Investing is an act of faith.
Faith in the future.
Faith in the underlying concept of capitalism.
Faith in humanity.
Without faith, the act of investing becomes very hard.
Right now, it is getting increasingly hard to have faith in the current system, leadership, and structure. It seems that every day we get a new reason to not believe.
So what is left?
The basic belief in the goodness of people. The notion that human beings will figure out the best way of organizing themselves and their capital (financial & human) and putting them to the highest and best use. The faith that if the current system does not work, we will collectively find a way to change it.
The belief that good people will rise to the challenge and do good things.
It has turned out that this basic optimism has been the only realism.
What is our alternative?
We can assume that no one can be trusted. That we have finally found a challenge we cannot overcome. That this is the end of capitalism.
We can chose to be pessimistic.
So far, pessimism has never turned out to be correct. Assuming that we will not find a way to deal with this issue would be irrational. That assumption has never turned out to he correct. In fact, you would have to ignore the weighty evidence of history to get there.
Plus, it is a terrible way to live.
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I think you've hit on something big here, Carl. As secular libertarian, I believe in the basic goodness of people. I also believe in an America with TRULY free markets and free trade.
The problem is, many of us believe that humans are a bunch of greedy beasts that would prey on eachother like vermin until one king monkey emerged and made everyone else subservient.
My theory is that there is a connection between this world-view and the concept of Original Sin – though many might argue that no such connection exists. The bottom line is, we have to believe in human solidarity, and freedom. As someone favorable to the Austrian School, I believe many of these problems with wall-street happened precisely BECAUSE of government intervention, crony capitalism, and malinvestment that was encouraged by government policies.
I should make one more distinction: I believe there's a difference between trusting the individual, and having trust in a central planning. I tend to trust the former and distrust the latter. All entrepreneurs enjoy capitalism and bear the risks that come with it. With so many small businesses in the country, the risk is spread. However, if massive ammounts of capital are allocated by one entity, the risk is far greater. This is what the government is doing “on our behalf.” I love it when these politicians go on televesion and try to tell us what “america needs.” How would THEY know?
Ah Men Brother You also cant watch tv or read the news. My 74 year old father said yesterday that reading the local paper reminded him of reading MAD magazine as a kid..
Neither optimism nor pessimism suits the investor. Realism about the entire range of possible outcomes sets up the best investment decisions.
Ah Men Brother You also cant watch tv or read the news. My 74 year old father said yesterday that reading the local paper reminded him of reading MAD magazine as a kid..
Neither optimism nor pessimism suits the investor. Realism about the entire range of possible outcomes sets up the best investment decisions.
Ah Men Brother You also cant watch tv or read the news. My 74 year old father said yesterday that reading the local paper reminded him of reading MAD magazine as a kid..
Neither optimism nor pessimism suits the investor. Realism about the entire range of possible outcomes sets up the best investment decisions.
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