Wall Street Meritocracy

“Part of the charm of Wall Street and what scares most reasonable people away is that it is as close to a meritocracy as exists on this Earth. It’s dog eat dog, sink or swim, you do a trade and it works, you’re a hero! Enlist some clients, you’re a hitter! The flip side of course is what makes Wall Street so dangerous. You lose money more than once and you’re out of a job. Just like that- gone. There’s no tenure on Wall Street. No job security. Ten and twenty year careers end in a flash. That’s one reason why everyone is paid so well. Think of it as combat pay. They make your life miserable hoping you’ll quit before they break you or hoping they break you before you lose money for the firm. It’s not the post office. It’s trial by fire. You would think that would make the entire work force afraid to do anything for fear of being tossed out on their can, back into the cruel cruel averagely paid world. But a meritocracy works in the opposite way. You have wicked smart people trying to prove to each other that they are smarter than everyone else. Unlike acing a chemistry final or even nailing your SAT test, the score is kept with real money. How much of the bonus pool you command for your do or die heroics. Lehman Brothers was a classic Wall Street meritocracy. They wanted to one up Goldman Sachs to win the meritocracy game and get paid in spades. ‘Let’s leverage this sucker up with mortgages. A trillion dollar balance sheet, hey if not us, who?’ When that trade went South, Lehman went bust. You lose money you’re out- good bye. Unless of course the government bails you out. To remit the next blow up, the G20 is trying to limit pay and banish risk. But no matter what bureaucrats do Wall Street’s meritocracy of getting paid will live on. They’re going to find their way around any new rules. The game might move to Hedge Funds or some other dark corner of the financial market. But no amount of reform is going to kill Wall Street’s animal instincts.” – Andy Kessler (Author & former hedge fund manager)

I listened to this piece on NPR’s Marketplace yesterday and found it cleverly entertaining and interesting, certainly based on a lot of truth. Wall Street is kind of a beast of it’s own that may never be tamed. ( If you wan to know more about meritocracy…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritocracy )

Seventeen

“Seventeen only comes once in a lifetime
Don't it just fly by wild and free
Goin any way the wind blew, baby

Seventeen, livin on crazy dreams

Rock and roll and faded blue jeans
And standing on the edge of everything
Seventeen”

--Tim McGraw

I’m not sure why, but I found myself thinking about this song, and being seventeen. I must admit that I think it is the perfect age. Old enough to understand and appreciate life, but still too young to face the responsibilities waiting around the corner. Perhaps it’s something about September that takes me back to high school football games and the excitement of a new school year that makes me think about that time. Seventeen, one more year before you have to grow up and take on the world. Seventeen, one more year of living under mom & dad’s roof, and one more year with those friends who have known all of your awkwardness and growing pains since middle school. And one more year to decide what you are going to do with your life, and little do you know that this is only the beginning of that question. It’s a time when you take your metabolism and free education for granted. It is a time with little worries that seem so big, followed by bigger fears and dreams of the future. And it is a time when you really are “Standing on the edge of everything…Seventeen”

History in the making...

“Have you ever come across an old school exercise book, or something else you once wrote and, on leafing through it been amazed at how much you have changed in such a short time? Amazed by your mistakes, but also by the good things you had written? Yet at the time you hadn’t noticed that you were changing. Well, the history of the world is just the same. How nice it would be if suddenly, heralds were to ride through the streets crying: ‘Attention please! A new age is beginning!’ But things aren’t like that: people change their opinions without even noticing. And then all of the sudden they become aware of it, as you do when you look at your old school books. Then they announce with pride: ‘We are the new age.’ And they often add: ‘People used to be so stupid.’” – A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich

I feel like I see history in the making each and every day. We really are in a new age. I’m not sure what our posterity will call this… perhaps the “Digital Revolution,” in the same sense that the Industrial Revolution once changed history? There are so many changes taking place in the world right now. Perhaps this is the “Golden Age of America” coming to a close, just as the great empires of Rome and Greece and Egypt, nobody knew exactly when they would fall but the unraveling began much earlier than anyone foresaw at the time… Perhaps this will someday be called “The Great Recession” because of the far reaching global effects of the “Mortgage Meltdown” followed by the “Bailout.” It depends on how you break it down, this decade? Or this Century? And what aspects will they look at? The economics? Technology advancements? Social changes? Or the Wars and international relations? It all depends on what comes next. Frightfully so, if an international war broke out in the next few years then they would certainly analyze this time to find out the causes and build up. It is strange how one thing leads to another. Or in medicine, if they suddenly found a cure to cancer, perhaps this time would be talked about as ‘The Cancer Age.” Change is always creeping about. I know that I am young, but already this is not the same world that I entered 25 years ago, and I look forward with both concern and excitement. I can feel the changes, and it seems they are coming faster and faster with time, so many at once, all affecting one another. But as we take a look at history through the ages, things really do have a way of repeating themselves in different forms. People could learn a lot from each other if they looked at those who have gone before…. But all too often we insist on learning the hard way. These are interesting times and history in the making.

Mom & Pop Shops...

Why is it that Mom & Pop shops can survive in the cities but not in the suburbs? Neighborhood restaurants and boutique stores, hole in the wall ethnic cuisines and little trinket shops… they exist and thrive in urban areas. Areas where I imagine real estate is not cheap but business must be consistent enough to keep them alive. I have asked around to figure this out; most people told me that San Francisco has some sort of ban on big chain restaurants and stores. Recently I started looking into this and could not find any facts to back it up. I do think there is some truth to the zoning laws and restrictions but there is more to it than that. It is common throughout many cities in the US. I think a lot of it has to do with the people and consumer habits and thoughts. Shopping and fashion is in many ways the exception, considering the fact that name brands often matter even more in urban areas, so designer stores and popular brands can do extremely well. Trendy Foods can also find their niche in the city, most anything can. And I’m sure that the chain places in the cities still do very well. So why is it rare to see local Mom & Pop restaurants pop up in the suburbs? Not enough people, too expensive? Perhaps people have a hard time trying something new, or they are too cheap, or maybe there are just not very many restaurant entrepreneurs who want to live in the burbs? Maybe there's not enough family/kid friendly appeal, since those are the primary groups in the suburbs? But I have seen spaces in suburban strip malls that have had several different small businesses come and go in the space and each one just can’t seem to make it. Small cities struggle too, and the more homogenous the area, the more difficulty there is for unique/individual places to survive. Tourist towns are often an exception because there is enough traffic to keep things alive. But then again- why? Is it because the visitors are city folks? Or because they are the traveling or adventurous type? One pattern certainly is that the older, the bigger, the more diverse and the more transient the city is… the more likely you will see a little place that you have never seen before. I also think coastal cities have an advantage of access to more types of food and usually more fresh food. Of course, there are plenty of very isolated small towns across the country and throughout the world that are unique and full of their own charm. There’s something about middle class America that screams, “Best Buy” and “Chili’s” and “brand new town homes", or organized developments. Places where everything is new, and stucco and in a chain that you have seen duplicate models of time and time again if you have done any road trips in the past five years then you know what I mean. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with this or bad about these places. I too love my endless Olive Garden Salad and breadsticks! But I’m curious about the social phenomena of it all and wonder why it all plays out the way that it does. Do these massive chains scare away the little guys? Is it like the Bookstore battle in “You’ve got mail?” I would be fascinated to see some of the business consultant stats and figures that they have on their target markets, and wonder which ones flop and why? I am curious why so many great little shops and cafes just can’t make it, and why the ones that do, are successful? And what cities or areas do places like Applebee’s avoid and why? I assume they don’t like the beatnik neighborhoods that are always trying to rebel against the norm. There must be a lot of strategy behind it all, and there’s the marketing and PR and internet sending us all sorts of messages that we just don’t receive about the little guys. I don’t know where they get their research but it’s clearly there, we are numbers in their stats. Market research is a big player, done through little things like when we are randomly asked our zip code.... Anyway- besides my curiosity about these chain giants, I am still not sure about the factors that keep Mom & Pop shops afloat but I am quite sure there is some correlation among these random thoughts that I have been spewing out.

Life is but a Weaving

My life is but a weaving

Between my God and me.

I cannot choose the colors

He weaveth steadily.

Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;

And I in foolish pride

Forget He sees the upper

And I the underside.

Not ‘til the loom is silent

And the shuttles cease to fly

Will God unroll the canvas

And reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful

In the weaver’s skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver

In the pattern He has planned

He knows, He loves, He cares;

Nothing this truth can dim.

He gives the very best to those

Who leave the choice to Him.

(Thanks MA for reminding me of this great poem, I have heard it before but love it again!)

Enablers

Spell check has ruined me. The little red line that shows up below misspelled words and the auto correct when I type words like "computer", this fabulous tool has enabled me with the inability to spell. I cringe when writing thank you notes and birthday cards because there is no device to monitor my spelling or grammar. Typing has also enabled me, and others of my generation to have poor penmanship. The Internet has made me a more impatient person because I am used to instant answers. The Internet has also enabled my knowledge retention. It comes and goes so quickly that information does not imprint on the brain like the old days. Because now you don't push yourself to remember or memorize since you know that if you forget then you just Google it again. We are spoiled with technology that does the work for us. I love it and in so many ways it really does make life easier and I often wonder how my ancestors got by without all of the wonderful gadgets and gizmos of our day. But sometimes those things or people that help us can indirectly hurt us too, because all too often they leave us enabled.

I want to understand the Earth

I have seen some pretty amazing places and things in this big beautiful world. Some places are covered in crazy vegetation, plants, algae and all sorts of insects. There are other places where big animals roam or smaller ones live in the trees or burrows in the ground. There are forests and ice caps and then there is the vast world of water that covers the majority of our Earth’s surface. And the ocean floor has climates and worlds of its own. But beneath all of this there is Earth. Earth in the form of dirt, sand, rocks and stones, Earth in the form of minerals and metals. And all of this gives us a little history of our planet. The layers and the shifts, the plates and the new earth created by volcanic activity. The colors of dirt and minerals found can tell us of what came before us, and as you dig a little deeper you can discover what came before that and so on down to the depths we cannot reach. There is so much to study and learn about on the surface, the many creatures and life forms that provoke curiosity distract us from the Earth below. But sometimes I think the Earth itself is underestimated and taken for granted. But the reality is that we are using and shaping the “Earth” each and every day. Whether it’s the metals used to make the pots we cook with or the oil in our cars, the brick that builds our homes or pavement below our feet or the wires that transmit the energy for our modern technology. The elements of the Earth are amazing, how they are not alive and yet provoke each other into new forms and wonders. I did not do so well in my high school chemistry class or perhaps I would have continued to pursue my curiosity of these majestic sciences. I was in Southern Utah last weekend, taking in the beauty of the red sandstone landscape, places like this can make you feel like you have stepped into a Star Wars film and landed on another planet. As I looked around at the delicate rock creations, and the distinct sedimentary layers I wanted to know and understand the Earth more. I want to know how it was formed and be able to look at the color or texture of the sand or dirt and learn from it. Perhaps an area that is desert now was once covered by water. And how did those old black rocks that are 2 billion years old get mixed in with the Grand Canyon? Did water once cover the whole Earth? Is there matter from our Earth that may have once come from other planets of times that we cannot even comprehend? I remember walking through the Ancient Ruins of Rome for the first time, thinking “Wow, this is so old!” But sometimes I forget to look around at the Earth below my feet and the mountains towering over my head and recognize that these creations are much older and grander than any ancient Coliseum or Pyramid. These natural wonders illustrate the design of divinity and a great creator. I am grateful to live among such beauty and I want to respect and preserve it. Do we abuse these gifts of the Earth? Do we appreciate the divine design enough? Do we take and forget to give back? Fire, Water, Air and Earth… do we remember how important this element is to our survival and existence? Earth is the element that records history and can teach us about the past billion years. We can learn about our changing climates and moving fault lines. I want to get to know the Earth and in so doing I think I will learn a little more about God and his plan. I will learn more of where I can from and recognize the reality that this world and this Universe are just bigger than than I can comprehend. Perhaps it's the combination of going to the Academy of Sciences last week and then a few days later spending the weekend exploring some of the untouched Earth. But just thinking about it, I am starting to understand the Earth a little more.

People that you love

Sometimes it’s hard when people that you love, can’t seem to love each other… Sometimes it's two good friends who can't get along. Inlaws who don't see eye to eye, or sometimes it's father and son or all too often mom and dad. Just because we love two different people so much we wish that they could figure out how to love each other too. And sometimes they have more in common than they think. Sometimes you know the best of both of them, but they just can't seem to show that to each other. Sometimes you know that they do love each other but one or both of them just can't seem to show or say it right. It's tough to see somebody you love get hurt, but even worse when you love the one doing the hurting too. And you wish that if they could both just see the good that you see, then they would love each other and let go of the wedges that divide them. Sometimes it's just tough when those you love, just can't seem to love each other.