The Tribune

By DIANE PHILLIPS

FOR AS long as anyone can remember, Bahamians have been very good at dumping. We dump unwanted vehicles, leftover trash, cardboard boxes, old refrigerators.

We dump even in front of signs that say “No Dumping.”

(In all fairness to the dumper, maybe what they were dumping was so large it blocked the sign. Surely there must be some excuse for ignoring the warning “You Will Be Fined if You Are Caught Dumping Here.” Or you may take that stern warning to mean it’s better to dump at night because there’s less chance of getting caught.)

Whatever the past, it’s nothing by comparison to the latest rage in dumping: concrete boulders are suddenly appearing in the unlikeliest of places--including on valuable oceanfront land--leading those of us who notice such offenses to wonder if this is just dumping on steroids? Or, as one attorney suggested, whether despoiling a property is an insidious path to a land grab, in which case Lord help us and the land you gave us.

At best, the landowner is responsible for the dumping, and planned to use the concrete and steel one day for filler, despite creating an eyesore and possible danger zone in the meantime, while showing disrespect for neighbouring properties and those to whom this is a daily view.

At worst, it’s a stranger who either does not care or may be after something more sinister: a land grab through an Act that legislators never intended as a reward for despoiling the land.

Land grab

Here is how the attorney explained the art of dumping as it relates to the skill of acquisition:

An individual or a company dumps garbage or trash on a lot they do not own. If no one protests or clears it at their own expense, the dumper gets bolder. They watch closely as if they were keeping an eye on their own property. Time goes by and if what was dumped was not cleared, they may give it a second try and dump more. If no action is taken, no signs posted or cameras installed, if no police report is made, the dumper marks his time, and after a certain period, files a Quieting Titles action. The legal notice is published. Again the dumper--obviously an individual of great patience in his pursuit-- waits. If no objection is filed, he may end up owning the property he defiled. Most often, the owner or someone connected to the owner sees the legal notice and the action is stopped. But there have been cases where dumping, or planting bananas, or placing livestock on another’s land has led to new ownership without a penny changing hands.

It sounds bizarre. If it were that easy to acquire property, why wouldn’t we all just go dump on somebody else’s land and acquire it for ourselves?

The answer is simple: most of us are decent. We don’t steal land.

We might be envious of the individual who owns it or even covet that beautiful waterfront lot we pass on our way to work, but we don’t set about finding ways to make it ours by dumping concrete boulders on it.

So, what kind of person has so little respect for the rights of others or the environment that they would do such a thing? Since I had no idea, of course, without just guessing that they were rude, I did the likely thing. I asked AI.

And AI, after complimenting me on the question (a relationship-building tactic that I find touching, as I never got that kind of attention from Google) provided an explanation.

“When someone consistently shows no respect for the rights of others or for the environment, it’s usually not about one simple demographic category. It’s more about psychological traits, social conditioning, and value systems than age, income, education, or background alone.”

That makes a lot of sense.

Personality traits of those who dump

The most interesting key personality traits of those who whose lack of respect is so great that they would dump on others’ land are low empathy, including for animals or ecosystems, narcissistic traits, a sense of entitlement and self-importance, and prioritising personal gain over collective well-being. Those are the same folks who may also exhibit antisocial behaviour (isn’t that what they say about serial murderers?)

There were a few other traits that collectively add up to the kind of individual you are least likely to invite over for Sunday lunch.

What may be a little bit more surprising is that neither education nor financial status were predictors of these environmental predators. Some individuals with low access to education may not have been exposed to environmental science, civic education, or human rights frameworks, AI went on to say.

I would assert that you don’t need a degree to excel in self-interest, and that educational level paled in comparison to personality traits. As for financial status, some of the best educated and financially fit people in the world have pulled off some of the most mind-boggling schemes.

The dumper who lacks respect for others or the environment is also someone who may have been exposed to an environment where aggression or exploitation were normal behaviours. They mimic what they experienced.

The creep who dumps

And if corruption is part of the culture . . . well, you can guess where I’m going with that one. While not as straight-forward a demographic like education, age, or financial or social status, corruption plays a prominent role in the life of the creep who dumps and vanishes, or who plants bananas or goats or sheep and watches for resistance before claiming that land for themselves, thanks to a little help from the judicial system.

You may be asking yourself at this point, ‘why would she spend so much time and waste so many words on boulders when there are far more important things to worry about’?

Here’s why:

Dumping in and of itself is not just an act of rudeness. The consistent presence of discarded furniture, appliances, contractor garbage bags, abandoned vehicles is indicative of a society that shows little emotional attachment to its environment and little respect for those within it-- us.

Tossing what we don’t want in a place we don’t own or occupy is not merely wrong, it’s a sign of a troubled nation, a nation where respect for law and order, and where connection to community and personal pride are sadly lacking as we look around us now. Add to the dumping drama the incentive of a land grab (or reduction in Real Property Tax) and we’re staring at a conundrum with every ingredient necessary to make a terrible situation worse: incentivising the dumper, penalising the landowner whose property is devalued, and to the neighbours who suffer the intolerable insubordination of someone who prefers to become his brother’s taker rather than being his brother’s keeper.

It isn’t about the boulder.

It’s about who we are as a people.