Cipolla on Stupidity

Quotes Entirely Relevant to Something

"Human affairs are admittedly in a deplorable state. This, however, is no novelty. As far back as we can see, human affairs have always been in a deplorable state."

--Carlo Cipolla, The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity

Keynes on Education

Quotes Entirely Relevant to Something

Education is the inculcation of the incomprehensible into the indifferent by the incompetent.

--John Maynard Keynes

On John Wayne

You have to love classic Western movies. There's just something so perfect about the scenic settings, the less-than-fully developed characters, and the tales of honor among men. I'd nearly forgotten all that, having been over here in London for so long. As if it weren't bad enough that I haven't been on a horse in six months, I haven't seen any Westerns aside from McClintock in that time either. At least until today, that is. Apparently the Brits have some fascination with American Westerns. This afternoon, they aired one I'd never seen before--a standard John Wayne Western called Chisum . Maybe because I grew up watching John Wayne movies with my dad or maybe because I feel drawn to the characters that brought order to the West, I've always loved John Wayne movies. The thing that strikes me these days more than ever before is just how principled his characters tended to be. From McClintock to Chisum to The Quiet Man (which admittedly isn't a Western), he always tried to avoid violence and take the high road until ultimately being pushed over the edge by the dishonorable tactics of his foe. And of course, then, being John Wayne, he kicked someone's ass.

But this got me thinking. That kind of honor, which used to be the stuff of legend, barely seems to make it into the movies these days. Maybe we as a society are less focused on honor or maybe movies are becoming more realistic, documenting the lack of honor that seems to surround us. But there is something distinctive about honor that has enabled it to weather the test of time, spanning ages and cultures. And while every age and culture has established its own unique code of honor, the concept never fades. It always has been and always will be something to strive for.

Strangely (or not so strangely given the fact that I Google everything these days), I checked out the Wikipedia page on honor (or honour--see spelling differences) and found an interesting section on cultures of honor and cultures of law. Now while most developed countries and cultures today are ruled by law, there used to many and still are a few cultures which have no recourse to law enforcement or government. Rule of Law requires some sort of social contract between the people and the government. The people give up the right to take matters into their own hands, knowing that transgressors will all be subject to punishment by laws that govern everyone equally. In other cultures, such as the old American West, many nomadic peoples, those who are for some reason "above the law" (like the rich and famous), or those whose activities do not lend themselves to seeking assistance from law enforcement agencies (such as the Mafia and other gangs), there must be rule by a code of honor. Frequently, this is a simple matter of vengeance, retaliation, vendetta, et cetera. According to Wikipedia, the two types of rule cannot coexist. Friedrich von Hayek, in The Road to Serfdom, highlights the need for Rule of Law in a society to ensure that everyone is subject to the same treatment under law and that consistent systems are in place to prevent abuse of power or seizure of control. While I agree with him that establishing the Rule of Law is essential to the development of a sound society, the romantic in me is still drawn to the nobility found in such honorable characters as those played by John Wayne. Even under Hayek's Rule of Law, it is not enough to act in a legal way; we must still strive to act with the honor that distinguished our forefathers. Play nicely for as long as possible, but if pushed too far, do as the Duke did and kick a pilgrim's ass.

Now I could take this to another level--that of foreign policy. It's pretty clear from both historical and current events that the Rule of Law doesn't exist at an international level (as nice as it would be if it did). At the present moment, countries can only be governed by a code of honor, not by a code of laws. The US has had incredibly poor foreign policy recently. Now there are many reasons for this, but one that really stands out is that our leaders (even if they are characterized as cowboys) have forgotten the code of honor that we like to imagine ruled the West in the absence of laws. In fact, there were probably as few men with John Wayne-like honor back then as there are now. But that makes it all the more important to act like the ideal that he portrays. We should play nicely for as long as possible, be honest with other countries, talk to "vermin" only when necessary, and only if pushed too far, fight back with all the intensity of John Wayne and all the strength of the US armed forces.

That said, I'm still not hawkish overall and think that there is no good reason for the US to spend as much money on its armed forces as the next six countries combined. Overall, I'm long honor and short retarded allocation of resources (especially when they're paid for with my money).

Thai Thoughts

I've just returned to London after a week travelling around Thailand with some of my closest friends. The country was incredibly beautiful and the people were unbelievably friendly (especially the hookers and ping-pong show promoters--as if we really wanted to see a ping pong ball get shot out of a woman's genitals at five in the morning). Got exposed to a bit of the culture while wandering night markets, riding around in the back of pickup truck taxis, eating fried grasshoppers, roasted roaches (if you're wondering, yes, there's video footage), and something that really seemed like a rat on a stick. We also checked out several Buddhist temples, the ruins of ancient Sukhothai, and of course, the white sand beaches. For the first tme in my life, I went swimming in the ocean. Yes, I know, I've been deprived.

One of the most remarkable things about the country (and, I guess, of the entire region) is the fact that almost all prices are negotiable to some extent. Unfortunately, in a lot of places, natural monopolies have emerged and mini-cartels have been set up to lock in above-market prices. Fortunately, my friend Ben is an expert price negotiator, having honed his skills in the streets of Beijing. Bargaining at the street markets and with cabbies was actually really fun. Hopefully, I'll get to do some more of that this summer while interning for Merrill Lynch. At the end of the day, though, I find that I enjoy finding bargains by recognizing something underpriced more than I enjoy negotiating the price down to a level where it's a bargain. Of course, should I ever enter the world of real estate investment, both will be essential skills. In the next few weeks, I'm cramming for exams, visiting some companies in Dubai, and actually updating this blog. Expect several randomly relevant quotes, tales from Dubai, and a couple of essays that might actually interest someone (maybe even you).

Other good news is that it looks like Robert Mugabe has finally lost control over Zimbabwe. Hopefully, his successor can bring the country around. As always, I'm short African dictators.

Which brings us to my buy recommendation of the day--long relaxing walks on the beach in Thailand.

Long Time, No See

As you can clearly tell if you've been keeping up with this blog (and obviously, I haven't), the whole daily entry thing is more than I can handle. Now, I am not going to change that and begin making daily entries. But, in the absence of truly original writing, I will be making various recommendations every few days. Should that be too difficult a task (which will probably be the case in the next week or two since I'm catching up on work that I didn't do while traveling over the Christmas Holiday), I will be posting random quotes and things that just generally seem interesting to me. If you like them, that's cool. If not, it's not my fault you lack class. In that vein, let me present to you what will surely be one of many

Quotes Entirely Relevant to Something.

The word "politics" comes from the Greek "poly-" meaning "many" and "tics," which are, of course, small blood-sucking parasites.

--a paraphrase of Ken Fisher in The Only Three Questions That Count and originally, 1992 Libertarian presidential candidate Andre Marrou.