America, unlike so much of Europe, does not have a long history of notable and/or noble families who have served the State for so many generations.  We do not have a history of producing and respecting great philosophers, such as Hagel, Kant, Nietzsche, Voltaire, Hume, etc. In fact, the closest thing to a group of philosophers that we have ever produced was our Founding Fathers who are held up to ridicule by so many of our self-appointed elites today.  There are those in the Ivory Towers of universities, those in many of the newsrooms and even political leaders who look down on the great mass of American citizens and think of them as rubes and deplorables who do not understand that only these same elites know what is best for the nation.  And yet, it is the great gray mass of our citizens that have and continue to create the jobs and means for the next generation to go further and create an even better life for themselves. It is that very gray mass that creates the wealth that is such a magnet for millions around the world.  Why is that?  It is because the mass of Americans are mediocre; they simply do not realize and do not believe that they are gifted or chosen. They succeed because they do not know what obstacles are before them and do not believe they will fail.  American is great and was built on a system of mediocracy, a place where the mass of citizens simply tries; tries to survive, tries to create a business, ties to be the best they can be. If you tried and failed, then you were encouraged to try again, and again until you succeed or quit. For much of our history, government pretty well stayed out of the way of those who tried although we see more rules, and more regulations as an ever expanding government at all levels attempts to justify their very existence.  

This is not true in Europe. Europe developed a bureaucratic and elitist mindset that was shunned by our Founding Fathers; America has traditionally encouraged entrepreneurs, Europe does not.  It takes a brave European to attempt to become an entrepreneur.  The laws for incorporation are more difficult than in America and, if you should fail with your dream in Europe, getting a second chance is much more difficult and possible only after a number of years. 

The linked article discusses this concept of American mediocracy.  It has resulted in more freedom, an easier life, and more choices for all.  Let us hope that “those who know better”, stay in their Ivory Towers and newsrooms. While they are untouchable and will continue to tell us how we should live, but at least we can try to defend ourselves against the professional politicians who write laws and regulations to guide those whose lives they little understand.  If we are successful, we will help to create a better union, a better land for all.

https://www.firstthings.com/article/2022/11/a-more-perfect-mediocracy

Lenin, the great icon of Communism, was raised and lived the life of a bourgeois. Cared for and pampered by his mother and family, then by his wife Nadya Krupskaya, he could not live on his meager earnings and so continually received money from his mother and from the donations of wealthy liberal capitalists who did not understand his total hatred of them. He lived a life dedicated to revolution, but never raised a fist in anger, never stood on the barricades and was known to flee at the first sign of violence. Yet, when power came to him, he easily ordered the deaths of real and supposed enemies, including those who had opposed him philosophically.

In several reviews, this book was praised for exposing the real Lenin, for breaking the shell which had been carefully crafted creating an image of benign intellectualism detached from the slaughter’s instituted by Stalin. Yet the book, if read without a knowledge of the seizure of power, the Civil War and the creation of the Soviet state would not in and of itself destroy the myth of the peaceable Lenin. There are only a couple of examples of his willingness to shed blood, as when the elevator in the Kremlin was not working for a few days and Lenin demanded that the maintenance man be shot, or more seriously, when there was famine in the countryside. At that time, Lenin was approached with an appeal to ease up on the countryside food seizures, but his response was that it was an ideal time to begin the liquidation of the priests and churches as people’s attention would be diverted. In reality, Lenin was a driving force behind the formation and actions of the Cheka, ‘the sword and shield’ of the Communist Party. Like Stalin after him, Lenis read the list of those executed as well as personally signing the lists of those awaiting execution.

Aside from not exposing the ruthlessness of Lenin, the rest of the book does reflect Lenin’s ability to bring others to his way of thinking and his excellent sense of timing, politically. Although like others, he was surprised by the overthrow of the Tsar (just as decades later everyone was surprised by the collapse of the Soviet Union), he reacted quickly to return to Russia and pick up the direction of the revolution. Although his face was not even recognized in Russia, he was able to direct and corral the energy of the times and the streets to successfully seize power. Then, thanks to his drive and the skills of men like Trotsky, Dzerzhinsky, and others, the first Communist government was able to survive war, famine, civil war and more.

This is an excellent biography of a man who has been immortalized as a brilliant thinker and leader but misunderstood. His self-centeredness, intellect, patience, and ruthlessness are all laid out for examination. For anyone seeking to have a better understanding how such a terrible system could be founded and survive with such a small base of support, read this book.

Several years ago, while on a visit to the U.K., I stopped at a small village north of the Cotswolds for some fish and chips.  While I was happily munching on the excellent treat, I struck up a conversation with a local and the one thing led to another, and we began to discuss the NIH.  I mentioned that I did not see any signs for a doctor’s office in the village.  He replied that of course there were no signs or advertisements as the village had no doctor and that the nearest GP was some fifty miles away.  I stated my amazement, and he went on to tell me that everyone in the village was excited as the traveling government dentist was coming to town for two days. 

Never having heard of a traveling dentist, I asked for clarification.  It seems that once a year, the dentist visits the village and sets up shop.  There are no appointments, everything is on a first come, first served basis which of course, leads to quite long lines. You wait your turn; a procedure is done and out you go.  I mentioned that the service must be quite perfunctory, and he agreed.  What I asked if you need to come back for a follow up procedure.  “Simple: come back the next day and get in line, no preference given.  When it is quitting time, he packs up and leaves.”  It was an amazing conversation and like the rich American, I sat there wondering how such a system could be endured.  But as my new friend said, the service is free! 

Here is a link into an interesting article on cohabitation and the financial cost of such a decision.  It is an interesting phenomenon and one to be considered by anyone thinking of cohabitation. 

“I care a little bit less that I thought I would about marriage” she said. “Once you start living together, it almost feels like you made that commitment.”  So ends a recent article on why unmarried couples face a wealth gap. 

Nearly fifty-nine percent of adults aged 18 to 44 are living with a partner, sharing rent and food costs, but maintaining separate checking and investment accounts.  Yet, despite their two income lifestyles, the “net worth of cohabiting couples age 25 to 34 was … a quarter of that for married couples.”  Why is that?  Unmarried couples are willing to purchase a home jointly, but they are not willing to mingle their assets on an everyday basis.  And they wonder if there is some magical reason why their married friends are doing so much better than they.

This wealth gap also exists in Black and Latino groups, where marriage rates are lower than among Whites and Asians.  Yet, in addressing poverty in these two groups, planners and leaders seem to ignore this glaring fact.  Why?  Is the truth too difficult to hear?  Perhaps bringing it up is an act of white privilege?  Can poverty in these groups ever been really attacked until this issue is addressed in an adult manner, regardless and despite those who shun the concept of personal responsibility.

As the comment in the opening paragraph shows, living together may feel like a commitment, but it is only a convenient means of splitting expenses.  The secret that married couples know that seems to be beyond the comprehension of the individuals mentioned in the article linked below, is that actual marriage is a commitment.  In that commitment, a couple begins to focus less on themselves and more on that commitment.  There is a shift in one’s mindset as one believes that an error, and there are plenty of errors to be made in marriage, can destroy years of work and compromises in planning for a future together.

The amazing thing about the article is that the interviewed woman does not seem to have any idea of what happens in a marriage. There is an old dialog where a man says to a woman that marriage is only piece of paper and that he really loves her.  She turns and say that if marriage is “only a piece of paper”, then he should not be afraid of it.  Could the value of marriage not be appreciated because it is considered judging someone?  Then perhaps it should be taught as an exercise in economics.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/moving-in-together-doesnt-match-the-financial-benefits-of-marriage-but-why-11667761626?page=1

Born into the family of a WWI hero and early support of the Fascist movement in Italy, Ciano was not only Mussolini’s son on law, but also his Foreign Minister from late 1936-1943. Later he voted, in the Supreme Fascist Council, to oust Mussolini from power and at that time was also purged from all political life.

His diary is honest; it deals with many of the personalities of the time, the pressures, issues, and his attempts to steer Mussolini from war and close collaboration with Hitler and the Nazis. A combat flyer himself, he took part in multiple combat missions to show the population that the leadership could lead by example. Although Mussolini was in power for many years, Ciano as head of the Foreign Office was as surprised as Mussolini at the poor state of the Italian military at the start of the war. Recognizing that the country was bankrupt and suffering from severe food shortages, Ciano tried to convince Il Duce to not enter the war, but Mussolini saw himself as a great wartime leader, believing in his own press clippings that he himself wrote.

It is clear from the Diary that Mussolini had a poor grasp on the economics of his country, was totally taken in by Hitler and had dreams of empire far beyond the abilities of the Fascist state. Should Italy move against Yugoslavia? How about Greece? Perhaps France! Turning first one direction and then the other, Mussolini ignored the basics of governance and had an utter distain for the Italian people (whom he called “sheep,” “weak,” etc. and the Catholic Church. In a country where the Church still held enormous influence (even though the people seldom went to mass), he failed to heed the lesson of the old Roman Empire that the one area government left alone was the religion of the people.

Foiled in numerous attempts to stop Mussolini from going to war, Ciano gradually lost power as the influence of the Nazis grew in Italy. His descriptions of leaders, such as Ribbentrop, Himmler, Pavelic as well as the hatred of the Hungarians and Romanians as they struggled to attain their illusions of importance often leave one shaking one’s head at the foolishness and ignorance of the many players in Europe. When Japan went to war, they believed that at best they could attain a compromise peace with the United States, but Mussolini refused to believe in nothing less than victory, even as he lost armies in North Africa, Greece, and Russia. Like Napoleon, he played with lives with utter disregard for the misery he was creating.

In January 1944, Ciano was tried by the rump Mussolini government in Verona and executed. His diary has been published in pieces, but this edition is the complete manuscript.

A revolution is a terrible time of death and destruction. Some revolutions are justified, some are not; some are begun with the highest of intentions, some are started with the most common of intentions. If followed by a civil war, the misery and destruction to lives, property, morals, industry, and traditions is even greater. Finally, add an ignorant and easily led mass of humanity that has suffered under a form of government which has only used those masses for its own enrichment, and you will begin to understand the revolution and civil war in what was known as Russia from 1917-1921. Millions of people, most of them innocent and caught between forces they neither supported nor understood were tortured, raped, robbed, and murdered often by methods that only the most insane and hate filled savages could have devised.

Anthony Beevor, an excellent military historian has tried to put together in one place a comprehensive history of the Russian revolution and civil war. It was a huge task as the period is filled with countless political, military and outlaw factions that ranged across a land that covers one-seventh of the globe. Each faction is filled with personalities guided by, for the most part, the basest of emotions, greed, illusions of grandeur, ignorance, hatred, etc. Few of those factions have any real program except survival and a hope that they can eliminate some other faction that is in the neighboring town or province. They are used and discarded by allies and often just as quickly ally themselves with yesterday’s foe.

All do except the Communist faction. Driven by a vision that was simple for the most ignorant to grasp, and enforced by a single-minded discipline, the Communists were, from a central position able to fight and defeat their poorly disciplined enemies. In a time when entire villages were destroyed for providing horses or food to one faction, normally at the point of a gun, the “Reds” as the Communists were called, were able to our terrorize the masses and their foes, the “Whites”, a loose group of armies over-officered, reactionary and possessing no simple program to offer anyone in the middle.

• 1967: Dire Famine by 1975
• 1969: In 20 years, everyone will “disappear in a cloud of blue smoke” (air pollution)
• 1970: A new Ice Age by 2000
• 1970: The U.S. will be subject to water rationing by 1974 and food rationing by 1980
• 1971: A new Ice Age in 50-60 years
• 1972: A new Ice Age by 2070
• 1974: Space satellites show new Ice Age coming fast
• 1974: Ozone layer will be destroyed
• 1980: Acid rain is a major problem
• 1988: Increased drought in the 1990s
• 1989: Rising seas to “obliterate” nations by 2019 per the U.N.
• 1989: NYC’s west side highway will be under water by 2019
• 2000: Children in the U.K. will not know what snow is due to warming
• 2002: Worldwide famine within 20 years
• 2004: The U.K. to have “Siberian climate” by 2020
• 2006: Per Al Gore, withing 10 years, the Earth will be turned into a “total frying pan”
• 2008: Artic to be ice free by 2018
• 2009: Only 8 years to save the Planet
• 2009: Per the U.K. PM, only 50 days to “save the Planet from Catastrophe”
• 2013: Ice Free Artic by 2015
• 2014: Per a French Minister, only “500 days to avoid climate chaos”

I could expand that list, but it does remind us that there is a huge environmental industry that thrives on painting a picture of death and disaster. They are seldom if ever held to account, so in that way they mirror government: action without oversight. But perhaps there is hope?

The articled linked below discussed the admission by Green Peace that the attempt to recycle plastics has been and will continue to be a total failure. Amazing! The cost and effort of collecting, sorting, recycling, etc. actually contributes to damage to the environment. Of course, Green Peace does not apologize for the decades of their crusading for recycling and the waste of hundreds of billions of dollars that might have been spend on something worth the effort. In fact, Green Peace suggests even more draconian actions which if their recycling campaign is a measure, will cost more money in the pursuit of a fool’s dream.

You might wish to save the list above to remind you that the environment industry will never rest. Given the incorrect predictions above, many of them from the U.N. itself, we need to be a bit more skeptical of the science and motives of those who proclaim the most. In a recent U.N. report, it stated that even if all the promises and goals of all the nations were kept, the original U.N. goal for controlling the Earth’s temperature could not be achieved. At the same time, in a backhanded manner, the same U.N. report admits that its original projection was incorrect (shocking), and that even more drastic action must be taken to save if not humanity, at least the Earth. How drastic? Once proposal is to slaughter any animal we use as food and that we all become vegans. No, I am not kidding.

Let us hope we can be saved from those who wish to save us and create their own Brave New World.

https://www.city-journal.org/greenpeace-admits-recycling-doesnt-work

Decades ago, science fiction writers described a future filled with totalitarian states, where the rights of individuals were sacrificed to the needs of the State. Novels such as Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, An Excess Male, and others, paint a bleak picture of surveillance, dogma, indoctrination, and soulless everyday living.

With the advance of technology, we are speeding toward those dark visions and in no country is it truer than in Communist China. What started to provide services in a timely manner has morphed into a means of intense control of the individual via mandatory apps which track every individual’s movement, purchases, and contacts. Such monitoring is supported by a series of rewards and punishments from which the individual cannot escape. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and others of their ilk could only dream of such power and control.

The link below will take you to a recent editorial on how China is now using that type of power on the international level by controlling foreign diplomats accredited to work in China. It is a tale of how weak willed our State Department and political leadership is in their desire to maintain open links to a nation which has openly stated that they wish to supplant the United States as the premier power in the world and is willing to use any tactic or weapon to achieve that end.

History is again ignored by those who should be the best versed in its lessons, especially lesson number one, that weakness in the face to aggression only leads to more aggression. China is willing to violate international laws and norms which go back centuries and has found that the dictum that “might makes right” has truth. Let us hope that our leaders will demand that China obey the simplest international conventions and that ignoring such rules will only serve to isolate them.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-china-abuses-u-s-diplomats-beijing-covid-cables-emails-congress-whistleblower-11666729612

While driving the other day, and being bored with the news, I decided to listen to an excerpt from a collection of the great speeches of history. At random, the first speech was of Martin Luther at his trial for in 1521 before the Holy Roman Emperor and the Diet of Worms. That speech is considered the tipping point between the old world and the modern world as it threw down the challenge of a person to believe as they wished.

It was a wonderful speech, firm and positive, a brilliant discourse on his beliefs and the errors of his accusers. I was struck by the level of language and the phraseology which made one listen and think at the same time. It was in short magnificent. At the end of the speech, I continued onto the speech by Sir Thome More in 1535 and again, the level of intellect and the sharpness of mind forced me to marvel at how the leaders of their time risked all for their beliefs. The same was true for the speech by Queen Elizabeth I in 1588 as she rallied her subjects to defend the realm from an invasion by the Spanish. Her speech showed her leading by example with a willingness to die for her people.

The series of speeches start with one by Socrates in 399 B.C. and include speeches by Patrick Henry, Cromwell, Lincoln, Churchill and more. Listening to them, brought home to me the fact that unlike the “Reckoning” interpretation of history which we have today, the power structure of Western Man is not the result of some vast conspiracy against everyone else, but rather the result of thousands of years of inquiry, discourse, the struggle of ideas and ideals, and a quest for knowledge. 

There is a story, possibly a fable, that when the great Chinese fleets sailed hundreds of years ago, one ship brought back to the Imperial Court, a giraffe. Everyone was amazed but the emperor asked what good is the animal? It does not look tasty, it gives no milk, one cannot ride it. In the end the emperor decreed that the native Chinese animals were better and, the great fleets with their magnificent ships were left to rot. How different from Western man! The record of inventions that have come about by the desire to learn, to make more efficient, to increase productivity are legend and most were done by individuals seeking something better not only for themselves, but for humanity.

The Western system is not always fair, or kind. But would anyone care to live life without the inventions and tools of the Western system? That is the cost if you want to be fair. Do not take the fruits without paying the price. Trivial things like electric light, modern medicines, fertilizers which have saved hundreds of millions from starvation, air travel, the automobile, telephones, etc.? Were wrongs done? Yes. Was there justice in the societies conquered by the West? No. They like the societies of the West were flawed. In the end, we need to give the devil his due and move forward. Beating one’s chest due to the belief that one’s ancestors had been wronged will not move one forward. Self-pity is never attractive.

https://quillette.com/2022/10/08/reckon-with-this/

Canada, the land of happiness, a land where its citizens are loved worldwide (for not being American) and a land where the government on the side of every citizen. Except if you are an investor.

In this book the Rosen’s (the father, Al, is a forensic accountant) point out how Canadas lax laws and weak enforcement of basic accounting principles have left the average Canadian exposed to the ravages of swindlers both inside and outside of corporations. How is this possible?

• Firstly, Canada does not have the equivalent of the SEC; there are provincial securities regulators, but they try to balance the needs of the investors with those of the corporations who bring business to the provinces
• Secondly, the accountants and auditors in Canada regulate themselves; in fact, “Canada is the only major country in the world that allows the same people who audit public companies to financially control the process that sets the auditing rules.”
• Thirdly, according to the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that audited reports are prepared for the guidance of current shareholders and that those reports and the auditors who prepare them have no responsibility to perspective shareholders nor creditors
• Fourthly, Canada has moved to the Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) which standard throughout most of the world, as opposed to the GATT standard used in the U.S. In the opinion of the authors, the IFRS standard “…perpetuates toothless financial reporting and costly, but valueless, auditing in Canada.” where investors will have to do their own investigations to determine the value of the numbers.

All of this may sound a bit boring and mechanical, but Canada suffers from repeated financial disaster which have cost retirement funds and individual Canadians hundreds of billions of dollars of losses. Under the Canadian system, liabilities can be kept off the books to inflate the value of stocks which allows corporate executives to claim large bonuses, artificially drive up the price of stocks and provide insiders with major windfalls on stock options. In fact, under the Canadian system, the auditors can knowingly misstate the numbers and they have no financial liability. When corporations are caught, their punishments usually consist of a slap on the hand for the top securities regulator says that Canada believes in rehabilitation as opposed to punishment.

An example of outcome of Canadian practices is the closing of Nortel, Canada’s largest corporation. While Enron was a $50 billion-dollar disaster, the cost of Nortel was seven times larger (over $350,000,000,000). Given the difference in size of the U.S. and Canada, it would be as if Enron crashed and destroyed $5 Trillion of shareholders money.

This book has become more timely given the accounting practices that are being uncovered regarding companies out of China and the failure of regulators in Germany regarding the scandal with Wire card. Investing outside of the U.S. requires the average person to be much more circumspect and knowledgeable about the laws and accounting practices of any individual country. The difference in laws, procedures, enforcement and yes, accounting practices can expose the unwary to huge risks. There is a long record of disasters due to practices which would not be allowed in the U.S.; the crash of the Mexican Peso, the banking crisis of Japan, corruption in Brazil and most certainly the whims of the Party in China should make any investor concerned about any opportunity. When financial times get tough, no one stashes their money in China, Japan, Russia, France or, yes, Canada, and there are good reasons.

Although it deals with a topic that should be dry to the average reader, the authors writing will make the reader put the book down and laugh that such lax regulation and disregard for citizens can permitted in Canada.