Realization

I just realized I did not post a single word in 2017 - so here are a few for 2018. This gets me all caught up. 

Billions sold

From a story somewhere on the internet: “LONDON – In the last two decades, the world has spent more than $196 billion trying to save people from death and disease in poor countries. But just what the world's gotten for its money isn't clear, according to two studies published Friday in the medical journal Lancet. U.N. agencies, universities and others working on public health routinely take from 2 to 50 percent of a donation for "administrative purposes" before it goes to needy countries. Others said there is little incentive for health officials to commission an independent evaluation to find out what their programs have achieved. "The public health community has convinced the public the only way to improve poor health in developing countries is by throwing a ton of money at it," Stevens said. "It is perhaps not coincidental that thousands of highly paid jobs and careers are also dependent on it." That kind of expenditure translates to $27,223,000 PER DAY, in case anyone really cares. The money creates jobs for health professionals but it does not help unhealthy populations all that much – that’s for sure. If you want to stay healthy, just wash your hands frequently, and stay away from sick people and from doctors. Please.

Despots and thieves

The President of a tiny little African country died yesterday. His name was Omar Bongo Ondimba. Already, many heads of state are proclaiming their deep regret and offering condolences. This man was a thief with a capital T, not unlike so many other leaders. He reminds me of Ferdinand Marcos and Carlos Salinas de Gortari. His little country of almost one and a half million (1,400,000) made him and his family filthy rich because it exports great amounts of oil. His people, in the meantime, are dirt poor. There are so few of them they could all be rich. This is fair? This is kind? Please. In the meantime, the condolences keep coming. Many historians credit Bongo with keeping his country peaceful. (It's not hard with less than two million people.) Bongo's private police force numbered 1,500. There has to be a better way. Please.

What Poverty???

From a New York Times article: “Poor people have I.Q.s significantly lower than those of rich people, and the awkward conventional wisdom has been that this is in large part a function of genetics. After all, a series of studies seemed to indicate that I.Q. is largely inherited. Identical twins raised apart, for example, have I.Q.s that are remarkably similar. They are even closer on average than those of fraternal twins who grow up together. If intelligence were deeply encoded in our genes, that would lead to the depressing conclusion that neither schooling nor antipoverty programs can accomplish much. Yet while this view of I.Q. as overwhelmingly inherited has been widely held, the evidence is growing that it is, at a practical level, profoundly wrong. Richard Nisbett, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, has just demolished this view in a superb new book, “Intelligence and How to Get It,” which also offers terrific advice for addressing poverty and inequality in America.” How dumb can anybody get? I.Q. is only part of the poverty issue. There are lots and lots of poor people who are very intelligent. There are also lots and lots of rich people who are very dumb. A person can marry money and can also inherit money. They can also win the lottery. Poverty is concentrated among nations whose people are generally (1) inactive; (2) don’t have a cohesive society, (3) do not enjoy good health, and (4) unimaginative. (1) If you stay put all day (if you are inert) you will find that money will not fall down on you from the sky. (2) If you live in a society where people are adversaries and do not work as a family group, where there is no sense of community and belonging, then achievement and progress become almost impossible. (3) If you live in a society where people die young, you will find people struggling simply to stay alive and a life that could be productive for 70 years is simply productive for 30 or 40. (4) If people work hard and live long and work well together but have no imagination, they will also not prosper as much. Education is part of the solution but certainly not all of it. This article in the New York Times is just an effort to sell more books.

Out of Afrika

NPR always has something to say about the troubles in Zimbabwe. It’s irritating. They just won’t leave it alone. Why is Afrika so dysfunctional? Does anyone know? Can’t someone do something to help this poor continent? There must be dozens of specialists in the State Department who make it their business to know as much about Afrika as their brains can hold, no? So, why don’t we have answers? Why no solutions? Who benefits from having Afrika remain a non-functioning continent? Is it anybody’s business to help the poor continent anyway? Certainly the Africans suffer from injustices right and left. They suffer from very poor health. That doesn’t help. Their life expectancy is the lowest on the planet. They suffer at the hands of dictatorial, unjust, and corrupt governments. That doesn’t help either. They fight each other in violent civil battles constantly. That’s not a positive thing. What to do? Throw money at it? Do they just need to learn to be just, to be fair, to share, to be honest, to be constructive, to be productive, and treat each other kindly? Would that do it? Can they even imagine a better world? Does anyone know? Hello?

Blue Lips

So, ...the market finally bottomed. I predicted this. The world's top economists kept saying the market might hit bottom in about six months. They are all so wishy-washy. I said one to two months at most. It is Friday but not Friday the 13th. If it were, people would be more panicky than they already are. Courage is in very short supply nowadays. Now is the time to start having a good time. Prices are coming down - gasoline is a lot cheaper, too. There was this Harvard economist on NPR trying to explain why deflation is a bad thing. He just beat around the bush for ten minutes and didn't say a thing. Enjoy falling prices while they last.

Dieta

Bueno, vamos a ver si es complicado esto de las dietas. Yo no creo en ningun plan de dieta comercial. Ni en libros de consejos muy complicados tampoco. Eso es para esprimir dinero de nuestras bolsas. Lo de perder peso es sencillo. Se trata de no comer mas de lo necesario. El que come mas de lo que su cuerpo requiere, aumenta de peso. El que gasta mas de lo que gana pronto se ve en quiebra. Es lo mismo amigos. Como comprobarlo? Vean ustedes las fotos de todo aquel desdichado que vive en areas donde hay muy poco que comer - partes de Africa, partes de la India, Korea del Norte, etc. Ahi no se batalla por perder peso. Porque? Porque no hay nada que comer - nada mas lo mas minimo. Es lo que yo pienso. Buena suerte.