled Chizyuka just to demonstrate their commitment to the Pact.
It is not clear whether it was Chimpinde's idea to use the wordjust or it was actually Mweetwa's. The use of the word "just" projects the simplicity of thought of the UPND party as a collective. Whether this was intentional on the part of Chimpinde or it was indeed Mweetwa's best choice of words, I am not sure. However, reading it the way it is written, I am made to think that the UPND departed from principle when it expelled its member just to demonstrate its commitment to the Pact. Such an action, in my view, is irrational.
“We had to lose an MP because we knew we were concentrating on a bigger picture, the Pact, because that’s what the people of Zambia want. We had to expel a member of parliament on that score now when people say Gary Nkombo is indisciplined he is a member of parliament and chairperson for energy in the UPND,” he said.
Once again, Chimpinde did a poor job reporting a spoken word. Chimpinde could have cut the sentences short to elevate the degree of clarity. This is because the use of the word because in the same sentence is permissible in speech but not in written.
“He was speaking as a member of the working group and in this particular meeting that took place that sanctioned PF's stand in Mpulungu and Chilanga to be contested by UPND. Gary was the secretary who was taking minutes of what was discussed.”
Chimpinde! This is not acceptable! Lunch hour ended yesterday.
He said it was astonishing to learn that PF general secretary, Wynter Kabimba, who was a senior party official in PF could come out and contradict the agreement s made at the meeting.
“...its lack of commitment because from what the general secretary of PF has said he has gotten full coverage and backing of his President Mr Micheal Sata in The Post and on Joy FM this morning. He (Sata) has covered him 100 per cent. He has also insisted that he (Wynter) is the voice for the central committee of PF, he has also joined in saying the working group is a smaller body and the decisions of working group. So now a senior party official getting the coverage of the president.”
What did Mweetwa say? What did Kabimba say? What did Sata say? And what did you, Chimpinde, hear?
He said the only explanation to PF’s behaviour was that there was no commitment on their part.
“...today PF has changed the stance cause the stance cause in the post Wynter Kabimba has said HH should forget about been President for the pact and on the other side on the radio and in the paper Mr Sata is saying Wynter Kabimba is the voice of the PF Central Committee which they have portrayed as been sovereign and beyond reproach they are a supreme beyond the working group or any marriage with UPND.”
I am going to assume, Chimpinde is a student on internship from a local college of journalism. This is not the way to write! Working with my assumption, I am going to place blame on the editor (of whatever prefix fits the job of looking through articles of interns before they are published). My question to the editor is, What the heck happened? Look at this paragraph! You can't let such poor pieces be put through for publication.
He further accused the PF leaders of not being sincere by indicating that Sata was ready to work under Hichilema.
There goes Chimpinde again. By stating that Sata was ready to work under Hichilema contradicts the insincerity that you are claiming Mweetwa had accused Sata of. Is it possible that you are distorting what Mweetwa said?
“So his voice is sanctified, it is a pure position of PF. So for the PF to insist that the two leaders have agreed to work under each other is not true, only HH has said he is willing to work under Mr Sata, and I heard myself,” he said.
Editor, don't you find this confusing
“So it no longer applies that Mr Sata is willing to be a vice-president to HH. The wrangle has nothing to do with HH, it has something to do with the working group and the failure of organisational consistency,” he said.
It could have sounded better had you, Chimpinde, inserted the word "its" in place of "the," between the words "and" and "failure." I did not mean to confuse the reader further. But the last part of the sentence should have read, "...working group and its failure to maintain organizational consistency." I will let you off on this because it may very well be what Mweetwa had said. But based on what I have observed so far, I cannot be sure.
He said PF was defending people who thought that each time they went to a meeting they got a fresh mandate.
“They failed to send people to this group who have to talk about Chilanga. The wrangle is about Chilanga but look in The Post and how Kabimba has gone far to disparage HH saying that HH should not think he will just walk into the PF -UPND Pact and take over the presidency the same way he walked in and become president for UDA( United Democratic Alliance.”
All Chimpinde needed to do here is apply proper punctuation and the reader would follow with great ease.
He said people should learn to put certain things in the past.
“HH will become president of this country one day which I believe he will, it will not be as a result of the wishes of Wynter Kabimba, neither will it be a wish of Mr Micheal Sata. It will be the wish of the people of Zambia who vote,” he said.
“... and people in Zambia in 2006 had indicated that they were willing to vote for HH, so there is nothing wrong with thinking that come 2011 actually many people who had promised to vote for HH will.”
I give credit where credit is due. This is a teaching moment for me. That is how you quote somebody, Chimpinde. Good job!
Mweetwa, however, said that it was possible for the two parties to produce one presidential candidate if they remained committed to the Pact.
“It is possible to produce one presidential candidate under the umbrella of the Pact but for us UPND we have not yet run out of options and ideas of our future and it is clear and bright.We are willing to contribute positively to ensure we bring about change,” said Mweetwa.
Apply proper punctuations, Chimpinde!
And during the same programme, Munali PF member of parliament Mumbi Phiri called in and maintained that it was impossible for individual parties to remove the MMD government.
“I am speaking as Munali MP representing the people of Munali. I can assure you that the Pact is not going to break. Those in the Pact that think they can go and stand alone are joking,” she said.
Phiri said she was hopeful that the Pact was going to hold and that only an insane person could think that either parties could go it alone.
“Let us keep praying am a woman of faith who believes in prayer and you know in a marriage they say a marriage that is criticised in the beginning comes out to be strong. I believe the UPND -PF Pact is going to stand until 2011 and that’s my prayer and I will not stop kneeling until this Pact works so that we can liberate this country. People are sleeping hungry, women are being raped, people are being killed. Can you imagine now corruption has even entered the mortuary.question mark here would have been better Where are we going as a nation?” she asked.
There is something seriously wrong with the first two sentences in the above paragraph; it distorts what is being said, not because of what is being said or how it is said, but how it is reported
“This country is not going anywhere so those who are joking let us get serious. I don’t think any sensible person can want to break the Pact and go it alone unless you are insane.”
I have always argued that that words are symbols of our thoughts. One can use different symbols to represent one's thoughts as long as one understands what those symbols mean. The variation of symbols is synonymous with language. It is clear that Chimpinde's mastery of the language he is using to report what he heard, or lack of it, is introducing distortions into the report. It is easy for an irrational reader to get inaccurate information from an article characterized by so much errors. Whether it is intentional or not, the mountain of evidence against the reporter suggests that he may be a major contributing factor to misinformation.
Such a poor piece of literally work emanate from many sources but a rational thinker. I therefore confer upon Kombe Chimpinde the Irrational Thinker of the Week Award.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Lying: Intentional or Ignorance?
Stop using maths to hoodwink Zambians that economy is improving – Mambo
By Kombe Chimpinde
Fri 24 Sep. 2010, 04:01
FORMER Church of God overseer Bishop John Mambo yesterday told the MMD to stop playing with maths and figures to hoodwink the people of Zambia that the economy is improving.
And Bishop Mambo has predicted another constitution review after a change of government next year.
In an interview Bishop Mambo said that it was absurd for the MMD government to say the economy had greatly improved under the leadership of President Banda when poverty levels had still remained very high.
“Poverty levels in the country are still very high even if we are talking about our economy picking up. I have a foundation called Chikondi Rural Foundation and when you visit the area it is clear that the majority of our people in the rural areas only have one meal a day. You can't say that we are governing peacefully because of the fear of God. Governing people who cannot have a day’s meal?” Bishop Mambo questioned.
He has since challenged the young generation to mobilize and stand up for their rights.
“A hungry stomach will always be corrupt. The high levels of corruption are as result of rampant poverty, so we must fight corruption by first trying to fight poverty. And since we were bold enough to declare ourselves as a Christian nation why is government failing to put bread on people's tables, and you the young generation can't even put your act together and say enough is enough it is time we change,” he challenged.
“Zambia is a beautiful country but we are destroying it because these people (MMD government) who are currently there are not there to serve, you can even tell. It is just, ‘how much I will make' so if we are not going to remove this scenario of politics being for income, then we are in trouble.”
Bishop Mambo asked President Banda to take a leaf from the Libyan administration when claiming success. He cited Libya's economy stressing that the people of Libya were happy with the developments because there was a match in pronouncements of the governments and the reality on the ground.
“If you go to Libya people are happy that’s why (Colonel Muammar) Gaddafi has been there for a long time, you understand the growth that we are talking about. Not growth where the rich are becoming filthy rich and the poor, poorer. Here in Zambia we will not accept that the economy is improving when the amount of interest rates for you to borrow money to start a business is still very high,” he said
“I am not an economist but I know money. When the country is doing well, one can go to bank and borrow money at a low cost but the gap between the poor and rich continues to widen...I think we shouldn't play maths and that’s what they (MMD) are doing because in terms of the economy only when the majority have food on the table can we say there is economic growth. Until we say that voters in Kanyama, Mandevu and so forth eat, then we can say the economy is growing. This is why the Catholics are saying that people want a regime change. Us evangelicals, we say this is a Christian nation but Christians must fight for the poor and ensure that they have food on their tables which most churches are not doing.”
Bishop Mambo hailed the Catholic bishops for speaking out for the people and stated that they were talking about reality on the ground and that it was important that this government listens to them.
“If you are going to convince me that the economy is doing well there has to be a generation of decent employment for the graduate from university, don't talk about six per cent. What growth? It must be matched with what is going on the ground,” he said.
People must not be swayed to vote for the government when a road has been built in an area prior elections. This is the situation. We are going to see a lot of activity because we are heading to elections. Money is already flying around. This is why there is need to sensitize people because people don't know their rights. When the government builds roads prior to elections they (people) are saying we will vote for them because they have built us a road. But that’s their right. Thats the obligation of government.”
He said that there was need for Zambians to change their mindsets so as not to fall into traps meant to gunner support for the government.
“It’s important that we go back to 1991 when we stood and said; ‘Kaunda that’s enough, we want change’. Change must be there. However, it must be peaceful change. If the current President will continue showing us that he can’t serve the people of Zambia then we need change,” he said.
“They must listen to criticism. People are tired of this kind of leadership were people have made themselves kings that they cannot listen to people. Leadership is not about reacting to people.”
Commenting on President Banda’s silence on the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) in his speech to Parliament, Bishop Mambo said no president was going to rule with a clear mandate without having addressed the desperation of people expressed in the Mung'omba Constitutional Review process.
He observed that the desire by Zambians to have a Constitution before 2011 had been hijacked by the MMD government.
“It was the desire of many Zambians to go to the 2011 elections with a new constitution but I don't see it happening. They have applied brakes because they want the document to suit their desires. The President and his Cabinet know that the document that will come out will not be accepted by the majority of the people. Again this is what we call playing with time and money ,” he said.
Bishop Mambo observed that this was why those people who were supposed to be at the core of the process have been left out from the process.
“Whether we go for it or not we will still have, and am not a prophet, a change of government outside the MMD. We will go back go to the drawing board, the reason being that no President will rule with a clear mandate without having addressed the desperation of many people who submitted for fifty-plus one we know its costly but we don't want a minority president,” he said.
“…now this is not the start, we have had a number of documents that are gathering dust now a mountain from the late Mainza Chona, Mvunga, we went to the late Mwanakatwe who resisted to take up the position because he did not want lies to be told and finally Willa Mung'omba who for three years NCC was seating they never consulted him. So now, how smart is Chifumu Banda and his team?” he questioned.
Bishop Mambo has since charged that the process was not helping the country in any way.
The National Constitution Conference in August handed the draft constitution and report to the government although there has been no direction given on the future of the document.
There has, however, been repeated calls from Zambians to government on the need for a new constitution before the country goes to the polls next year.
The Post
By Kombe Chimpinde
Fri 24 Sep. 2010, 04:01
FORMER Church of God overseer Bishop John Mambo yesterday told the MMD to stop playing with maths and figures to hoodwink the people of Zambia that the economy is improving.
And Bishop Mambo has predicted another constitution review after a change of government next year.
In an interview Bishop Mambo said that it was absurd for the MMD government to say the economy had greatly improved under the leadership of President Banda when poverty levels had still remained very high.
“Poverty levels in the country are still very high even if we are talking about our economy picking up. I have a foundation called Chikondi Rural Foundation and when you visit the area it is clear that the majority of our people in the rural areas only have one meal a day. You can't say that we are governing peacefully because of the fear of God. Governing people who cannot have a day’s meal?” Bishop Mambo questioned.
He has since challenged the young generation to mobilize and stand up for their rights.
“A hungry stomach will always be corrupt. The high levels of corruption are as result of rampant poverty, so we must fight corruption by first trying to fight poverty. And since we were bold enough to declare ourselves as a Christian nation why is government failing to put bread on people's tables, and you the young generation can't even put your act together and say enough is enough it is time we change,” he challenged.
“Zambia is a beautiful country but we are destroying it because these people (MMD government) who are currently there are not there to serve, you can even tell. It is just, ‘how much I will make' so if we are not going to remove this scenario of politics being for income, then we are in trouble.”
Bishop Mambo asked President Banda to take a leaf from the Libyan administration when claiming success. He cited Libya's economy stressing that the people of Libya were happy with the developments because there was a match in pronouncements of the governments and the reality on the ground.
“If you go to Libya people are happy that’s why (Colonel Muammar) Gaddafi has been there for a long time, you understand the growth that we are talking about. Not growth where the rich are becoming filthy rich and the poor, poorer. Here in Zambia we will not accept that the economy is improving when the amount of interest rates for you to borrow money to start a business is still very high,” he said
“I am not an economist but I know money. When the country is doing well, one can go to bank and borrow money at a low cost but the gap between the poor and rich continues to widen...I think we shouldn't play maths and that’s what they (MMD) are doing because in terms of the economy only when the majority have food on the table can we say there is economic growth. Until we say that voters in Kanyama, Mandevu and so forth eat, then we can say the economy is growing. This is why the Catholics are saying that people want a regime change. Us evangelicals, we say this is a Christian nation but Christians must fight for the poor and ensure that they have food on their tables which most churches are not doing.”
Bishop Mambo hailed the Catholic bishops for speaking out for the people and stated that they were talking about reality on the ground and that it was important that this government listens to them.
“If you are going to convince me that the economy is doing well there has to be a generation of decent employment for the graduate from university, don't talk about six per cent. What growth? It must be matched with what is going on the ground,” he said.
People must not be swayed to vote for the government when a road has been built in an area prior elections. This is the situation. We are going to see a lot of activity because we are heading to elections. Money is already flying around. This is why there is need to sensitize people because people don't know their rights. When the government builds roads prior to elections they (people) are saying we will vote for them because they have built us a road. But that’s their right. Thats the obligation of government.”
He said that there was need for Zambians to change their mindsets so as not to fall into traps meant to gunner support for the government.
“It’s important that we go back to 1991 when we stood and said; ‘Kaunda that’s enough, we want change’. Change must be there. However, it must be peaceful change. If the current President will continue showing us that he can’t serve the people of Zambia then we need change,” he said.
“They must listen to criticism. People are tired of this kind of leadership were people have made themselves kings that they cannot listen to people. Leadership is not about reacting to people.”
Commenting on President Banda’s silence on the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) in his speech to Parliament, Bishop Mambo said no president was going to rule with a clear mandate without having addressed the desperation of people expressed in the Mung'omba Constitutional Review process.
He observed that the desire by Zambians to have a Constitution before 2011 had been hijacked by the MMD government.
“It was the desire of many Zambians to go to the 2011 elections with a new constitution but I don't see it happening. They have applied brakes because they want the document to suit their desires. The President and his Cabinet know that the document that will come out will not be accepted by the majority of the people. Again this is what we call playing with time and money ,” he said.
Bishop Mambo observed that this was why those people who were supposed to be at the core of the process have been left out from the process.
“Whether we go for it or not we will still have, and am not a prophet, a change of government outside the MMD. We will go back go to the drawing board, the reason being that no President will rule with a clear mandate without having addressed the desperation of many people who submitted for fifty-plus one we know its costly but we don't want a minority president,” he said.
“…now this is not the start, we have had a number of documents that are gathering dust now a mountain from the late Mainza Chona, Mvunga, we went to the late Mwanakatwe who resisted to take up the position because he did not want lies to be told and finally Willa Mung'omba who for three years NCC was seating they never consulted him. So now, how smart is Chifumu Banda and his team?” he questioned.
Bishop Mambo has since charged that the process was not helping the country in any way.
The National Constitution Conference in August handed the draft constitution and report to the government although there has been no direction given on the future of the document.
There has, however, been repeated calls from Zambians to government on the need for a new constitution before the country goes to the polls next year.
The Post
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Does Zambia Have Mechanisms to Implement Fiscal and Monetary Policies?
The management of a structured economy depends, to a great extent, on the ability of both the administration and the central bank to formulate policies that affect unemployment, inflation, and and growth. In this short discussion, by unemployment I am referring to the proportion of the labor force that is unemployed. And for simplicity sake, inflation here means the increase in the general price level. As for growth, I have adopted the textbook definition of GDP which is the value of all finish products produced in a given year within an economy. I am not going to waste time discussing GNP for reason that will soon become apparent.
To influence the rate of unemployment which is normally caused by factors such as fluctuation of business cycle (cyclical), people changing jobs (frictional), pool of skilled manpower not keeping up with the demand for new skills in the labor market (structural)both the administration and the Central bank have to have mechanisms which only they can manipulate. For instance the administration can pour money into the economy through implementation of planned infrastructural development projects. The central bank would augment the administration's effort by lowering interest rates so business can borrow to purchase equipment, expand their production capacity. These two efforts if implemented in a measured and coordinated way, can create new jobs and lower the rate of unemployment.
Let's not forget that the secondary effects of these actions is the powerful undercurrent of the multiplier effect. They cause ripple effects as funds cycle through the markets creation of more money.
I have no doubt in my mind that the Zambian administration does pour huge funds into the infrastructural development projects. The question I have is, how does it measure the impact of its actions? How does it know that the rate of unemployment is being impacted by it actions and to what extent?
These are simple questions but they can be difficult to provide good responses to when the administration does not have a decent mechanism in place to associate facts together. The administration needs to know the baseline rate of unemployment first and then measure the change immediately the project has commenced.
To influence the rate of inflation, the administration can work together with the the central bank to reduce the volume of cash in circulation. This can be accomplished by selling financial instruments issued by the government. The central bank can do even more by increasing the interest rates. Both the selling of financial instruments and increasing premium rates give an incentive for people and businesses to put their money in the bank. However, such an approach would work well when the population has a culture of saving. Zambia has instead a consuming culture. In addition, the interest rates are always high. There may be a good reason for high loan rates and I intend to explore that in another piece. What is of interest at this time is to identify the mechanism the administration uses to influence inflation and how it measure the impact.
Again there is no doubt in my mind that the government sells bonds. The question is, to whom? Another pertinent question at this point would be, does the central bank have the power to increase or lower interest rates? If it does, how does it exercise that power?
Economic growth can benefit from all the above actions, assuming all the actions are done in a thoughtful, intentional and coordinated manner. However, institutional mechanisms have to be in place. The administration can augment the efforts by acting as a consumer in the products market. we all know that the government consumes just about anything one can think of. And once it does, it stimulates a chain of activities in the economy which has a positive effect on unemployment.
In view of the interdependence of the factors at the disposal of the central bank and the administration, measuring the effects of each action and predicting the extent of the impact on the fringes of the economy makes it look complex but in actual fact its very easy. The complexity is diminishes with the clear definition of and institutionalization of the mechanisms that the administration and the central bank can use.
When both the administration and the central bank begin to describe an increase in the production of raw copper and high corn harvest as increase in GDP, one wonders whether the country has the right set of eyes reading the economic indicators. I should not have to say it but copper cathodes and corn are intermediate products. In fact in the strictest of sense, they are raw materials. In their state, they should be excluded from GDP computation.
Excluding copper and corn from computation of GDP leaves us with absolutely no fundamentals to work with to determine the performance of the Zambian economy at any one given point. I think this is true because, as difficult as it is for the government to measure unemployment and the effects of its attempts to reduce the rate, it is even more difficult for the government to measure the incomes that were earned by households in the resource market. Assuming a close, two sector economy, the value incomes earned should give a suggestion of the value of all finished products produced in the Zambian economy in a given year which was bought by the Zambian consumers. Does Zambia have the mechanism in place to monitor retail sales? Who is capturing these data and how are they stored?
If it hard to compute GDP using such simplified approach, it is even harder to compute GNP. To start with, most of the manufacturing industries in Zambia are owned by foreigners. The proportion of what they produce has to be subtracted from the computation as we add the production of assets owned by Zambians abroad. I would be hard pressed to find Zambian nationals with assets worth writing home about reporting their earning to Zambia Revenue Authority on a regular basis. Or are there?
How then do we know the status and condition of the Zambian economy when there are no formal mechanisms in place to collect reliable data? Are these mechanism important? Howe difficult are they to set up?
Of course I am assuming that they are absent. If anyone knows better, please educate me.
To influence the rate of unemployment which is normally caused by factors such as fluctuation of business cycle (cyclical), people changing jobs (frictional), pool of skilled manpower not keeping up with the demand for new skills in the labor market (structural)both the administration and the Central bank have to have mechanisms which only they can manipulate. For instance the administration can pour money into the economy through implementation of planned infrastructural development projects. The central bank would augment the administration's effort by lowering interest rates so business can borrow to purchase equipment, expand their production capacity. These two efforts if implemented in a measured and coordinated way, can create new jobs and lower the rate of unemployment.
Let's not forget that the secondary effects of these actions is the powerful undercurrent of the multiplier effect. They cause ripple effects as funds cycle through the markets creation of more money.
I have no doubt in my mind that the Zambian administration does pour huge funds into the infrastructural development projects. The question I have is, how does it measure the impact of its actions? How does it know that the rate of unemployment is being impacted by it actions and to what extent?
These are simple questions but they can be difficult to provide good responses to when the administration does not have a decent mechanism in place to associate facts together. The administration needs to know the baseline rate of unemployment first and then measure the change immediately the project has commenced.
To influence the rate of inflation, the administration can work together with the the central bank to reduce the volume of cash in circulation. This can be accomplished by selling financial instruments issued by the government. The central bank can do even more by increasing the interest rates. Both the selling of financial instruments and increasing premium rates give an incentive for people and businesses to put their money in the bank. However, such an approach would work well when the population has a culture of saving. Zambia has instead a consuming culture. In addition, the interest rates are always high. There may be a good reason for high loan rates and I intend to explore that in another piece. What is of interest at this time is to identify the mechanism the administration uses to influence inflation and how it measure the impact.
Again there is no doubt in my mind that the government sells bonds. The question is, to whom? Another pertinent question at this point would be, does the central bank have the power to increase or lower interest rates? If it does, how does it exercise that power?
Economic growth can benefit from all the above actions, assuming all the actions are done in a thoughtful, intentional and coordinated manner. However, institutional mechanisms have to be in place. The administration can augment the efforts by acting as a consumer in the products market. we all know that the government consumes just about anything one can think of. And once it does, it stimulates a chain of activities in the economy which has a positive effect on unemployment.
In view of the interdependence of the factors at the disposal of the central bank and the administration, measuring the effects of each action and predicting the extent of the impact on the fringes of the economy makes it look complex but in actual fact its very easy. The complexity is diminishes with the clear definition of and institutionalization of the mechanisms that the administration and the central bank can use.
When both the administration and the central bank begin to describe an increase in the production of raw copper and high corn harvest as increase in GDP, one wonders whether the country has the right set of eyes reading the economic indicators. I should not have to say it but copper cathodes and corn are intermediate products. In fact in the strictest of sense, they are raw materials. In their state, they should be excluded from GDP computation.
Excluding copper and corn from computation of GDP leaves us with absolutely no fundamentals to work with to determine the performance of the Zambian economy at any one given point. I think this is true because, as difficult as it is for the government to measure unemployment and the effects of its attempts to reduce the rate, it is even more difficult for the government to measure the incomes that were earned by households in the resource market. Assuming a close, two sector economy, the value incomes earned should give a suggestion of the value of all finished products produced in the Zambian economy in a given year which was bought by the Zambian consumers. Does Zambia have the mechanism in place to monitor retail sales? Who is capturing these data and how are they stored?
If it hard to compute GDP using such simplified approach, it is even harder to compute GNP. To start with, most of the manufacturing industries in Zambia are owned by foreigners. The proportion of what they produce has to be subtracted from the computation as we add the production of assets owned by Zambians abroad. I would be hard pressed to find Zambian nationals with assets worth writing home about reporting their earning to Zambia Revenue Authority on a regular basis. Or are there?
How then do we know the status and condition of the Zambian economy when there are no formal mechanisms in place to collect reliable data? Are these mechanism important? Howe difficult are they to set up?
Of course I am assuming that they are absent. If anyone knows better, please educate me.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
How to Create Weatlh: Blood, Sweat, and Tears for Zambians Living in Foreign Lands
It is not unusual to find a group of Zambians who describe Zambia in glowing terms. That is not to say you would have to go to the ends of the world to find those that are totally divorced from her. Divorce Zambia?
They may have reasons. It is not for anyone of us to judge. For when somebody has a stone in their shoe, only they would know it and they would walk funny as long as it remains there. That group is not my concern. I am interested in the team of Zambians living in foreign lands who have been dealt a hard punch many a times but have refused to stay down. This is the team whose trials and tribulations I am familiar with.
Many Zambians living in foreign lands work hard for their money. Whatever it its that they get to keep is rescued from the talons of competing uses. It takes immense self discipline to resist the temptation to splurge. More so when you see the locals spending like there is no tomorrow.
The difference between the locals and the Zambians is that the locals do not have a flimsy background in terms of wealth like most Zambians do. As though that is not enough, the Zambians have a lot of responsibilities, to their immediate families and the families they left behind. They have elderly parents to support, brothers to feed, nieces and nephews to put through school, in addition to their own wives and acculturated belligerent children, not to mention bills. It is good enough that they have the courage to remember Zambia because some of their compatriots don't. Not even the illness and subsequent death of their parents would move them to want to visit the land the where their umbilical cord is buried.
As one would imagine, these two groups are not differentiated by skin color, hair style, mascara, the cars they drive or the homes they live in. The difference, however, is the method by which they choose to end the cycle of poverty. By this I mean creating wealth.
Some of them may be rich by all standards but they are not wealthy. The distinction between wealth and riches can be understood by examining the definition of the two terms. Being rich, in my view, is having substantial disposable income that exceeds one's spending needs, while wealth is a collection of assets that yield to its owner a flow of income without requiring the owner's presence. This portfolio of assets is usually under the watchful eye of somebody who is not the owner. Meaning, the owner has found and enlisted the helping hand of an enthusiastic, willing and able trustworthy person. Let's call this the third dimension.
The third dimension usually comes in the form of a relative, a friend, a lawyer or simply an employee. It is this element that bleeds almost every Zambian living in foreign land who attempts to create wealth in Zambia. The people forming this dimension have this misconception that Zambians living in foreign lands have too much money so much so that after signing all the nifty agreements, they see an opportunity to spend foolishly the money they don't know how it was raised.
What the third dimension of Zambians doesn't realize is that the Zambian living in foreign lands, upon recognizing the great opportunities to multiply a penny, may have borrowed to augment their small savings - that which they rescued from the demands of their children and spouses. Now, no banks in foreign lands lend the kind of money brought into Zambia by these patriotic Zambians without collateral. So then, if they didn't put up their car and draw out equity in their home, it is credit cards to the rescue. Anyone who has bothered to find out even a little about life in foreign lands would know that credit card interests have no mercy. But the Zambian living in foreign land, who hails from a humble background, realizes that akamuti ukwete, eko bominako imbwa. They brave it!
This is the money that the third dimension spends like they were Rockefeller children. One would be hard-pressed to find an enterprising Zambian in foreign land without a long and winding war story. Given an opportunity they would want to share with you the depth of the cuts and how much blood they have lost, how much they have sweated and how many tracks of tears on their faces one can find as they attempt to break free from the chains of poverty.
Zambia, the place we call home, has become unnavigable terrain in a business sense. We have, over the years, tried to find people to work with to create a portfolio of assets that can generate a steady flow of income for the benefit of all involved. We have drawn contracts with siblings, lawyers and employees but we end up losing our investments. I mean hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost every year because the lawyer did not do his job, your sibling got stupid, your employee took you for a ride and yet at the end, everyone but you wants to get paid.
Some people have argued that the mistake we make is that we place so much money in the hands of people who don't have much to start with. They further suggest that in order for such an undertaking to work, you need to start by bringing them up the economic ladder first and then give them the responsibility. A few things are wrong with that line of thouhgt.
First, it is made by people who themselves have never been involved in any business undertaking at all, so they would be arguing from a blind spot. In America, they call them Monday Morning Quarterbacks!
Second, it is made by people who don't want to hear the full story. They are locked in their own misunderstanding and whatever it is you try to say does not add up.
Third, their suggestion is in fact one cause of failure. Raising one a couple of notches on an economic ladder solidifies the misconception that you have a fountain of cash in the back yard in foreign land and that when they waste it, you will easily replenish it.
Fourth, they think that when you share your experience with them, you are trashing innocent Zambians because you have grown big headed, because you are in or are from a foreign land.
I am mounting a defense for Zambians living in foreign lands because in all situations, it is only their chickens that die, their houses that get built, or their intended get sold to two other people, their certificate of title that take six years to secure, their trucks that get sold for pennies on the dollar, their residential plots that get squatted on by political cadres, their floor plans that get rejected, their inquiries that get responded to, their proposals that get sucked up by bureaucratic black holes, and the list goes on. The Zambia that foreigners go to and make money hand over fist is somehow impossible for Zambians living in foreign lands. One would be forced to ask: What is it that the foreigners know about doing business in Zambia that we Zambians don't? How come they experience immense success after sowing so little and we end up with blood, sweat and tears in similar undertakings?
I think I know the cause; it has several faces. First, the people we interact with don't have respect for themselves. They only begin to gain some when they get themselves associated with someone they feel is superior to them. And a foreigner, to most Zambians, no matter how ugly, is seen as a superior being. Second, most Zambians may not admit to this but they would not want to see another Zambia succeed. They suffer from the crab bucket syndrome. In an effort to get themselves out of poverty they have to pull someone else down even if it means ukucilika uko buleswa. Third, many Zambians are impatient; they seem not to have the time to let the goose grow into a layer so they can pick a golden egg every morning. They are not satisfied with an egg a day, so they reach into the goose to get all the eggs now and in doing so they kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. In essence,they have a tendency to violate the law of the harvest. Fourth and most important; they refuse to learn to do business the business way. In other words, they get stuck in the comfort zone that ignorance provides. They take pride in being part owner but fail to embrace the spirit of work.
Zambians living in foreign lands on the other hand are stuck on the horns of dilemma; to find a good team of fellow Zambians on the ground who would put in as much work into the venture as if they were the owner, or quit their jobs and return to Zambia to try their prowess. This would create a gap in the financing equations - who would pay back the loans? They need fellow Zambians on the ground who would share in the vision and protect the assets from internal as well as external elements while the assets produce income for mutual benefit.
Foreign lands are replete with business models that be easily implemented when one has people one can work with without sacrificing the current source of income. Zambia's rate of unemployment can be reduced in no time if the third dimension did not unwittingly open the jugular, stub you in the back and put unnecessary financial burden on you.
So, we can conclude that a Zambian living in foreign land would do well to spend time to find constitute a group of reliable people to work with. It is better to miss an opportunity than to try and lose through ignorance, incompetence and spite.
They may have reasons. It is not for anyone of us to judge. For when somebody has a stone in their shoe, only they would know it and they would walk funny as long as it remains there. That group is not my concern. I am interested in the team of Zambians living in foreign lands who have been dealt a hard punch many a times but have refused to stay down. This is the team whose trials and tribulations I am familiar with.
Many Zambians living in foreign lands work hard for their money. Whatever it its that they get to keep is rescued from the talons of competing uses. It takes immense self discipline to resist the temptation to splurge. More so when you see the locals spending like there is no tomorrow.
The difference between the locals and the Zambians is that the locals do not have a flimsy background in terms of wealth like most Zambians do. As though that is not enough, the Zambians have a lot of responsibilities, to their immediate families and the families they left behind. They have elderly parents to support, brothers to feed, nieces and nephews to put through school, in addition to their own wives and acculturated belligerent children, not to mention bills. It is good enough that they have the courage to remember Zambia because some of their compatriots don't. Not even the illness and subsequent death of their parents would move them to want to visit the land the where their umbilical cord is buried.
As one would imagine, these two groups are not differentiated by skin color, hair style, mascara, the cars they drive or the homes they live in. The difference, however, is the method by which they choose to end the cycle of poverty. By this I mean creating wealth.
Some of them may be rich by all standards but they are not wealthy. The distinction between wealth and riches can be understood by examining the definition of the two terms. Being rich, in my view, is having substantial disposable income that exceeds one's spending needs, while wealth is a collection of assets that yield to its owner a flow of income without requiring the owner's presence. This portfolio of assets is usually under the watchful eye of somebody who is not the owner. Meaning, the owner has found and enlisted the helping hand of an enthusiastic, willing and able trustworthy person. Let's call this the third dimension.
The third dimension usually comes in the form of a relative, a friend, a lawyer or simply an employee. It is this element that bleeds almost every Zambian living in foreign land who attempts to create wealth in Zambia. The people forming this dimension have this misconception that Zambians living in foreign lands have too much money so much so that after signing all the nifty agreements, they see an opportunity to spend foolishly the money they don't know how it was raised.
What the third dimension of Zambians doesn't realize is that the Zambian living in foreign lands, upon recognizing the great opportunities to multiply a penny, may have borrowed to augment their small savings - that which they rescued from the demands of their children and spouses. Now, no banks in foreign lands lend the kind of money brought into Zambia by these patriotic Zambians without collateral. So then, if they didn't put up their car and draw out equity in their home, it is credit cards to the rescue. Anyone who has bothered to find out even a little about life in foreign lands would know that credit card interests have no mercy. But the Zambian living in foreign land, who hails from a humble background, realizes that akamuti ukwete, eko bominako imbwa. They brave it!
This is the money that the third dimension spends like they were Rockefeller children. One would be hard-pressed to find an enterprising Zambian in foreign land without a long and winding war story. Given an opportunity they would want to share with you the depth of the cuts and how much blood they have lost, how much they have sweated and how many tracks of tears on their faces one can find as they attempt to break free from the chains of poverty.
Zambia, the place we call home, has become unnavigable terrain in a business sense. We have, over the years, tried to find people to work with to create a portfolio of assets that can generate a steady flow of income for the benefit of all involved. We have drawn contracts with siblings, lawyers and employees but we end up losing our investments. I mean hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost every year because the lawyer did not do his job, your sibling got stupid, your employee took you for a ride and yet at the end, everyone but you wants to get paid.
Some people have argued that the mistake we make is that we place so much money in the hands of people who don't have much to start with. They further suggest that in order for such an undertaking to work, you need to start by bringing them up the economic ladder first and then give them the responsibility. A few things are wrong with that line of thouhgt.
First, it is made by people who themselves have never been involved in any business undertaking at all, so they would be arguing from a blind spot. In America, they call them Monday Morning Quarterbacks!
Second, it is made by people who don't want to hear the full story. They are locked in their own misunderstanding and whatever it is you try to say does not add up.
Third, their suggestion is in fact one cause of failure. Raising one a couple of notches on an economic ladder solidifies the misconception that you have a fountain of cash in the back yard in foreign land and that when they waste it, you will easily replenish it.
Fourth, they think that when you share your experience with them, you are trashing innocent Zambians because you have grown big headed, because you are in or are from a foreign land.
I am mounting a defense for Zambians living in foreign lands because in all situations, it is only their chickens that die, their houses that get built, or their intended get sold to two other people, their certificate of title that take six years to secure, their trucks that get sold for pennies on the dollar, their residential plots that get squatted on by political cadres, their floor plans that get rejected, their inquiries that get responded to, their proposals that get sucked up by bureaucratic black holes, and the list goes on. The Zambia that foreigners go to and make money hand over fist is somehow impossible for Zambians living in foreign lands. One would be forced to ask: What is it that the foreigners know about doing business in Zambia that we Zambians don't? How come they experience immense success after sowing so little and we end up with blood, sweat and tears in similar undertakings?
I think I know the cause; it has several faces. First, the people we interact with don't have respect for themselves. They only begin to gain some when they get themselves associated with someone they feel is superior to them. And a foreigner, to most Zambians, no matter how ugly, is seen as a superior being. Second, most Zambians may not admit to this but they would not want to see another Zambia succeed. They suffer from the crab bucket syndrome. In an effort to get themselves out of poverty they have to pull someone else down even if it means ukucilika uko buleswa. Third, many Zambians are impatient; they seem not to have the time to let the goose grow into a layer so they can pick a golden egg every morning. They are not satisfied with an egg a day, so they reach into the goose to get all the eggs now and in doing so they kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. In essence,they have a tendency to violate the law of the harvest. Fourth and most important; they refuse to learn to do business the business way. In other words, they get stuck in the comfort zone that ignorance provides. They take pride in being part owner but fail to embrace the spirit of work.
Zambians living in foreign lands on the other hand are stuck on the horns of dilemma; to find a good team of fellow Zambians on the ground who would put in as much work into the venture as if they were the owner, or quit their jobs and return to Zambia to try their prowess. This would create a gap in the financing equations - who would pay back the loans? They need fellow Zambians on the ground who would share in the vision and protect the assets from internal as well as external elements while the assets produce income for mutual benefit.
Foreign lands are replete with business models that be easily implemented when one has people one can work with without sacrificing the current source of income. Zambia's rate of unemployment can be reduced in no time if the third dimension did not unwittingly open the jugular, stub you in the back and put unnecessary financial burden on you.
So, we can conclude that a Zambian living in foreign land would do well to spend time to find constitute a group of reliable people to work with. It is better to miss an opportunity than to try and lose through ignorance, incompetence and spite.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Role of Government
Edited by Mwata Chisha
There is a set of good reasons why nations have government. Such reasons are as varied as the limitless needs and wants of nations. Imagining what one’s country would look like without a government conjures in one’s mind an image of a failed state. Human history is replete with examples of failed states. What has eluded many scholars is the point separates failed nations and those that have not. Researchers have created failed states indices. The interesting feature of indices is that they keep evolving, which makes tracking them a daunting task. Longitudinal studies that deal with changing combinations of variables requires that data be normalized to make between period comparisons possible. That leaves inquiring minds with one reasonable option; to find out if governments are performing according to expectations. If not, what are they doing instead.
It is important to understand why people opt to organize governments in the first place, it is important to go back in time to when societies began to notice their own inadequacies and therefore the need to have a small group of people to act as a governing body. How this body has taken shape in different societies is not the focus of this paper but whether the shapes they have taken has helped them perform according to expectations.
The Origin of the Concept of Government
For many thousands of centuries when people were hunter-gatherers and small scale farmers, humans lived in very small communities. The development of agriculture resulted in ever increasing population densities. David Christian explains how this helped result in states with laws and governments:
The exact moment and place that the erectional phenomenon of human government developed is lost in time. However, history does record the formations of very early governments. About 5,000 years ago, the first small city-states appeared. By the third to second millenniums BC, some of these had developed into larger governed areas: Sumer, Ancient Egypt, the Indus Valley Civilization, and the Yellow River Civilization.
As in David Christian’s analogy of star formation, there must have been a force or forces that made it necessary for people to congregate and organize government. David Christian further suggests that:
It is fair to have expected David Christian to be specific about the incentives people perceived to cede power and control to a small group of people called government. Thomas Hobbes began to fill in for him with a somewhat specific reason when he stated:
Hobbes, seems to be suggesting that safety and public order in the absence of a government would be difficult to maintain. What this means is that individuals in society are unable to maintain order and safety by themselves. Stated differently, there is a set of services that people cannot provide to themselves and public order and safety are among them.
In view of the foregoing, it is within reason to conclude that societies chose to form government to do for them what individuals could not do for themselves. On that basis, one would expect to see identical forms of government in every society. But that was not what happened. There were as many forms of government as there were societies. The known forms include:
• Anarchism - a political philosophy which considers the state to be unnecessary, harmful, or otherwise undesirable, and favors instead a stateless society
• Authoritarian – Authoritarian governments are characterized by an emphasis on the authority of the state in a republic or union. It is a political system controlled by nonelected rulers who usually permit some degree of individual freedom.
• Communism - Communism is a sociopolitical structure that aims for a classless and stateless society with the communal ownership of property.
• Constitutional monarchy – A government that has a monarch, but one whose powers are limited by law or by a formal constitution. Example: United Kingdom
• Constitutional republic – A government whose powers are limited by law or a formal constitution, and which is chosen by a vote amongst at least some sections of the populace (Ancient Sparta was in its own terms a republic, though most inhabitants were disenfranchised; The early United States was a republic, but the large numbers of slaves did not have the vote). Republics which exclude sections of the populace from participation will typically claim to represent all citizens (by defining people without the vote as "non-citizens").
• Democracy – Rule by a government (usually a Constitutional Republic or Constitutional Monarchy) chosen by election where most of the populace are enfranchised. The key distinction between a democracy and other forms of constitutional government is usually taken to be that the right to vote is not limited by a person's wealth or race (the main qualification for enfranchisement is usually having reached a certain age). A Democratic government is therefore one supported (at least at the time of the election) by a majority of the populace (provided the election was held fairly). A "majority" may be defined in different ways. There are many "power-sharing" (usually in countries where people mainly identify themselves by race or religion) or "electoral-college" or "constituency" systems where the government is not chosen by a simple one-vote-per-person headcount.
• Dictatorship – Rule by an individual who has full power over the country. The term may refer to a system where the Dictator came to power, and holds it, purely by force - but it also includes systems where the Dictator first came to power legitimately but then was able to amend the constitution so as to, in effect, gather all power for themselves. See also Autocracy and Stratocracy.
• Monarchy – Rule by an individual who has inherited the role and expects to bequeath it to their heir.
• Oligarchy – Rule by a small group of people who share similar interests or family relations.
• Plutocracy – A government composed of the wealthy class. Any of the forms of government listed here can be plutocracy. For instance, if all of the voted representatives in a republic are wealthy, then it is a republic and a plutocracy.
• Theocracy – Rule by a religious elite.
• Totalitarian – Totalitarian governments regulate nearly every aspect of public and private life.
• Legalism - A legalistic government enforces the law with rewards to those who obey the laws and harsh punishments to people who go against the law.
Some of the types seem more favorable than others. Yet, they are all formed by people from human societies. As reasonable and rational individuals, we would expect the favorable type of government to live up to its expectations; do for individual people in society that which they would be unable to do for themselves. But do they?
The heads of government are human beings, and given the human nature, what constitutes good governance has been a subject written about since the earliest known books. In the western tradition Plato wrote extensively on the question, most notably in The Republic. He (in the voice of Socrates) asked if the purpose of government was to help one's friends and hurt one's enemies, for example. Aristotle, Plato's student picked up the subject in his treatise on Politics. Many centuries later, John Locke addressed the question of abuse of power by writing on the importance of checks and balances to prevent or at least constrain abuse. It is believed that Thomas Jefferson was influenced by John Locke.
Most of the greatest atrocities committed against humans were planned and executed by or under the auspices of government. The most common ones include:
War
In the most basic sense, people of one nation will see the government of another nation as the enemy when the two nations are at war. For example, the people of Carthage saw the Roman government as the enemy during the Punic wars.
Enslavement
In early human history, the outcome of war for the vanquished was often enslavement. The enslaved people would not find it easy to see the conquering government as a friend. However, this is not true in every case.
Religious opposition
People with religious views opposed to the official state religion will have a greater tendency to view that government as their enemy. An example would be the condition of Roman Catholicism in England before the Catholic Emancipation. Protestants—who were politically dominant in England—used political, economic and social means to reduce the size and strength of Catholicism in England over the 16th to 18th centuries, and as a result, Catholics in England felt that their religion was being oppressed. North Korea provides a good contemporary example.
Class oppression
Whereas capitalists in a capitalist country may tend to see that nation's government positively, a class-conscious group of industrial workers—a proletariat—may see things very differently. If the proletariat wishes to take control of the nation's productive resources, and they are blocked in their endeavors by continuing adjustments in the law made by capitalists in the government, then the proletariat will come to see the government as their enemy—especially if the conflicts become violent.
The same situation can occur among peasants. The peasants in a country, e.g. Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great, may revolt against their landlords, only to find that their revolution is put down by government.
These are some of the things individuals in society would like to be protected from by the sophisticated thinking of those in government. Apparently individuals lack the wherewithal to maintain safety and order. Such maintenance of safety and public order should then require society to subscribe to certain values in order for it to produce a group of people who would do for the masses what individual members of society cannot do for themselves.
Common Thread
It is becoming increasingly apparent that people in government have forgotten why nations have adopted the concept government. Before they become part of the governing group, they speak forcefully about the issues that irk the masses. However, shortly after they occupy office, that voice of reason loses energy. It begins to sound like that of those that came before them; peddling empty promises during campaign rallies yet maintaining the status quo once re-elected. One cannot help but wonder what happens between the time speeches are delivered and when winners are handed keys to the office. It seems the planks begin to fall off the campaign platform in rapid succession. It seems also that people have become used to being lied to; they re-elect the same liars over and over. People who promised to solve their most pressing problems but did not deliver. These people are busy promoting the same ills that they are meant to protect the masses from. War, enslavement, religious opposition, class oppression, tribalism, racism, etc., are but a few avenues through which the government keep people veiled while they take for themselves.
Personally, I would not blame the government. Instead, I blame the people. I blame the public. I hip all blame on society. People in society are responsible for the ills they experience. By adopting the concept of government with a loose method of managing it, it has created a self-sustaining self-serving group of people called the government. Government is now perceived as the means to enrich oneself and in doing so, one shields those with whom one has joined hands to fleece the nation. This is not a western phenomenon neither is it eastern. Simply put, it is a human weakness that has rendered government a liability to nations. That being the case, the idea of government needs rethinking.
There is a set of good reasons why nations have government. Such reasons are as varied as the limitless needs and wants of nations. Imagining what one’s country would look like without a government conjures in one’s mind an image of a failed state. Human history is replete with examples of failed states. What has eluded many scholars is the point separates failed nations and those that have not. Researchers have created failed states indices. The interesting feature of indices is that they keep evolving, which makes tracking them a daunting task. Longitudinal studies that deal with changing combinations of variables requires that data be normalized to make between period comparisons possible. That leaves inquiring minds with one reasonable option; to find out if governments are performing according to expectations. If not, what are they doing instead.
It is important to understand why people opt to organize governments in the first place, it is important to go back in time to when societies began to notice their own inadequacies and therefore the need to have a small group of people to act as a governing body. How this body has taken shape in different societies is not the focus of this paper but whether the shapes they have taken has helped them perform according to expectations.
The Origin of the Concept of Government
For many thousands of centuries when people were hunter-gatherers and small scale farmers, humans lived in very small communities. The development of agriculture resulted in ever increasing population densities. David Christian explains how this helped result in states with laws and governments:
As farming populations gathered in denser and larger communities, interactions between different groups increased and the social pressure rose until, in a striking parallel with star formation, new structures suddenly appeared, together with a new level of complexity. Like stars, cities and states reorganize and energize the smaller objects within their gravitational field.
The exact moment and place that the erectional phenomenon of human government developed is lost in time. However, history does record the formations of very early governments. About 5,000 years ago, the first small city-states appeared. By the third to second millenniums BC, some of these had developed into larger governed areas: Sumer, Ancient Egypt, the Indus Valley Civilization, and the Yellow River Civilization.
As in David Christian’s analogy of star formation, there must have been a force or forces that made it necessary for people to congregate and organize government. David Christian further suggests that:
States formed as the results of a positive feedback loop where population growth results in increased information exchange which results in innovation which results in increased resources which results in further population growth. The role of cities in the feedback loop is important. Cities became the primary conduits for the dramatic increases in information exchange that allowed for large and densely packed populations to form, and because cities concentrated knowledge, they also ended up concentrating power. "Increasing population density in farming regions provided the demographic and physical raw materials used to construct the first cities and states, and increasing congestion provided much of the motivation for creating states.
It is fair to have expected David Christian to be specific about the incentives people perceived to cede power and control to a small group of people called government. Thomas Hobbes began to fill in for him with a somewhat specific reason when he stated:
...the fundamental purpose of government is the maintenance of basic security and public order...people were rational animals and thus saw submission to a government dominated by a sovereign as preferable to anarchy...people in a community create and submit to government for the purpose of establishing for themselves, safety and public order.
Hobbes, seems to be suggesting that safety and public order in the absence of a government would be difficult to maintain. What this means is that individuals in society are unable to maintain order and safety by themselves. Stated differently, there is a set of services that people cannot provide to themselves and public order and safety are among them.
In view of the foregoing, it is within reason to conclude that societies chose to form government to do for them what individuals could not do for themselves. On that basis, one would expect to see identical forms of government in every society. But that was not what happened. There were as many forms of government as there were societies. The known forms include:
• Anarchism - a political philosophy which considers the state to be unnecessary, harmful, or otherwise undesirable, and favors instead a stateless society
• Authoritarian – Authoritarian governments are characterized by an emphasis on the authority of the state in a republic or union. It is a political system controlled by nonelected rulers who usually permit some degree of individual freedom.
• Communism - Communism is a sociopolitical structure that aims for a classless and stateless society with the communal ownership of property.
• Constitutional monarchy – A government that has a monarch, but one whose powers are limited by law or by a formal constitution. Example: United Kingdom
• Constitutional republic – A government whose powers are limited by law or a formal constitution, and which is chosen by a vote amongst at least some sections of the populace (Ancient Sparta was in its own terms a republic, though most inhabitants were disenfranchised; The early United States was a republic, but the large numbers of slaves did not have the vote). Republics which exclude sections of the populace from participation will typically claim to represent all citizens (by defining people without the vote as "non-citizens").
• Democracy – Rule by a government (usually a Constitutional Republic or Constitutional Monarchy) chosen by election where most of the populace are enfranchised. The key distinction between a democracy and other forms of constitutional government is usually taken to be that the right to vote is not limited by a person's wealth or race (the main qualification for enfranchisement is usually having reached a certain age). A Democratic government is therefore one supported (at least at the time of the election) by a majority of the populace (provided the election was held fairly). A "majority" may be defined in different ways. There are many "power-sharing" (usually in countries where people mainly identify themselves by race or religion) or "electoral-college" or "constituency" systems where the government is not chosen by a simple one-vote-per-person headcount.
• Dictatorship – Rule by an individual who has full power over the country. The term may refer to a system where the Dictator came to power, and holds it, purely by force - but it also includes systems where the Dictator first came to power legitimately but then was able to amend the constitution so as to, in effect, gather all power for themselves. See also Autocracy and Stratocracy.
• Monarchy – Rule by an individual who has inherited the role and expects to bequeath it to their heir.
• Oligarchy – Rule by a small group of people who share similar interests or family relations.
• Plutocracy – A government composed of the wealthy class. Any of the forms of government listed here can be plutocracy. For instance, if all of the voted representatives in a republic are wealthy, then it is a republic and a plutocracy.
• Theocracy – Rule by a religious elite.
• Totalitarian – Totalitarian governments regulate nearly every aspect of public and private life.
• Legalism - A legalistic government enforces the law with rewards to those who obey the laws and harsh punishments to people who go against the law.
Some of the types seem more favorable than others. Yet, they are all formed by people from human societies. As reasonable and rational individuals, we would expect the favorable type of government to live up to its expectations; do for individual people in society that which they would be unable to do for themselves. But do they?
The heads of government are human beings, and given the human nature, what constitutes good governance has been a subject written about since the earliest known books. In the western tradition Plato wrote extensively on the question, most notably in The Republic. He (in the voice of Socrates) asked if the purpose of government was to help one's friends and hurt one's enemies, for example. Aristotle, Plato's student picked up the subject in his treatise on Politics. Many centuries later, John Locke addressed the question of abuse of power by writing on the importance of checks and balances to prevent or at least constrain abuse. It is believed that Thomas Jefferson was influenced by John Locke.
Most of the greatest atrocities committed against humans were planned and executed by or under the auspices of government. The most common ones include:
War
In the most basic sense, people of one nation will see the government of another nation as the enemy when the two nations are at war. For example, the people of Carthage saw the Roman government as the enemy during the Punic wars.
Enslavement
In early human history, the outcome of war for the vanquished was often enslavement. The enslaved people would not find it easy to see the conquering government as a friend. However, this is not true in every case.
Religious opposition
People with religious views opposed to the official state religion will have a greater tendency to view that government as their enemy. An example would be the condition of Roman Catholicism in England before the Catholic Emancipation. Protestants—who were politically dominant in England—used political, economic and social means to reduce the size and strength of Catholicism in England over the 16th to 18th centuries, and as a result, Catholics in England felt that their religion was being oppressed. North Korea provides a good contemporary example.
Class oppression
Whereas capitalists in a capitalist country may tend to see that nation's government positively, a class-conscious group of industrial workers—a proletariat—may see things very differently. If the proletariat wishes to take control of the nation's productive resources, and they are blocked in their endeavors by continuing adjustments in the law made by capitalists in the government, then the proletariat will come to see the government as their enemy—especially if the conflicts become violent.
The same situation can occur among peasants. The peasants in a country, e.g. Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great, may revolt against their landlords, only to find that their revolution is put down by government.
These are some of the things individuals in society would like to be protected from by the sophisticated thinking of those in government. Apparently individuals lack the wherewithal to maintain safety and order. Such maintenance of safety and public order should then require society to subscribe to certain values in order for it to produce a group of people who would do for the masses what individual members of society cannot do for themselves.
Common Thread
It is becoming increasingly apparent that people in government have forgotten why nations have adopted the concept government. Before they become part of the governing group, they speak forcefully about the issues that irk the masses. However, shortly after they occupy office, that voice of reason loses energy. It begins to sound like that of those that came before them; peddling empty promises during campaign rallies yet maintaining the status quo once re-elected. One cannot help but wonder what happens between the time speeches are delivered and when winners are handed keys to the office. It seems the planks begin to fall off the campaign platform in rapid succession. It seems also that people have become used to being lied to; they re-elect the same liars over and over. People who promised to solve their most pressing problems but did not deliver. These people are busy promoting the same ills that they are meant to protect the masses from. War, enslavement, religious opposition, class oppression, tribalism, racism, etc., are but a few avenues through which the government keep people veiled while they take for themselves.
Personally, I would not blame the government. Instead, I blame the people. I blame the public. I hip all blame on society. People in society are responsible for the ills they experience. By adopting the concept of government with a loose method of managing it, it has created a self-sustaining self-serving group of people called the government. Government is now perceived as the means to enrich oneself and in doing so, one shields those with whom one has joined hands to fleece the nation. This is not a western phenomenon neither is it eastern. Simply put, it is a human weakness that has rendered government a liability to nations. That being the case, the idea of government needs rethinking.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Rational thinker of the Week
Banda’s instruction to Undi amounts to corruption - Wina
By Patson Chilemba
The Post. Sun 05 Sep. 2010, 04:28 CAT
INONGE Wina yesterday said President Rupiah Banda’s instruction to newly-appointed Ministry of Finance permanent secretary Anthony Undi to implement the government projects in time for the 2011 elections amounts to corruption of the highest order.
Commenting on President Banda’s instruction to Undi, Wina, who is opposition Patriotic Front (PF) national chairperson, said the directive by the President amounted to corruption because the government had no genuine desire to develop the country until they realized that the elections were near.
He said the directive was a reactionary move to an impending election.
“I mean any leader should not be in a position to blackmail his or her people into submission. The people are free to choose.
They do not need to be blackmailed into voting for Mr Rupiah Banda because he has brought development to their area. I mean he has the responsibility as head of state to see that development is delivered,” Wina said. “I hope the people won’t be blackmailed. I hope Zambians will see through this and be able to distinguish between genuine development and some sort of induced development.”
Wina observed that President Banda did not have the capacity to plan for the nation’s development as evidenced by the last minute instructions to implement the government projects.
She said it was sad that development was being attached to the elections.
“They only react when it is time for elections, and this is retarding progress because instead of planning for the whole country, government will be planning projects to where elections are taking place,” Wina said.
“That way you can’t have a balanced development of the whole nation. And this is definitely corruption at its highest because people are being bribed. People are being told that ‘if you don’t vote we will not bring development to you’.”
Wina said professionalism in the civil service was being undermined by the ruling party because people were no longer appointed on the basis of their expertise but on their political affiliations to the MMD.
She also expressed concern that women were not being appointed to senior government positions as if there were no qualified women in the country
“It is a great pity, and it’s very, very regrettable,” said Wina.
During the swearing-in of Undi and new Commissioner of Prisons Percy Chato at State House last Friday, President Banda instructed Undi to implement government projects in time for the 2011 general elections.
All statements made by Wina are consistent with the areas of disagreement she had with Banda's directives. Wina did not attack Banda, surgically criticized what Banda said. It shows that she has no problem with the person of Banda but what the person uttered. This also can mean that Wina can be civil with Banda. There is a possibility that if Banda said or did something good, Wina would praise him. I would not put it past Wina that she would say a kind word or two if Banda announced that he would stop flying around in that presidential jet and attend to issues aching the nation. I know I would, even though I don't like Banda. Haa!
By Patson Chilemba
The Post. Sun 05 Sep. 2010, 04:28 CAT
INONGE Wina yesterday said President Rupiah Banda’s instruction to newly-appointed Ministry of Finance permanent secretary Anthony Undi to implement the government projects in time for the 2011 elections amounts to corruption of the highest order.
Commenting on President Banda’s instruction to Undi, Wina, who is opposition Patriotic Front (PF) national chairperson, said the directive by the President amounted to corruption because the government had no genuine desire to develop the country until they realized that the elections were near.
He said the directive was a reactionary move to an impending election.
“I mean any leader should not be in a position to blackmail his or her people into submission. The people are free to choose.
They do not need to be blackmailed into voting for Mr Rupiah Banda because he has brought development to their area. I mean he has the responsibility as head of state to see that development is delivered,” Wina said. “I hope the people won’t be blackmailed. I hope Zambians will see through this and be able to distinguish between genuine development and some sort of induced development.”
Wina observed that President Banda did not have the capacity to plan for the nation’s development as evidenced by the last minute instructions to implement the government projects.
She said it was sad that development was being attached to the elections.
“They only react when it is time for elections, and this is retarding progress because instead of planning for the whole country, government will be planning projects to where elections are taking place,” Wina said.
“That way you can’t have a balanced development of the whole nation. And this is definitely corruption at its highest because people are being bribed. People are being told that ‘if you don’t vote we will not bring development to you’.”
Wina said professionalism in the civil service was being undermined by the ruling party because people were no longer appointed on the basis of their expertise but on their political affiliations to the MMD.
She also expressed concern that women were not being appointed to senior government positions as if there were no qualified women in the country
“It is a great pity, and it’s very, very regrettable,” said Wina.
During the swearing-in of Undi and new Commissioner of Prisons Percy Chato at State House last Friday, President Banda instructed Undi to implement government projects in time for the 2011 general elections.
All statements made by Wina are consistent with the areas of disagreement she had with Banda's directives. Wina did not attack Banda, surgically criticized what Banda said. It shows that she has no problem with the person of Banda but what the person uttered. This also can mean that Wina can be civil with Banda. There is a possibility that if Banda said or did something good, Wina would praise him. I would not put it past Wina that she would say a kind word or two if Banda announced that he would stop flying around in that presidential jet and attend to issues aching the nation. I know I would, even though I don't like Banda. Haa!
An Important Lesson People Choose not To Learn
This is an extract from Wonder Wall - 9/5/2010
Brad Pitt is so hot, it's illegal -- seriously! When Toyota featured the sexy star in an ad for the Altis in 2002, the Malaysian government ordered that the ads be pulled. Apparently, the sight of non-Asian faces plants "a sense of inferiority among Asians" -- at least that's what the country's deputy information minister, Zainuddin Maidin, explained at the time. My only question is: Does that mean the Jolie-Pitts won't be adopting any Malaysian babies?
But What Does The Image of A White Christ Does to Black African Babies?
Brad Pitt is so hot, it's illegal -- seriously! When Toyota featured the sexy star in an ad for the Altis in 2002, the Malaysian government ordered that the ads be pulled. Apparently, the sight of non-Asian faces plants "a sense of inferiority among Asians" -- at least that's what the country's deputy information minister, Zainuddin Maidin, explained at the time. My only question is: Does that mean the Jolie-Pitts won't be adopting any Malaysian babies?
But What Does The Image of A White Christ Does to Black African Babies?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)