The End of the World Came in 1992

We stumbled upon this wonderful interview by way of Maoxian, who links to it. Normally we are not huge on linking at all, but sometimes things are said better elsewhere. We don't really know the personalities or magazine behind this interview with a hedge fund manager, but the questions asked and answered explain current financial difficulties better than we could ever do on our own.

We try our best here to comment on the financial and political happenings in a manner that is understandable and enjoyable to the regular reader, without being experts. Where we are sufficiently lacking understanding, we try to link to those who can add clarity.

When a person understands why things happen, they are less likely to leap to the more preposterous life choices that lead to stockpiling gold coins, cans of ravioli and Pabst in the basement, or ignoring the 401K because the rapture is coming at any moment.

And there are truly people like that.

I've a friend (really, it's not me, he's Canadian, as will be all future "friend" anecdotal points) whose father worked for financial institutions most of his adult life: from Equitable to Morgan Guaranty to Moodys to Merrill Lynch (from the 1970's through 1992). He was not a stupid man. He worked as a buy side analyst making a comfortable living, supporting wife and kids. He came home each day, finished off his Wall Street Journal and New York Times over a dinner of some fried food, often chicken (that chicken would later rise from the plate and kill him) and watched the national news, then flipped over to more coverage on PBS. He would go to bed around 2 a.m. after prayer for an hour or so.

He was a religious man. He was atuned to politics, but did not vote under the theory that everything was in God's hands. His favorite portions of the Bible were the sections dealing in prophecy and the future. Needless to say he was pretty sure that before his lifetime was over the "end times" would be upon us, and paying too much attention to structuring your 401K or investments was a waste. It would be of no value when the system fell apart and Christians were running for their lives under the new regime created by the Anti-Christ and his sidekick (some sort of talking beast-man).

(His vision of the future included invasions of U.S. soil by Germans and Chinese by way of Mexico, a United Europe run by the Anti-Christ and gearing up for war against Israel, numerous plagues upon man, huge locusts with genetically engineered man heads, the persecution of Christians, and increased sinful behavior, with women running around nearly naked. In fact when women started appearing in the 1980's with leggings and long sweatshirts, he grew alarmed, as he had dreamed that very thing many years earlier. I gather Jennifer Beals only confirmed soon coming doom).

Back in the late seventies he encouraged everyone to buy gold, but bought none himself, and while his wife often noted this as a major command decision flaw, his odd inability to act on his instincts perhaps kept him from buying into a bubble. He was no gold bug by any means, just somewhat skeptical of the system, and how much to commit to earthly things. He was rational enough not to buy gold, but religious enough to give his friends the heads up so that at least they would be covered when all hell broke loose. Laying off risk perhaps on others?

Of course the end of the world came in 1992... for him. It was that chicken on the plate. After years of battery and frying, the chicken had enough and struck back at his heart and he died. Because he was not proactive with his investments, and did not want to appear before God to be too focused on earthly goods, a lot (of potential money) was left on the table.

Given that story about my friend's father, we hope to move people away from that. From what? From drawing life-affecting wrong conclusions based on beliefs that cannot be supported by reality. While this may seem an unnecessary task, in actuality, the more you drill down into the average American's mind, the more you find pockets of fantastical thinking that lead to cynicism and lack of movement.

We see that in our own lives and daily struggle with it. My friend's father's beliefs were not necessarily wrong, but rather, his emphasis was wrong. He did not give unto Caesar what was Caesar's, or do the tasks (like voting) that a good citizen should do. There is a way to vote while at the same time knowing that God controls the ultimate outcome. There is a way to plan for the future even while believing a future may not come. '

Greater still, he ignored from his own book the point that his emphasis should be on love, and that God would take care of the future, and that if you are doing all you can today for God and man, then you will be prepared for whatever the future might bring. You do what you know to do given the brain and skills God gave you, but you don't let the earth or the tasks own you. We do (right), God validates. (Or for the atheist, we do right, and right itself will yield seen or unseen fruit).

In most cases the future is unknowable and the time you think you have can be much shorter (or longer). While looking for death (or Satan, or happiness, or love) to approach from the left and at some precise time, the same can approach you from the right at the moment you least expect it. Be ready for any outcome, and stay armed with wisdom and true knowledge.