Archive for July 2009
Wildlife is our heritage, it is our invaluable treasure. We need to preserve it for the future. The solutions for effective conservation of our wildlife lay not only in government alone but also actually in free market environmental policies and in individual morality.
Wildlife Conservation “is the activity of protecting, preserving, managing and studying wildlife and wildlife resources” (Canada National Parks 2004) and Free Market” is a market in which any individual may exchange their products or services by competitive bidding, open to all, without constraint “(The National Economic Stabilization and Recovery Act 1972)
The Problem
The Man –Wildlife conflict is a prevalent situation in East African region. At home, there is no conflict between sheep and man. What happened between man and the tiger? Why are the elephants injuring, killing and displacing man? 100 people yearly are killed in India and over 200 Kenyans died over the last decade with Kenya wildlife authority shooting over 120 elephants (World Wildlife Fund 2006). Why is the rhino an endangered species? Is man intruding into the wild space because of resource scarcity? Or is this lack effective management framework? The question is how can we enhance co-existence between the wildlife and man to promote better livelihood for now and tomorrow using the potential of our wildlife?
How Free Market Can Help?
How did we solve the cow eating our neighbours’ crops, man killing the cow unnecessarily-precisely endangering the wildlife? We brought in responsibility and ownership. Man is free to own with the motivation of gain/profit, and by having him own the cow, he becomes responsible to take are of it, to ensure it does little damage and in fact to foster usefulness of the cow using the potential of the cow for his today’s life and tomorrow. Inherent to Free market system is accountability and competitive co-operation and if we enact policies that have a business perspective, it is easy to realize accountability (Peter 1998).
The parks and game parks can be managed as any other income-generating venture. This ensures effective management through self-sufficiency, accountability and customer driven framework and also promotes sustainability of wildlife management in this region. †Zimbabwe launched a market-based initiative that a villager could market big game to safari companies in exchange of money. This reduced number of killed animals significantly. Laws founded on ethics are good but laws do not allow decision makers to look at the costs and benefits (Terry 2004). Laws do not allow us to say that if keeping the ecosystem is more beneficial than costly then we keep it but free market does.
Conclusion
In as much as free market-based initiatives form a greater part of the solution, free market needs to be informed by ethics for moral guidance (Peter 1998) to successfully realize sustainable wildlife conservation and this is why we need leaders with the conviction that virtues are a universal guidance in day-to-day decision-making? Laws by government should consider this free market alternative and should strictly embody ethics.
References
Anderson T.L., Fall 2004, MARKETS AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FRIENDS OR FOES?’, Case Western Reserve Law Review,Vol 55,No 5, viewed 4 November, http://www.perc.org/pdf/anderson.pdf.
Hill L..P, Markets and Morality, 1998,PERC Viewpoints, viewed 5th November 2006,Vol 1,No.4, pp1-6 http://www.perc.org/pdf/markandmor.pdf
WWF, 2006,Islands of wildlife in a sea of humans? Human – Animal Conflict, http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/species/problems/human_animal_conflict/index.cfm
Special Places, co-lessons from the National Parks in Atlantic Canada,2004 http://www.pc.gc.ca/apprendre-learn/prof/sub/eco/itm7/index_e.asp
The National Economic Stabilization and Recovery Act, http://nesara.org/main/dictionary.htm
†(Karl Hess Jr. (Thoreau Institute), June 5, 1997,”Environmentalists vs. Wildlife,” Wall Street Journal Cited by NCPA in http://www.ncpa.org/pi/enviro/envpd/pdenv80.html
By Timothy Kipchumba Student Strathmore University Bachelors of Business Information Technology YEAR 3
Fortitude , Courage to hang on
Posted on: July 24, 2009
Fortitude is that quality in the human spirit, to do the things we want to do, the things we know are right. It is the quality to helps us finish the things we start. To be true to the resolutions you made. It is the courage to stick to the noble things that we want to do everyday…….
So are you keeping the commitments you made early in the year? Are keeping to the noble things you set out to do? Are you saving SOME money for what you set out to do? Are you keeping to 3 beers instead of the 5 you used to do every week? Are you making time for the friends? Are you doing something for someone who needs help?
Are you working hard? Are you working smart? Are you following your dream? Are you making the little self sacrifices so that you can learn to strengthen your will? Are you hanging on with the biblical readings? Do you at least pray? Do you even attend church to learn from Christ? Are you reading at least 1 book in a month or in 2 months. Are you doing the businesses you set out to do?
Are you doing your work to make God happy? Are you turning to little ordinary things to prayer and worship so that you may meet Christ in them? Are you doing everything with love so that your life becomes reason to share God’s love and human love? Are you conquering your self so that you become less selfish, more loyal, ore humble, more human?
Do you remember that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man and that this requires us to be as much human as possible? Did you realize that, Christ spent 33 years on earth and only 3 years were in public life? That means that Jesus was an ordinary child (born in a menger), an ordinary teen (as curious 12 year old) as we all were, as simple and hardworking young adult as a carpenter?( his earthly fathers trade)?Did you know that he spent 30 years of his life as an ordinary person, 91% of his life, and that we do need to pick up our ordinary lives and offer them to God, so that we may be accomplished? That exemplifies the need to be fully human. Meaning to be honest, humble, of service, loving, freer, faithful, industrious.
Yes, today, we remind ourselves to hang on, to have fortitude and courage to do the things we set out to do for God, for fellow men.It could be work, family, leisure, training, friends, the teens, church! It could be anything!
Important thing is to turn them with love, with excellence for the love of God and fellow human. That happiness involves turning everything we do, with humility, sacrifice, love, courage, to make God happy and serve fellow men. True happiness is not only conqering self to serve others, to excell in our jobs( i am doing emails in work, which is wrong), to make God happy!
Hang On!
Life,Meaning and Happiness
Posted on: July 23, 2009
Every morning each one of us wakes up to do something. For the most it is jobs, for some it is business and for some few, looking for both, business and jobs. In this week’s Life Series, we ask one question, what makes a meaningful life?
Meaning is the substance that makes life worth living. It connects our lives to happiness. It makes each of our days, however stressing, or boring or mundane meaningful. It gives us reason to wake up each day. It gives us purpose. It rallies our imaginations, intellects, energy, passion, creativity into whatever we do!
People find meaning in making money. Some in reaching out. We hear of a Beverly Hills debutante, rich, successful, lived in Hollywood, who gave up all she had to work in La Mesa, a Mexican prison. She found meaning and happiness. We also hear of the polish priest, Maximillan, who got a PhD in Philosophy and Theology, but he gave up his life so that another man may live.
Then there are many more extra-ordinary lives that people have lead, and they found meaning and Happiness. They include the stories you know. Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian lawyer who sacrificed so much to fight for the dignity of his people. Mother Teresa, the nun who gave up teaching and comforts to be with the sick, unloved, old. Then we meet the Martin Luther King Jnr, who earned his PhD at 25, had a life of great promise and could have earned his life in academia and preaching. He sacrificed so much, sometimes to the discomfort of his wife and four lovely kids to fight for equality in the American society.
Richard Branson has found meaning creating Virgin brands all over the world, Warren Buffett in leading people and allocating capital, Bill Gates in taking on the personal computer software, games and more recently in taking on health and poverty.
So where and how can we find meaning? For us, whatever we are doing, we just need to deliver, in the extra-ordinary causes like great people we have mentioned and in the ordinary things. We can find meaning in our daily duties, daily jobs by doing it with love, For God and fellow humankind. We can stretch our days, we can strive more, we can think and do more innovatively, and we can do our work with a bit more diligence for this goal.
The key thing to remember is that our lives have a noble purpose and we should strive humanly to reach that purpose. We need to retain the child-like wonder, the can –do idealism of our teenage years as we strive for that noble life. We should keep in mind that, whatever is noble, excellent, great, lovely, we should do and think about those things. In the process, without looking for meaning, we will find it plus all the success we want.
Maybe you are asking anything practical that I can do? How about doing your work diligently? Or studying more? Or praying for someone? Or joining a community service club? Or mentoring a kid? Or just being personally a God’s friend? Those simple things can help us find that meaning that brings happiness to our lives.
1.God. When the stress is amazing, just shout a few words to God
2.Don’t be a nut.
3.Decide you can do it. You can do it for mum, dad, village(like me), for the job, for the fun of it, to prove to yourself
4.Group work. Harambee is the best word for what a team of your best pals can do to get you that first class. Synergy as my friend Rosemary says. Get a team leader or group leader who pushes you to do the unthinkable!
5.Understand the teachers’ paradigm and thought. Very handy when you cant get the time to read and exams are around
6.Try and sit at the front. Not literally, but at least get somewhere where you will not be tempted to sleep.
7.Celebrate campus. Laugh it of, pray that you get fun people, Sell tickets, Execute all the trips, write, join a club, cheer up, bask when you can, read a little bit, just have fun.
8.Do all your assignments. Assignments matter because it tell the lecturer you don’t deserve an A if you miss them and because it gives the much needed marks if the exam is hard to crack
9.Don’t miss your CAT’s. Dont miss the CATs if you can, please don’t.
10.Read the last minute like madness.
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