Meeting Minutes

We had a wonderful time at our meeting today!  It felt good to feel that perhaps our meetings are having some effect, however slight or small, moving in a positive, constructive, and more intelligent direction and perspective.  I hope that maybe the vision that I had at first that spurred me to arrange these meetings will be fulfilled slowly but surely in this fashion. 

I want to send a heartfelt thanks to Louis Reyes, Senior Police Officer of the City of Lewisville for sharing his perspective with us and giving us guidelines and advice on how to think more critically through understanding and without prejudice.  I also want to thank Jeff Harrington and a tired, but alert Tommy Schultz for coming and being the sounding boards for thought that they naturally are.  Louis later called me and especially wanted me to let everyone know that he sincerely enjoyed our meeting!  We initially had 4 attendees, but were joined unexpectedly by one of Jeff Harrington’s classmates who by chance bumped into us at Clay Pit.  We had therefore 5 attendees at our meeting:  (from left to right) Jeff Harrington, VJ Arjan, Louis Reyes, Tommy Schultz, and Jeff Harrington’s acquaintance (cannot remember his name, my apologies).

Vietnam War

The bulk of our meeting was dominated, no doubt, by Louis’ horrible stories about his experiences in Vietnam.  Unfortunately, I can only relate some of his experiences to you as only those who were there at the meeting and listened to him relate them to us could know the intimate details of his situation.  But I will try my best to relate some of them to you.  According to him, nothing is gained by war – there are only losers on both sides.  Louis is deeply concerned about the general attitude of the young generation of today.  Their listlessness and apathy, he feels, will inevitably bring about another war that will necessarily shock some reality into them.  For he feels that the current generation who takes the freedoms of liberty and rights for granted and who did not bleed for any cause are currently living in a bubble of their own reality.  As Louis has aged, he feels starkly fearful about the future generations.  He feels that the next generation will be a generation of “fuck-ups” as he put it and they will go to a war that is much more sophisticated and disastrous than anything in the past (with the welcome aid of technology).

I must admit that listening to some of the atrocities he went through disgusted me thoroughly and I will try to relate some of them to you all as best as I can so you too can feel how undesirable a thing war is.

He has been wounded 4 times, therefore, he has 4 purple hearts, a military decoration awarded to those who have been killed or wounded while serving.

Vietnam, as some of you may know, is filled with rice paddies, and the soldiers would for days wallow and trudge in water to the point that their feet would become soaked, literally, like a sponge.  A small infection could grow across entire extremities, therefore.  Louis had sustained such an infection to the point that he described how the whole of his feet were literally covered in pus.  It took 7 army doctors to hold him down while they violently scrubbed it off his feet.

He wanted to relay distinctly how there was no glory in warfare, very much unlike what Hollywood has been so gracious to portray.  Real bravery and courage cannot be depicted in a movie.  He described how he would crawl into small tunnels that led to underground enemy bases and coldly shooting those who came his way.  His heart would literally be beating on his neck, so intense was his fear and his nervousness of finding an AK-47 starring down upon him.

He also related how Hollywood underplays the realities of war.  In some major motion pictures, one can see that people are shot by bullets and are intact and able to speak, etc.  This is not the case in real life.  To illustrate, the force of a bullet from an AK-47 is so intense that a hit in the shoulder would sever not only the entire arm from the body, but also blast off the head as well.  He recalls this very incident happening to one of his comrades in combat.

Prejudice

Louis told us very clearly that he thinks that prejudice is the main reason for intolerance and violence in the world.  The reason for prejudice is an unwillingness to see another’s history.  I will give you my example.  Although some may term me Indian, I am, as a person, not Indian at all excepting my skin tone.  In respects other than the skin on this body, I am not Indian at all.  I have been brought up in a culture that is decidedly Western.  However, the ability to label or judge someone based upon a physical trait like one’s skin tone, is, therefore, completely baseless.  This would fare no more or less for one who has black skin, or white skin, or yellow skin, etc.  The blind judging of one’s character without the intention of actually understanding why a person is the way it is, is a very dangerous concept, and one, Louis fears, may be eating this country up from the inside.  He partially blames the media for perpetuating these stereotypes, but also on the unwillingness of the people to challenge and think critically about what is presented.

He explained to us how most Muslim are so unlike what is seen on television.  In fact, a friend of his who served in Iraq relayed to him how extreme fundamentalist Muslims actually wait for the cameras to start rolling before they start screaming and yelling at the highest pitch.  And the media does not show the decent and nonviolent Muslims, because there would be nothing to comment about them.  I like to think of a certain news anchor that I particularly dislike, Sean Hannity, of Hannity and Colmes on Fox News.  He deliberately relates the message that will incite people to the most excitement, rather than the truth and reality, which may, in fact, spark no interest at all with its audience.  The media is looking out for its own best interest, its own survival as a business.  It is the very same reason why talk shows like Jerry Springer were so popular in its day because it stirred up excitement.  This excitement, however, does not have anything to do with the reality as it is.  The people who desire the excitement would stop watching the news stations at once if they found Muslims of the Middle East to be tolerant and peace-loving citizens.

He, therefore, finds racially separatists movements like the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panthers to be very dangerous organizations and feels that if the authority were left to him, he would completely “wipe them out.”  Most dangerous is the indoctrination of the children into a belief system so polarized as morally acceptable race superiority/inferiority.  This group can become very powerful especially in times like this when people can be driven to desperate measures.  Let us hope that reason, amidst the hard times, will triumph over “irrational exuberance.” 

Meeting Minutes

We had a great time at our meeting!  We had 4 attendees this time: (from left to right) Kevin Day, Andrew Whatley, VJ Arjan, and Jason Pullen. 

Israel v. Palestine

Kevin believes that Israel may not only wipe Palestine out (recently they divided the Gaza Bank in two), but could also proceed on to combat Iran as well while they have strong US support.  Israel may feel that as confrontation with Iran will be inevitable, might as well confront them now while they have momentum going in Palestine and support from the United States. 

We also brought up Russia.  Russia is actually very close to Iran, Iraq, and other Middle East nations.  If the Israelis, with American support, enter Iran, Russia may indeed come to its aid at the same time galvanizing support from other Middle East nations as well.

Anti-foreignism

Kevin discussed with us how in his travels throughout the world, he has noted a heightened sense of anti-foreignism.  He made a clear distinction that it was not anti-Americanism.  Being a lover of archeology and wildlife safaris, he is currently trying to get a visa into Madagascar.  The visa office there then replied with a 3-page letter notifying him of the dangers of visiting Madagascar.  He has noticed the same with countries like Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon).  In our effort to find out why this is so, we discussed a few arguments thoroughly. 

One such argument was that perhaps capitalism itself is designed to profit only the few rich at the expense of hundreds of laborers.  However, this contention assumes that wealth is in finite quantity.  This is simply not true.  Ideas can create wealth and, therefore, wealth can be transferred to the “poor” as the market rewards profitable ideas with money. 

We then discussed and decided upon the growing struggle between the “haves” and “have-nots”.  The “have-nots” have existed throughout the previous centuries, but now as they see the standards of living for fellow countries rising, their expectations are changing so that they too want to achieve it.  For example, Chile has long been eyed by its South American neighbors as a model for change and progress.  Kevin termed this animosity “jealousy”.  He believes that as the world looks on the industrialized nations’ progress and as they do not possess it themselves, they feel unfairly for not having the same privileges as well.

Civil War in South Africa

Nelson Mandela’s existence, it seems, is the only thing keeping the deeply divided racial factions in South Africa from going at each others’ throats.  Kevin believes that there exists a deep chasm between the black and white factions in South Africa and that hell will be unleashed when Mandela dies (which may, in fact, be very soon) to determine his successor.

Revelation

As the response for the meeting was dismal again this time around, I asked those attending to advise me on what I should do next.  My main motivation behind creating these meetings was to help people become more aware of the condition of the world because I felt that that personal awareness could prevent all the unnecessary and absurd wars, genocide, murder, intolerance, bigotry, etc. throughout the world.  

To be completely honest, I feel really sorry and compassionate when I see the violence that humans have and are committing to each other.  I suppose I have a pain inside me that spurs me to reach out as I realize how unnecessary and absurdly ridiculous are the ways with which most humans deal with their problems and conflicts.  Kevin pointed something out to me that I really took to heart:  perhaps I must realize that life is not fair and that what I’m doing, no matter how hard I try, is still not going to save the world from its current insanities, miseries and sufferings.  Perhaps I had a lofty dream of what the world could be and decided that perhaps it could become reality by the dialogue at these meetings, over time.  Kevin pointed out very clearly that although my meetings and the issues discussed are well-intentioned, the abject apathy of most people will prevent the problems from being solved.  In other words, most people themselves are collectively responsible for the “good” and “bad” things in their lives. Most people are, indeed, responsible for the wars they create and the prejudices they believe in, even though they may play victim.  There is, indeed, and I am forced to admit, nothing I, personally, can do about it.  I suppose when the world decides, collectively, that a primitive and basic instinct like war, is ultimately harmful and is not an option at all, only then will wars completely cease.  I suppose people must themselves decide to go beyond their petty differences and prejudices and recognize the Confucian proverb for themselves (Do unto others as you would do unto yourself), and only then will true tolerance and complete respect for each human being exist.  Although I and a handful of others may be willing to delve into the problems that we face as a race, most people are just not willing to look them, and given a choice would rather delegate the problem-solving to others regardless of their qualifications and the outcomes and solutions those others produce than confront the realities themselves. 

I did not come to this just today, but these revelations have grown over the past year.  Apart from this concern I have about the future of humanity, I am a very simple and retiring person (not in the complacent and lazy sense).  I will go back to living each day one moment at a time, reading great works of fiction and history, listening to Beethoven and Bach, etc. 

In reference to the meetings, however, this is what I’ve decided:

• I have already received approval from those attending to keep receiving news of these meetings, but to all others, if you desire to be informed about these meetings and the happenings thereof, please inform me of your request by emailing me at scarletkings@gmail.com or vj_arjan@yahoo.com .  To those who do not request, I will not send out emails.  For all those who do not wish to receive further notices but have attended previous meetings, I would like to say that it was a pleasure to converse with you all and I wish you the best of luck and success in your future endeavours.  I especially want to thank Kevin Day, Tom Murphy, and Vance Hall, VIPs who have attended our meetings and who took out their time and effort to participate in our discussions for our benefit.  I will try to get other VIPs to attend as I get to know more and more people and will try to get a few to come to our meetings as I can.
  
• We will convene on every first Sunday of the month, but probably on a small level like the previous few meetings; I will not expect 10 or so people to attend.  There will be no agendas like before to preserve flexibility in our discussions as I believe that, at times, our discussions can become very philosophical.  I have often equated those who regularly attend our meetings to a lot of philosophers really, contemplating the world around them and sharing their observations to others who would listen.  I also like the fact that our discussions of world events and social issues can even be translated to profitability in the global financial markets; at least this has been the case for my portfolio.  I also like just discussing different ideas that pertain to local and world issues, for the mere joy of conversation, I suppose.
  
• The blog is still open to everyone who chooses to write articles. I will write some as I get time to do so: 
  

Username: scarletkings@gmail.com

Password: kings1215  (1215 A.D. was the signing of the Magna Carta, if that helps)

Kevin Day’s Market Predictions

I wanted to end this post by sharing some insights I received from Kevin earlier this week.  I asked Kevin what his thoughts were about the market and he replied with the following:

• Worldwide equities will have a very difficult first six months in 2009
  
• Nationwide unemployment will probably hit 9 to 10 percent
  
• The American automakers will go bankrupt notwithstanding the bailout fund they will receive, creating higher unemployment
  
• The Obama honeymoon will end and his popularity will plunge as those who voted for him find out that he indeed cannot and does not deliver on his promises
  
• Gold will hit $1,200 before 2009; oil will drop to $30 a barrel before going back to $50 plus before year-end
  
• Emerging market equities (particularly in China, India, and Brazil) will increase 30%
  
• Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 indexes will remain volatile but will end 20% up YTD led by recovery in health care, energy, small caps, financials, and secure dividend paying stocks
  

Meeting Minutes

We had a great time at our meeting!  However, we had only 3 attendees this time.  In fact, as we have had fewer and fewer turnouts, I have been thinking twice about arranging these meetings at all.  Perhaps it was the timing this time (being a few days after Thanksgiving), but I must admit I was very much embarrassed with the turnout this time.  The following is certainly not directed to those who do and have attended regularly.  In particular, I want to thank Jeff Harrington not only for his individual contribution to the discussions but also for his efforts to increase attendance at our meetings.

Let’s go into the reason why I decided to arrange these meetings in the first place.  I have been speaking with people like Kevin Day and Tom Murphy along with a host of other VIPs of sorts (executives of major corporations, associates of billionaire families, venture capitalists, visionaries, university professors, etc.), and have gained tremendously by my conversations with them.  I felt that if I could get these people in front of those who may not have access to them, then others could also gain as I have.  Kevin, in his prime, was a vice-president of one of the largest conglomerates in US history and has taken probably more than a hundred trips around the world throughout the last four decades; and when he takes out his time and effort to share his knowledge and perspective at our meetings, and only one person after myself shows up, I feel it to be a disgrace on my part!  After the dismal attendance at our meeting today, I don’t know whether I really want to invite Kevin Day, Tom Murphy, or Vance Hall or any other VIP, if only a couple of people show up to appreciate what they have to offer.

Another reason for these meetings is to become more aware and conscientious human beings.  Historically, wars, acts of terrorism, social strife, etc. can only be perpetuated time and again as long as most people remain voluntarily ignorant to the facts and therefore fail to act upon the issues at hand.  This is the very reason why we have a speculative bubble roughly every 10-20 years because people choose not to learn from the past.  The biggest losers are, therefore, the average worker and his/her 401k, or the day-trader who quits his/her job overnight to pursue millionaire-dom.  In my opinion, voluntary ignorance was also the reason for the September 11^th attacks, as American citizens failed to be aware of how our government was affecting the rest of the world and how our actions abroad might inevitably affect us at home.  As long as the current generation remains apathetic, like those preceding ours, there will be no end to our problems.  Perhaps, I must be an alien inhabiting earth and maybe it is only me in this world that actually sees this and wants to do something about it, but my hope is that you all see this too and want to do something about it also. 

I would like you all to think about and consider the bigger picture here.  Politicians, historically, are not really there to solve our problems; the truth of the matter is that we put them there because we don’t want to make the important decisions.  The choice is ours, obviously.  We will all collectively decide what kind of world we want to live in and leave for our children.  But the first step, in my opinion, is to become aware of the problems first.  I don’t think we get together to truly devise solutions to worldwide issues, but to just become aware of them.  This awareness will spread invariably to others around you and become a new consciousness in itself, over time.  Even if we cannot do anything about it, we’d rather be aware than be willfully ignorant.  However, if I have misjudged your characters and motivations, then I apologize, and maybe I am asking too much.  

In any case, as a result of the declining attendance at our meetings, I have decided, after consulting Kevin and Tommy, that there will be no meetings during the month of December for the holidays, and we will have our next meeting on January 4^th, 2009.  If this meeting fails to draw a sizable attendance, then I don’t feel like my time and effort is being utilized and that will be the end of the meetings.  Perhaps you could leave some comments/suggestions and let me know what I could/should do to increase attendance at our meetings.

Kevin’s Trip To Tunisia

Kevin recently returned from his trip to Tunisia and he narrated a most extraordinary incident that occurred to him.  Once while their tour bus was driving, a barrage of baseball-size stones broke the windows and were aimed at the tourists inside, some of them incurring serious injuries.  Kevin explained how this came from local dissenters of foreigners and how he felt that his life was in serious danger.  He has been to Tunisia many times to study the archaeological ruins of old Roman cities that have been preserved there and has noticed a growing anti-foreign influence throughout the decades. 

The Obama Administration

Obama is a smart and capable politician.  However, his supporters may feel betrayed after they find that Obama is not going to be able to deliver on a majority of his promises.  It was interesting to note that his presidential acceptance speech was the first time he mentioned that really long-term nature of the problems he is confronting, mentioning how it may take more than one term to implement his solutions.  His assumed appointment of Hilary to Secretary of State will effectively kill her ambition for running against him for his second term.  Kevin, however, although lauding Obama for his political acumen, questions whether Hilary is the right person for the job.  She has the reputation for being vehemently anti- North Korea, Pakistan, and Palestine, and keeping her country’s well being first might not come easy to her nor will it be easy to convince these countries that the US has their best interest in mind.  Obama will probably pass a bill to uphold the rights of unions to satisfy a large constituent that elected him.  Kevin thinks that Geithner was a good choice for Secretary of Treasury.  As Fed President for New York, he was also a key player in rescuing Bear Stearns; Wall Street right now is looking for an assurance of trust and confidence and Geithner may provide this role.  There is a quick question that we have for you all as we did not know the answer:  for any reason if Obama is killed before Inauguration Day, who would become President?  As Biden has been elected Vice-President would he be eligible to become President?  Or would there be some other course of action?  It is clear that Biden would become President should something happen to Obama after he is inaugurated, but what about before his inauguration?  If you know the answer, please post a comment and let us know as we are curious what the answer might be.

Goldbug Thesis

Kevin, who has been trading the market for over 40 years, made it very clear that the occurrences in the financial markets in the last three months have frightened him.  He has described himself as the “last optimist on Wall Street”, but admits that for the first time in 40 years, his nerves have been shaken recently.  He spoke to us about how banks have been unwilling to part with his deposits and have effectively frozen his assets in some cases as they are all straining for cash.  With the FED pumping trillions of dollars into the system which further depreciates the currency, hard assets like precious metals may be a good investment to preserve value.  He has suggested investing in a gold etf like GLD or SLV as these funds actually hold physical gold and silver deposits.  He also thinks that the next asset class to decline is commercial real estate; his time horizon for this to start occurring is within the next 6 months. 

Recent Intelligence Report

There was a recent intelligence report purporting a decline of American influence around the world and a massive transfer of wealth to China and India in the next 30 years.  This, however, is an exaggeration.  Both China and India have a long way to go and can hardly approach the industrial giant that America is today.  The recent bombings in Mumbai are an indication of how much progress needs to be made.  Sixty hours after the initial shootings, Mumbai police were still not able to kill off the terrorists.  Kevin called it the “British officer” syndrome; the appearance of officials looking official, but are, in fact, very incapable when action is required.  45% of the Chinese labor force and 60% of the Indian labor force is engaged in agriculture today, while less than 4% of Americans are engaged in the same trade.  If one has ever been to India or China, then one can readily see the stark day-and-night differences between urban city life and rural village life.  Prosperity stays in the cities and has not trickled outside of them.

The Arbitrary in “Relationships”

After we ended our meeting, Tommy and I went to a Starbucks to discuss some very fundamental issues of the human condition.  Our discussions revolved mostly around the inherent fallacy of “relationships” (between a man and woman, etc.), and how they inherently cannot be sustained.  Most times it is not the person itself we are interested in, but the fulfillment of an idea or promise of what a person might be.  For example, first dates are only an exchange of impressions, not of the actual person itself.  For example, one might find a woman attractive in a black dress, etc., but that same woman does not assume the same attractiveness when she must perform the necessities on the toilet.  In fact, what is considered “attractive” is completely arbitrary.  The Chinese during the Han dynasty found women who bound their feet to be very attractive (foot-binding is a practice in which a girl literally binds up her feet so that the bone structure is smaller in adulthood).  There is nothing inherently “sexy” about red lips on a woman or muscled chest on a man.  The body and the ideas about it have nothing to do with the actual person itself.  The actuality of the person itself is ignored altogether.  After the “honeymoon” stage, people cannot keep up the act of impressions forever and are forced to deal with the person as he/she is, which may be very different from the expectation or initial impression of the person.  This is not to be confused with a real relationship where the actual person is concerned and there is merely the  joy of being with that person irrespective of external features (gender, attributes, etc).  In such a case, people are upfront and honest about themselves and no value judgments are made about the person, but is merely accepted as he/she is.