One thought provoking point for me personally in the CNBC post (it was written by a couple of people from the Ayn Rand Center) comes up with the following;
This is what Ayn Rand called a morality of rational self-interest. It is a selfishness that consists, not of doing whatever you feel like, but of using your mind to discover what will truly make you happy and successful.
I misread it the first time. At first glance I thought it was about being selfish at the expense of other people. I am a huge believer in living a life of service (I view my job this way, the writing, firefighting and what my wife does with animal rescue). I'm glad I reread it. The reason for this little tangent is that too many people misread things without going back to reread. Poor communication by virtue of adding 1+1 and getting eleven is quite prevalent.
The Market Vectors Vietnam ETF (VNM) is due to start trading today. I have an article about it into theStreet.com that I won't front run here but I will say that I am impressed by the sector balance. Also if you look under the hood at the underlying companies (if the info is not there now it will be soon) then I think you can learn a lot about the country. You would need to go to the websites of the companies to learn but both HAGL and Hoa Phat look like interesting companies to get some sense of what is happening there.
There are other countries that I think would be very interesting to own at some point if they came with ETFs. Kazakhstan comes to mind if resources prices continue to trend up over the next decade for now there are some serious problems though.
Another alternative retirement idea; I watched most of the Steelers/Cardinals game last night and they talked about Dick LeBeau who will be 72 next month and still works as an assistant coach for the Steelers. I believe assistant coaches in the NFL make a decent wage. All attempted humor aside for people who are sports fans there are jobs available with teams (or perhaps more correctly the arenas) that are seasonal, probably don't pay a lot but probably can be fun. In Prescott we have three minor league teams and they all need seasonal workers.
We don't have minor league baseball here yet. That might be the one job that would get me out of the cabin.
A little more humor; we watched the show on TLC about hoarders the other night and now half my clothes are on their way to Goodwill.
Anyone know if there is a Hot Dog Cart Income Trust we can invest in?
24 comments:
I can only imagine how Ayn Rand would feel today if she saw this country's path. She moved here from Russia in the early 1900's to escape the complete lack of individual freedom. Now we're creating that same overbearing government slowly but surely. I believe it was Kruschev that said "We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism".
These things will always be under the guise of the 'greater good'.
And a huge lol on the clothing situation.
Good observation on the need to reread things. I frequently don't get it right the first time and have been known to pop off without knowing what I'm talking about.
BillB, scarey huh? I was watching Hannity on Fox with a focus group discussing current events. It was shocking that there were so many who felt Obama and his gang weren't doing enough. I personally don't know these people, but they're out there.
John Kenneth Galbraith once commented, "[T]he modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." Ayn Rand certainly supplies that justification in abundance, at least if you accept her premises.
If dominance rather than chaos is a concern then US citizens should probably focus more on preventing the capture of government by plutocrats, special interests and corporations rather than focusing on the form the capture takes: Communism and fascism alike were ultimately masks for oligarchy, rule by and for the few (who of course said they were doing it for everyone's good), and didn't wind up looking very different to the ordinary citizens obliged to bow under their rule or fight their wars when all was said and done.
Good to see another way to access Vietnam's markets. I'm off to read your article now.
RW, sorry if i was not clear, the VNM article is submitted but i doubt it will run today.
Maybe OT, but you do talk about living a life of service and your wife's animal rescue work; that is outstanding, and also try to give-back whenever possible. In any case, here is what I consider to be a nauseating sports article about Philadelphia signing Michael Vick, apparently with the intent that he will be the back-up to their current back-up QB:
http://tinyurl.com/m8haoz
My opinion, Philadelphia and the NFL are scum, the man should be permanently barred from football. Rant over. Thanks for your great blog.
a friend on Facebook made some sort of similar comment as you about this. I made an off color joke in suggesting that I believe they have very liberal views about dogfighting in that part of the country.
I don't know the answer here that is for sure. In America we believe in second chances but maybe not this soon?? I am glad it is not my team doing this (I'm from Boston so the Pats are my team) so maybe there is a nimby aspect to this.
I really don't know what to think but my wife was po'd about his signing but she did see the humor in FB comment.
RW, well stated sir and very good example of "seeing the forest through the trees".
IMO we'd be better off if ALL cable news channels were to vanish.
Bluesman
the newschannels have utility they deliver news.
but they also deliver a lot of opinion that has no foundation built that tells us why we should care about there opinion.
On CNBC when various reporters or anchors go very far down the opinion path i tune out. they have not built a credibility that makes their opinions worthwhile. the actual story might be worthwhile, the questions they ask people who do have foundations of credibility might be worthwhile too but i can't figure the need to become part of the story that some have.
Some people like Vick grow up in bad environments which does not excuse his crimes. But, he did go to prison for his crime. Second chances are fair minded IMO and shame on those of you being so cold and unforgiving.
Should all of Spain be imprisoned for killing bulls in arenas for fun? Should most countries to the south be imprisoned for cock fighting?
A Prison sentence is very severe. It is unfortunate that a culture to kill animals still exists in many countries and is still here in the US even if it is underground.
But, a world that does not provide for second chances is as bad as the ugly crowds that use to like to stone people to death for their crimes and even worse than Vick IMO. We can be much better than that.
Roger,
great article for bringing out Ayt Rand and Atlas Shrugged. I grew up as a little boy thinking that the US was the land where goverment was your friend and rightious. When I read Rand 20 years ago I wanted to persue happiness and not happy with the marriage asked my ex for a divorce. I was astonished that I lost my house, my job, my family and every possesion and almost lost my life all because the judicial system. I left USA and will never come back. But that tells me that the system is corrupt. How many innocent people have been placed in deathrow. THE USA CLAIMS TO BE A COUNTRY THAT THINKS IN HUMAN RIGHTS. It is not. A simple divorce that can turn into a death trap - WAKE UP USA. Now in Italy I feel that I have the freedom that I was seeking. In italy the duration of a divorce is a max 3 years. In the USA Stan Getz the famous jazz player died and never ended his unwanted marriage. Where is the freedom? There was no freedom in the '80, nor in the '90 and not even today. There are special interest groups that make the rest slaves. The Women special interest groups made mince meet out of men through divorces. Transfer of wealth, power and the eslavement of men. When I got around the circles of men fighting for their kids I saw a comunity that would make anyone cry.
I am not sure what the answer is. But, it has taken a long time to rebuilt my life, out of the mess that the judicial system created in my life.
Greenspan knew the morgage mess very early on and never did anything. Now it will take a long time to rebuild the financial system. I am sure there where lots of special interest that pushed for Greenspan not to do anything. We do not know, and they will not tell us.
Great Post Roger.
Jeff from Milan, Italy
I have one question about Vick, and let me just qualify it by saying that we are dog fosters and the wife also volunteers at dog focused non-profits. I'd also like to qualify a bit more and say that I'm weird (OK, was that a stretch?) ... but I don't care about football, I don't care about Vick, etc. So I feel like maybe I'm far, far removed from the emotion ... OK, so my question is, if Vick were a carpenter, an auto mechanic, a painter, a used car salesman ... would we deny him access to his profession after he did his time? To me, the answer is unequivocally, no. His punishment was decided, he did his time, that's that. So perhaps the debate is, did the punishment fit the crime.
you don't care about football? you mean futbol as they call soccer on other places right? lol
i believe i am correct in saying that where affinity for sports and sports teams are concerned reason and rational discourse are not necessary ingredients for a lengthy discussion.
Interesting post Roger. I heard a sports commentator note that there are individuals in the NFL that have been charged with manslaughter, and there was less controversy with them than Vick!
It is amazing how Vietnam has bounced back from war and incredible levels of destruction while countries in other parts of the world have made far less progress. The book "Economic Gangsters" looks at this.
The documentary "The Fog of War" has a section where McNamara describes going back to Vietnam years later to sit down with his counterparts. He relates that the Vietnamese and the Americans were fighting for completely different things on the same land.
When you invest in a corporation you are hiring the management. The same is true when looking at investing in a country, you evaluate the government to see if it will effectively carry out the roles it is responsible for.
It is possible to evaluate our US bureaucracies the same way as a corporation to decided if you want to hire them to carry out a function or not. There is no magical force that causes people to work selflessly for the public good when they enter a a bureaucracy. There does seem to be a more mundane force that causes bureaucracies to defend their turf and grow their budgets every year ;) The only difference is that bureaucracies can't go out of business if/when they aren't effective anymore.
Jeff from Milan: there is a difference between the freedom to freely enter a bilateral contract and the freedom to unilaterally dissolve a properly executed contract. Does anyone know Rand's views on marriage? I would think that if the government stepped in and said that no one could enter binding social contracts, than that would be something Rand would be against.
Regarding Rand, people often simplistically associate her ideas with selfishness. Keep in mind though that the opposite of selfishness is charity I would think. It is not possible for the government to do charity though, all it can do is entitlements. You "deserve" anything you get from the government even if you aren't "deserving" in the more colloquial sense. All that to say: giving more and more money to the government is no antidote for selfishness.
The people buying Rand's books would probably rather be able to give their income to any cause they see fit. This is instead of having their income taken and spent on wars, ethically challenged foreign dictators, programs that wreck sectors of our economy etc. As I pointed out above no money spent by the government can rightly be called charity.
It is fascinating how most so called "liberals" and "conservatives" can't have useful conversations. There is an interesting book called "Who Really Cares" that examines a bunch of data to see if the stereotypes behind these labels really hold up.
I'm befuddled by folks who see government as an agent of compassion and philanthropy...or believe government can make better decisions than individuals...or believe handing wealth and liberty over to the government is a badge of unselfishness.
Big government breeds a mindset of dependency and lack of self responsibilty amongst a large segment of the population. And when a majority discovers they can vote themselves goods and services paid for by a minority, that's when societies begin to collapse.
Oh ya, I mean American football :) A guy that has no love for the sport, a male from Detroit that considers cars a way to get from point A to point B and a nerd that hates Star Wars. I'm a confused soul.
But I'll take your cue and not try and inject reason into something so emotional. Also noted the same for politics and religion :)
Drudge has a great post on his site today featuring a vintage Ronald Reagan piece on socialized healthcare. Readers may want to access it. He nails it. It would tie in with Ayn Rand very well.
T
@ Matthew: You are right about Rand's view that individuals would prefer to distribute their money as they see right, rather than have a group of government politicians decide what is ethical.
However, don't be so quick to say selfishness is the opposite of charity. When Roger fights fires and his wife helps animals in the shelter, they are certainly helping society. Rand would argue that this is a form of selfishness. No, I am not smoking crack. This is her view. The reason is Roger and his wife also gain a sense of satisfaction from these activities. And, pursuing your happiness is a form of selfishness.
It also proves they are good people in that helping others makes them feel good.
Rand essentially rails against individuals being forced into an action because the collective thought dictates that it benefits society.
Hi Kirk, yes I think that a volunteer fire fighting and caring for animals are charitable actions.
Matthew,
I was out of college when I got married. Mat, I came to the us when I was a little boy and without parents(they were both dead) concluded college education. So I was young and out of college wanted a family. In 1987 after 10 years of marriage I read atlas shrugged and decided to live a more usefull life and tried to unwind such a contract. That was a holocoust experience. All for the judicial system. I lost IRA, KEO, House, a doughter, friends and almost my life. That is not a civilized country. The divorce lasted 7 long years. Yes you are correct about rand and divorce. But I found out a little too late.
Best,
Jeff from Milan, Italy
To tie this back into investing, This seems like a contrast between bottom up analysis (right woman, right characteristics) vs. top down analysis (start with goal - family vs. useful life).
This is the deepest stuff I've read since college. Now I'm going to have that dream tonight where I forgot to read the material and it's time for the final exam.
If you're going through a divorce, best to get on your knees and pray and don't get fooled again !
Thanks to R Daltrey for that
back from another selfish act, going to the gym, and Kirk is 100% right volunteering creates tremendous satisfaction.
the are very few things like being done with a wildfire
Thanks for bringing up the difference between selfishness and self-interest a la Ayn Rand. I think the problem most liberal politicians seem to have is that they misunderstand self-interest, talking so much about the needs of the few that they completely ignore the devastating effects their actions have on the majority of the population.
On another note, I wanted to suggest a site as a new read for you and a possible new addition to your blog if you enjoy. The site is called Random Facts and contains a number of different facts articles about a variety of topics I think you might like. The URL is http://facts.randomhistory.com/ and you may email me at rbaron@randomhistory.com if you have any questions.
Post a Comment