"Ignorance" means "not knowing or not understanding", while "stupidity" means "knowing or understanding, but doing the wrong thing anyway." - Sophia Beauclair.
Ignorance Versus Stupidity. Deal or Proposal.
We can all act stupidly even be just plain dumb often instigated by emotion or mental and physical exhaustion. I often say to myself, “You stupid Idiot, why did you just do or say that?” A stupid spoken word or action generally at some stage is followed by regret, although fools are inclined to defend their misguided action. Importantly, you are only stupid if your action or word ignores the use of the knowledge you had previously acquired on such action or what you said. If you did not have the knowledge you are not stupid, rather, you are ignorant. This I am on many subjects although rarely admitting it. The trouble is, many of us, despite already having or having access to the required knowledge choose not to use or seek it in the expediency of implementing a pre-conceived idea. That simply changes our ignorance to stupidity.
This week a group of us, that being the past presidents (PP) of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) were invited to a CFU council to discuss and voice out concerns in relation to the present ‘Bond Offer’ on the table under the Global Compensation Deed (GCD). We very much appreciated this opportunity. Unfortunately, us unable to attend in person had difficulty in hearing what was being said or in trying to make a point or ask a question due to weak communication.
“Interpretations and attitudes are often misconstrued in electronic conversations. Where possible, it is best to discuss serious matters, especially emotive ones, across the table.” - Peter McSporran
The President of the CFU wished us to have our say first without updating us on the status of the deal at present. Fair enough. We had laid our cards on the table beforehand by distributing a letter to the CFU council. I thought it was very clear in articulating our concerns. As the meeting went forward, the description of the agreement changed from ‘the only deal on offer’ to ‘the government deal on offer’ despite the CSC previously sitting at the same table presenting the deal under the auspices of the CSC and Government as the only deal on offer. A subtle but major change in representing the deal. They expressly said before and after the meeting, it was not their deal. Whose is it then? Perhaps we should have defined the definition of a deal as well as our concerns about it. If what is on the table is the Government's deal, one party’s, then by definition should it not rather be a proposal?
“A deal is an agreement entered into by two or more parties for their mutual benefit, especially in a business or political context.” - Oxford Dictionary
It appears the strongest argument for accepting the ‘bond deal’ is that there is no other deal let alone a better one on offer from Government, despite two parties involved in negotiating the said deal or should I say proposal. Further, my perception, even if it is only the initial interest that is paid, the leadership of the CFU and the CSC believe this will at least help the destitute amongst the TDH (Title Deed Holders). Here, emotions are being used as a tool to support a weak argument. This will not mitigate against anything if the government defaults at any stage. The unfortunate part of the whole debate is, although it appeared a hard sell by the presenters on the Roadtrip, that the decision on whether to proceed is left up to TDHs who, without the proper information or professional advice to do so, must indicate acceptance in principal to enable the drafting of an addendum to the GDC. The resistance to taking legal and financial advice for this to be made available is confusing and a huge issue to me. How many times have I written that? Most of the PPs are in consensus on this issue. As it stands, the survey has been carried out in ignorance of the facts nor with professional legal or financial advice.
“I do hope in the future we will not reflect on our stupidity in making a decision without seeking the required knowledge to do so in the first place.” - Peter McSporran
It appears that the CFU and the CSC feel if Government defaults, we will be able to untangle this. Really? I presume in the event of this happening that will be up to the individual rather than the CFU or CSC on our behalf despite them bringing the deal to the table. How can they act for all if one person receives payment while the other does not? They say continually it is not their deal, but in their presenting it, it has become de facto. Sorry guys, if you think it is a bad deal you, should tell us, not leave us in our ignorance to make up our minds. Despite all of this, if it goes ahead, hopefully, a whole new legal agreement will be drawn up not just an addendum to an already legally flawed document. At the very least there should be amendments.
“An addendum is a separate document created and attached to a signed contract to add nuances to or extend the terms and conditions of the contract. The original terms and conditions remain intact. An amendment, on the other hand, is a change to the original contract that alters some of its original clauses or sections.” - Axdraft
One that has been drawn up by independent lawyers and individuals with an understanding of such agreements. This agreement is likely to be unique in structure and require constitutional and civil legal knowledge.
Every clause will have to be scrutinised, the indicators and actions for each possible default mechanism recorded meticulously and the actions to follow to remedy such default in international courts. The local courts by admission say in Zimbabwe, land is not a legal matter, it is a political matter. A lawyer's paradise, a layman's nightmare. Further, any agreement between parties that have an inherent distrust, even dislike, will make it all the more difficult to build in our safety clauses.
“One of the biggest problems with us humans is more often than not, we let emotion drive our actions while ignoring the known and available information. Even worse, when we do not seek the advice of those who have that knowledge, approach a professional or heed the experience of those that have it.” - Peter McSporran
The above sums up my personal feelings following our meeting at CFU council this week. I note that following that meeting, our letter has been made public to try and clarify our position as a certain staff member either did not read our document or at least misconstrued what we said in public.
Admittedly, we have at this time no alternate deal, we just do not like the present one. Further, we want to avoid losing value and destroying any chance of a meaningful form of compensation in the future, one that gives us proper recourse in a court where law is sacrosanct. Perhaps you may wonder why I show so much interest in the matter as I have little to gain. I often ask myself the same. On losing the farms I was lucky enough to move to Zambia changing my vocation, so unlike many, I am lucky to have made some savings outside Zimbabwe. It is only a sense of responsibility to those I used to represent, similar to the other Past Presidents in our group. We are simply asking the approach to the deal to be done more professionally ensuring all the perceived benefits are measured against the real risks. The following is the biggest question that makes me ponder.
“Why would any Government want to pursue a deal that even if it wanted to, will probably find it untenable to honour? - Peter McSporran
Sadly, the upheaval in the Zimbabwe currency markets this week once again stoking huge inflation will only add to the Government’s problems in honouring the redemption of the bonds in the event even if they planned to do so.
Nashville and Concorde
From Albany, Georgia I travelled to Nashville, Tennessee to spend some time with a cattleman friend who often visited us in Zimbabwe, Dean Thompson. Many of my old friends' Zimbabwean cattle connections may recall him. Dean had been a successful businessman, was then semi-retired, breeding cattle and a benefactor to the University of Tennessee agricultural faculty at Knoxville. I hope I have got that University right, as it is now some forty-five years ago.
On arrival in Nashville after an evening flight, he took me to his penthouse apartment overlooking the city. I suppose I had not really envisaged how wealthy Americans lived other than what I had seen in movies. It was just like the movies, his apartment said it all, with only one neighbour on the top floor of this tall building, a retired judge. Security was very much in evidence. Dean’s favourite evening pastime when not on his ranch was to sit in his hot tub overlooking the lights and sounds of the city below. As an aside one of his close friends was Kenny Rogers the country singer.
With his connections at the University of Tennessee, he took me out to the agricultural campus where I could see what was going on. Having been to agricultural college where there were general agricultural courses from degrees to diplomas, there were only a couple of specialist courses in animal husbandry such as dairy, pigs and poultry. I sort of expected similar in the American system. Wrong. On the contrary at this University with over twenty thousand students on campus, you could do specialist courses from farm livestock, equine and even exotic pet/animal husbandry. Each of these and others are further broken down into nutrition, health, husbandry, grooming etc. The courses were very specialised and although degrees, I would have said in general, they did not seem as academically and technically intense as I remembered my studies. Final exams were all important to us, while they had already adopted a more important outlook of classwork and practicals in assessment at the end of a course to achieve a degree or diploma. In addition, I found the agricultural extension service offered were also very specialised. For instance, you would not get advice from one agronomist on growing maize from seed to harvest. This required many, each specialising in his or her particular niche of expertise. I found this would be broken down into soil science, fertiliser and nutrition, varieties, growth stages, harvest and finally storage. Do not seek advice outside an individual’s narrow field of expertise. Farm machinery and tillage had a whole raft of specialities contained in them. I suppose this was surprising to me when in Zimbabwe the Brian Campbell’s, Frank White’s or Richard Winkfield’s were happy to talk broadly on all aspects of agronomy and crop husbandry. Definity during those days in the States reflected that broad advice was a big no, no. Perhaps things have changed now, I would be interested to hear.
Dean collected his drinking water from a spring in the mountains and in doing so with him one evening, I encountered my first ‘hillbilly’ community. He often had talked about them although I had personally always considered them an American myth. Like Scotsmen running around in kilts playing the bagpipes all the time. The filmmakers that created Deliverance got their sets and characters exactly right. A typical extended family seemed to live in a forest clearing surrounded by old cars, tractors and odd bits of discarded furniture, meanwhile, wiling away the day smoking, drinking, cleaning guns or shouting at the abundant hunting dogs. Children. There were many, the women looked tired.
On the second day visiting the university, we attended a cattle judging class in the morning followed by a visit to an Aberdeen Angus ranch to judge two groups of young cattle, bulls and heifers. In the eighties, extreme frame size cattle in America was the fad, to the extent that cattle had many leg structural problems, some often lacking good muscle and conformation. In the morning session, we sat and listened to the lecturers talk about the dangers of extreme cattle and explain problems that could arise from post legs. In the afternoon, we set off to a ranch in beautiful green lush countryside to judge the cattle. My mentor in judging pedigree cattle, Hamish Smith, always told me that if an animal’s back foot covered the spot that the front foot had just lifted from, there would be no problems with the legs. Short tracking would indicate post-legs, tracking beyond would be an indicator for sickle-hock. Needless to say, when I placed my choice of animals, they were some of the smaller in stature, which in post assessment the judges put at the bottom of their standings. Those they put to the top were the tallest, high-tailed, post-legged cattle in both groups. Those academics ignored everything they had taught us that very morning, following the fad, rather than the requirement of good conformation.
“Most academics are masters of the theory but failures in implementing the practical application of the theory. Of course, that is if it has a practical application, to begin with.” - Peter McSporran
Perhaps now they listen to cattlemen.
"The gait of the animal should be free moving with hind feet stepping into the footprints of the front feet (this is referred to as tracking). If the animal over or under steps or has uneven footprints from the claws this is an indication of structural problems" - Albany University Extension Services
While on the subject of cattle, all Zimbabwean cattlemen would have been saddened to hear of the death of the veterinary legend, Dr. Japie Jackson who passed away this week. Japie was both a vet and a renowned cattleman whose knowledge of cattle was probably unsurpassed by anyone. He is the author of a book titled 'Our Zimbabwe Veld and Cattle -Some Observations' which I am looking forward to reading, Japie is renowned for carrying out over a million PDs in his lifetime, I cannot imagine this record ever being beaten. My sincere condolences to his family.
My final day in Nashville was at a fun fair in the complex that also housed the Grand Ole Opry. My recollection of the fair was huge crowds, large queues for the rides and large people stuffing themselves with candies, ice cream and burgers. For every ride, there were numerous food outlets. You pre-bought tokens for the rides and while being token holders, the queues ensured we took no rides. I had always thought the English accepted queuing as part of life, the Americans can put them to shame. That evening we enjoyed a terrific show of country music at the Grand Ole Opry.
On setting off home via New York and London, on arrival at John Kennedy, I was informed my flight had been changed and I would now be flying the leg to London on Concorde. Did I mind? Wow, what an experience. Just being in the right place at the right time. A first-class speedy flight at no extra cost. Take-off was fairly normal but as soon as we hit the coast, the pilots put down the hammers and we climbed at what I thought was rocket speed. Exhilarating and a trip of a lifetime, especially for a Scottish-Zimbo farmer. I left the toilet bag I received on that flight for all to see in the spare bathroom for many years.
Disclaimer: Copyright Peter McSporran. The content in this blog represents my personal views and does not reflect corporate entities.
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