Thinking out loud.

I was messing a little with My 43 Things today and found something I thought was interesting. The all-time top 100 goals of the users of the site 43things.com. In other words, are these are the goals most regularly identified by the world’s people.Â

The full list is below (no shock that “lose weight” is number one) but what struck me as interesting is two things. First, money isn’t near as importnat as you would think observing day to day society. Nowhere on the top 100 is “Get rich” and the only thing I could see even close was #62 “Become Financially Independent”. Â More importantly though, does it seem to anyone besides me that people set their sites really low?

The world’s top goals include losing weight, going on a road trip, avoiding procrastination, and getting a tatoo? Glad to see “travel the world” at least made the top ten. Anyway, just reminds of the old quote “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you will land among the stars”. Are we really shooting for the moon? If not, are we scared too? Or are do we just not care? Or.. is that we are just simple beings that don’t need the hyped existance that maybe some of us think we do?

I am really starting to like this guy. This video kicks ass and the term “Hustle 2.0″ is just killer. It doesn’t apply to just starting online businesses on the side though. This is advice for starting ANY business. The best advice. I keep hearing from everyone about our new business… “I envy you guys for taking the risk to quit your jobs and do this”. My reaction inside is What Risk? Risk is the result of A) not knowing what you are doing and B) not putting enough sweat to make it happen. We know what we are doing and will do whatever it takes to win, thus risk is very low. The key ingredient to any start-up business, from video blogs to restaurants… stop scheming and start working, and work crazy hard. Hustle 2.0.

You watch politics on TV probably. I watch politics on the internet. If I watched politics on TV I might miss something as spectacular as this video from jibjab.com. After two weeks of weak convention speeches, wrapped up by Mr. McCain this evening, something to lighten the mood was desperately needed! Watch the video.

And How did I possibly miss this one last time around… HILARIOUS!!

There are about 10 million interesting ways to finish this sentence but today I am troubled over a statistic I heard on one of my favorite internet radio shows… Only half of Americans think it is possible to save for retirement. Not “only half of Americans have properly saved for retirement” but that in fact, only half even think it is possible!

Talk about an alarming… especially if you are 26 and in position to be one of those responsible ten years from now for footing the bill for a sinking Social Security program. More importantly, it seems like a lack of will on the part of the American people. Where is the tanacity? The drive to go out and kick ass so you can have a great time living out those golden years?

In my view, there are two problems leading to this terrifying statistic: 1) gross consumerism and 2) the American financial services industry.

Gross Consumerism

People complain a lot about their debt. The media is even beginning to observe that the majority of us are prisoner to our debt. But what are doing about it? I mean really doing about it? It seems to me what we are doing is bitching about gas prices going up and home prices coming down. Yet I don’t see the connection between those things and some $14,000 in average household credit card debt (not counting the second mortgages taken out on homes to pay off mounting credit card debt). I think a more pertinent question might be some thing to the effect of can you live through this football season without the High-Def Sunday Kick-Off cable package? Or will life come to a screeching halt without the $100/month “see and be seen” gym membership? Everyone wants to blame someone for why they can’t support their gross consumerism. It is way past time to suck up, get seriously intense (Dave Ramsey would say “beans and rice, rice and beans”) and kick the debt out of the house!! My prediction… if you, right now today, are carrying a balance on your card whether it is growing or not, are squarely on track to be eating those beans and rice at 75.

The American Financial Services Industry

To quote one of my foremost heros in the area of business… “Wall Street is the only place I know of that people drive to in a Rolls Royce to take advice from someone who rode the Subway”. The proverbial “Millionaires Next Door” are plowing money into accounts with their financial advisers, only to watch their hard-earned net-worth (usually the result of self employment) be slammed by transaction fees, management fees, and unnecessary taxes. The worst part is they are all very bright people and recognize this happening but keep doing it under the idea that “my guy is different here in my small town. He really is a good guy.” Worse are the people who aren’t the millionaire next door. Often these are the same people that have the consumerism problem mentioned above but managed to amass a couple hundred thousand in their retirement account over 25 years at their corporate job. These guys wake up at 50 or 60 and realize that isn’t enough money to sustain themselves for more than a couple years, if that. So they turn to our subway-riding big-talking financial adviser to turn their 200K into a million. Guess what, bad move.

The simple fact (and big secret) is this… investment advisors are terrible. Yours is not different, sorry to tell you. Over an investment horizon of 5 years 97% of all financial advisers and fund managers fail to be the returns of the stock market at large. Over longer period this number shrinks to effectively zero. This means you are paying them a fee (much larger than you suspect most likely when all different fee types are accounted for) to get you much lower investment returns than a simple index fund you can purchase anywhere with a virtually nominal fee. The underlying secret is this…

Market returns are not average returns, they are superior returns. The reason they are superior is because less than 10% of people actually earn market returns after taxes and fees in their retirement account. Thank you big-shot advisers. So stop trying to find someone who can help you beat the market and figure out how to match the market (i.e. buy and hold a diversified index fund, like ticker symbol VTI).

Where to Go From Here

Good question. I suppose it comes down to your generation.

If you are a baby boomer and are currently doubting your ability to save for retirement, all I have to say good luck (sorry for that). You are too close for passive investments like stock market investing to do you any good by 60-65. Best thing I can say is consider either 1) starting a really good actively managed business you control and know you can win at, 2) continue to aggressively pursue your career and build your income which is your most powerful wealth building tool, 3) hope your kids do well and help you to live your expected lifestyle (quite the sad thought), or 4) hope the government bails you out (this probably means an upgrade from beans and rice to Ramen Noodles).

If you are a Gen X’er and are currently doubting your ability to save for retirement, now (and I mean right this very minute) is the time to get INTENSE. Cut up the credit card, get on a budget, get the debt paid off, start kicking serious ass at work, and get rid of your buddy the investment adviser. Buy and hold index funds and mange your income carefully and you can get there.

If you are a Gen Y’er and are currently doubting your ability to save for retirement, you give up way to easy. Start by forgetting most of what the Baby Boomers and Gen X told you about retirement saving and remember what your grandparents told you. Take risks NOW and everytime you do and win a little, put some of it away for later. You are totally set, as long as you don’t let the banks and financial advisers suck you into their system.

I get forwarded email from lots of people (oddly enough, no one gets forwarded email from me but that is a different subject). I sort of like it, the emails that people forward are a great indicator of their thoughts and thus a great way to keep a “pulse” on what is bothering people.

Below is a good one. It was titled “FW: NEW PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION”. I happen to think the US Constitution is probably the most amazing document developed by mankind in the past quarter century. So, I am hesitant to change it based on a forward email but lets investigate

We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other liberal bed-wetters. We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim they require a Bill of NON-Rights.’

Comment: Ummm, OK. This was pretty mindless and unproductive due to childish name-calling but lets move on to the “Bill of Non-Rights” (yet I do like the ‘debt-free’ reference).

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

Comment: Yeah… throw a damn brick through that TV even if you can legally acquire it then do something productive.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone — not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc.; but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

Comment:YES! Quit crying and fight back!

ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful; do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

Comment: The “suing” phenomenon… totally out of control in consumer society and business. Sometimes, yes, it was your fault.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes

Comment: Not properly addressed here but idea is correct… Charitable contribution should be VOLUNTARY. This will work out, without welfare, because Americans actually are overwhelmingly charitable when compared to the rest of the world.

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we’re just not interested in public health care

Comment: Correct again… socialized health care IS NOT authorized by the real constitution. Therefore, this is easy. Either A) it cannot be provided or B) a constitutional amendment is necessary. So Congresspeople… propose an amendment or shut up about it.

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don’t be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

Comment: Um… ok. Electric chair for kidnap? That is really taking the moral high ground. Talk about making the enforcer worse than the offender.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don’t be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won’t have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

Comment: Um… ok again. This is a little underharsh. Best system I have seen in the world is Singapore. Just cain their ass for stealing and similar. This one is actually under-aggressive (if you want to actually solve the crime problem).

ARTICLE VIII: You do not have the right to a job. All of us sure want you to have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.

Comment: Um… AMEN

ARTICLE IX: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to PURSUE happiness, which by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an over abundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

Comment: Totally true. Yet also a lot easier without an overabundance of idiotic religious legislation created by those of you confused about Christian values.

ARTICLE X: This is an English speaking country. We don’t care where you are from, English is our language. Learn it or go back to wherever you came from!

Comment: Damn, you just care too much… chill out. Spanish speakers bother me exactly zero. Sad they make less money but that is the consequence for not learning the required skills for success.

ARTICLE XI: You do not have the right to change our country’s history or heritage. This country was founded on the belief in one true God. And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution. The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history, and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!

Comment: Uh, after all that constituional talk did you forget Amendment 1 in the Bill of Rights? This country was founed on the belief that people could pick their own god to belive in. That is not a given freedom, it is a founding freedom. VERY NEARLY NO ONE in the US knows where the phrase “In God We Trust” even came from to end up on our money. So why the do they care so damn much about taking it off. Honestly, WHO CARES?! What a stupid thing to fight over.

As many know, some of my family and I recently returned from Southern Africa. During that trip, we went to Zimbabwe. Well sort of… we went to Victoria Falls town which is in Zimbabwe. We spent three days there.

As I have told people about being there since I have been home, I would guess maybe 50% of them actually realized that when I said we had been in Zimbabwe that we were in a place of turmoil. Like they didn’t really know what was going on, but knew they had heard something on the news. Of those, I would guess 10% actually had a pretty good idea about the situation. And the other 50%… “Oh wow that sounds amazing!” they would say. No idea even where Zimbabwe is I don’t think.

That is fine though. To each their own on whether they care about what is going in the rest of the world. Trouble is, even those who supposedly care the most, don’t seem to.

For those that don’t know, Zimbabwe is currently the site of one of the world’s most difficult political situations. Robert Mugabe, leader of the Zanu PF, has been the president of Zimbabwe ever since it gained its independence from Great Britain some thirty years ago. Mugabe was a huge figure in the independence movement and has garnered much respect for that work ever since. Mugabe’s grip on power weakened in the late 90’s as many (dominantly black) people felt that despite the independence movement, White Zimbabweans (English decent) still owned the majority of wealth in the country. As part of a move to strengthen his political support with the overwhelmingly black population, Mugabe started a program of land re-distribution in 2000 where the government basically made it compulsory for land to be taken by the government and given back to the lack population. There have been, of course, countless reports and questions that the redistribution favored Mugabe supporters, but it turns out that was irrelevant as the whole economy came crashing down.

Here is where a bit of a lesson in fundamental economics comes in. There are obviously countless complex theories on the inner-workings of market-based economies. However, at the most fundamental level, the whole idea of free market economy is underpinned by the strict observance of property rights (the idea that what you earn something in the market, it is yours to keep). In this case, Mugabe’s program of land retribution obviously deeply undermined this most fundamental requirement for a free market to thrive. And the trouble begins…

Ever since, the economy of Zimbabwe has been in a horrible downward spiral. Everybody likes to claim reasons ranging from sanctions by the west to drought but the simple fact is that when people doubt their personal property rights, they stop producing. With no production there is no income and no goods available for sale. Goods must then be imported except that the government has lost all tax revenue so they begin assessing huge tariffs on imports. The government continued to “print” money but there is nothing to buy with it making the money worthless. Worthless money creates hyper-inflation.

Inflation estimates are all over the place but I sat and looked at a lunch menu in Zimbabwe that inflated its prices by 10% per day. That is compounded to equal 117,000,000,000,000,000% (117 quadrillion percent) per year!!

Anyway, with such harsh economic conditions, there was of course again a movement to vote out Mugabe and his party. This time there was nothing Mugabe could do but cheat in the elections, incite violence and intimidation, etc. And that is where we stand today… Zimbabwe is a huge mess and its people are suffering.

Here is my question. At what point should outside parties ACTUALLY get involved. I don’t think we should, as the USA, go medal around in other people’s domestic affairs. Maybe it would be a good time for the UN to get involved. After all, if there was ever time the UN charter would apply, I would think this is it. I quote from the preamble of that charter “WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples”.

Yet we know they are totally ineffective in dealing with anything of this scale (Cambodia, Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Somalia, Liberia, Chechnya, and others come to mind). I DO NOT have an answer for this question, odd as that seems to hear me say. I do know that the people of Zimbabwe were great and don’t deserve what they are living through. I do know that it is a crying shame that the whole world is scared to visit one of the world’s most prolific natural wonders because of the situation. I do know that when people have had enough and that when they try to stand up for themselves (which they clearly are doing), it is probably time to help them out.

What I do encourage most is awareness… so watch BBC news instead of the crap local news. Besides, it’s commercial free! Maybe one day when international consciousness is higher, we can have an effective international organization to protect basic human rights around the globe.

Sorry everyone… 10,000,000 excuses none good. A barrage of post is on the way. While it has been over a month since I posted, I have been accumulating the topics. And here they come…

Thanks to Shannon (sister Shannon that is) mostly as well as a few shots from Shannon (girlfriend Shannon) and myself, we ended up with a huge pile of pictures from our recent trip to Southern Africa. Below are the links to those pictures.

I am going to write another couple posts about our time in Africa. There is so much to talk about… why I hunt and the ethics of hunting, the crisis in Zimbabwe, the violence/rioting in South Africa, REAL racism, and more. I want to post on all these topics. But before we get into the “deep” discussions about Africa, lets have a bit of fun with the pictures we took!

So for those that may not know, we spent just over three weeks in Southern Africa. Most of this time was spent in South Africa but we also spent time in Zimbabwe and are least able to officially claim we have been to Botswana and Zambia as well. Africa is a place of immense beauty, a place where nature is raw and real in a way that is hard describe… even if you have been to Yellowstone and Alaska. Pictures do the place little justice, but we did our best.

So, here are some links to the pictures we took. In total, we took about 2000 pictures. I deleted the really terrible ones and managed to get down about 1200. From there I have done my best to find a smaller set of representative photos. I ultimately got down to a set of 245 photos from the “non-hunting” portion of our trip (which included time in a South African bush camp in Madikwe Game Reserve; our visit to Sun City, South Africa; and our trip to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Here is the link to the Flickr “collection” of these photos, which is separated out into three “sets” in accordance with these areas:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dzvette53/collections/72157605564592921/

There are no hunting photos in that collection. For those interested, here is a link to the hunting photos on a separate site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dan.zitting/HuntingInTheLimpopoSpring2008

Finally, those that may be interested in more pictures (though they don’t have captions explaining them, you can check them out here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dan.zitting

Enjoy!

It is today that with a heavy heart I can say that Dr. Ron Paul is officially ending his campaign for the presidency of the United States. While it is quite literally painful for me to see him go and leave only a sad choice of two candidates who, when you really push aside the superficial and the difference in party affiliation, offer no real change for America, I am proud to say that Dr. Paul cured my apathy.

I feel like prior to the Ron Paul campaign I was nothing but a disenfranchised American youth who was actually (at least to some degree) laughed at if I were to sound my TRUE political beliefs. A long time registered Republican who felt totally betrayed by “his” party and looking for a group to associate with (perhaps the “red-headed step child” of current American politics, the Libertarians). Dr. Paul changed this for me. I am not a republican or a libertarian or any other bullshit term the political establishment would like to assign to me. I am an American that devoutly believes in freedom, personal liberty, the constitution, and the vision the founders of the United States of America laid out for us all those years ago. And guess what… I am not alone. There are millions of me. There millions of us, from all across the political spectrum. There are millions of us, from all across the racial, gender, and religious spectrum. We are easily the most diverse and yet most homogenous group making noise in politics today. And we are getting loud.

Thanks to the Ron Paul campaign we have united and we have a voice. We can raise millions of dollars any given day. We can get the mass media to talk about us, no matter how badly they wish they could exclude us from the conversation. We even garner the vocal support of non-Americans all over the world via the internet who plead with America to mind its own business and disengage in nation building.

The democrats’ nomination process was perhaps the most painful thing I have ever been through. The republicans’ nomination process managed to take someone I once thought really had backbone and was a true patriot and turned him into another religious, nation-building, freedom-infringing nut. Yet no matter how terrible this presidential campaign gets, I don’t care. I will not become apathetic like last time. I am not yet sure if I actually care who wins, since there really are no major differences between them (other than race and age, the only two things anyone seems to care to talk about).

There is one campaign though that will offer “Change we can believe in”. It mostly certainly is not that of Barack Obama but rather the Campaign for Liberty. The Campaign for Liberty is Dr. Paul’s effort to turn the ground gained as a result of his presidential campaign into long term results. The presidential campaign launched a rEVOLution, the Campaign Liberty is what will make it really happen. I SINCERELY encourage everyone onboard with me to go to http://www.campaignforliberty.com/ and sign up. I already have.

“In the final analysis,” Dr. Paul wrote in his new book The Revolution: A Manifesto (a MUST read), “the last line of defense in support of freedom and the Constitution consists of the people themselves. If the people want to be free, if they want to lift themselves out from underneath a state apparatus that threatens their liberties, squanders their resources on needless wars, destroys the value of their dollar, and spews forth endless propaganda about how indispensable it is and how lost we would all be without it, there is no force that can stop them.”

To quote Dr. Paul: “Our time has come to act on these words. May future generations look back on our work and say that these were men and women who, in a moment of great crisis, stood up to their politicians, the opinion-makers, and the establishment, and saved their country.”

My apathy is gone. It is time to fight. Thank you Dr. Paul for starting the rEVOLution, I promise I will help see it through to the end. For liberty!

So for a bit of background, every time I have been to Africa and Asia, I have taken a minimum number of preparatory medications and inoculations. Usually what happens is, whoever it is in the party that took all the suggested crap got sick while my body never seems to care what continent I am on. So this time to Africa was no different and of course it followed with me having to listen to everyone else about how stupid I am for not taking malaria pills (even the story of the people we met who lived in the “malaria zone” we were in for 8 years with no pills while everyone’s malaria pills were causing them to have terrible stomach issues didn’t seem to help).

Well, it finally happened. I got sick. I haven’t gotten sick from anything in probably 15 years but it happened. I (as well as two of the other guys we went with) got a tick bite that resulted in tick bite fever. The lucky guy was the one who came down with the symptoms while he was still in South Africa. All he had to do was go to the doc there in South Africa, get some anti-biotics, and done. In my case, I got home before the tick bite fever set in. So, I went to my doctor, a real nice guy, and told him I thought I had Afrcian Tick Bite Fever and needed some antibiotics to get right again. Well, instead I sat and listened to this big line of what I can best refer to as “medicalese bullshit” that was basically a bunch of clinical talk I couldn’t understand other than that he thought I had a spider bite rather than a tick bite. Well hell… he is the doc right? So I take the prescription he writes and go home to start taking it. By the next morning I feel like complete hell and have broken out with what looks like a case of the adult chicken pocks. I go back the next morning. Doc agrees that wasn’t what was supposed to happen so he calls Dr. Whoever that was one of Denver’s experts in infectious diseases from Africa. He explains the situation and the infectious disease doc tells him that (SURPRISE) it is African Tick Bite Fever caused by a TICK. I am accordingly prescribed the appropriate anti-biotic and two pills later feel 100%. Talk about “practicing” medicine, what a waste of time… should have just let my body fight off. I would have saved like $250 worth of doctor visits, two prescriptions, and a bunch of hassle.

OUTSIDE OF TICK BITE FEVER HOWEVER, Southern Africa once again proved to be among the coolest places I know of on the planet. We spent two and a half weeks in South Africa and then about 3 days in Zimbabwe. We managed to land right on top of the first widespread rioting and violence in South Africa in many years as well as the CRAZY election situation in Zimbabwe and I loved every bloody minute. Anyway, pictures and more blog posts to come about the trip! In the meantime here is the quick highlight timeline:

1. Dan, Chuck, and Sister Shannon spend twelve days hunting in the Limpopo province. We did awesome including shooting a beautiful trophy big bull Cape Buffalo, hands down the best hunting species I have ever experienced.
2. Girlfriend Shannon and Pat arrive and we spend three days in Sun City relaxing. Activities included an elephant-back ride on the edge of Pilanesburgh National Park.
3. The group heads to Mosethla Bush Camp for three days. 3 days of game viewing and sleeping among the lions and elephants and giraffes. We saw piles of amazing game but the climax was the last day when a mother elephant decided to charge our truck!
4. All fly up to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Vic Falls itself was the highlight but a canoe trip among the hippos and crocs as well as the general experience of being in a place that is facing the utter crisis Zimbabwe is facing were a pair of “close seconds”