Mind Spoken: BitterSweet - Take Over @BitterSweet Poetry Temwani's Album Launch

Mind Spoken: BitterSweet - Take Over @BitterSweet Poetry Temwani's Album Launch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9pfIAlqZDSk 

BitterSweet - Take Over @BitterSweet Poetry Temwani's Album Launch

The Dynamic Dou happy people sharing a part of themselves at the BitterSweet Poetry Show Temwani's Album launch. Join us every two weeks as we take the Art Of poetry to another level in our won authentic and unique ways.... as endowed by our God.
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SUBSIDIES

The previous weeks have been quite something with issue of subsidies in the air, fuel increment cascading to the increment of everything including the basic needs for survival as well as upkeep. We saw UNZA students taking to the streets… having a go at it with the Zambia Police, teargas, stones flying, rooms burning it was crazy, people calling in and giving the government a piece of their minds... some even mispronouncing the word as ''subsidiaries.''  It was quite eventful. For some it was the 1^st time they were hearing of such a term hence the unrest… we heard of some people explaining to their friends that subsidies were some chemical that they put in mealie meal so that the germs die… and one Miss NIPA Participant was asked what subsidies were and unashamedly she answered that subsidy is “self-confidence…” and obviously before we know it the famous easterners will be naming their kids Subsidy or Sabu for short… lol 

But really what are subsidies and how do they affect the economy? I’ll go for the most common definition: "a subsidy refers to a payment made by the government to a producer. Subsidies can be direct – cash grants, interest-free loans – or indirect – tax breaks, insurance, low-interest loans, depreciation write-offs, rent rebates. This form of support can be legal, illegal, ethical or unethical. Subsidies are used for a variety of purposes, including employment, production and exports." Often subsidies are regarded as a form of protectionism or trade barrier by making domestic goods and services artificially competitive against imports. Subsidies may distort markets, and can impose large economic costs. Financial assistance in the form of a subsidy may come from one's government, but the term subsidy may also refer to assistance granted by others, such as individuals or non-governmental institutions.

That said, the government of Zambia removed subsidies on fuel and agriculture these have been some of the biggest expenditures of the government. It is safe to say that fuel subsidies add to the fiscal deficit, which in turn causes inflation. Reducing fuel subsidies would improve Zambia’s fiscal balance and create fiscal space for increased investment in infrastructure and other development activities. Environmental damage caused by the steady rise in the sale of fuel vehicles due to price differential between diesel and petrol can also be reversed over time.

With benefits of removing fuel subsidies known to everyone, it eventually boils down to the political economy of reform. Looking at it from way back it can be said that governments actually give subsidies as part of a political bargain — they are “a visible way to deliver benefits in exchange for political support.” Because they are a symbol of populist action by successive political leaders, these subsidies, once started, get permanently locked-in.

Something to critically look at though, is that, even if subsidies may free up resources for development, people have little confidence that this will happen given high levels of corruption in the country. The government would dread the scenes witnessed on the Nigerian streets where people came out with banners saying “Remove corruption, not subsidy”.

It is a very delicate issue, as in,. if you raise fuel prices, it has a cascading effect on the economy. The government should work out a solution so that this impacts the economy in the least manner but also brings down the fiscal deficit.

If fuel subsidies were meant to help the poor, then they were very poorly targeted. I might not have the statistics but I believe that billions of dollars/kwacha have been spent by the government in the past. Yet we haven’t seen a reduction but an increment in the poverty levels and reports that the MDG’s will not be met by 2015.

Allow me to highlight the fact that even if poor households previously got only a small portion of direct subsidies, the effects of subsidy removal on their incomes is far higher than for richer households. This is partly because raising fuel prices has a significant impact on inflation and cascading effects throughout the economy, via sectors such as transport and agriculture.

But the problem of removing fuel subsidies is not limited to chaotic democracies. Even China was unable to fully pass on fuel price increases at all times during 2010 and 2011. Elsewhere, attempts at fuel subsidy reduction were reversed within a few days in Ghana in 2008 and in Nigeria in January, and postponed in Indonesia earlier this year.

Overcoming political and public opposition to fuel subsidy removal would have been the order of the day in Zambia and for the current regime, in my thinking, hence the decision to go ahead and just announce the removal.

Just my thoughts really, subject to discussion… sometimes if we resist change we will end up being crushed. Let us be knowledgeable be well read so that when we want to argue we are well informed and not following the masses blindly. Let us work at developing and improving our country. Individual efforts always ripple out to the development of a country as a whole. God Bless Zambia.

DREAMS

                                                                                                                                        
We dream, dreams that awaken us to a rude awakening...

Not knowing that in persistence of your achievement at times there's weakening...

Going on in the wave of the motion sometimes sickening...

Not being told that in our pursuit there's a risking

Of failure

But there we are dreaming

Images and thoughts in our heads planning and scheming

Trying to put one and one together to understand life's meaning

Others look at you and laugh your dreams demeaning

Frustration hope loss and dream loss causing

Risking failure

But there we are

Talking to people hoping their inspiring

Or maybe looking to someone who might be hiring

To buy into your dreams desiring

Some turn you down with scorn laughing

If you had to look inside some of our minds its disturbing

What you sow that you'll be reaping

But when you dream you're risking

Failure

Now failure is not your destination

Cause I forgot to mention

It’s a process of learning

That that's not how it’s done

So you get to choose another path because there isn't just one

But here we are

When you have a dream you run with it

Achieving it you all know will make your life complete

Just because of something someone said and you want to quit

Let nothing hold you down, like NIKE just do it

All you are is risking failure

Sir Isaac Newton had a dream, Einstein had a dream...

Look at where we are

Martin Luther King had a dream

Never did he stop no matter how hard it seemed

I mean the brother died in the pursuit of his dream but his dream can now still be seen

So when you have a dream,

Stand on the mountain top don't stop just scream

And let the world see what your Great mind has dreamed!!!

What About 'DILIGENCE'

So I came across a disclaimer in one of those motivational books about success and making it in your endeavors and it said: "The information you'll find in this report is to educate you. We make no promise or guarantee of income or earnings. You have to do some work, use your best judgment, and perform due diligence before using the information in this book and even then we can't guarantee you will be successful - that's up to you.

So that got me asking myself what is this Diligence they talk about, i have heard it said in a sentence but 'What is Diligence'?? In my own definition I’d cut to the chase and just say ‘showing care and much effort in what one does,’ putting in SMART-work and steady effort. Also, these are some dictionary definitions I came across: Conscientiousness in paying proper attention to a task; giving the degree of care required in a given situation, Persevering determination to perform a task! This is quite an interesting word, others are called by it i.e. Dili as short for Diligence Phiri (easterners rock). But you find the person who owns the name possess no characteristics of what that name carries. If only we knew what weight our names carry I think some of us will be more serious about doing what we have been intended to do on this earth in this lifetime… but I digress. One who doesn't possess diligence ends up being poor, sleeping during the harvest, ends up being an annoyance, becomes a slave always choosing fantasies (Dreaming is good but dreams need to be SMART to be achieved, then they cease being fantasies). Without diligence no matter how many good resources there are, they'll go to waste, wanting much more but getting little, experiencing poverty and having trouble all through life…

Back to being diligent: the steady application in any kind of undertaking, a constant effort to accomplish what is undertaken, exertion of body/mind without unnecessary delay or sloth, due attention, industrious, assiduity I’d go on…

So here is somethings you can do to be diligent or enhance diligence as a part of your characteristic or trait in your life you can start by Removing Distractions. this means spending less time on the internet, phone, or watching television. *only if your are using the same in a very very productive way... but if its just a pastime activity then you really have to reconsider*. Wasting time only holds you back from accomplishing your goals. Make a 'To Accomplish' List or a.k.a 'To Do' List, know what you want to accomplish, put the time and be specific about it. Prioritize, weigh what is important in your life, differentiate between wants and needs. Effective Use of Time, make a schedule and have a plan for the day, that way you stay on track no matter what comes up, this helps you not to procrastinate and to meet deadlines. it might not be easy but when you stick to the task you will accomplish the task, it is the path to becoming diligent. Reward Yourself, you got to be careful on this one though, its only after you have followed through the plan and tasks set that you can reward yourself this helps to spur motivation... try it (remember how Mr. Been would always put presents for himself and surprise himself). 'Be Realistic', allow for the unexpected then return to your day re-prioritize as needed and keep moving! last but no least Realize the Value of Hard Work, (Am a strong believer of SMART work coupled with a bit of hard work)only when you accomplish one goal then you can move to the next, each step usually builds upon the previous ones, go the extra mile when needed.

If you possess this characteristic/trait of diligence you’ll get rewards, you’ll rule, you’ll prize your possessions, you’ll be fully satisfied, you’ll make profit, you’ll have an easy path, stay awake and have food to spare, you’ll make careful plans, you are going to give without sparing, you’ll serve before kings, you’ll reap in abundance through hard work.

~Diligence is the philosopher stone

That turns everything to GOLD~

Intellectual Capital - "The Virtue of Creativity"

The ultimate resource in economic development is people, not capital or material resources. The greatest need in less developed countries is people who can do the new organizing job: this is the job of building an effective organisation of skilled and trained people exercising judgement and making responsible decisions.

Many times I have had conversations with people asking them, “If you had to win K 1 billion, what would you do”?? Various answers follow including “I’ll make a plan when I have the money” then in my mind I wonder what plan do you have that will ensure your survival and your living in life even after you’re past the age were you can work for somebody. (I’ll talk in length on this subject in my following posts). Makes me ask the questions, Where is the creativity, innovation, initiative your goal for leaving and adding value to this life you've been given??

“There many ways of killing a rat” goes the saying, some go to greater lengths to kill one while putting their lives at risk. It is our desire to always find easier way of doing things! Hence the saying “laziness is the mother of all invention” of course combined with creativity. Much as hard work (i.e. physical labor  can add value to what you’re doing, working SMART adds enterprise and invention to everything you do. Work becomes knowledgeable in the sense that it becomes productive in the required potentiality and your work becomes more profoundly cognizant for those benefiting from the service being offered. The cause of wealth is knowledge. This cause lies in the human hand. Being unhappy with your job or what you do doesn't help you or anybody; besides if you’re unhappy do something ‘different’ about it. Only you determine your happiness nobody else has the ability to. Remember this, and it will always remain true that good and morally admirable people make work environments, friendships, cities and even nations happy places in which to find oneself for which one gives thanks; whereas the company of vicious people is no fun at all unless you’re one of them…

For entrepreneurs, and enterprising individuals always be on the lookout for real and unusual talent. The first law is to listen; you must be meek yet shrewd enough to endure the humbling eclipse of self that comes in the process of found learning from others. Sad to say I have met a number of people in such high and influential position and some in lowly positions who never seem to want to learn but consider themselves an authority and a know it all, they don’t listen to any advice and don’t take criticism very well ending up being all moody and upset, when the advice doesn't suit their ears. This makes one unapproachable and highlights insecurity. True creators have a passionate love for learning; they thirst to get reality straight and true, they know that learning can come from one as small as a baby and/or the eldest citizen alive, they want what they create to endure, they want to withstand the buffering’s of the wind and sea, like a spray-drenched vessel “built to last”

That’s one of the way’s to learn to tap into your creative part (in my coming post I’ll highlight some important parts that will help tap into ones creative psyche). Capitalization (the act of capitalizing on an opportunity) is not constituted by formal instruments wholly but rather by creative wit and the sheer joy of creating something solid, substantial, lasting and worth loosing ones shirt for. The zest in creating arrives like justice earned. There is something more than money that most creative creators aim for. Because money may flow or not flow but there is and should always be something more a higher calling if that higher objective withers they too wither.

It’s our quest to reach the stars

We will stumble and fall to the ground

We however must quickly pick up our pieces

And rise again until we reach our goal

Intellectual Capital - "The ultimate Resource"

The chief cause of wealth is intellectual capital, since the wealth of nations is based much more on intellectual property and know how than on natural resources. Some nations are very wealthy in natural resources (such as Brazil, Zambia etc.) but still remain poor, while other nations that have virtually no natural resources (Like Japan) can become among the richest in the world

Today, as opposed to the past when the decisive factor of production was land and letter capital, the decisive factor is increasingly human knowledge especially scientific knowledge. Yet enterprise depends also on the capacity for interrelated and compact organisation and on the ability to perceive the needs of others and to satisfy them. These are exactly the factors in which japan is preeminent: scientific knowledge a capacity for organisation and capability to perceive the needs of others and to satisfy them. These tools make japan a country poor in natural resources an economically preeminent country among nations.

Of course, natural resources are still important, but if human beings don’t see their value and figure out ways to bring them into universal use, natural resources may lie fallow forever undiscovered and unused. Oil lay beneath the sands of Arabia for thousands of years, unused regarded as a nuisance until human beings developed the piston engine and learned how to convert crude oil into gasoline. It is the mind of the human that enabled him to make useless crude oil into a highly much needed natural resource.

For this reason, inanimate things are not the deepest, best or inexhaustible resources. The human mind is the “ultimate resource”. It is not the things of the earth that set limits to the wealth of the world. Many of the things of this earth are useful at times depending on the value the human mind sees in them. In this case the human mind is PRIMARILY a source of wealth. And no wonder it participates from afar in the source of all knowledge, an all knowing creator, sharing in Gods creativity. It’s safe to say that the principle source of the human is their own inventiveness. Their intelligence enables them not only to discover the earth’s productive potential, but also the many ways in which human needs to be satisfied.

It should also be highlighted that many goods cannot be adequately produced through the work of an isolated individual; they require the cooperation of many people working towards a common goal.

Do not regard the earth as a realm merely to accept, never to investigate or experiment with; but rather a place in which to exercise human powers of inquiry, creativity, innovation and invention. Humans and everything in it are intelligible because all things – even contingent and seemingly accidental events – spring from the mind of an all knowing creator.

Summing it all up, man, the discoverer is made in the image of God. To be creative, to cooperate in bringing creation itself to its perfection is an important element of the human vocation. This belief that each human being is “Imago Dei” – made in the image of God – was bound to lead in an evolutionary and experimental way, to the development of an economical system whose first premise is that the principle cause of wealth is human creativity

Sow a thought you’ll reap an act;

Sow an act you’ll reap a habit;

Sow a habit you’ll reap character;

Sow a character and you’ll reap destiny