Surviving… Everything

I’m here in Nicaragua, a country that was once devastated by an earthquake and then a revolution that changed it from one of the richest countries in Latin America to one of the poorest. But gradually over the years the economic devastation that took place after all the seizures and confiscations was repaired by a population that is resilient and hardworking and fundamentally conservative.

We started our business here about 25 years ago and saw economic progress every year thereafter, regardless of politics, until turmoil two years ago scared away some tourists and then the COVID crisis scared away some more. Our own $100 million investment in Nicaragua, Rancho Santana, has so far survived the collapse. And now that spring is approaching, I’m seeing signs of rejuvenation, not just in our business but in hundreds of small enterprises that are popping up all over the place, such as this structure, meant to be a B&B, about a mile from our resort.

Sitting…

Perhaps it’s my age. Or maybe it’s something I should have figured out long ago. One of the great pleasures in life is being seated. Whether it’s for work, socializing, or meditation, I’ve come to understand that where and how I sit is important to my enjoyment of what I’m doing when I’m sitting.

It’s interesting. Although I never really thought about it, I realize that I’ve been creating seating spots for myself since I was a kid. Today, I don’t just have a single favorite place to sit. Nor two or three. I have dozens.

Here’s one of them:

In fact, this is where I was sitting this morning while putting together the following list…

“Any clod can have the facts; having opinions is an art.” – Charles McCabe

What I Believe 

A compilation – in no particular order – of some of my longstanding theories and many of my current ideas and opinions… 

* Conventional thinking is not thinking.

* Social Science, as practiced today, is an oxymoron. It would be much better to call it Social Dogma.

* Economics is a valid field of knowledge, one that sometimes employs the scientific method, but it is not a science.

* Most of economic and investment theory is based on incomplete data and faulty premises.

* The currently popular academic philosophies of intersectionality and structuralism are intellectually dishonest and pragmatically destructive.

* Charity is dangerous to both the giver and the receiver. It creates a false sense of accomplishment in the one, and dependency and entitlement in the other.

* Of the many kinds of charitable actions, giving away things (including one’s time, one’s wisdom, one’s knowledge, one’s things, and one’s money) is the worst kind.

* Businesses that put their employees or shareholders ahead of their customers are morally bankrupt and will eventually be financially bankrupt.

* The currently popular theories of institutional racism, inherent bias, white privilege, and reparations are intellectually dishonest and harmful to people of color.

* Police violence is not the number one issue facing African-Americans today. It is not even on the top 10 list.

* Social workers are not necessarily saints. Nor is social work necessarily saintly. But social workers can be good and social work can be helpful if it is done carefully.

* The four-hour work week was once a dream. Now it’s becoming a possible nightmare.

* Of all the professions that contribute to the wealth of nations, entrepreneurs and small business owners provide the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

* The primary job of government is to establish law and order so that its citizens can be free to go about their business.

* Governments are not structured to create wealth and they do not. What they do is redeploy wealth towards political and military objectives.

* Politicians, government workers, and military personnel take part in the business of redistributing wealth. It is always in their interest to do so.

* Zen thinking is the equivalent of sub-atomic theory.

* Culture – including micro-culture – is the single most important factor in social and financial advancement.

* The most important component of a success culture is the belief in hard work, continuous education, and saving.

* Slavery was and is a commercial activity whose objective was to create profits for slaveholders. But the system of slavery was never profitable as a whole.

* All businesses pass through at least 4 distinct levels of growth, each with distinct challenges and opportunities. Any founder or CEO that doesn’t know them is doomed to failure.

* Capitalism is not an intellectual ideology like Socialism and Communism, but the most natural and fairest form of human commerce.

* Every young person entering the workforce comes to the job with immutable tendencies, prejudices, psychological preferences, and habits that are nearly impossible to change.

* Business management efforts to motivate employees are completely ass-backward.

* 90% of psychological counseling and marriage counseling doesn’t work – for good reason.

* Much of mainstream medicine is scientifically dishonest and harmful and expensive to patients.

* Serial killers are 98% like the rest of us.

* Liberals are less generous with their personal charity than Conservatives.

* The mainstream media can’t be trusted.

* Any economic philosophy that does not account for the work of the Austrian economists (Hazlitt and Hayek) is sure to develop ideas that are so profoundly idiotic that they are not worth a moment’s attention.

* Being thoughtful is more useful than being intelligent.

* Adherence to any political party is always and necessarily intellectually bankrupt.

* Political partisans are not to be trusted.

* Men and women are fundamentally different but not always in ways people commonly think.

* All wars, regardless of cause or justification, are destructive.

* Of the many wars the US has been involved in over the last hundred years, the most costly of them, in terms of dollars and lives, were the war on drugs and the war on poverty.

* The new wars will be against institutional racism and social injustice. They, too, will be extremely costly in terms of dollars and lives, and they, too, will fail.

* The search for freedom is a more important humanitarian objective than the search for equality.

* Equality of opportunity is a legitimate goal of a just society. Equality of outcome is a recipe for injustice.

* Nature itself abhors equality. Everything within and without the human animal strives constantly and continuously towards the unequal.

* Every social and political effort in history that has made equal outcomes a goal has failed.

* You don’t need an education in art and music to become an expert at it.

* 90% of what Americans spend their money on is based on wants, not needs.

* Trying to “be number one” is a childish and self-destructive goal, whether employed by an individual, a group of individuals, or a country.

* Working-class and poor people fight and die in wars that do them no good but profit the elites that send them to war.

* Soldiers fight for ideals and ideas that are sold to them by people that don’t believe them.

* We are all morally obliged to take responsibility for and fix our problems, even if they are caused by someone or something else.

* Happiness is only marginally related to wealth.

* By understanding the relationship between money and happiness, we can make better decisions about how we make money, how much money we need to make, and how we can enjoy the money we make.

* Income is an important factor in the acquisition of wealth, but it is not a measure of it.

* Most people want to have a higher income and net worth, and many people work hard and long to increase their wealth. But few achieve the financial goals – conscious or unconscious – that they set for themselves. There are reason for that, which the wealth seeker should understand.

* Sharing wealth is more rewarding than growing it.

* Getting up early really is superior to getting up late.

* Organizational growth in any form – business, non-profits, social programs, etc. – is created by a very tiny fraction of the community involved.

* Growth creators are entitled to the lion’s share of the wealth, prestige, or acclaim that comes from that growth.

* It is not possible to motivate 80% of a workforce to work harder unless you ignore them and demand that the 20%, who are already working overtime and on weekends, work more.

* The military-industrial complex is real.

* The medical-industrial complex is real.

* As much as 30% of what are considered established and proven medical practices, including surgeries and medication, have no scientific support.

* Over the last 20 years, there has been a huge transfer of wealth from the working class to Wall Street.

* In bad economies, the debt created by the government/corporation cabal is paid for not by either of them but by entrepreneurs and the working class.

* Racism, ageism, sexism, classism, and elitism exist in most cultures and can retard and, in some cases, restrict individual economic advancement. But the negative effects are rarely absolute. Extraordinary individuals can and do overcome them.

* Wealth and income inequality are realities that exist in every economy – even those committed in principle to the distribution of wealth.

* Two words normally used interchangeably – saving and investing – should not be considered synonymous. The primary concern of saving is safety. The primary concern of investing is growth.

* Wall Street promotes the idea that investing in stocks and bonds is the sensible way to grow rich. But any strategy that focuses solely or even primarily on stocks and bonds is flawed.

* Every asset class and financial strategy has its own inherent characteristics, investment advantages and disadvantages, profit and growth potentialities, and risk profiles. The smart investor understands this and balances his portfolio accordingly.

* There are proven ways to safely achieve a higher-than-average ROI for certain asset classes under certain conditions. One can, for example, safely double the ROIs on income-producing real estate by using bank financing wisely. The same is true for many business transactions, some stock strategies, and a handful of other asset classes.

* The financial industry promotes the idea that life insurance is something every sensible person should have. In fact, life insurance makes sense only in certain circumstances.

* Most people fear entrepreneurship because they believe it takes genius, courage, and luck. In fact, these factors are rare contributors to success in start-up business ventures. The factors that matter most are common sense. humility, cautiousness, a relentless work ethic, and perseverance.

* With respect to building wealth, there are two kinds of skills: financially valued skills and financially valuable skills. Developing skills in either category is a big advantage in building wealth – but the financially valuable skills are more important.

* The purported benefits of great wealth – financial security, choices, and prestige – are more valued in their absence than when they are present.

“Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.” – Desmond Tutu

One of the Most Important Skills I Ever Learned –

How It Improved Both My Business and My Personal Life 

I learned to forgive myself for making bad business decisions about 30 years ago, in my early 40s. It not only greatly reduced the stress I was under at the time, it helped me become a better businessperson.

Learning to forgive myself in my personal life was much more recent. More about that part of the story in a minute.

Here’s the first part…

Shortly after taking on the role that I think of now as growth strategist for BB and company, I came up with a marketing idea that I pushed through that didn’t go as expected. I am not sure of the exact number, but I think it cost the business about $80,000 at a time when revenues were only $8 million.

I felt terrible about it. I felt so bad, in fact, that I cut BB a personal check for $80,000.

He refused to cash the check. “These things happen,” he said.

That didn’t make me feel any better. It made me feel worse. In my mind, I owed him 80 grand, and I hated the idea of being in debt to anyone for anything. I still do.

Several months later, we launched a marketing idea that lost even more money. But this time it was his idea. I was sure he would be horrified and humiliated when he saw the report. (I remember feeling embarrassed for him.) But he wasn’t. After looking at the bottom line, all he said was: “Gee, I guess that didn’t work!”

His response had an immediate and forever effect on me. I’m not sure why, but my transformation was instantaneous.

I suddenly understood that in order to generate good and even great business decisions, you have to be willing to make bad ones. Expect to have some strike-outs. Simply admit that you were wrong… and move on.

BB was able to do this, I realized, because he did not have an emotional attachment to his business ideas. He was prolific in generating ideas, but he had no ego involvement in them.

Because I was emotionally attached to my ideas, I wasn’t able to see their weaknesses. Even if someone pointed out those weaknesses very clearly, I would defend them in order to protect my ego.

I knew that I had to let go… and, somehow, I did. And since then, if someone points out a fault in an idea I present or suggests something that might be better, I’ve been happy to drop it and go forward with something new.

As helpful as this concept has been in my business career for the last 30 years, I never thought of applying it to my personal life. This is odd, because I had at least a dozen personal goals that I was having only piecemeal success with – and I was still beating myself up whenever I failed at any one of them.

Then one day last year – and I can’t explain how this happened – I woke up and thought, “I’ve got to stop doing this to myself.”

Somehow, I did. And, again, the transformation was instantaneous.

The anger and guilt and emotional turmoil is gone. No more flagellating myself over petty crimes and misdemeanors (like arriving late or overeating). Whenever it is clear that I have screwed up in some way, instead of blaming myself, I simply think, “Gee, I guess that didn’t work!” And I move on.

The mental cell I had imprisoned myself in all those depressing years finally opened, and I am free.

I wish I could give you a step-by-step account of how I came to this wonderful point in my life, but I can’t. For the life of me, I don’t know how I did it. I can only hope that telling you my story will be enough to make you believe you can do the same.

More about this as I discover more about it myself. For now, I leave you with the following Buddhist parable.

I’ve never been able to get a convincing answer to this question about cryptocurrencies: Why would the US government allow any currency to replace the dollar when it has the means to prevent it? (Which it certainly does.)

That kept me from buying Bitcoin in its early days. But then, in February of 2018, I woke up with a severe case of FOMO, and brought $18,000 worth of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. Three years later, my stake, according to my Coinbase report, is worth $99,648.

The value of my account dipped soon after I bought it. (I sometimes have that effect on stocks and bonds, too!)

The big increase in Bitcoin happened since March of last year. (Actually, since the beginning of the year, Bitcoin skyrocketed almost 1000%, but that was from the low… Still, a 3-year increase of 500% is nothing to sneeze at.) It is up 75% in 2021 alone, and some economists see it reaching $200,000 in the near future. Anyone who bought just $5 worth of Bitcoin (about 16 coins) at the end of 2010, would have approximately $800,000 worth of it today!

Perhaps I should be thinking, “Why didn’t I buy more?!”

I’m not. Instead, I’m thinking: “How long can this last?”

If you’d like to see my rationale for buying cryptos when I did, go here.

Yawn!

I have four grandkids. Watching them grow these past five years, I’ve been reminded of many things I’ve forgotten over the 40 years since I had my first child.

One of those things is that newborns sleep constantly. At about three months, they are down to maybe three naps a day. This drops to two naps several months later, and then to just one until they are off to school at age 5.

I was no different. But then, when I hit 70 this year, I found that I needed a nap every day. According to my friend and colleague Dr. Eifrig, this is perfectly normal. Even healthy…

“Sleep is the Swiss army knife of health.” – Matthew Walker

Afternoon Drag: Don’t Fight It! Take a Nap! 

It happens like clockwork most days, says Dr. Eifrig. Around 3:30 in the afternoon, you get sleepy. Your brain starts to work a little slower. Your eyelids feel heavy and dare you to close them.

“There are two main things going on that bring about this midday slump,” he explains. “The first is a post-lunch production of insulin. Insulin is secreted by the pancreas to take the sugars from the food you just ate out of your bloodstream and move it into our cells, where it becomes glycogen. The release of insulin also triggers the amino acid tryptophan to travel to your brain and start our second mechanism of action: the production of serotonin and melatonin. The presence of these two hormones make you feel calm and sleepy.”

Researchers have found, for example, that afternoon naps improve your mental agility.

A recent study in China observed 2214 people aged 60 and older…. The participants were put into one of two groups: those who napped regularly and those who did not. All of the participants were then given three cognitive assessments: the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, the Mini-Mental State Examination, and the Neuropsychological Test Battery.

The researchers found that those who regularly napped significantly outperformed the other participants on tests of cognitive function. Statistically significant differences were observed in the areas of orientation, language function, digit span (short-term memory performance using numbers – like remembering a phone number), and language fluency.

Why does napping help your brain function?

“There are two sides, or hemispheres, of our brain,” says Dr. Eifrig. “The right brain controls the left side of the body and performs tasks that have to do with creativity. The left brain controls the right side of the body and performs tasks that have to do with logic.

“When we nap, the right side of our brain remains active while the left side sleeps. It is thought that the right side of the brain uses this time to do some housekeeping…. It clears your temporary memory storage by pushing information into your long-term memory.

“When you sleep at night, your brain stores memories, specifically during periods of slow-wave sleep. Slow-wave sleep (also called delta-wave sleep) occurs in the third stage of non-rapid eye movement sleep, just before rapid eye movement begins (which is when we dream). This third stage of non-rapid eye movement sleep is considered critical for restorative sleep when the body is able to recover and grow.”

Studies have also suggested that napping can have positive effects on your immune system.

“This,” says Dr. Eifrig, “is because napping helps to regulate the body’s response to inflammation through the release of cytokines. Cytokines help our cells to communicate with each other to repair areas of the body that are experiencing inflammation, infection, or trauma.”

So don’t fight this very natural inclination to doze off, he says. Science tells us that what we should do when we feel like we need a nap is… take a nap.

Well… I’m happy to take my daily naps when I get them. But I’m wondering: So many things in life are fractal. Maybe nap times are, too. When I’m 75, will I need two naps? And three at 80? Hell, by 80 I’ll be retired. I won’t worry about that now.

The Politics of Goal-Setting

This week’s movie recommendation – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm – is a surprisingly well done bit of political satire aimed at the Trump administration.

But first, speaking of politics, take a look at David Leonhardt’s recent reporting on Biden. Leonhardt had been a big Biden supporter during and since the elections, castigating the Trump administration for everything and treating Biden’s statements and actions with kid gloves. But lately, he’s been less than a fan.

On Wednesday, in his column for the NYT digital edition, Leonhardt wrote:

This is the sort of thinking I love about young reporters. They have so little experience trying to deal with real-world problems that they will say something like that without any idea how dumb it is.

One of the most important lessons I ever learned about amassing support for big and difficult challenges was that it is always better to make the public goal less than, not equal to or greater than, the actual goal you are trying to achieve.

Here, Biden is doing exactly the right thing. His initial goal – to maintain the pace set during the early weeks of the vaccination – was obviously an intentional low-ball. But much better that than basing the number, as Leonhardt does, on what one might want to see, rather than what is probable.

And now, let’s talk about Sacha Baron Cohen’s mockumentary…

The latest addition to Paradise Palms & Sculpture Gardens arrived last week. We commissioned it about a year ago, and we’ve been eagerly awaiting its arrival. It’s the second piece we’ve purchased from Austin, TX, sculptor Chris Guarino. Right now, she’s resting comfortably next to my brother-in-law’s house, but she’ll be moved to one of the islands on the new lake in a few months when it is completed.

A cool feature of our mermaid is that her helmet glows in the dark!

The gardens are private but open to individuals and small groups by reservation. There is no formal admission fee, but visitors are asked to make a donation to cover the cost of a tour guide. For more information about the gardens or to schedule a private tour or event, please email or call Giovanna Koo at 561-243-0630.

The tourist board of Nicaragua did a short promotion highlighting the many amenities the country has to offer English-speaking tourists. Rancho Santana contributed to it. This short video does a good job of capturing the allure of this beautiful country.