From AS re my bit in the Dec. 22 issue about bad business-management ideas: 

“In my business, I would choose an Employee of the Month, every month. The staff had to park their cars in a lot away from our building. The reward for being Employee of the Month was to park your car right next to our workplace for an entire month.

“The award was in effect for over a year. The same employee, Greg, won it every single month. He didn’t own a car. No one’s feelings were hurt.”

From PJ: 

“I want to thank you for writing Automatic Wealth for Grads. I read it last year just before I graduated from university, and immediately put many of your suggestions to work. So far, I’ve landed a high-paying job, and I’m saving more than a third of my income. This year, I’m going to put some of that to work by investing in rental real estate and your Legacy Portfolio of stocks. I’ll check in next year to update you!”

From CC: 

“Just a short note to tell you that I am very grateful for the generous people God has put in my life… including your blog, which has allowed your readers to learn from your knowledge and wisdom. God bless you and your family.”

Re my essay “A World Divided: Is a New Dark Age Coming?” in the Dec. 10 issue: 

“Today’s post was very well done and lays perfectly a great historical proposition, summary, and conclusion for the argument you make.” – CF

“I thought I had a pessimistic view of the future. A new dark age? I wish I could dismiss your thought as crazy. Every day since you wrote that I’ve been watching the news and thinking, ‘Mark may be on to something!’ Keep on it!” – KC

My Response: Yes, my view on America’s future is dark. In fact, I think we (and Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand) have entered another Dark Age. I’d like to think that the “other side” must understand how absurd their ideas are and will come to their senses before it’s too late.

Fans in unexpected places! 

“I’ve been following your personal blog for a long time. I am a fan of the way you write.” – RF, writing from Brazil

“Your book Living Rich resonated with me to such an extent that I have begun translating it into Romanian. It’s an honor to bring your valuable ideas to my fellow Romanians. Furthermore, your blog and other works, such as Ready, Fire, Aim, have been instrumental in my personal journey, helping me increase my net wealth by twentyfold.” – RS, writing from Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania, Romania

My Response: Thanks, RS.

Reminder: Readers of this blog can order most of my books – including Living Rich and Ready, Fire, Aim – directly from us at a discounted price. Click here.

From JS re what I said about my recent doctor visit in the Dec. 10 issue: 

“I never did get vaccinated as I didn’t trust it. Now you are the third person I have known to have adverse effects. Glad the good doctor was receptive to your concerns.”

From FP re my “World Divided” essay: 

“Loved your brief history of post-modernist thinking. It’s amazing to realize that college kids today buy into the idea that Israel colonized Palestine and runs an apartheid state.”

My Response: I’m sure they don’t even know the basic definitions of apartheid and colonialization. If they did, how could they possibly take the positions they are taking?

From GF: 

“I have been following you for about three years and have purchased several of your books. Thanks for all your writings. I truly enjoy!”

From AM: Now I’m in Charge. Help! 

“I recently took over the management of a small family-run enterprise. Although I have had the privilege of working for the company in the past, I am now faced with the challenge of steering it forward…. I am reaching out to seek your guidance and expertise. If you have any insights that might be beneficial in formulating an effective sales strategy for our niche, I would be grateful.”

My Response: I don’t take new clients, but I’d be happy to provide you with suggestions in this forum (my blog), as it can be useful to other readers. But before I can do that, I need you to be more specific in terms of your primary challenges and how you are approaching them.

From TQ: Thanks! 

“Just a short note to say thank you for all the wisdom you’ve shared. I’ve saved a lot of your articles, and they still give me a lot of value.”

From ND: 

“I pretty much agree with everything you say. Especially on the economics, COVID, and Israel/Palestine topics. And you are far too modest when it comes to some readers questioning your take on business and how money works. Your work has always been an inspiration to me, and I attribute a good chunk of your ideas to [the success of my business] so far.”

From PN: 

“This article makes a good case for why Biden will remain the Democratic candidate. I just wanted to share another view.”

My Response: The article explains the reasons Trump will almost certainly be the Republican candidate. But when it comes to Biden, the argument is that, despite his cognitive problems and low ratings, he will get the support of the Democratic machine and that will be enough to bring him to victory.

I think that’s doubtful. Given Biden’s current mental condition, I don’t believe he could stand up against Trump during a tough election. And if it becomes a Trump-Biden race, it will be sorely contested. Again IMHO, he will lose by a large margin.

My argument is that the key decision makers in the party have, at this point, the same doubts about Biden’s performance capability as I do. And being so close to him, and having had the advantage of speaking directly to him, they long ago decided that unless something drastic changed, he would not be the candidate they would put up against Trump in 2024.

They also realized that, given his current physical condition, he couldn’t possibly make it through another term. Which means he can’t have Kamala Harris as his running mate. She may be the most unpopular presidential figure of all time.

My prediction – that he will step aside and endorse Gavin Newsom to succeed him – is based on my belief that the Democrat decision-makers aren’t stupid. Nor are they ignorant about what it takes to get elected. Their primary interest lays in keeping and getting control of the presidency and both houses of Congress. And the only way they can do that is by putting Biden out to pasture and bringing in someone younger, quicker, and more charismatic. Newsom.

From CL re my musings on charity in the Nov. 21 issue: 

“It’s funny you don’t like the word ‘charity’ as I wish it were used more often – especially at church – instead of talking about ‘love’ left and right. ‘Charity’ would be the perfect candidate to revive the ancient distinction between eros and caritas.”

My Response: I understand what you mean. And although it may seem contradictory, I agree with you that in many cases the word charity is the best word to use. That’s because charity has the connotation of being voluntary – not forced – and certainly not an obligation on the part of the giver. It implies that the donation is a gift, not an entitlement, and that the recipient should see it as something he or she should be grateful for, rather than as something he/she is entitled to for whatever reason.

What I don’t like about the word is that it also connotes doing something that is a prima facie good, which I don’t believe it is.

On COVID, from DG (UK reader): 

“What a situation. Come up with a drug that 99% of the population will be heavily pushed to take, don’t worry if it doesn’t work all that well, and don’t worry if it harms people, they won’t be allowed to sue you. Not the kind of situation that encourages best practice in development, they must have been scared stiff to let another company come up with a vaccine first, it would have cost them millions. Also: I thought you would be interested in this. It’s the first time I’ve heard of anyone taking legal action over COVID vaccines.”

On woke advertising, from JS: 

 “When will corporations learn to stay out of politics? Peleton’s new CEO has been there for over a year and pulls a stunt like this? He should be sued by the shareholders as he has a fiduciary duty to them, not to Politics!”

From RO: “Your Oct. 10 article about food insecurity reminded me of a video I saw on what I think is the most likely source of this ‘household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.’ It’s neighborhoods where the grocery store gets robbed so often they are forced to close down. They’ve been named food deserts. I think I originally heard this term from a TED Talk given by someone who lived in such a neighborhood. She said that the nearest grocery store is too far to walk, so residents taxi to the nearest superstore, return with a week’s worth of groceries, and hope they don’t get mugged on the way home carrying several bags of food.”

My Response: I looked up a half-dozen definitions of “food insecurity” before I wrote about it, and none of them mentioned the fear of being mugged while carrying groceries. If that had anything to do with it, the same journalists and activists that are making such a fuss about it now would be arguing for more police presence in those neighborhoods, not more government assistance to provide those “suffering” from food insecurity with more food. And by the way, I’ve twice lived in the kind of neighborhoods we are talking about here. And back then, there were no superstores, just small groceries that were run almost exclusively by Asians. And even though crime was rampant in those neighborhoods, 95% of the violent crime was relegated to young Black men killing young Black men over gang- and drug-related feuds. As a “civilian,” neither I nor anyone else I knew had any fear of walking home from the corner store with a bag of groceries.

Re the Nov. 7 issue… 

From BJ: “I read your blog today and see that you think culture is the foundation of our world. I couldn’t agree more. We care more about culture than we do about money, politics, religion, or anything I can think of. Our culture is where we go to feel something. And that’s the most human thing we do. I’ve been struck by the reaction of people of all ages to the release of a new Beatles song. Basically, AI was used to separate John Lennon’s voice from his piano, and then images, notes, and videos, past and present, were spliced together to finish a song started five decades ago. Lots of people don’t care for the Beatles, and perhaps they are overrated. But there is no denying the roles they played in our culture over 60 years in terms of hair and clothing styles, politics, freedom, equality, and, of course, music.”

My Response: Thanks, BJ. Yes, it’s almost impossible to overstate the influence that the Beatles had. One band of four musicians, during such a short span of time.

From PN: “To give you credit, it’s starting to look a lot more like Biden will not be the Democratic presidential candidate. Just in the last few days, I have heard some prominent Democrats call for him to step aside as a 2024 candidate. I think this will gain traction. And the poll results showing Trump beating Biden in five of the six swing states certainly doesn’t help Biden’s case. In fact, polling also shows that almost every Republican candidate would beat Biden. Biden doesn’t have much time to act if he wants to give a new candidate a chance to be on the ballot, raise money, etc. The question is how do the Dems elegantly get rid of Kamala? The other question is, of course, who will be the candidate? Newsom? Dean Phillips announced he is running. This indicates another crack in the armor for Biden. Bottom line: I think you’re right. Biden won’t run.”

From PN re the average net worth of American families in the Nov. 4 issue: 

“I am so glad you pointed out that it is skewed by a small number of billionaires and multimillionaires. I thought it was irresponsible for the Fed to publish the average net worth instead of the median net worth, which would have been so much more informative (and less demoralizing to the great majority of Americans whose net worths are below $1 million).”

From AS re the age of the moon in the Oct. 27 issue: 

“I read about the age of the moon increasing by 40 million years. I didn’t think much of it even though I generally love those things. When I saw it in your blog, I had to say it meant very little to me. It sounds like a long time. But it only comes to 1.555555555% older. That’s nothing when you’re talking about 4.43 billion years.”

My Response: That’s exactly how I felt. I probably should have added the math you did and said something like, “Someone tell me: Why is this important?”