Independence

I have come to the conclusion, watching politics and the markets of the last few years, that I have no interest, whatsoever, of being dependent on any other soul - not an employer, definitely not the government, not any charity organization, noone - for any important thing in my life.

Life is interdependent as a matter of fact. There is no escape from that reality.

But some people carry bigger loads than others, that is just a fact.

And I intend on carrying the heaviest loads and living a live of financial, professional, personal, political, intellectual, and otherwise independence with no hesitation, anymore. My life is my own. And if want it to remain my own, I need to create a life that will support that kind of independence.

That is my aim in life, right now.

Everything else is an illusion.

And if there is anything I do not want for my life, it is to live a life of illusions.

Democracy in the market - the capacity for self-correction

While I take issue with the idea that finance executives were "trapped in a dance" they could not quit - they made choices and they are responsible for those choices; they were just mistakes and not some conspiracy against the economy - this is the best explanation of the finance crisis that I have read to date.

The financial system: What went wrong?

The Economists' warning that reregulation would be foolish and undermine the responsibility and learning about the risks and benefits of securitization that needs to take place to avoid such messes in the future is a wise one.

That, not its perfection or even just its information-producing capacity, is the brilliance of the market: it's capacity, and all of our capacity, for self-correction. That is the democratic nature of the market that liberal democracies would be ill-advised to take for granted.

Read this article if you want to understand, better, how this meltdown happened, what it says about investing in ventures that produce real value, and how to avoid this kind of problem in the future.

Benjamin Graham (and Friedrich Hayek) would just shake his head and say, "They should have read my book."

And Warren Buffet is laughing all the way to the bank.

Giving, independent of ideology

George Will redeems himself with this excellent column on charitable giving.

Bleeding Hearts but Tight Fists

I have to admit that I have gotten less charitable, as of late, largely because I am taking more seriously living within my means, after too many adventures in credit cards in my young adulthood, and building savings and investment and fiscal responsibility into my budget.

I have no interest in maintaining that as a permanent habit. I just need to learn to live within my means and build wealth to give to others as well as support myself and my family.

Benjamin Graham is my model, right now. He went broke at about my same age during the Crash of 1929. Generosity is my instinct. I just need to trust that I'm taking fiscal responsibility seriously enough to build wealth to be generous with. Warren Buffet, I believe, has given more than half his wealth away, at this point. I want to have that kind of flexibility in my life.

And the money wouldn't hurt, either.

What the world should look like, when the bullshit clears

One where people have the freedom to learn from their own mistakes.

That's the kind of world I want for my own children.

That's the kind of world I need for my students, if they are to have a shot at a decent and good life.

Truth be told, that is the life that we all need, when we're honest with ourselves.

That's what a liberal democracy should be, when all the bullshit clears.