The Pundits Know Sh*t


If you haven’t seen any of the many videos flying around about everyone who said “Trump will never be president,” then you should.

Presumably, these were people in the know–senior politicians and statesmen, experts galore including scientists and professors, news media, talk show hosts, comedians, and Hollywood stars.

Virtually none could even imagine him winning as they “promised” and “guaranteed” it and even swore they would leave the country otherwise.

But as we all now know, they were completely wrong and misguided. 

Similarly, in a book review today in the Wall Street Journal of “Public Intellectuals,” the big mouth know-it-alls out there or what my friend’s father used to call “intellectual idiots” failed to predict all the black swan events.

From the fall of the Soviet Union to 9/11, the Internet bubble and recession of 2001 to the mortgage meltdown and financial collapse of 2008, from the Arab Spring to Brexit…the pundits are all left looking like schmendricks!

Whether this is caused by personal biases, shortsightedness, herd mentality, or incompetence, the educated intellectuals just don’t seem to be able to see around that next bend anymore than the rest of us. 

Moreover, because of their walled-off elite status, they are functioning and talking through loud speakers from their ivory towers rather than from the real man’s world of everyday hardships and challenges. 

As I often tell one of my esteemed colleagues, it’s not how often or how loud you say something, but how sincere it is. 

The pundits typically miss it (although they seem so smart when talking with 20-20 hindsight about what happened and why), and as contrarians already know, it typically pays to do the opposite of what the so-called experts tell you. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

How-To Book Craze

How To Take Photos


Sort of ironic, funny, no?

You can read about it or do it. 

I’m one of those people who learn more by actually doing. 

Ok, I’m not the greatest photographer in the world (by a really long shot).

But for me it’s more about the idea I’m trying to convey than the pure artistic value per se. 

Anyway, in the vein of words being cheap, “Reading is fundamental,” but doing is absolutely fundamental. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)