Every so often, things fall apart.
In the words of those who lived it, here are the vibes and the semantic signatures of the twentieth century’s most devastating social collapses.
From the meaning in their words, wisdom for our future emerges.
Recent major media stories that feel to us like they’re part of a larger narrative campaign.
Recent major media stories that feel to us like they’re part of a larger narrative campaign.
This is an exclusive subscriber-only preview of the first six chapters of Rusty Guinn’s upcoming book Outsourcing Consciousness: How Social Networks are Making Us Lose Our Minds. The book explores how evolution, polarization, and technology are slowly transforming humanity into a hive mind - and what we can and can't do about it.
The Long Now is everything we pull into the present from our future selves and our children. We are told that the economic stimulus and the political fear of the Long Now are costless, when in fact they cost us … everything.
Tick-tock.
Men of God in the City of Man is a nine part series about a Narrative virus that infected the charismatic and Pentecostal churches in the United States. It isn't a story about Christian Nationalism. It isn't a story about January 6th. It isn't a story about why people voted for Trump. It is a story about a story. It is a story about the language that created a self-sustaining movement defined by its unwavering belief in a fundamentally corrupt electoral system.
Men of God in the City of Man
Amid the Widening Gyre of politics and the black hole of financial markets, the only anchor is us, together, walking with Clear Eyes and Full Hearts. Experience Ben's original 4-part series.
Outsourcing Consciousness
The Long Now
Men of God in a City of Man
Things Fall Apart
Recent Notes
The Zeitgeist – 3.19.2019
Today’s Zeitgeist is about tweet nudges, massive law partner payouts, a big reason for massive law partner payouts, your closet, the people who want to sell you…rope, and more.
Good Luck!
Ben has already talked about the biggest and most important thing we can do in the face of the admissions bribery scandal.
But many remain convinced that this scandal is an inflection point, a change in the Zeitgeist. It isn’t. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be watching for our opportunity to weaken the influence of the Church of Credential.
The Zeitgeist – 3.18.2019
The Lyft IPO prospectus is out today, so we’re sure to hear plenty of dueling banjos in financial media over the next few weeks and months. It was a fun vacation for Burt Reynolds and the boys at the start of that movie.
Also, more on ESG and other myths in today’s Zeitgeist.
The Ministry of Rites and the Compassionate Man
“Oh, little Jimmy is going to 20-Years-Ago-This-Was-A-Second-Rate-University? I hear really good things about that school. Congratulations!”
“Thanks! We’re all very pleased. Everyone except my bank account, that is. Hahaha!”
It’s true, everyone is VERY pleased by the current system. Prestige university credentialing is a steam valve … \whispers\ just like elections.
The Zeitgeist Weekend Edition – 3.16.2019
First it’s a healthy reminder of the narrative strength of health care costs. Then it’s a brief education on the narratives of elite universities.
But mostly it’s Fiat News. Lots and lots of Fiat News.
The Zeitgeist – 3.15.2019
Uncle Wilbur’s MNPI trades on his personal account may get a pass, but that darn census will be the ruin of him.
Also, announcing VaxDirectClub … the safe and cost-effective way to administer your kids’ immunizations from the convenience of your own home!
The Zeitgeist – 3.14.2019
TFW a Chinese “social video and online dating specialist” called Momo just isn’t momentum-y enough for you, but the Raccoon tandem of Fox Business and Motley Fool is there to help you out with “even better buys”.
Plus the Stanford shadow economy for profs, the War against Big Everything, and all the Fiat News that’s fit to read.
The Zeitgeist – 3.13.2019
Honestly, you could replace 90% of the daily news with a collection of Mitch Hedberg one-liners.
“People either love me or hate me … or they think I’m okay.”
Our modern addiction? Fiat News.
The Zeitgeist – 3.12.2019
Today’s Zeitgeist is about winning when we’re losing, the polarizing power of hyperbole, more on SRI/ESG, a wonderful specimen of the Mad Creditor Letter and a less-wonderful specimen of the Obligatory Press Release.
Birth of a Salesman
Everything about the Zeitgeist is working to steer promising minds toward cultivating the skills and temperament needed to succeed in a Fiat World. We are creating a generation of missionaries.
Just one small problem: a competitive game among missionaries is a stag hunt. The dominant strategy for each of us individually is bad for us all. So what the hell do we do?
The Zeitgeist – 3.11.2019
Today’s Zeitgeist is about crashes on crashes, Nplpalooza 2019 and hunger-striking ruined property tycoons.
But mostly we celebrate the hedge fund industry’s effort to shake off last year’s challenges. From all of us, thank you for this gift of what we will just assume is uncorrelated alpha.
The Zeitgeist Weekend Edition – 3.9.2019
A Weekend Edition of the Zeitgeist, where we turn from financial markets to find the narratives and stories from the last week or so that were most connected to common narratives in culture and politics.
The Zeitgeist – 3.8.2019
Climate change! Secretive boards! A gazillion dollars! Boat Race Bank!
Wait…Boat Race Bank?
It’s the Zeitgeist on Epsilon Theory, where we all knew we were living in a world of Fiat News. We just needed to refocus on fundamentals.
Fiat World
We are immersed 24/7 in a Fiat World, where we are TOLD that inflation does not exist, where we are TOLD that wealth inequality and meager productivity and negative savings rates just “happen”, where we are TOLD we must vote for ridiculous candidates and buy ridiculous securities and borrow ridiculous sums.
We’re not Flat Earthers. Ha Ha! Those guys are idiots! Can you imagine believing that stuff?
No, we’re not Flat Earthers. We are Fiat Earthers.
The Zeitgeist – 3.7.2019
Ladies and gentlemen, your narrative-world assault words du jour … “sponsored content”, “democratic justifications”, “fishing expeditions”, “diversification”, “value investing”, and “growth of $1”.
The ET Zeitgeist, because if you don’t know who the sucker is at the poker table … it’s you.
The Zeitgeist | 3.6.2019
Kashkari on Brexit, Cramer on Tesla, Breitbart on China, and “shorting unethical stocks” … all in a day’s work for The Zeitgeist!
Every morning, we run The Narrative Machine on the past 24 hours worth of financial media to find the articles that are representative of some sort of chord that has been struck in Narrative-world. They’re not the best articles – often far from it – but they will arm you for the Narrative wars of the day ahead.
The Zeitgeist | 3.5.2019
Fiat News and narrative construction galore in today’s set of the most on-narrative financial media articles.
What links them all? Dopamine is a helluva drug.
The Zeitgeist | 3.4.2019
The new Zeitgeist is here! Now with all the snippets and twice the snark.
Every morning, we run the Narrative Machine on the past 24 hours worth of financial media to find the articles that are representative of some sort of chord that has been struck in Narrative-world. They’re not the best articles – often far from it – but they will arm you for the Narrative wars of the day ahead.
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose
Why are institutional investors in trouble with the new Zeitgeist of capital markets transformed into a political utility?
Because everything you think you know about portfolio diversification will fail. Because emerging markets are going to be crushed before this is over. Because everyone’s inflation-investing muscles have atrophied to the point of helplessness. Because you think long-vol and crisis-alpha are things.
The Zeitgeist | 3.1.2019
BATs vs. FAANGs, trading against institutions, trading with institutions, why Americans buy cars and a shocking J.C. Penney news bulletin.