Environmental Debates and Racial Nuances

Are we too many on earth? Environmental activists have always claimed that the world is overpopulated. But what is the optimum number of humans? Many scientists think Earth has a maximum carrying capacity of 9 to 10 billion people. The carrying capacity is the maximum number of individuals of a species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the food, habitat, water, and other necessities available. The environment’s maximal load.

On 15 November 2022, the United Nations reported that the earth reached 8 billion people, so is the alarm justifiable?

I feel the overpopulation debate isn’t looking at the planet as a whole, but on individual countries such as China, India and sub-Saharan Africa. This is where population discourse has racial, colonizer undertones, often characterizing women from the global south as breeding too much.

Take Zambia, for instance, with a population of over 19 million people on an area of 752,617 km². We are similar in size with France (67.39 million people), Myanmar (54.41 million) and US state of Texas (29 million). England is smaller than us but has 56.29 million people. But it's us who are too many? Most importantly, the bigger population of Zambians live in rural areas, if they're stopped from accessing firewood and wood products, how are they going survive??

Second, over 80 countries that have fewer births than required to replace the number of individuals who die each year, including every country in Western Europe, China, Japan, Russia, Poland, and Canada. Data across all countries, it is assumed that there is much lower future fertility rates than initially expected. Meaning that even the present assumption that the world population will be about 9.5 billion by 2050 may be too high as fertility continues to fall rapidly. 

Of the 49 countries classified as Least Developed Countries, 33 are in Africa (out of 54 African countries), 15 in Asia plus Haiti. Unfortunately, these countries need the resources they are endowed with to develop their people.

(Effect of poverty of the environment is shown here on the neighbors Haiti with a GDP per capita of $1,830 and The Dominican Republic with $8,477)

We live in an unfair world. Millions of people in developed countries live high-polluting lifestyle. Not people in the global south. We need to redefine what the good life is, instead of never-ending expansion, the latest iPhone, jetsetting. Everyone wanting to fly private etc.

All people have a right to live a dignified life. The ecological footprint of somebody in the top 1% is as high as 175 times that of somebody in the bottom 10%. So, saying it’s all about population numbers is simplistic. Multinational Corporations are the polluters. Not us. We also want to develop.

Huge populations (densities) are a catalyst for development. China and India have demonstrated population dividend underpins the economy and sustains its expansion. In sum, forget the naysayers. Be fruitful and multiply and fill Zambia.

“(Huge population) benefits include a larger number of young persons who are more likely to innovate, such as coming up with more efficient ways to grow food, and pay for the benefits to retired men and women. A bigger population also increases the demand for new drugs, software, social networking, and other innovations that have increasing returns to the scale of demand.” - Gary Becker (Nobel Laureate and University of Chicago professor). 

A brother says that I am for the Cornucopian Theory of Population, this is the view that increases in population (demand) lead to technological innovation and substitution. This in turn leads to an increase in access to and decline in relative price of materials. I'm of the view that population and environmental issues should not be looked at from a national but global perspective.

I'm placing human rights before anything. And I know you agree with me that human rights precede anything else. Do you know that in high polluting countries they don't pay carbon tax? And you and I in Zambia, which has insignificant CO2 emissions, are forced to do that.

When we must choose between feeding the hungry and conserving the environment, people ought to come first. A hungry man can't see right or wrong. Since times immemorial, the environment has been sacrificed for human development; most - if not all - development is of this kind. Though by no means warranted, but that which gets people fed is basic and urgent. Then nature should lose, and people win? Certainly not. There must be a win - win. That's where developed countries need to come in and help poor countries eradicate poverty - as an indispensable requirement - which also help preserve the environment. Only developed nations are wealthy enough to be concerned about saving the environment.

In conclusion, we need science of sustainability that contextualizes the discourse by different subpopulations. And like the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic models showed us in the past 2 years, the discourse should also be viewed through the lenses of social science. To save the environment, we need global efforts in ending greed and poverty. 

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOURS: LESSONS FROM SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS

Every evening before retiring to bed, I’ve kept a ritual that has not only helped me manage work stress but also find humor in organizational politics that goes on in offices. Watching SpongeBob SquarePants has been helping me figure out how and why people act in certain ways within different types of professional groups. In this article, I will juxtapose organizational behavior and The Krusty Krab and strive to explain how that underwater eatery provides the standard template in employer-employee relationships.

The Organizational Structure

The Krusty Krab, which is a fast-food restaurant, located in Bikini Bottom, is founded, and owned by Eugene Harold Krabs. It is the most popular and best-known restaurant in Bikini Bottom for its Krabby Patty burgers. Its employees are SpongeBob SquarePants and Squidward Quincy Tentacles, respectively the Fry Cook and Cashier. The Krusty Krab also exhibits many of the undesirable qualities of real-life fast-food restaurants: it is dirty and cheaply maintained, and the restaurant is sometimes shown to be in a state of disrepair.

The Krabby Patty is the Krusty Krab's signature and popular food item. It is a meatless hamburger of sorts made from seaweed-sea buns, undersea vegetables, condiments, and a patty; it can also be ordered with cheese. The ingredients of the patty itself are purposely kept secret throughout.

Like in Krusty Krab, the formal relationship of people is what makes the structural design in organization. The managerial and organisational levels are decorated by hierarchical and specific functions as well as level to be incurred in structural design. The rights and responsibilities are also determined in a particular group or structure. For example, SpongeBob sticks to cooking and doesn’t pretend to be a better Cashier than Squidward, and the latter stick to being at the counter. But the manager (Mr Krabs) oversees the entire chain.

About SpongeBob SquarePants

SpongeBob works at the Krusty Krab, Bikini Bottom's most popular restaurant, where he is a fry cook and prepares all food served at the restaurant, most notably Krabby Patties. When he first applied for the job, he was turned down despite saying that it was his lifelong dream to join the Krusty Krew. In fact, Squidward and Mr. Krabs, wanting no part of him, sent him on a fool's errand for a "hydro-dynamic spatula with port and starboard attachments and turbo drive." While he was out searching for one, Squidward and Mr. Krabs got so overwhelmed with customers and surprisingly, its SpongeBob who come to their rescue by coming back to feed all the customers, showing off his amazing cooking skills in the process.

Despite demonstrating that he understands the job better than anyone else, Mr Krabs doesn’t hesitate to threaten him with firing every time he asks for salary increase or better conditions of work. Which usually break his heart as he loves to work and be found in the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob, however, makes the same mistake which a lot of us are also usually victims of – the thinking that your workplace is your family. Employment is just transactional – I give you my time and labour, you give me an agreed-on wage. There is nothing like relationship building. It’s purely a marketplace and a place of continuous collaboration when interests align and competition, when they don’t. Firefighting and managing both covert and overt aggressions. The problem is that us human beings are intrinsically predisposed to convert these transactions in work into relationships, especially when you have worked in the same place for a long term. Now, let me be clear here. For some people, it can be both relationship and transaction and there is nothing wrong with loving what you do past the point of quid pro quo. However, as bitter as it is, the organization owns all the jobs and positions. There is no such a thing as my job or our job or your job. Jobs come into existence and cease at the whim of the organization.

About Squidward Quincy Tentacles

Squidward is the direct opposite of SpongeBob. He not only hates his duties but the Krusty Krab itself, and he performs his job rather poorly and with a lack of enthusiasm. He also frequently behaves rudely to the customers. He has often expressed a desire to be fired or simply quit, but never makes good on it. While he initially only seems to work there because he needs the money, he seems to only be there out of pure laziness of getting a different job as the series progresses.

Can Squidward change and exudes motivation? You can teach someone on how to do a job, but you never teach good attitude. It’s either you have it, or you don’t, more to do with how your childhood was socialized. An individual must take it upon themselves to make changes, nothing external changes bad attitude. Some people just have dysfunctional behaviors, are full drama, and can never work without strict supervision. They hold down their entire team in two ways: by not pulling their weight and by rubbing off their attitude on others. There’s nothing more frustrating and demotivating that seeing someone who relatively doesn’t do as much as you do get the same or more accolades and rewards than you.

About Eugene Harold Krabs

Mr. Krabs main interest is to have money, and his greed is often shown to be so bad that it causes him to make stupid decisions and put money above his customers, his employees, and his family, including his own life. He treats money as if it's royalty in some respects, frequently associating his customers and products with money. Whenever SpongeBob fails to turn for work for whatever reason, Mr. Krabs often realizes how indispensable he is. In any work environment, you are only being kept because you are beneficial to the organization.

Managers must know that they work with human beings with feelings and who make their inferences based on both actions and inactions in the workplace. It is a well-known fact that motivation – in homes, school, and workplace – can be dampened or stunted by discouragement, lack of confidence, and fear of making mistakes. In the workplace it is also very closely attached to management skill, personal development opportunities and how much meaningful work is attached to the job.

Managers must keep their employees settled and comfortable in their respective roles. Because the moment an employee starts finding themselves speeding more time on Go Jobs Zambia, the motivation to do the work plummets and the demotivating effect rubs on to other employees even if they do not know their colleague intends to leave. Demotivation and bad work attitude are highly contagious.

Positive workplace culture is an integral part of any successful ‘Krusty Krab’ and alludes to a happy working environment in which employees feel content and comfortable to demonstrate their skillset, knowledge, and experiences.

Why is all this discussion important?

Although the organisational behaviour theories have been around for decades, they are still very relevant to the modern workplace. Technologies and ways of working have undoubtedly changed, but the intellectual tendencies and desires of the average employee have not. As McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y was keen to point out, for example, facilitating friendly workplace environments in which managers and employees work together side by side is an excellent way to boost motivation and ultimately improve the efficiency of a company. This is still very true today. If you want your ‘Krusty Krab’ to succeed in a competitive market, you need to ensure that your employees are motivated to succeed by offering them a pleasant workplace environment and plenty of opportunities for personal growth. For the employee, do all your best you can whilst you are in employment. That’s your reputation and legacy you are building, the cornerstone of your life. In the words of Bruce Lee, preparation for tomorrow is hard work today.

Conclusion

In conclusion, organizational behaviours is concerned with people behaviours within an organizational setting (the Krusty Krab) and how Squidward, SpongeBob and Mr Krabs behave as both individuals and as a group. This being a social science, care must be taken not to use a one-size fits all approach. Understanding people and organizations must be contextualized. Another challenge to lookout for is the “Hawthorne effects” where people adjust behaviours and output in response to being watched especially during probation or performance improvement plans (PIPs) implementation period. Organizations should also understand that they are operating in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment. It is it the managements’ responsibility to be alert on how they can improve productivity, streamlines efficiency, and sparks innovation. This tends to give ‘Krust Krab’ a competitive edge.

For employees, look at it in a different way. You are your own boss, and you are selling your labour to your employer making them just your customer. Customer tastes and preferences are ephemeral and are constantly changing. Thus, it is perfectly fine for the customer to stop purchasing your service, it is transactional after all. Unless your career is the most on-demand never give yourself the trappings of importance and delusion of grandeur. Once our services cease to be useful, we're all expendable.

THE BAROTSELAND AGREEMENT 1964

 

THE BAROTSELAND AGREEMENT 1964

Following talks in London between the British Government, the Government of Northern Rhodesia and The Litunga of Barotseland; an Agreement regarding the position of Barotseland within independent Northern Rhodesia was concluded at the commonwealth Relations office on 18^th May 1964. It is entitled, “The Barotseland Agreement 1964″. It was signed by Dr. K.D. Kaunda, Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia, by Sir Mwanawina Lewanika III, K.B.E Litunga of Barotseland and by the Right Honourable Duncan Sandys M.P Secretary of State for commonwealth Relations and for the colonies signifying the approval of Her Majesty’s Government.

The text of the Agreement is attached as the Appendix to this paper.

19th May, 1964.

APPENDIX

THE BAROTSELAND AGREEMENT 1964

This Agreement is made this eighteenth day of May, 1964 between KENNETH DAVID KAUNDA, Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia of the one part and SIR MWANAWINA LEWANIKA THE THIRD ,K.B.E., Litunga of Barotseland, acting on behalf of himself, his heirs and successors, his council, and the chiefs and people of Barotseland of the other party is signed by the Right Honourable Duncan Sandys, M.P Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations And For The Colonies, to signify the approval of Her Majesty’s government in the United Kingdom of the arrangements entered into between the parties to this agreement and recorded therein.

Whereas it was proposed that the Northern Rhodesia shall become an independent sovereign state to be known as the Republic of Zambia.

And whereas it is the wish of the government of Northern Rhodesia and of the Litunga of Barotseland, his council and the chiefs and people of Barotseland that Northern Rhodesia should proceed to independence as one country and that all its peoples should be one nation:

And whereas having regard to the fact that all treaties and other agreements subsisting between Her Majesty the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and The Litunga of Barotseland will terminate when Northern Rhodesia becomes an independent sovereign republic and Her Majesty’s government in the United Kingdom will there upon cease to have any responsibility for the government of Rhodesia including Barotseland. It is the wish of the government of Northern Rhodesia and of The Litunga of Barotseland to enter into arrangements concerning the position of Barotseland as part of the republic of Zambia to the place of the treaties and other agreements hitherto subsisting between Her Majesty the Queen and The Litunga of Barotseland:

And whereas on the sixteenth day of April 1964 a provisional agreement was concluded at Lusaka with purpose and it is the desire of the government of Northern Rhodesia and The Litunga, acting after consultation with his council to conclude a permanent agreement with this purpose:

NOW THIS AGREEMENT WITNESSETH and it is hereby agreed between the said Kenneth David Kaunda, Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia, on behalf of the government of Northern Rhodesia and the said Sir Mwanawina Lewanika the Third, K.B.E., Litunga of Barotseland on behalf of himself, his heirs and successors, his Council and the chiefs and the people of Barotseland as follows:-

1.      Citation and commencement

This agreement may be cited as the Barotseland Agreement 1964 and shall come into force on the day on which Northern Rhodesia, including Barotseland, becomes the independent sovereign Republic of Zambia.

2.      The Constitution of Zambia

The constitution of the republic of Zambia shall include the provisions agreed upon for the inclusion herein at the constitutional conference held in London in May, 1964 relating to: -

(a)    the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the individual.

(b)   the judiciary; and

(c)    the public service and those provisions shall have full force and effect in Barotseland.

3.      Administration of Justice

(1)   Subject to the provisions of this Agreement, the people of Barotseland shall be accorded the same rights of access to the high court of the republic of Zambia as are accorded to other citizens of the Republic under the laws for the time being in force in the Republic and a judge or judges of the high court selected from among the judges who normally sit in Lusaka shall regularly proceed on circuit in Barotseland at each intervals as the due administration of justice may require.

(2)   The people of Barotseland shall be accorded the same rights of appeal from the decisions of the courts of the Republic of Zambia as are accorded to other citizens of the Republic under the laws for the time being in force in the Republic.

4.      The Litunga and His Council

(1)   The government of the republic of Zambia will accord recognition as such to the person who is for the time The Litunga of Barotseland under the customary law of Barotseland.

(2)   The Litunga of Barotseland, acting after consultation with his Council as constituted for the time being under the customary law of Barotseland shall be the principal local authority for the government and administration of Barotseland.

(3)   The Litunga of Barotseland, acting after consultation with his Council, shall be authorised and empowered to make laws for Barotseland in relation to the following matters, that is to say-

(a)    The Litungaship;

(b)   The authority at present known as the Barotse Native Government (which shall hereafter be known as the Barotse Government);

(c)    The authorities at present known as Barotse Native Authorities;

(d)   The courts at present known as Barotse Native Courts;

(e)   The status of the members of the Litunga’s Council;

(f)     matters relating to local government;

(g)    land.

(h)   forests;

(i)      traditional and customary matters relating to Barotseland alone;

(j)      fishing;

(k)    control of hunting;

(l)      game preservation;

(m) control of bush fires;

(n)   the institution at present known as the Barotse native treasury;

(o)   the supply of beer;

(p)   reservation of trees for canoes;

(q)   local taxation and matters relating thereto; and

(r)     Barotse local festivals.

5.      Land

(1)   In relation to land in Barotseland the arrangements set out in the annex hereto shall have effect.

(2)   In particular, the Litunga of Barotseland and his Council shall continue to have the powers hitherto enjoyed by them in respect of land matters under customary law and practice.

(3)   The courts at present known as the Barotse Native Courts shall have original jurisdiction(to the exclusion of any other court in the republic of Zambia)in respect of matters concerning rights over or interests in land in Barotseland to the extent that those matters are governed by the customary law of Barotseland: Provided that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as limiting the jurisdiction and powers of the High Court of the Republic of Zambia in relation to writs or orders of the kind at present known as prerogative of writs or orders.

(4)   Save with the leave of the court at present known as the Saa- Sikalo Kuta, no appeal shall lie from any decision of the courts at present known as the Barotse Native Courts given in exercise of the jurisdiction referred to in paragraph (3) of this article to the High Court of the Republic of Zambia.

6.      Civil Servants

All public officers of the Government the Republic of Zambia who may from time to time be situated in Barotseland shall be officers serving on permanent and pensionable terms.

7.      Financial Responsibility

The Government of the Republic of Zambia shall have the same general responsibility for providing financial support for the administration and economic development of Barotseland as it has for other parts of the Republic and shall ensure that, in discharge of this responsibility, Barotseland is treated fairly and equitably in relation to other parts of the Republic.

8.      Implementation

The Government of the Republic of Zambia shall take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that the laws for the time being in force in the Republic are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement.

9.      Interpretation

Any question concerning the interpretation of this Agreement may be referred by the Government of the Republic of Zambia to the High Court of the Republic for consideration (in which case the opinion thereon of the Court shall be communicated to that Government and to the Litunga of Barotseland and his Council) and any such question shall be so referred if the Litunga, acting after consultation with his Council, so requests.

10.  Revocation

The herein before recited Agreement of the sixteenth day of April 1964 is hereby revoked.

In witness whereof the parties hereto

Have hereunto set their hands in the

Presence of: – K.D.KAUNDA Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia (Signed)

E.D. HONE Governor of Northern Rhodesia (Signed)

(Signed) IMENDA SIBANDI Ngambela of Barotseland

MWANAWINA LEWANIKA III Litunga of Barotseland

Signed by the Right Honourable Duncan

Sandys in the presence of :- (Signed)

(Signed) RICHARD HORNBY DUNCAN SANDYS

Parliamentary Under Secretary of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary

State for Commonwealth Relations of State for Commonwealth Relations And for the Colonies

ANNEX TO THIS AGREEMENT

1.      The Litunga and National Council of Barotseland have always worked in close co-operation with the Central Government over land matters in the past have agreed that the Central government should use land required for public purposes and have adopted the same procedures as apply to leases and rights of occupancy in the Reserves and Trust Land areas, where applicable. At the same time, the administration of land rights in Barotseland under customary law and practice has been under the control of the Litunga and National Council in much the same way as customary land rights are dealt with in the Reserves and Trust Land areas.

2.      In these circumstances it is agreed that the Litunga should continue to have the greatest measure of responsibility for administering land matters in Barotseland. It is however, necessary to examine the position of land matters in Barotseland against the background of the Northern Rhodesia Government’s overall responsibility for the territory.

3.      The Barotse Memorandum has indicated that Barotseland should become an integral part of Northern Rhodesia. In these circumstances the Northern Rhodesia Government will assume certain responsibilities and to carry these out they will have to have certain powers. so far as land is concerned, apart from confirmation of wide powers the Litunga over customary matters, the position is as follows: -

(1)   The Northern Rhodesia Government does not wish to derogate from any of the powers exercised by the Litunga and Council in respect of land matters under customary law and practice.

(2)   The Northern Rhodesia Government would like to ensure that the provision of public services and the responsibility of economic development in Barotseland are not hampered by special formalities.

(3)   The Northern Rhodesia Government recognises and agrees that full consultation should take place with the Litunga and Council before any land in Barotseland is used for public purposes or in the general interests of economic development.

(4)   The position regarding land in Barotseland in an independent Northern Rhodesia should, therefore, be as follows: -

(a)    There should be the same system for land administration for the whole of Northern Rhodesia including Barotseland, that is, the Government Lands Department should be responsible for professional advice and services with regard to land alienation in all parts of Northern Rhodesia and that the same form of document should be used for grants of land (i) for Government purposes and (ii) for non-Government and non-customary purposes. The necessary preparation of the title documents should be done by the Government Lands Department.

(b)   The Litunga and National Council of Barotseland will be charged with the responsibility for administering Barotse customary land law within Barotseland.

Printed in England and published by

HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE