Hey uguba ndubuisi, happy Sunday!
Welcome to another edition of Life Reimagined. Today, we're going to talk about the antidote to the "us versus them" thinking that is pulling us apart AND how to think about the wild behavior happening in financial markets.
Let's get to it.
🌎 What will bring us together?
In May 2020, I posed a question to readers:
I hoped that COVID-19 would bring us together. Like how people unified during WW2 and its immediate aftermath, I thought the pandemic could be a common enemy that would help us to look past our differences and work together to minimize the collective suffering of the disease.
In many ways, the opposite scenario played out.
The pandemic seems to have accelerated our perceived differences of one another and fueled an increasingly hostile "us versus them" dynamic.
As the virus became politicized and wrapped up in broader societal issues – economic and racial inequality, globalization, trust in institutions, and problems in our healthcare systems – people went deeper into their echo chambers and further away from those with whom they disagree.
From all sides of the political aisle, rigid forms of thinking emerged. A growing number of people now seem to operate with that the belief that:
"If you're not with us on everything, you're with them. And if you're with them, you are part of the problem with everything."
The vitriol and lack of compassion coming from people from all walks of life is alarming. People are literally not talking with friends and family anymore over small differences in their beliefs.
And instead of uniting under our shared humanity or desire for progress, we're uniting in fragmented mobs with deep hatred for the "other side."
What's wild is how people engaging in this type of rigid thinking believe that they're being reasonable, compassionate, and objective.
Observing this madness, a number of questions have come to mind:
❶ How real is all of this? Am I simply falling for a media-fueled distortion of reality? Is this simply a small and highly vocal group of extreme thinkers? Or are we witnessing a widespread cultural clash that has important implications for the future?
❷ Why are people behaving this way? Some of the smartest people I know have fallen into highly rigid ideological camps. Their opinions sound uniform and like they're coming from the same headlines. Are they aware of this? This problem seems confined to politicized topics. When analyzing a business problem, the cognitive uniformity & distortions aren't as salient.
❸ What can we do? It's clear that most people want similar things – equality of opportunity, good relationships, enough food to thrive, and to feel connected to something bigger than themselves. Is there something that can help us start operating for the benefit of the whole, instead of simply for the tribe we've opted into? Most conflict seems to stem from differences in "how" we achieve our universal desires and from "us versus them" thinking that blocks us from connecting with our shared humanity.
What's interesting is that most people seem pretty reasonable when you have a conversation with them in person.
There's something about having to look someone else in the face when you share an opinion or hear their beliefs that generally leads to more trust and shared understanding, even if you have very different viewpoints.
But the pandemic and our response to it has reduced the number of these everyday interactions that remind us that most people are reasonable.
Instead of these daily reminders, we've been isolated and in a perpetual state of uncertainty. People are on edge and anxious. They don't know who to trust or what the future holds.
You may feel that you're immune from the byproducts of the pandemic-focused world. But I don't think anyone is.
In fact, I don't think any of us are wired to deal with the pace, complexity, and noise of the modern world.
In the process of trying to cope with modernity, many of us have looked for an enemy to blame for the inevitable pain, suffering, and injustices of life.
Instead of finding ways to increase our internal peace and focusing on how we can make the world a little bit better, we obsess about our enemies.
We create a narrative about how the "woke," "alt-right", "communists," "fascists," or "the rich," are the real problem.
We convince ourselves that if we can change their minds or reduce their power, we wouldn't have the same problems. And we surround ourselves with people and information that confirm the narrative we choose to believe.
But whether your enemy is the "woke" or the "rich," or the "alt-right," don't forget that these labels and amorphous groups are not the source of your negative experiences or all of the world's problems.
I'm not sure how many people are aware that they do this. My guess is not enough. It's more comfortable to assume that you're mostly reasonable, objective, and have a strong moral compass.
But a good test for yourself is to pay attention to how reactive you feel when you hear certain words or names. If I say "Nancy Pelosi" or "Elon Musk" or "Joe Rogan," how do you feel? If I say "tax the rich" or "the right to bear arms," or "cancel culture," how do you feel?
If any of these words or people make you bubble with anger or with enthusiasm by themselves, it may be time to recalibrate on where those feelings are coming from. Why is the reaction so strong? And is this serving you and the change you want to effect on the world? Is it making you happier?
While we may not be aware of just how unreasonable we are at times, I think most of us intuitively know when we're not being true to ourselves and to others.
We know what it feels like to lie. We know what it feels like to virtue signal. We know what it's like to blame an external enemy for our own fears.
Today, I want to remind you that most people are good people.
They're doing their best to achieve what we all want – a healthy and enjoyable life that has meaning and purpose.
17 months ago, I asked readers whether COVID-19 would bring us together or pull us apart. We now know more of the answer. But life and time are fluid. We're not resigned to the path that we've been following.
With simple mindset and behavioral changes, we can pivot and adopt new ways of being. That's the beauty of life.
I believe we can still come together.
It starts with recognizing that we're all having this bizarre human experience and doing our best to navigate the muddy waters.
Instead of labeling and demonizing other people who we likely have never met, we can be more charitable in our views of others. We can assume less and listen more. We can forgive people for their mistakes.
We can accept that what we belief and do is not the objective truth, but rather the byproduct of where we were born, who raised us, our experiences in the world, and how we've chosen to interpret all of this.
Everyone can do this. The more people who do, the better.
I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Martin Luther King Jr.:
So the question for today is: How can you start spreading light and love and stop spreading darkness and hate.
🤑 Fear and Greed
Markets of all kinds – equities, crypto, real estate, etc – have been going bananas over the last year. Everything is at an all-time high.
Every day, you hear stories of how some random person is now rich because they bought a jpeg on the internet.
In this environment, it's easy to think, "If I had just done X, I would have been set for life." And of course, X is so clear in hindsight. But you didn't do X. In fact, you did Y, which lost you money.
And because you did Y and not X, you have to continue working for someone you don't like while some stranger put $2k into a random coin and is a multi-millionaire.
The current investing environment is truly wild, and it can weigh on your mind. While I"m not sure how it all ends, I am sure that none of what is happening is new.
Speculative behavior, driven by fear and greed, is as old as human history. And today, I wanted to share a beautiful essay that talks about how the speculative behavior of today looks a little different than it has before.
In The New Fear and Greed, Joshua Brown breaks down how fear and greed have evolved beyond the fear of losing money and the greed of making money.
He says,
If you've felt this way in any capacity, read Josh's short article. It may provide a little grounding for the chaos happening around you.
P.S. In case you missed it, here's the last edition of Life Reimagined. We discuss what it means to live a "rich life," how to understand NFTs, and the 80/20 principles that will help you have better days.
Thanks for tuning in, and see you in two weeks.
Cheers,
Cal
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