Charlie Munger’s parable about Basicland is literally the most amazing thing I’ve read in years, and I’ve read a lot.
I always have a “stack” of articles, if you will, drafted but not quite ready to publish. On any particular day I may work on 2 or 3 different articles that I’m saving up for the right moment when they have just the right emotion and polish. I had been working on an article about our country’s impending financial doom, but Charlie Munger has written something so much better than I ever could have. I’ll probably never publish mine now.
Part of what he describes is something that I mentioned two articles ago in “Being Cheap at the Expense of Others and the Story of Stuff“; I had mentioned how people like to pass their costs of living onto others in any way that they can. Mr. Munger mentions that, but it is only one small piece of the rich tale that he weaves about the impending downfall of American civilization.
For those of you that don’t know, Charlie Munger is Warren Buffet’s right hand man. If you don’t know who Warren Buffet is, go away.
You can read the article on slate.com here: Basically, It’s Over
