Too Short for a Blog Post, Too Long for a Tweet 540

 

Here are a few excerpts from a book I recently read, "The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914," by David McCullough. 

The truth is that all the canal projects proposed, every cost estimated, irrespective of the individual or individuals responsible, were hopelessly unrealistic if not preposterous. Every supposed canal survey made by mid-century was patently flawed by bad assumptions or absurdly inadequate data. Assertions that the task would be simple were written by fools or by men who either had no appropriate competence or who, if they did, had never laid eyes on a rain forest.

The idea of digging down to sea level was thoroughly unrealistic if one understood the terrain and ought to be discarded without further fuss. Those who talked of diverting the Chagres River in some fashion were sadly misinformed and deceiving themselves. They were allowing the triumph at Suez to distort their capacity to see things for what they were. Suez and Panama must not be regarded as comparable, he said. The environmental conditions were opposite in the extreme. “At Suez there is a lack of water, the terrain is easy, the land nearly the same level as the sea; in spite of the heat, it is a perfectly healthy climate. In tropical America, there is too much water, the terrain is mostly rock, the land has considerable relief, and finally the country is literally poisoned.” To act in the same manner in places of such opposite character, he declared, would be to “outrage nature” instead of to benefit by it, “which is the primary goal of the engineer.”

Roosevelt, however, looked upon the canal quite differently than de Lesseps had, differently, in fact, than nearly everyone. It was very well for others to talk of it as the dream of Columbus, to call it a giant step in the march of civilization, or to picture as de Lesseps so often had its immeasurable value to world commerce. Roosevelt was promoting neither a commercial venture nor a universal utility. To him, first, last, and always, the canal was the vital—the indispensable—path to a global destiny for the United States of America. He had a vision of his country as the commanding power on two oceans, and these joined by a canal built, owned, operated, policed, and fortified by his country. The canal was to be the first step to American supremacy at sea.

Others in the Cabinet fell into line, without apparent qualm, nor with anything approaching Roosevelt’s solemn air of righteousness. Attorney General Knox, having been asked by Roosevelt to construct a defense, is said to have remarked, “Oh, Mr. President, do not let so great an achievement suffer from any taint of legality.” At another point, during a Cabinet meeting, Roosevelt talked of the bitter denunciations in the press, then entered into a long, formal statement of his position. 

When he had finished, the story goes, he looked about the table, finally fixing his eye on Elihu Root. “Well,” he demanded, “have I answered the charges? Have I defended myself?” “You certainly have, Mr. President,” replied Root, who was known for his wit. “You have shown that you were accused of seduction and you have conclusively proved that you were guilty of rape.”

Sailing days for Panama were occasions remembered for years afterward, with thousands of women gathered at the wharf to bid the men farewell. “I never saw so many Negro women in my life,” wrote the correspondent. “All of them in their gayest Sunday clothes, and all wailing at the top of their voices.” Royal Mail steamers sailed with every inch of space occupied, the number on board generally averaging seven or eight hundred. The nearly twenty thousand men recruited at Barbados during the years of construction represented 10 percent of the island’s population and approximately 40 percent of all the adult males. Virtually every able-bodied man went off to build the Panama Canal and the money they sent home to the island was something over $300,000 a year.

But it was also in the closing years of the task that the great locks took form for all to see and they were the most interesting and important construction feats of the entire effort. They were the structural triumphs at Panama. In their overall dimensions, mass, weight, in the mechanisms and ingenious control apparatus incorporated in their design, they surpassed any similar structures in the world. They were, as was often said, the mighty portals of the Panama Gateway. Yet they were something much more than monumental; they did not, like a bridge or a cathedral, simply stand there; they worked. They were made of concrete and they were made of literally thousands of moving parts. Large essential elements were not built, but were manufactured, made in Pittsburgh, Wheeling, Schenectady, and other cities. In a very real sense they were colossal machines, the largest yet conceived, and in their final, finished form they would function quite as smoothly as a Swiss watch. They were truly one of the engineering triumphs of all time, but for reasons most people failed to comprehend.

Theodore Roosevelt never returned to Panama; he never saw the Panama Canal. The passage of the Pacific fleet through the locks in 1919 took place seven months after his death. Nor did he live to see the United States pay Colombia an indemnity of $25,000,000 (in 1921) for the loss of Panama, a move that had been initiated during the Wilson Administration, much to Roosevelt’s fury.

Too Short for a Blog Post, Too Long for a Tweet 539

 

Here are a couple of excerpts from a book I recently read, "The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success," by Ross Douthat. 

Decadence, deployed usefully, refers to economic stagnation, institutional decay, and cultural and intellectual exhaustion at a high level of material prosperity and technological development. It describes a situation in which repetition is more the norm than innovation; in which sclerosis afflicts public institutions and private enterprises alike; in which intellectual life seems to go in circles; in which new developments in science, new exploratory projects, underdeliver compared with what people recently expected. And, crucially, the stagnation and decay are often a direct consequence of previous development. The decadent society is, by definition, a victim of its own significant success.

If you want to feel like Western society is convulsing, there’s an app for that, a convincing simulation waiting. But in the real world, it’s possible that Western society is really leaning back in an easy chair, hooked up to a drip of something soothing, playing and replaying an ideological greatest-hits tape from its wild and crazy youth, all riled up in its own imagination and yet, in reality, comfortably numb.

Too Short for a Blog Post, Too Long for a Tweet 538

 

Here are a few excerpts from a book I recently read, "Aesop's Fables."

Two Travelers & a Bear

Two Men were traveling in company through a forest, when, all at once, a huge Bear crashed out of the brush near them.

One of the Men, thinking of his own safety, climbed a tree.

The other, unable to fight the savage beast alone, threw himself on the ground and lay still, as if he were dead. He had heard that a Bear will not touch a dead body.

It must have been true, for the Bear snuffed at the Man's head awhile, and then, seeming to be satisfied that he was dead, walked away.

The Man in the tree climbed down.

"It looked just as if that Bear whispered in your ear," he said. "What did he tell you?"

"He said," answered the other, "that it was not at all wise to keep company with a fellow who would desert his friend in a moment of danger."

The Wild Boar & the Fox

A Wild Boar was sharpening his tusks busily against the stump of a tree, when a Fox happened by. Now the Fox was always looking for a chance to make fun of his neighbors. So he made a great show of looking anxiously about, as if in fear of some hidden enemy. But the Boar kept right on with his work.

"Why are you doing that?" asked the Fox at last with a grin. "There isn't any danger that I can see."

"True enough," replied the Boar, "but when danger does come there will not be time for such work as this. My weapons will have to be ready for use then, or I shall suffer for it."

The Stag at The Pool

The Hart was once drinking from a pool and admiring the noble figure he made there. “Ah,” said he, “where can you see such noble horns as these, with such antlers! I wish I had legs more worthy to bear such a noble crown; it is a pity they are so slim and slight.” At that moment a Hunter approached and sent an arrow whistling after him. Away bounded the Hart, and soon, by the aid of his nimble legs, was nearly out of sight of the Hunter; but not noticing where he was going, he passed under some trees with branches growing low down in which his antlers were caught, so that the Hunter had time to come up. “Alas! alas!” cried the Hart: “We often despise what is most useful to us.”

Remarks at JWS Dinner, 2026 August 18

 

I did not get a chance to read this exact speech at the Joseph Wharton Scholars opening dinner earlier this week because it was too dark in the restaurant to see my printout, but this is what I had prepared to say to the incoming freshman class, the Class of 2030, exactly 35 years removed from when I was in their seat in the fall of 1991 when I first arrived in Philadelphia.

Thank you Utsav for inviting me to this and hello to the JWS Class of 2030!

Wow saying that makes me feel old. But I guess I am. 

I was in your shoes some 35 years ago, a fresh-faced kid from suburban San Jose California. 

I had Penn on my radar because Wharton was the best undergrad business school in the land.

But I picked Penn because of JWS. I was dead set on staying local and going to UC Berkeley. I'd been on campus a million times, would be staying with some of my closest high school friends, even looked up what classes I wanted to take.

My parents insisted on taking me on a college tour of East Coast schools I'd gotten into, and I remember the day I was at Penn was a dreary April morning, a big contrast to the sunny skies I was used to back home.

Dr. William Whitney, the person who would be my JWS advisor so Utsav's predecessor, told me all about Philly and Penn and Wharton and JWS, and I was intrigued by the access to the honors offerings and small class sizes and extra attention.

But what really got me was one of his students burst into the office while we were talking, and she was really excited and told him she'd just gotten a random opportunity to study marine biology in Hawaii, and Dr. Whitney said, "well of course you're going to go," and she replied "but I'm a finance major" and he just said "go; finance will wait, you won't regret doing something fun and different"

The fact that I can tell you about a conversation from 35 years ago tells you it left a mark on me, and so if there's any advice you'd be willing to receive from me, it's be open to new and seemingly random activities, because they end up helping shape your life perspective in ways that can be hard to predict at the time 

In closing, I'll only add that you don't have to go all the way to Hawaii to access unique experiences

Most of you are not from Philly, and I venture to say that for most of you, Philly wasn't the primary reason you picked Penn and Wharton and JWS, or perhaps it wasn't a factor at all; I know it wasn't for me when I was in your shoes

The fact that I'm here, 35 years later, living and working in Philadelphia, tells you I fell hard for Philly

But even if you're just here for 4 years and go somewhere else, make the most of your time in this great city

The thing about undergraduate education in the year 2026 is that it can't just be in the classroom

Your future success depends on you learning about and eventually solving problems and having impact in the real world, out there

And here, in Philadelphia, "out there" is right here, meaning you will scarcely have a more accessible chance to understand and engage with real-world people and real-world issues and real-world platforms

Go to a city council or school board meeting, get involved in a local non-profit, read the local paper - these things don't feel as sexy as taking that class with the famous Wharton professor or snagging that coveted internship on Wall Street or in Silicon Valley, but you will find they are no less important in shaping your worldview and preparing you to make a difference in the world

And with that, I leave you to 4 great years here, and I hope we can stay in touch if only so I can have the pleasure of watching you grow into what will be a fantastic career and life

Thank you 

The Most Important Skill in Life is Being Able to Count (the Votes)

 

"Survivor" premiered in May 2000, and represented the dawn of a new era of reality TV that took the formula from previous offerings like MTV's "Real World" (unscripted chaos among ordinary Americans) and added a new twist, that of austere conditions and arduous challenges. Naively, I thought to myself that the show would reward sheer brawns and brains; I mean, the title of the show seemed to suggest that the winner would be the one that could physically and mentally outlast the others.

Sure enough, some of the early people "voted off the island" were those that either lacked the ability or motivation to contribute to the community's ability to make it through the night. But along the way, something else kicked in. Those that found success and ultimately won were those who could form alliances, build trust, backstab when advantageous, and among all things have a very good understanding of whether they had enough votes to live to play another day.

Life is not a reality show in which we're stranded on a desert island and left to fend for ourselves. But the human nature observed on "Survivor" is the same that governs how we behave in civilization. 

Some of us had cultural upbringings and educational resources that allowed us to view the world as a place where if we worked hard and played fair, we would find success. Others of us had a less sheltered childhood existence, left to fend for ourselves, learning the code of the streets in the process. The former is a solid foundation for a respectable existence. The latter is woven over and under that, sometimes dooming people to a harder life and sometimes allowing people to soar to the very highest levels of power and wealth.

As noted above, early people voted off on "Survivor" were those who were deemed least able or willing to contribute to the group's survival. But, later on, it was often the opposite: those who were physically and mentally strongest to contribute were also seen as the greatest competition for the prize, and so it made sense for others to gang up on them and compel a sufficient number of votes to eliminate them from the competition. Which, as harsh and illogical as that might sound, actually makes the most sense, because it is clear if you have opted to play this game that the goal is not for the group to thrive but for you to win.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions about pockets of your life that resemble this dynamic. I'll only say, in closing, that after having told a similar story from my career journey to a group of college students, I left them with a frank statement of: whether you like it or not, there is an aspect of life that is like a game, and that game has rules, and some of those rules are not fair, so you will have to decide whether you want to play the game or not, or change the game or not, but there will be consequences to whatever you choose.

However cynical and harsh that might be for a young person just starting out at university to hear, I feel it is a fair and helpful sentiment to convey. It is a hallmark of our modern democracy that we balance rule by the majority with protection of the minority, which is to say that those who have more votes get to be in power, and we have checks and balances in place to make sure that power isn't used to punish those out of power. 

We have a conflicting feeling about power, in that it is easy to abuse and easy to covet, but that doesn't substitute for the fact that if you want to get something done you have to have power, and if you want to have power then you need to do things to get it. Which, I learned from "Survivor" over 25 years ago, isn't necessarily being the strongest or smartest, but rather being able to seek, count, and secure votes.

Recommended Reads, 56th in a Quarterly Series

 

 

Stuff I'd recommend from the past three months. 

War and Peace (Tolstoy). It turns out one of the most famous books in the world is a really good read.

Native Son (Wright). Gripping narrative; I could not put this book down.

My Broken Language (Hudes). There's something about this book that kept drawing me in.

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know (Gladwell). Gladwell at his best, probing something everyone thinks they know but from a fresh new angle.

Frankenstein (Shelley). I finished this book in two days, that's how into it I got.

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism (Wynn-Williams). An incredible look into the company behind the website everyone's on.

Leonardo da Vinci (Isaacson). The subject is one of the most interesting people ever, and the author does a great job of bringing us into his fascinating life.

It (King). One of the great horror books of all time and a clear inspiration for "Stranger Things."

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal (Roach). She is one of my favorite authors, seamlessly blending humor and scholarship such that I am constantly simultaneously learning and laughing.

Too Short for a Blog Post, Too Long for a Tweet 537

 

Here is an excerpt from a book I recently read, "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns," by John Bogle.

Successful investing is about owning businesses and reaping the huge rewards provided by the dividends and earnings growth of our nation’s—and, for that matter, the world’s—corporations. The higher the level of their investment activity, the greater the cost of financial intermediation and taxes, the less the net return that shareholders—as a group, the owners of our businesses—receive. The lower the costs that investors as a group incur, the higher the rewards that they reap. So to enjoy the winning returns generated by businesses over the long term, the intelligent investor will reduce to the bare-bones minimum the costs of financial intermediation. That’s what common sense tells us. That’s what indexing is all about. And that’s the central message of this book.

Too Short for a Blog Post, Too Long for a Tweet 536

 

Here are a couple of excerpts from a book I recently read, "Talking Back, Talking Black: Truths About America's Lingua Franca," by John McWhorter 

There is a term for people whose casual and formal speech differs to this degree: diglossia, from the Greek for “two tongues.” However, I have held off on introducing that term, because giving this bidialectal linguistic existence a label implies that it is exotic, when in fact it is extremely common and even a norm. Around the world, if a language has a strong written tradition and is also spoken widely, then often its spoken versions have drifted from the conservative written standard to varying degrees. As often as not, this means that there is a gulf between the way people chat and the way they speak. They speak the written version; they talk the other version. As such, there is ample diglossia in many languages of South Asia, across Indonesia, and in Tibetan, Swahili, German, and Italian itself, as well as in Greece, China, parts of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, and elsewhere. If anything, what merits a special term is monoglossia—speaking always basically one thing. 

Black Americans are disglossic—perfectly normally diglossic. Whether they would be allowed to use Black English in a job interview is as loopy an issue to focus on as whether a Moroccan would defend his master’s thesis in Moroccan Arabic—almost as different from Standard Arabic as French is from Latin—or whether a Finn who gets a job as a newscaster would talk on the air the same way as she does to her mom.

I want you to be truly comfortable with the idea that there is indeed a black way of speaking, that there isn’t anything wrong with it, that it would be bizarre if such speech did not exist, and that it is spoken alongside Standard English, not in opposition to it. However, Black English (and there is a such thing!) is spoken in a society in which racism still exists, and the issue of what we do about racism is decidedly complex.

Too Short for a Blog Post, Too Long for a Tweet 535

 

 

Here is an excerpt from a book I recently read, "The Metamorphosis and Other Stories," by Franz Kafka.

"It must go away," cried the sister, "that is the only way, father. All you have to do is try to get rid of the thought that it is Gregor. That we believed it for so long is our real misfortune. But how can it be Gregor? If it were Gregor, he would have long since realized that people cannot live with such an animal and would have left voluntarily. We would then not have a brother, but we could go on living and cherish his memory. But as it is, this animal persecutes us, drives away the lodgers, obviously wants to take over the whole apartment, and leave us to sleep in the alley.

"Just look, Father," she shrieked suddenly, "he's starting again!" And in a panic that Gregor found completely incomprehensible, she even left her mother, literally pushed herself away from her chair, as if she would rather sacrifice her mother than stay near Gregor, and rushed behind her father who, entirely unhinged by her behavior, also stood up and half-raised his arms as if to protect her.

As The World Turns

 

For a work-related golf outing, I was recently paired up with an older gentleman who was 10 years retired from working in city government but still civically active and relationally connected. Having journeyed with other colleagues his age, as they wind down their formal careers and explore various levels of staying engaged, I asked him if it was his preference to stay in the loop, and if it was harder to do so now that he wasn't going into the office every day. 

His answer was a funny and insightful one. He asked me if I'd ever watched soap operas as a kid, and I told him that my mom and her sister would watch "As the World Turns," so there were probably some points in my childhood where I followed along and got to know the characters and plot lines. He responded that my answer proved his point. In his mind, Philly is a like a soap opera. There are main characters and central plot lines that carry over multiple seasons. And, even when new characters and plot lines are introduced, it doesn't take look for you to figure them out, if you've been watching for long enough. 

Sure enough, I remember returning to "As the World Turns" many years after my childhood, perhaps when I was home from college one summer and my mom or my aunt had it on the TV. And it is correct that within a single episode, even if you don't recognize characters or follow what's going on at first, by the end of the episode you've made the appropriate connections to follow along. Because people, even if new, play a certain role, and plot lines, even if new, are birthed out of older and more long-standing plot lines.

And so it is that this older gentleman has been able, 10 years out from quitting his day job, to either know what's going on in town or quickly figure it out. I don't know that I'm as savvy as he is, but I suspect many of us could also follow along reasonably well even if we were officially out of the loop for a bit. I guess that's how soap operas, and big cities, work. 

Too Short for a Blog Post, Too Long for a Tweet 534

 

 

Here is an excerpt from an article I recently read on ESPN.com, "Koivun Wins 3M Open in Third Pro Start, Holding Off Scheffler."

 

"I feel like I've gotten a lot better over the past couple years of being able to beat guys with my mentality," said Koivun, who broke the NCAA career record for per-round stroke average (68.89) and helped lead Auburn to the national championship last month. "Sometimes I watch guys hit on the range and I don't feel like I'm the most talented out there, but if I can go out there and believe and use my brain to my advantage, then that's definitely kind of like a superpower."