Metanoia July August 2015

Politics . Art . Health . Economics July August 2015

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SALME JOHANNES LEIS & ALLISON PATTON

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DAL FLEISCHER

GALINA BOGATCH

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Maureen BaderAlex Barberis

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Peter and Maria KingsleyNina Khrushcheva

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A NEW WAY OF THINKING

Hank LeisSalme Leis

Chris MacClureDunstan Massey

Seth MeltzerDr Caleb Ng

Janice OleandrosDr Allison Patton

Luis ReyesCara Roth

Pepe SernaDan Walker

Harvey WhiteDr Bernard Schissel

Dr Jack Wadsworth

METANOIACONTENTS


EXECUTIVE SUMMARYA NEW WAY OF THINKINGFRENEMIESFROM TULIP TO TECH BUBBLEAGITPROP MASTERSUSTAINABLE LEADER JESUS LOVES PUTIN HIGHS YOU ARE CHASINGRANTTHE STOCK MARKET FORM AND REALITY SHENYANG & NORTH KOREA TALEB ON RISKMISSIVES

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BY SALME LEIS

BY SETH MELTZER

BY NINA KHRUSHCHEVA

BY DR ALLISON PATTON

BY HANK LEIS

BY SETH MELTZER

BY HANK LEIS

BY DR. JACK WADSWORTH

BY DUNSTAN MASSEY

BY DAN WALKER

BY DR ALLISON PATTON

BY DONALD BOUDREAUX

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThis is our Machiavelli edition. Nicolo Machiavelli

(1469-1527) is often referred to as the “father of modern political theory”. His understanding of politics was based on his interest in Roman history and his observations of the powerful Medici family.

“Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.”

Our writers his month, all offer some insights on political intrigue. It might be said that all life can be captured in some manner under the heading of “Politics”. It is up to you, to be descerning in order to see the connective tissue that pulls all the stories in this issue together.

Dr. Nina L. Khrushcheva, Dean at the New School in New York and a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute directs the Russian Project. Her special knowledge of her subjects provide insights into the monstrous capabilities of one Vladimir Putin. But of couse the label is ours. 80% of the Russian people support and adore him. Interesting!

Dr. Allison Patton writes about Machiavelli and sustainable leadership. Salme Leis, who has been engaged in political discussion, since her birth, discusses the subject of “Frenemies” in Politics.

Hank Leis brings it all together as he describes why Jesus died for Putin’s sins. In his “Rant”, he discusses the

“Lightness of Being” and Salvation; which in some sense is what it is all about - maybe.

Dr. Wadsworth continues his revelations on money management in his article, If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?”

Dr. Dunstan Massey, artist, philosopher, educator has now become a contributor. In the past we have published his works of art and discussed his great contributions to mankind. He writes about his days as a young art student and the philosophy of art.

Both Dr. Allison Patton and Salme Leis describe their meeting with Nassim Nicholas Taleb and how his provacative writings have turned the way we look at analyzing world events upside-down. The title of his book, The Black Swan, has become part of our vernacular to describe unexpected events.

Donald J. Boudreaux, Professor of Economics at George Mason University continues his examination of the logic of profound thinkers of our times. Dr. Boudreaux is reputed to write a minimum of one letter per day in response to letters to the editor published in national magazines and newspapers. He has been doing this for over a dedade and has published a book of his letters entitled, Hypocrites and Halfwits.

METANOIAFebruary/March 2012 Edition

Pepe SernaActor, Artist & Motivational Speaker

The Scarface Anniversary

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Interview with a Statesman

THE RANT

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2011 Media Kit

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By Hank LeisMETANOIA

The Greek origins of the word Metanoia [met-uh-noi-uh] convey the notion of an experience or a moment that is transformative. In fact the change itself would be so remarkable as to shift paradigms and these shift s actually would cause a change in behavior and ultimately the consequences of those behaviors. Th e articles in this magazine are intended to introduce a diff erent way of thinking so that ideas and notions we take for granted can be reframed in such a way as to renew our life by making it more interesting, challenging and rewarding. Many of us have abandoned our intelligence, our ability to think, our various gift s for being able to create and instead joined the masses whose only goal is to perpetuate the species and dwell in a complacent and apathetic state amounting to nothing more than mere existence. We at Metanoia believe we are all capable of more than that and more importantly are able to generate epiphanous moments for you. We hope that our plethora of deep-thinking writers will be able to transform your life into something meaningful and wondrous. Every one of us, to a varying degree, has experienced these moments and most of us who have been so transformed are driven to rediscovering the process that fi rst allowed us our enlightened clarity of mind. In the last decade, scientifi c advancements have given insights into human phenomena that were previously thought science fi ction, such as the viral theory as a contributing factor in the feeling of “love”. Anthropologists may have noticed nuances in human behavior early in our development, but these scientifi c discoveries now actually explain the physiology of “metanoic thinking”. Our own behaviors are being re-examined in light of these discoveries about brain function, and in particular that our usual way of thinking leads us to our usual results. Moreover mostly we do not think- but react- not unlike reptiles- and this process does not always serve us well.Humankind is evolving, and more and more the primitive fears that govern our behaviors are being discovered to be limiting rather than opportunistic. What we are discovering about ourselves is what our evolution is all about; the beast within will soon be quelled and what will emerge is anybody’s guess.Individually, the context of one individual within a population of seven billion suggests his/her insignifi cance – let alone a lifetime in the span of eternity. And yet we still have this narcissistic sense that our existence is of tremendous relevance. And while there may be something to this belief, how do these enormous discrepancies in size and time fi t together to explain the relevance of this epic story? Simplifi ed, what is the relevance of a person making a living to pay for food and shelter to the formula E=mc2. Our mission, certainly for Metanoia is to explore all those ideas, and to change ourselves and you in pursuit of this intelligence. To put it another way, we want your brain to be engaged in way it never has been before. Are you ready for the challenge? 5.

6.

Political events always bring together a cast of characters typical of any high school reunion, regardless of which political party it may be. There are of course “The Boys”, now big boys, jocular, confi dent, and willing to say the risqué things that others admire, but dare not say themselves. They are in on the scam and want everyone to know it. They participated, and they made it happen. There always is the “Nut Case” who explodes, and revels in his own virtuosity by standing up for absent people who do not have a voice. And after the explosion, there lies the silence of the embarrassed. The “Cheerleaders” are there to support, but moreover to start something, just in case their partners are lacking the confi dence or are reluctant to take an issue on. Of course they want in on the deal and sometimes they even become the deal.

A political event is one of the few places in the world where the person bringing in the chairs has the importance of being regarded as a party organizer.

Then, there are those who know how to spell words, construct sentences, and have found a place where these talents can be showcased with enthusiasm. And of course there is the “Overing”, otherwise known as the “Put Down”. One just waits for that opportunity, and seizes it with no hesitation. It is the equivalent of editing a magazine but with one hundred or more editors, each diminishing the other

Political Events; FrenemiesBy Salme Leis

for their lack of grammar or spelling skills before getting down to correct it. It is all great theatre, but certainly not a blood sport. It can only become serious for those who might care about the trivial details of governing and how it affects the non-participants, the voters and the non-voters. But, care too much, and one might become offended and that in itself might lead to being offensive. If you cannot handle it, then you should not be there. Therefore, detachment means survival, but moreover the ability to think on one’s feet and affect the outcomes of the “Ensemble of Frenemies”.

All political parties have a long history of turmoil, but that is what politics is all about. The turmoil begets survivors, and survivors get the control during the intervals when exhaustion requires rest and the beaten ones can recoup and prepare for future encounters. There is no end to these cycles and relief is but temporary. Frenemies come together for the common purpose of defi ning their “common purpose”. They will act as one after the right words have been carefully chosen and spelled out right to describe how they are to act and what the penalties are for non-compliance.

It will be determined that peace within the party will allow all members to go to war with all the other parties who might dispute their right to prevail. We are all champions in our own minds, but hopefully what is in our minds can soon become real.

If you do not take the opportunity to laugh at yourself, others will make sure they laugh at you. There is no eccentricity that is left un-mocked. There is no vulnerability that is not trod upon. And all in the name of the kind of comradeship where all insecurities lie beneath. That which does not kill you makes you stronger. At least, that is what “they” say.

Charles Mackay’s well-known 1852 book, Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, chronicles just one of history’s bubbles called Tulipomania. In the business world, we spend a lot of time stressing the timing of business cycles. As the saying goes, “buy low sell high”. However, what many people overlook is that the underlying human emotions that drive bubbles have been around for as long as humans have been organizing themselves into groups. An excellent example is what Mr. Mackay refers to as Tulipomania.

Introduced to Europe from Constantinople in the mid-sixteenth century, the tulip bulb became sought after by wealthy families and steadily grew in demand for the remainder of the century. Tulips fi rst arrived in England in 1600 from Vienna, and experienced a welcoming audience that refl ected the enthusiasm of greater Europe. Demand continued to grow throughout the 1600s to the point where any family of means was expected to possess blossoming tulips in the family gardens. Mr. Mackay writes, “In 1634, the rage among the Dutch to possess them was so great that the ordinary industry of the country was neglected, and the population, even to its lowest dregs, embarked in the tulip trade.” Some people were known to invest their entire fortunes in the cultivation and distribution of tulips, which drove the prices to unimaginable heights. “In reading the history of nations, we fi nd that, like individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities; their seasons of excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We fi nd that whole communities suddenly fi x their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion,

and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the fi rst.” At its peak, the most precious of tulip bulbs would cost at least 5,500 fl orins, while “four fat oxen” could be bought for 480 fl orins and “one thousand lbs. of cheese” cost 120 fl orins. What Europe had on its hands was truly a classic bubble and in 1636, it burst.

Consider the timelessness of these words written in 1852 by Mr. Mackay, “At last, however, the more prudent began to see that this folly could not last forever.” The author continued “Rich people no longer bought the fl owers to keep them in their gardens, but to sell them again at cent per cent profi t. It was seen that somebody must lose fearfully in the end. As this conviction spread, prices fell, and never rose again. Confi dence was destroyed, and a universal panic seized upon the dealers.”

When collective exuberance takes hold and values are driven beyond what can be reasonably explained; beware. We will fi nd many who will assure us that it’s “a new normal” but those that get caught up in the euphoria (or those that propagate it for personal gain) have been wrong many times before. Just remember that the next time you appreciate the simple elegance of a tulip.

From Tulip to Tech BubblesThe name of the bubble might change, but human nature does not.By Seth Meltzer

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In Soviet Russia, everybody knew that they were being watched. Any deviation from offi cially sanctioned behaviour would be treated with suspicion and most likely punished. Th e Soviet state saw itself as being at war with almost everything – foreign spies, class enemies, people wearing jeans or playing jazz. Th e regime’s dominant ideology was not Marxism-Leninism, but suspicion and animosity.

Not since the early 1980s, before the fi rst rays of glasnost in Russia, have those dark times felt as close

as they do now. Protecting society from enemies, foreign and domestic, is once again the order of the day. Indeed, an ethos of perpetual vigilance is central to sustaining President Vladimir Putin’s high popular-approval ratings. And no one plays a more important role in creating the necessary public atmosphere than Vladislav Surkov.

Once Mr. Putin’s chief of staff , Mr. Surkov served as deputy prime minister from 2011 to 2013. He now formally advises Mr. Putin on foreign aff airs, but is really the regime’s chief propagandist. He has been credited with the introduction of the concept of “managed democracy” in Russia and he played a leading role in nurturing the secession of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia. More recently, he was a guiding hand

NINA KHRUSHCHEVA

Russian President, Vladimir Putin

Chief Propagandist, Vladislav Surkov with Vladamir Putin

10.

behind Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, inspiring the feverish media campaigns that have delivered near-universal public support for these moves.

Mr. Surkov is the man most responsible for nurturing pro-Putin sentiment, which increasingly resembles a Stalin-like cult of personality. Mr. Surkov is Chechen by descent, infused – like Stalin – with the sabre-rattling mindset of the Caucasus. Under his watch, the central focus of the Kremlin’s communication strategy has been to sustain the perception that the West wants to destroy Russia. Th us, the confl ict in Ukraine has been framed as a renewed struggle against fascism – and in defence of Russia’s true, anti-Western identity. Th e supposed threat to Russia today was underscored for the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, with billboards springing up across Moscow to remind Russians of the sacrifi ces that victory required.

Like the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, Mr. Surkov is not overconcerned about facts. Emotions are at the core of the Kremlin’s message; indeed, they are the tie that binds Mr. Putin to his subjects. Th is is why Mr. Surkov portrays Mr. Putin, who recently divorced his wife of 30 years and is rumoured to have fathered several children with a former Olympic gymnast, as an avatar of conservative values, with the Orthodox Patriarch constantly at his side. Th e Kremlin’s campaign against gay rights has secured the support of the Church, while reminding ordinary Russians that the state takes a watchful interest in their lives.

Today’s Russian propaganda combines quintessentially Soviet-style heavy-handedness and state-of-the-art technique. Th ere have been no mass purges and few large rallies. Western values may be under assault, but Western goods are welcome. A common sight in Russia is a shiny German-made car with a bumper sticker recalling the glories of the Second World War: “On to Berlin” or “Th ank you, grandfather, for the victory, and grandmother for the tough bullets.”

For the past two decades, Russians have been able to travel internationally without restrictions. Now, however, many seem ready to give up this right. Last month, the Kremlin warned the country’s citizens that the United States was “hunting” Russians abroad. A few Russians have indeed been arrested and extradited to the United States: the arms dealer Viktor Bout, for example, who is charged with providing aid to terrorists, or the hacker Vladimir Drinkman, who is accused of stealing millions of credit-card numbers. Th ere is no credible threat to ordinary Russians, yet Mr. Surkov’s campaign is having a profound impact.

Rather than risking mockery with outlandish claims – a staple of Soviet propagandists – that Russia will one day surpass the West economically, Mr. Surkov taps a deeper and safer emotion: fear. Whatever Russians think of the country’s economic malaise – GDP is expected to contract by 3.8 per cent this year, while infl ation could top 15 per cent – they are assured that they would be much worse off without Mr. Putin.

And Russians have fallen into line. A few years ago, it seemed that every tenth person wore a white ribbon, a symbol of protest against Mr. Putin. Today, one gets the impression that every third Russian is wearing the Ribbon of Saint George, an orange-and-black symbol of patriotism and loyalty to the Kremlin. Th ose who do not wear the ribbon can expect to be asked – and not very politely – why they choose not to.

It is an insidious and eff ective strategy, one that marginalizes dissenters and generates the impression of near-universal support for the regime. On my previous visit to Moscow, I noticed that a friend, a singer in the Bolshoi opera, had tied a small Ribbon of Saint George to her white Mercedes. Th ough she is no fan of Mr. Putin, she did not want to stand out unnecessarily.

It is through small surrenders like hers that men such as Mr. Surkov ultimately succeed. Citizens pretending to be loyal build a culture of conformity. With dissent suppressed, the authenticity of citizens’ loyalty becomes irrelevant. Indeed, like Goebbels, Mr. Surkov understands that when public life and private expression can be turned into theatre, there is no diff erence between performance and reality.

Nina L. Khrushcheva is a dean at The New School in New York and a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute, where she directs the Russia Project.

“The one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise that the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not.” Niccolo Machiavelli

Machiavelli’s philosophy on the maintenance of power has been deemed deceptive, ruthless, and without regard for ethics; in actuality, Machiavelli’s ideas of individual leadership sustainability and acute understanding of human behaviour have stood the test of time bearing resemblance to emergent theories of distributed and participative leadership.

Niccolo Machiavelli Dr. Allison Patton

Sustainable Leadership Through the Ages

12.

Machiavelli’s concept of leadership maintenance focused on the individual leader and the qualities and behaviours required by a prince to maintain his principality.

These were to:

be able to conform his methods to the spirit of the times; create great enterprises; set a fine example by endeavouring to show in his actions greatness, courage, gravity and fortitude as opposed to being fickle, effeminate, mean-spirited, and irresolute; entertain the people with festivals; secure good foundations; exterminate those who have power or reason to hurt him; keep the whole people encouraged; keep his town well fortified; study the art of war at all times; know the environment around him; keep his men well organized and drilled; understand reality and act in accordance with that reality and; above all, he must ensure he is not hated by the people.

This was accomplished by governing well by ensuring “the prosperity of the state and its citizens, and the creation of institutions that transcend the prince’s reign, securing the survival and success of the state for generations to come.”

In contrast to Machiavelli’s times, today’s emergent theories on leadership sustainability focus on the concept that “leadership is a shared process that involves the cooperative efforts of many people.” The development of “effective leadership processes in teams and in organizations” is of utmost importance. Leadership “sustainability involves a way of thinking that is integrative, holistic and ecological”, fosters learning, endures over time, supports a shared vision, is a polylogue, begins with self-awareness and is values-based, bringing “order to the whole by creating transcendent values that provide a tent large enough to hold all the different aspirations, and in which all can find satisfaction.”

In conclusion, both Machiavelli’s philosophies and current emergent theories on leadership focus on finding the best possible way to ensure sustainability of the enterprise regardless if this maintenance is related to the individual or group. Drawing from this analysis, it is possible to outline five enduring principles of leadership sustainability: i.) Work among and beside the people; ii.) Respond efficiently to the current pressures of the environment; iii.) Develop institutions or processes that endure over time; iv.) Have a realistic view of the self and; v.) Be guided by fundamental and relevant values. Bibliography

Bops, Christopher and Peter J. Galie. “Machiavelli and Modern Business: Realist Thought in Contemporary Corporate Leaderhsip Manuals.” Journal of Business Ethics 65 (2006): 235-50.

Bull, G. The Prince (N. Machiavelli, Trans by W.K. Marriott in 1908. Original work published in 1513), 1961. http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince00.htm, accessed July 28, 2009.

Hargreaves, Andy and Dean Fink. “Sustaining

Leadership.” The Phi Delta Kappan. Vol. 84 No.9 (May, 2003): 693-700, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20440458,accessed August 1, 2009.

Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. The Leadership Challenge. 4th Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007.

Lee-Davies, Linda, Nada K. Kakabadse, and Andrew Kakabadse. “Shared Leadership: leading through polylogue.” Business Strategy Series. 8:4 (2007): 246-253.

O'Toole, J. Leading change: The argument for values-based leadership. New York: Ballantine Books, 1996.

Yukl, G. Leadership in organizations. 3rd Custom Edition for Royal Roads University. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 2002.

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Why in Russia, According to the Gospel of Niccolo, Jesus Loves PutinBy Hank Leis

Niccolo Machiavelli should be known as the father of behaviorist psychology. Instead those whose virtues lie in the make-believe world of the politically correct chose to consign evil intent to his writings, and condemn his astute studies as being the meanderings of a deceitful, manipulative puppeteer who taught us to use the base urges of humanity for leaders to gain power over the common folk.

A critical read of any of his writings would determine otherwise. He published his observations on leaders and followers and it was the base characterization of the followers that received the ire and condemnation by, of course the followers (academics). Yet recent attempts by academics in studying and understanding leadership have tended to confirm Machiavelli’s observations. The magic of words such as “sustainable” and “co-operative” have only served to add the subtle nuance to describing leaders as not being as bad as all that, and the followers not really

being supplicants to them, but co-leaders. Of course, almost everyone wants to be thought of as a leader, rather than a follower. In movies, books, stories of any kind, followers are expendable- leaders are not. A thousand soldiers dying in battle hardly deserve even minimal attention- but when a leader is hurt, threatened, or killed- the significance of it is the thing of history books.

The amygdala is a very primitive part of the brain- mostly controlling the fight or flight behaviour of human beings. As modern and sophisticated as we claim to be, in any crises this part of the brain takes control. But it

is not only when danger appears that fight or flight becomes a choice of which path to take.

Evaluations are a constant in human daily life. The façade we create as socialized human beings is less than skin deep. The comments, asides, judgements, and snide remarks we make in everyday conversation is a leakage of verbalizing what the amygdala wants to say, but dares not because of fears of being ostracized by others. It is when the threat is greater than the inhibiting walls of socialization- that the amygdala is released from its prison of conventional expression. What lies beneath is the subconscious and unconscious ready to explode.

Putin is a master at exploiting these primitive urges that are constantly looking for a “reason” for expression. 80% support for any leader in any country is unheard of, yet the Russian people support his position with alacrity. Included in their support is Patriarch Kirill (Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev) of Moscow and all of Russia, a Russian Orthodox Bishop. The Russians are in pain (and have been taught that pain is strength) and they want others to suffer as they do. Surely to understand this, someone must have read “The Prince” to Putin at a young age. Contrary to what the educator will tell you- the strongest feeling people have is not love (yes it is there as well), but fear followed by hatred. The Russian people are no different than the rest of us. It’s just that here it is not okay to be who we are and in Russia, Putin encourages it. Here in the West in our “advanced” and “civilized” countries we believe somehow we are different

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all of Russia conferring with Russian President, Vladimir Putin

By: Seth Meltzer

The human mind and body do things not because it is the right or smart thing to do, but because the body says, “this is how you will get the high.” When we are young, we determine what creates highs and lows in our lives and often the highs are what we strive for because they take us to places where we want to “party.” Eventually, we can train our “highs” to show up when we are maintaining self-discipline and begin to experience the rewards for that effort. When we make it big the body says, “let’s celebrate”, but we must exercise caution to make sure we do not party away what we have gained. For example, when debt is under control, then we must celebrate in our mind and through discussions with our families. Every time we have a success we must mark it off as a “high” and then once it hits the subconscious, we will begin to look for the rushes that these successes provide, rather than the unproductive highs that get us into trouble. This is a practice we must constantly strive to make a habit in our daily lives.

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and by different we mean better. But we too- erupt, destroy, judge, have jealousies, condemn the enemy. The game results in hockey, soccer, baseball, and other sports can break into riots causing thousands and millions of dollars’ worth of damage. In the west this rage is mostly directed at ourselves- in Russia they know who to hate and it is us.

Nicollo Machiavelli not only wrote “The Prince” but many other works worth reading. They are worth reading, if for no other reason than that we should know ourselves, and that in knowing ourselves we begin to deal with the real self, rather the pretend world that confuses us and results in the constant contradictions that make our lives stressful, and cause us to question our purpose. Most here in the West are well taken care of. We have so little need to think or ponder about the “greater” questions. We ignore the fact that the rest of the world is concerned about the basics that we take so much for granted. We have the luxury of having “educated conversations” to describe their dilemmas. They are proactive in seeking what they want- and it is we who they believe have it all. And we have so much of it that we can afford waste- even though in our various articulations we ascribe to ourselves the words of virtue like “sustainability” (that describe our responsible ways). If only others were as wise . The people in countries that support Russia- think differently- not only because we have lost our reason for thinking at all- but because we do not acknowledge a fatal fl aw in our common dialogue, and that is that being disingenuous is basic in our language and now in our so called human nature as well.

It is especially to those of us in the academic circles (I include myself, dare I claim to be part of such an austere group) who believe by changing the wording, the basics of human behaviour will change. Deceiving the self is an option available only to those who are well protected by forces they are blind to. But once this deception is acted on by willful neglect of that which is true- then the luxury of ignorance is lost only to those who simply won’t buy into it .

Hank Leis, author of, The Leadership Phenomenon: A Multidimensional Model

Rant RantBy Hank Leis

Jersi Kosinski wrote a novella called, Being There. The genius of the novella and the movie that followed was that Kosinski wrote about himself as if he were someone else seeing all his own pretentiousness. As a slow witted endearing simpleton, the central character Chauncey Gardner (played in the movie by Peter Sellers) who interprets the world through television, fi nally, when released from his protected and isolated world, takes on the affectations and exaggerations so commonly portrayed on TV, but with the innocence of a child who imitates the all-knowing adults.

The beautiful thing about the story is that it is of course about all of us. We have just barely come down from the trees. The infrastructures we have created to protect us from all that threatens us have placed layer after layer of protection between us and having to deal with real life. We are now bound by our protective layers of fears so much so that we can barely move. That which shelters us now has become our prison. Our language and hence the way we communicate is at a level that avoids any direct reference to what we are afraid of and yet we are always expressing it in our confused and inarticulate ways. We look and sound stressed because we are.

We are hunter-gatherers, but we gather nothing and do not know how to hunt. We have become the gathered and the hunted because we run away from everything. We are so afraid to die that we have no time to live; because in order to live we must experience the presence of death. And we perpetuate this notion of

avoidance as being fundamental by institutionalizing virtuous and moral acts that are enshrined in the concepts of policies, law, and rules and even more so in societal expectations of how a “good” person “should” live. Everyone else’s judgment of us is validated by how we feel forced to respond. In a democracy every itch must be scratched because every scratch represents another vote.

Jersi Kosinski himself was a pretender, but most importantly a pretender who sought legitimacy. His own world was even more complex than characters he wrote about and he seemed unable to set his own demons aside even though he had solved the problems for many others. He committed suicide. Whether or not this was his way of resolving the mystery of just knowing or an act of courage or cowardice, is a judgment that should be made by his audience. In other words, how you see both what he wrote and his ultimate fate defi nes you the reader.

The ultimate question posed by this Rant is about our salvation. Are the complexities of life real or imagined? And once we have embraced them as real are we able to discard them in a moment’s notice when we realize the illusion? Detachment from these illusions that confi ne us are diffi cult if not recognized, as is the notion that we are brilliant in accepting our ignorance and courageous in accepting our fears. We are funny when we take ourselves seriously and laughing at this self-importance leads us to the lightness of being.

18.

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IF YOU’RE SO SMART, WHY AREN’T YOU RICH?A REALISTIC ASSESSMENT OF MAKING MONEY IN THE STOCK MARKETBy Dr Jack Wadsworth

Continued from previous issueThis is an area where there is an abundance of irrefutable

scientific evidence in the academic sector. It is probably best summarized by Malkiel as follows:

Again, the evidence from several studies is remarkably uniform. Investors have done no better with the average mutual-fund than they could have done by purchasing and holding an unmanaged broad stock index. In other words, over long periods of time mutual-fund portfolios have not outperformed randomly selected groups of stocks. Although some funds may have very good records for certain short time periods, there is generally no consistency to superior performance, and there is no way to predict in advance how funds will perform in any given future period.

Even Canadian student newspapers have captured the dismal performance of money managers/analysts:

Again the overwhelming evidence is negative on the ability of professional money managers to either pick winners (choose another Google) or to time the market (to sell just before the market collapses).

To be able to answer the major question of this treatise (If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?) breaks down into the following sub-questions:

• If the professional money managers, who buy and sell select stock, are rarely able to do better than the stockmarket average, why don’t you just buy the stockmarket average? (An appraisal of money managers and financial analysts.)

• Why can’t you buy some sort of insurance against the risks associated with stockmarket bubbles? (Protecting your financial assets.)

• Why do you have to depend upon the ability to forecast what will happen in the stockmarket? (Exploiting the randomness of the stock market.)

• What can be concluded from all this? (Advising your sister what she should do with her inheritance.)

In 2006, Canadian equity (mutual) funds failed to outperform the Standard & Poor’s Toronto Stock Exchange Composite Index, a comprehensive list of Canadian companies, coming in at 15.3% return versus the index’s 17.3% return. This is not an isolated incident. From 1984 to 1999, during one of the largest bull markets in history, the majority of North American mutual-funds failed to outperform even the Wiltshire 5000 index, a broad American stockmarket index run by the Dow Jones & Company. ...as many as 90% of all mutual-funds under perform the market indices over the long term...the real figures are worse than this because they do not include funds that were liquidated or which went belly up.

Unless one has the perspicacity of a Keynes, the smarts of a Warren Buffett, the legendary insights of a Peter Lynch or the acumen of the handful of the other consistently competent money managers, then if you want to be in the stockmarket you obviously have to purchase an index mutual-fund or equivalent. However it should be appreciated that purchasing index funds is no guarantee of secure returns. No one knows how the stockmarket or the economy is going to perform in the future: If you had put $1,000 into an index fund in 1999 it would have been worth only $624 in 2002! Who knows what it would have been if invested long term, but as Keynes is attributed to have said “in the longer term we are all dead.

24.

If the professional money managers, who buy and sell selected stock, are rarely able to do better than the stock market average, why don’t you just buy the stock market average?An appraisal of professional money managers and financial analysts.

The Standard and Poor’s index (the S&P 500) was created in 1926 to represent the price level of all the stocks on the New York Stock Exchange. It is essentially composed of the 500 largest U.S. Corporations, weighted by the value of their market capitalization. In recent years, these 500 stocks have represented about 80% of the market value of all U.S. Stocks. With the enormous growth of corporate pension funds between 1950 and 1990, it was an ideal measurement standard or benchmark against which to rate the performance of these professionally managed funds. Today, the S&P 500 remains a valid standard against which to compare the returns earned by the professional managers of all pension and mutual funds.

John Bogle was perhaps one of the earliest academics to comment on the poor performance of professional managers. When he graduated from Princeton University in 1951, his senior thesis titled The Economic Role of the Investment Company contained the conclusion “Mutual funds can make no claims to superiority over the stock market averages”. While there is absolutely no record of Bogle’s exchanges with his significant other half at the time, it can be imagined that her comment on his thesis conclusion was: “Why don’t they just buy the stock market index, then?!”. This must have produced the response: “That’s silly, dear. You can’t buy the index...”. Needless to say Bogle went on to establish the first index mutual fund company, the Vanguard Group in 1974—by 2005 it was the second largest mutual fund in the United States.

When Bogle recounts the history of the index fund he modestly gives attribution to very many actors:

I have long believed that it is important to have a sense of history. The history of the index fund serves as a good beginning to understanding its merits. I did not invent the concept of indexing, but I had been a long-time believer in the concept. I was confident that it could - against all odds - become a reality in the world of mutual funds. Not only did it make sense, but it dovetailed with my conviction that low costs truly make a difference - if not the difference - in emulating the returns available in financial markets. As I have noted, history tells us that doing so is hardly a modest goal for the long-term investor. The pioneers of the indexing concept were William Fouse and John McQuown of Wells Fargo Bank. During 1969-1971, they had worked from academic models to develop the principles and techniques that led to index

investing. Their efforts resulted in the construction of a $6 million index account for the pension fund of Samsonite Corporation, with a strategy based on an equal-weighted index of all equities listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Fouse described its execution as a “nightmare.” The strategy was abandoned in 1976 and was replaced with a market-weighted strategy using the Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Stock Price Index. The first accounts run by Wells Fargo were components of its own pension fund and that of Illinois Bell Telephone Corporation. Slightly later in 1971, Batterymarch Financial Management of Boston decided independently to pursue the idea of index investing. The developers were Jeremy Grantham and Dean LeBaron, two of the founders of the firm. Grantham described the idea at a Harvard Business School seminar in 1971, but found no takers until 1973. For its efforts, Batterymarch won the “Dubious Achievement Award” from Pensions & Investments magazine in 1972. Two years later, in December 1974, the firm finally attracted its first index client. In 1974, the American National Bank in Chicago created a common trust fund modeled on the S&P 500 Index. A minimum investment of $100,000 was required. By that time, the idea had begun to spread from academia, and from three firms that were the first professional believers, to a public forum. Gradually, the press began to comment on index investing. A cri de coeur calling for the creation of index funds came from three remarkably intelligent and farsighted observers. I still treasure their articles, which inspired me nearly 25 years ago and read just as well today.

“Challenge to Judgment”

The first article was “Challenge to Judgment,” by Paul A. Samuelson, Professor of Finance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Nobel Laureate in economics. In The Journal of Portfolio Management (Fall 1974), he pleaded “that, at the least, some large foundation set up an in-house portfolio that tracks S&P 500 Index - if only for the purpose of setting up a naive model against which their in-house gunslingers can measure their prowess.... Perhaps CREF (College Retirement Equities Fund) can be induced to set-up a pilot-plant operation of an unmanaged diversified fund, but I

would not bet on it ... [or] the American Economic Association might contemplate setting-up for its members a no-load, no management fee, virtually no transaction-turnover fund. He noted, however, what might be an insurmountable diffi culty: that there may be less supernumerary wealth to be found among 20,000 economists [to provide capital for the fund] than among 20,000 chiropractors.”

Dr. Samuelson concluded his challenge by calling on those who disagreed that a passive index would outperform most active managers to dispose of that uncomfortable brute fact (that it is virtually impossible for academics with access to public records to identify any consistently excellent performers) in the only way that any fact is disposed of - by producing brute evidence to the contrary. There is no record that anyone tried to produce such evidence, nor is it likely that it could have been produced. But Dr. Samuelson had laid down an implicit challenge for somebody, somewhere to launch an index fund.

“The Loser’s Game”

A year later, Charles D. Ellis, Managing Partner of Greenwich Associates, wrote a seminal article entitled “The Loser’s Game” in the Financial Analysts Journal (July/August 1975). Ellis proffered a provocative and bold statement: “The investment management business is built upon a simple and basic belief: professional managers can beat the market. The premise appears to be false.” He pointed out that, over the preceding decade, 85 percent of institutional investors had underperformed the return of the S&P 500, largely because, in an environment in which institutional investors have become, and will continue to be, the dominant feature of their own environment, the costs of institutional investing have consumed 20 percent of the returns earned by the managers, “causing the transformation that took money management from a Winner’s Game to a Loser’s Game. The ultimate outcome is determined by who can lose the fewest points, not who can win them.” He went on to note that “gambling in a casino where the house takes 20 percent of every pot is obviously a Loser’s Game ... so money management has become a Loser’s Game.”

Ellis did not call for the formation of an index fund, but he did ask: “Does the index necessarily lead to an entirely passive index portfolio?” He answered, “No, it doesn’t necessarily lead in that direction. Not quite. But if you can’t beat the market, you should certainly consider joining it. An index fund is one way.” In the real world, of course, few managers indeed have consistently succeeded in achieving an annual return suffi cient even to offset their costs and thereby match

the index, let alone surpass it. Even those few have been exceptionally diffi cult to identify in advance.

“Fortune Leads to a Flood Tide”

There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the fl ood, leads to fortune.” Shakespeare put those words in Brutus’s mouth. Ironically, in the fi eld of index funds, fortune, in a sense, helped turn the tide of investment affairs toward index funds. In July 1975, Fortune magazine published a third landmark article. “Some Kinds of Mutual Funds Make Sense,” was written by Associate Editor A. F. Ehrbar. Ehrbar came to some conclusions that may seem obvious today, but were then hardly the accepted wisdom: “While funds cannot consistently outperform the market, they can consistently underperform it by generating excessive research (i.e., management fees) and trading costs... it is clear that prospective buyers of mutual funds should look over the costs before making any decisions.” He concluded, “Funds actually do worse than the market.

Ehrbar despaired that an index mutual fund would be created very soon, noting that “there has not been much pioneering lately and the mutual-fund industry has not provided an index fund.” But he described the best alternative for mutual fund investors: “A no-load mutual fund with low expenses and management fees, about the same degree of risk as the market as a whole, and a policy of always being fully invested.” He could not have realized that he had described, with some accuracy, the fi rst index mutual fund, which was soon to be formed. But that is what he had done.

“Opportunity Is the Mother of Invention”

Together, these three clarion calls for an index mutual fund were irresistible. I could no longer contain my enthusiasm for the opportunity to be in the vanguard, as it were, of the development of the index fund. Based on my research on past fund performance, well known in academia but acknowledged by few in the investing profession, I was confi dent it would work. Further, the fi rm I had founded in 1974 was focused on low cost, precisely the key to having an index fund that would emulate a cost-free index. It was the opportunity of a lifetime: to prove that the basic theory enunciated in these articles could be put into practice and made to work in a real-world framework. Alas, there was no demand for it by the investing public. So I relied on Say’s Law (after French economist Jean Baptiste Say): “Supply creates its own demand.” Before 1975 came to its close, Vanguard had created the fi rst index mutual fund, modeled on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Stock Price Index.”

To be continued in the next issue of Metanoia

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Some thoughts written for my friend Dal Shindale, director of Loukout Gallery at Regent College, and known as a faithful servant of the true and beautiful.Dunstan Massey

On one occasion, when I was a young art student, my mother and I attended a lecture at the art gallery. I was annoyed by the speaker’s repeated use of the term ‘Significant Form’ as if its meaning was self evident to anyone who knew anything at all about art. The superior tone of the talk seemed to demand some sort of a response, but being a polite boy, I refrained from interrupting the lecture. He would explain, I was sure. But he never did; and I regret to say I never did ask the question I should have, then and there.

The question was, “what does significant form signify?” It eventually became clear that the purpose of the lecture was to demonstrate that representational images in art are not significant, and this even though he had succeeded in not telling us the significance of the forms he called significant. I found this both infuriating and ridiculous; that the painted form of a leaf, a rose, or a rock has no significance?

Even the first leaf of Spring, or the last to fade in the Fall? When the rose, as Dante saw it, brimmed with the nectar of praise? Or the withered rose Baudelaire might have seen on a gravestone in testimony to grief? The manifold riches of sense memory are the source as Aquinas teaches of all our knowledge even on higher levels of intuitive understanding. Our senses are the first to make contact with what is real.

What is real has actuality- it exists, has the act of being. Aristotle’s brilliant intuition of act and potency, matter and form, have prepared the human mind for the recognition of reality in being itself a revelation already made in the land of Midian when God tells Moses ‘I am who am’ and commands him ‘go tell the people of Israel ‘He who Is has sent me to you.’ (Exodus 13, ver. 14.) From the historical fact that western civilization has been grounded on Hellenic reason and Judea-Christian revelation, our western certainty about the reality of things should be no surprise to us.

So how is it then, that this common sense acceptance of reality has been undermined today? It did not happen overnight.

The perennial philosophy of Realism, sustained by the Scholastics, was attacked in the late Middle ages by the English nominalist William Ockham, who maintained that abstract ideas were merely names that had no realities corresponding to them, This idea threatened to destroy the possibility of true knowledge. A further step was taken by Rene Descartes the mathematician who famously said, ‘I think, therefore I am,’ thus perverting the order of nature; one would suppose it is necessary to exist before one could think.

The spiral descent into a world view of unreality was accelerated by Immanuel Kant, though he thought his mental construct was the real world. The Critique of Pure Reason proposes that sense phenomena convey no hint of the reality of things in themselves, but receive their apparent significance from the mind itself.

Form and Reality

28.

This mentalization of reality is pushed into an even deeper absurdity by George Wilhelm Hegel, who became convinced that the mind itself created the whole universe! I wonder whose mind he is talking about- probably a world soul’s mind because the incredible hubris of these thinkers would not rest until creation itself dethroned the Creator. So Friedrich Nietzsche became the prophet of the new atheism, declaring ‘we have killed God -we are all His murderers.’ Since everything is the work of our mind it follows we have created Him; God was our idea, made in our own image writ large- no wonder Friedrich went mad! Did he have a glimpse of the future? Of his own madness in Hitler’s dream? Just think, a superior race that would rule the world by genocide.

Never underestimate the power of an idea! This particular ideological virus spreads its contagion in writings of Feuerbach, Marx, and Engels. It spurs on the proletarian· revolution with Lenin’s rhetoric and confers supreme power into the iron fist of one man, Josif Stalin. Russia and Eastern Europe are locked down for a half-century in the hellish gulag of a police State.

It has been wisely said that any philosophy that begins in the mind never gets out of the mind.

The first schism in Greek thought was between the Idealism of Plato and the Realism of Aristotle. For Plato, the eternal ideas, seen in a pre-existence, were the only reality- the things of the world were but shadows in a cave -while knowledge has nothing to do with·them, but is only a dim recollection of an ideal reality, seen before birth.

With Aristotle, however, the true object of knowledge was always the being or the sensible reality we encounter in the world. This basic certainty of realist philosophy was maintained by the schoolmen of the twelfth century and recognized by most thinkers ‘as common sense’ till Chesterton in the early twentieth had to admit common sense was no longer common.

When the twentieth century’s darling of the Parisian intelligentsia wanted to say something weighty, Jean Paul Sartre turned to Descarte’s idea of the act of existence being only ascertained by the act of thinking- ‘I think therefore I am.’ For Sartre, the Cartesian speculation becomes an occasion for denying the reality of everything, and ultimately of the mind itself.

How can a nihilist call himself an existentialist? At first, Sartre rejects this denomination, but later, less so. In his novel Nausea, Roquentin cannot decide if change is in things or in his awareness of them.

His phenomenology excludes the metaphysical concept of substance and accident, so there can be no explanation of change. He concedes a quasi-existence to the sense impression but denies the mind’s abstractive ability to

grasp the essence of what it is he sees. Sartre’s concession in no way ameliorates his despair because what he sees is meaningless. Being born in this climate of unreality means I am nothing so I must make myself into someone by my own intellectual endeavour. This might have been conceivable in a Kantian or Hegelian system where the mind was the sole reality, but for Sartre, knowing there is nothing outside, he inevitably discovers there is nothing inside either. If he and everything else are nothing, there will be no thing anywhere that could be said to be anything. How can that which is not anything think, or for that matter exercise a rational endeavour? Why would an atheist need to deny the Creator when he has already decided there is no creation? Sartre’s attempt to make himself a self-made man is a contradiction in terms and defies all rationalization. Without a metaphysics of being it is not possible to account for the existence of contingent beings.

In his play No Exit, Sartre describes his own version of hell’s reception hall as a beautifully appointed chamber with high ceilings, elegant furniture, and liveried servants offering chilled martinis.

The guests, in evening dress, all expect to be ushered into a ballroom from which there appears to issue, oddly enough, the strains of Valse Triste. They are informed, ‘this is the ballroom, ladies and gentlemen; please dance if you choose to do so.’

Only then do they notice there are no windows, only walls of mirror replicating self-absorbed huddles of disagreeable people. Some, in a panic at the close confinement with ‘les autres’, search for the entrance or exits, but there are none. The light banter subsides to an ominous murmur as the clock on the mantel begins tolling on the hour an infinity of years. ‘C’est insupportable, n’est pas?’

Sartre’s despair is understandable; no one can grasp the meaning of existence isolated from the thing that is. “What is the essence?” is a burning question rarely addressed by philosophers of the existentialist or idealist persuasion. They display little awareness or acceptance of the givenness of things; reality is not something the mind invents but something the mind discovers. Realities are discoverable because they are. For a mind that is open to creation, being necessarily precedes intellection.

Which brings me back to significant form which I found so abhorrent in my youth because it narrowed the field of vision. I have come to see in my old age that every form is significant, laden with the glory of being. The fresh sheen of wonder in the eyes of a child- who has not seen it? But even in the eyes of the sick and the dying when they rail against death- the yearning, the pleading and the final resignation, when they give their greatest gift, themselves, back to the Giver- that is significant.

The Dan Walker Chronicles

Dan Walker is an adventurer, a businessman, and raconteur. He has visited every country

in the world. His trusty Rolls Royce has taken him across many conti nents. He includes his grandchildren in some of his travels allowing

them to select the desti nati on. Originally, he hails from Victoria, Briti sh Columbia, but now resides in Costa Rica. At our request he has honoured us by writi ng a journal of his

most recent trip to China. We are pleased to present the Dan Walker Chronicles.

Shenyang & North Korea

Monday, June 18, 2012

It was off to Mt. Myohyang, two hours each way on a divided four-lane road with serious bumps. I would guess these roads were built for rapid military movement, as there are extra wide, straight stretches with no dividing median that would serve as emergency landing strips. Th e fi rst hour and a half were through fl at farmland growing mainly rice. Agriculture is primitive, masses of people assisted by the odd ox pulling a plough or a cart. Th ere are few tractors. Farmers get their land free, but must sell all their production to the government before they can buy necessities for their families. Apartments for city dwellers and quite decent houses for farmers are provided at no cost by the government. Education and medical are also free. We left farmland to drive through increasingly high hills, following clear rivers. Th ere was little sign of habitation in the forested mountains. Our destination was the International Exhibition Hall, a towering humidity and temperature controlled marble palace housing every gift received by the three leaders. Th e area for each leader is sub-divided into geographic

area, where each country is named above a display of their gift s. Th e US section was a bit sparse; it included a gift from the US Communist party and one other item. Nearby is a 1043 Buddhist Temple where about 20 of the 20,000 practicing Buddhist monks who live in North Korea are located. Most North

Koreans follow the Stalinist principal of no religion, only worship the leader. Originally there were 30 buildings in the complex, but a number were destroyed during the Korean War - some have been restored and the main temples escaped damage. Th e government pays for food and basic expenses for the monks. We interviewed one to see what they do, and the answer was read, walk, and study. On our return to Pyongyang we went to the largest children's palace - most areas have a smaller one. We were shown some of the dozens of rooms where children up to late teens were playing chess, basketball, doing embroidery,

learning musical instruments and so on. We were ushered into the best seats in the comfortable theatre they have - it is better equipped than most theatres I have seen. Th e seats are wide and comfortable with good legroom. Th e orchestra pit raises or lowers hydraulically. Large sections of stage move to either side, so a band with 20 or more members can be moved into position aft er being assembled off stage. Th ere were many hidden microphones that rose up from the stage fl oor in various locations, plus wireless mikes. Th e performance was amazing; with very young children playing instruments better than paid performers I have seen. Th e hour long show was fast moving, with act following act in rapid sequence, each astounding us with the ability of these kids. Marilynn bought fl owers to give to one of the young female singers who brought other singers onto the stage to participate in the grand fi nale. Dinner was at a diff erent restaurant in the city, this time a hot pot place. It is much like a fondue, where a pot of stock is placed on a burner in front of each person. Th e meat is put in to cook along with a wide variety of vegetables, spices and an egg, then left to boil until done. It was delicious. For the fi rst time we were joined by the guides and driver.

Marilynn at the Mangyongdae Children’s Palace in North Korea

30.

-Que Sera, Sera-

Nassim Nicholas Taleb has become a legend in his own time, and rightfully so. He has turned the conventional view of the existing concepts and mathematical models of uncertainty upside-down. He is, for example, against globalization - the idea that we should want to eliminate disorder from life so that we have fewer stressors. We try to micromanage everything in order to feel like we are safe.

Taleb in person is an awkward speaker and as a result, is sometimes difficult to understand. But he uses simple examples to illustrate his points and the books he has written, although filled with complex ideas, are worthy of reading and re-reading. While in person, his manner of presenting too often distracts from his message, but his writings are coherent and superbly presented.

He creates a new vocabulary to better explain a change in our understanding, based on new paradigms he has discovered, changing the way we think about planning for the future. The common mantra, “too big to fail” in vogue in the 2008-2009 banking crises has become an ongoing theme in his writings.

A “Black Swan” has now become a term in common usage for events that take place that no one could predict. The word “anti-fragile” is more commonly used to describe the antithesis of fragile. Taleb concludes that robust hardly describes the opposite of fragile. In fact, robustness in anything may have the opposite effect of creating more fragility. The infrastructure in making something more stable may itself become unwieldy thus making the forces that destroy it have the greater impact, resulting in damage

to what they were intended to protect. There is a valid idea that it may be true that some events have potential consequences that are too horrendous to contemplate so we find any means to prevent them. But by doing so, we not only postpone the inevitable, we produce the greater catastrophe in due course - not unlike the expected major earthquake along the Pacific Coast that will create even greater damage to large robust structures that collapse as opposed to the feeble ones that will have proportionately less damage. Some of his explanations to questions have not been well rehearsed or thought out – but as with many new ideas, this too will be developed better as discussions and debates continue.

One cannot help but think that the ideas that he presents are for “every man”. They are new to mankind, in the same order as the mind’s ability first to conjure up the reality of a spherical world as opposed to a flat one. In absorbing his ideas one must need do a paradigm shift - as one does in understanding that time is an ancillary component to space. It is important for “every man” to do this shift because change is in the air and that is the change.

The forty hour week, mortgages, and family values will be regarded as the relics of a primitive man’s beliefs. The paradigm shift will make the ordinary man extraordinary. New ideas are being developed through the input of scientists and philosophers - and they will change the behaviours and significance of their participation, past the level of the academics currently exploring their incoherent knowledge. The incremental advances made by man may have the result of producing mountains that will inevitably collapse – whether they be icons of incredible

beauty or remnants of the past - as heaps of trash - in a methodical and incremental process that makes molehills out of mountains.

We know that education inhibits risk taking, and in so doing educated people no longer have the uniqueness that gave them pre-eminence in our society. The fragility of an economic system that leads to unemployment and restrictiveness in thinking is already exhibited in how collapsible “the education system” has become.

Bernanke (former Chairman, Federal Reserve, United States) has in Taleb’s view, created an economic system that is too big to fail – but ominously fail it already has – even though largely it does not get recognized - and when it does, well it does. Bernanke has failed – because he has allowed those who created the risk to deal with it – under the illusion that only they know how.

And what surprised the authors of this article is that as we spoke to people who had come to listen to Taleb, and not one we encountered had read his books. Many carried copies around to get an autograph and that is one of the current problems that will expose its ugly head in times to come; it is more in vogue to pretend we know than to actually understand. The ability to quote has more status than understanding and after a while, pretense is all we have left. Prove E= mc2!

By Allison Patton and Salme Leis

“No One Knows More About Risk Than the Creator” -Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Dr. Allison Patton and author, Nassim Nicholas Taleb

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FROM DONALD J BOUDREAUX

FROM DONALD J BOUDREAUX MISSIVES

Here’s the John Oliver clip:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/04/27/john-oliver-vs-cheap-clothing-and-the-labor-conditions-it-requires/

Don

http://www.cafehayek.com

......................................

27 April 2015

Mr. John Oliver, Host of Last Week Tonight

Dear Mr. Oliver:

You elicited lots of laughs while criticizing Wal-Mart and other retailers for selling clothes made in low-wage sweatshops. It’s true that pay and work conditions in third-world factories are awful compared to pay and work conditions in first-world workplaces. Yet not once while galloping on your moral high-horse did you pause to ask what are the third-world workers’ alternatives to the factory toil that you self-righteously denounce. Does it not occur to you that the reason workers choose to work in such conditions is that those conditions are better than all available alternatives? Do you not realize that putting an end to such sweatshop work would condemn most of those workers - adults and children - to even lower pay and to even worse work conditions?

Of course, because I’m a free-market economist you’d expect me to make such claims - another example of which is this: “The wages of those [sweatshop] workers are shockingly low but nonetheless represent a vast improvement on their previous, less visible rural poverty.”*

And this: “While fat-cat capitalists might benefit from globalization, the biggest beneficiaries are, yes, Third World workers. After all, global poverty is not something recently invented for the benefit of multinational corporations.... Workers in those shirt and sneaker factories are, inevitably, paid very little and expected to endure terrible working conditions. I say ‘inevitably’ because their employers are not in business for their (or

their workers’) health; they pay as little as possible, and that minimum is determined by the other opportunities available to workers. And these are still extremely poor countries, where living on a garbage heap is attractive compared with the alternatives.”**

And this: “Yet sweatshops are only a symptom of poverty, not a cause, and banning them closes off one route out of poverty. At a time of tremendous economic distress and protectionist pressures, there’s a special danger that tighter labor standards will be used as an excuse to curb trade. When I defend sweatshops, people always ask me: But would you want to work in a sweatshop? No, of course not. But I would want even less to pull a rickshaw. In the hierarchy of jobs in poor countries, sweltering at a sewing machine isn’t the bottom.”***

These quotations, by the way, are from those infamous corporate-apologist knee-jerk free-market libertarian Rush Limbaugh-loving ideologue devotees of Milton Friedman and Ayn Rand: Paul Krugman and Nicholas Kristof, two columnists for that stridently conservative pro-corporate and anti-worker rag, the New York Times.

Sincerely,

Donald J. Boudreaux

Professor of Economics

and

Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center

George Mason University

Fairfax, VA 22030

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