Ike,
You wrote "real happiness is about doing real things and facing the greater challenges in life by being involved...".
This professor is a true 'kindred spirit' and has come up with a few very eloquent, yet simple and precise ways of expressing your above sentiment, especially as it concerns 'terrorism':
-------------------------------------------
"Make a killing - not in God’s name - but in the stock market"
"If the rest of the world wants to help, it should run toward the explosion...It should fly to Mumbai, and spend money."
nytimes.com
-------------------------------------------
Now I'm left contemplating one of life's little mysteries; are you HER ghost-writer, or is she YOURS??
And as far as the markets are concerned, I sent my 23 year old nephew the following chart and explained to him how lucky he is to have the chance to buy equities at these distressed prices:
tinyurl.com
The last time the rolling 10yr S&P returns were this low, we had Hitler on one side of the world, and Hirohito on the other...both amassing huge militaries with the one goal of stealing all the free worlds assets and enslaving its populations. Now we have 'financial weapons of mass destruction'.
Could it be that as the world becomes more and more interconnected, the world's markets are becoming more susceptible to 'herd behavior'?
I was in one chat room where the resident doomsayer was spouting off about how the debt loads will wipe out all of savings. I had to think if he would even be satisfied if we all ended up living in caves and wearing skins (no mink allowed!). Would an Atlatl be too much savings?? Should I have a hypno-therapist wipe out my memory of how to make gun powder?? ...Does he realize that even though the current mortgage may fail, the house still stands??
It seems to me that all of debt is contractual, measured and 'on the books' at more or less full value (with a small amount of guessing of actuaries for future outlays). But real 'savings' include both the accounting form and many, many actual but hard to measure or ignored forms in the real world.
First, a lot of 'assets' are either 'written off' or never recognized in an accounting way in the first place. All the yet to be discovered pockets of oil exist now in reality. All the solar, wind, wave and nuclear 'untapped' power flowing around us has the potential 'value' to dwarf all financial debts in short order, and that's just looking at the energy segment. What is the book value of the educated, trained and experienced cognitive and innovative brain power held by thousands of Boeing engineers?....the accountants say zero.
I could go on and on. We have completed 99.8% of the 'savings' needed to expand man's lifespan by 50%, a process that started centuries before Hippocrates and continues faster and faster to this day...what is the current book value of that?...zero. In China, we have just moved half a billion people from an illiterate, agrarian 12th century lifestyle into modern society...which will produce over the next few decades hundreds of nobel prize winners...the coming economic benefits should be as easy to see as a river of gold running down a mountain...
And yet the gold bugs and pessimists just focus on the financial accounts, and conclude that the only logical outcome is to 'chapter 7' this little venture called 'civilization'. If one steps back and looks at the reality of true savings that have been passed down and added onto at an ever quickening rate for centuries...then it is easy to see that at worst, all that is needed is a mild form of 'chapter 11' to stretch the debt due out into the ever increasing economic yield the future holds in the real world.
The public policy must allow for a slower retirement of debt as current investment rates and declining spending velocity are slowing the economy worldwide. And slow velocity of money is also a real measurement of fear ...a reflection of all the 'gloom and doom' headlines we are bombarded with. If you think this paycheck may be your last, you are slower to part with it. And hence we come full circle back to the top of this page, with the recognition that what is needed now is for all people to be "doing real things and facing the greater challenges in life by being involved". In other words, for those with savings or positive cash flow, now is the wrong time to stop investing...putting all of ones money in the mattress (or the bank) is the exact wrong thing to do.
What I can control now is myself, and when times get tough then maybe its time for a little less leisure, and a little more production. So for those with the chance, work a little more and make a little more...so you feel comfortable with your normal spending budget.
The wife and I are nothing but the smallest of small business owners, but we have been to auction and have a semi truck of more vending equipment on the way with the goal of increasing our locations by 30% this coming year. And I'm sure its going to work out fine. Just like the trip we took the day after flights resumed in Sept, 2001...I think we left on the 16th. No lines, only a dozen passengers on one of Boeing's finest. It basically turned into a private cocktail party on a jumbo jet. Even one stewardess said when the day started she thought it would be her worst day at work, and it turned out to be her best!!
Take care, Ike
Jerry and Carol |
