Rewarding the reckless

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio version of this blog story click here.]

Wouldn't it be great if we could all (mis)manage our financial affairs in a similar way to many countries?

Spending is the new saving. 

That is, not only be in debt but continuously add to it, giving back only a fraction of the total by way of interest repayments, if even that. And do so in a rather carefree manner.

How the wasteful are winning

Perhaps this actually is the way the world's rich (just don't probe too much into their accounts) and powerful operate. It would explain a lot. If it works for governments, then why not for individuals?

You see, it seems that trying to be financially prudent these days is a penance suffered by a small few in the hard-pressed working and middle classes. If you're not in debt or at least a serial spender, you're not playing the game right. Or you're not playing the game at all, stupid.

With speculate-to-accumulate in mind, I do realise that people deliberately overstretch themselves with the goal of seeing their investments come good, and then some, at a future date. Thus, being in debt for a time might be both unavoidable and smart. (It's something I could be more open to; playing it safe doesn't mean invariable stability.)

In the past, lent monies were usually for the purchase of assets, investment in a business, educational enhancement or suchlike. Loan requests generally had to come with rigorous cost plans, with a borrower expected to repay the lender the full amount plus interest at a defined later stage.

Of late, however, it seems the reckless state-borrowing model has taken hold at large. Rather than reduce expenditure, people look for monetary support to maintain a certain quality of life.

Alongside this, the definition of loan appears to have morphed into gift for many. Or at least the idea of being frugal, or 'good with money' to put a more positive spin on it, is frowned upon.

'The analogy to Ireland: A frugal foreigner with some savings provides access to money on the cheap for the locals, most of whom are involved in the construction industry.'

OK, this 'spend what you have today, let tomorrow take care of itself' attitude can be viewed as positive. One should be relaxed enough to enjoy his/her (usually) hard-earned income in the here and now.

However, spending what you don't really have is another matter. Ireland Inc., to give but one example, saw how that can turn nasty back in 2008. Yet, the biggest borrowers, the most spendthrift, got away rather lightly compared to the small fry. Some, indeed, are just too important to fail.

Frugal fool

Now, what could be viewed as a microcosm of profligate Ireland is my financial dealings with a friend in my beloved Bogotá barrio, Santandercito. The analogy in a sentence: A frugal foreigner with some savings provides access to money on the cheap for the locals, most of whom are involved in the construction industry.

It can be hard to say no when somebody appears in desperate need.

More specifically, in The barrio banker, I wrote about how I'd given out interest-free loans to some friends in need over the last few years. These loan requests, from one acquaintance in particular, haven't stopped — give the dog a bone and all that. And I find it hard to say no.

The latest rather substantial loan does have a small interest rate attached to it. I'm toughening up — a little (although, compared to the current interest rates for Colombia's CDT savings accounts, I'm losing out. Be that as it may, the repayment date has now passed and my friend, so he says, doesn't have the funds.

Based on previous form, I trust the man. I have no other choice. If the friendship is ruptured, I have no real legal recourse to get what's owed me. What especially bugs me, particularly as somebody who by both nature and nurture is careful with money, is seeing this man be anything but that.

It's not like I've got endless revenue supplies. This is the hard-pressed asking the slightly less hard-pressed.

Nonetheless, as alluded to, I do like to help where possible, especially for somebody truly in a bad way. In this case, however, the behaviour of the borrower immediately after he got the loan suggested it wasn't a life-or-death situation. Unless "beering" the barrio is critical to his survival.

For the moment, I just have to sit tight and try not to let the negative emotions overcome me — completely avoidable negativity at that, too, if I'd just said no. Time shall tell if this was a foolish loan on my part.

Yet, perhaps my biggest act of foolery has been my attempts to put money aside for the future. 'Just spend, spend, spend, Brendan. Somebody else will pick up the tab.' Quite.
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Living with unsettled and unsettling questions

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio version of this blog story click here.]

As we grow older, we tend to become more comfortable in ourselves and what we're about.

The "truth" is out there. But where?

Manifested positively, it means we're less impressionable, less open to malignant manipulation. Negatively, it can lead to pigheadedness, becoming stuck in our ways.

On the latter, one of the most difficult things to admit is that we were wrong. Of course, for many of today's most contentious issues, we're still trying to work out what exactly is right, what is the "truth".

Covid conflicts

For example, back in the height of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the majority view was that one was not only being reckless but also selfish in not wearing a facemask to help reduce contagion.

Any evidence produced proving the efficacy of such masks for this exact purpose had, at best, many holes in it.

The same just-do-it pressure was at play when the vaccines were introduced. 'Vaccines have saved lives in the past, the rapidly tested and rolled out covid jabs seem to do likewise, therefore we can safely order everybody to take them.' That was the mantra, again supported by data that weren't without blind spots.

Today, such a stance does not stand up to balanced scrutiny. Even the infallible Dr Anthony Fauci has at least hinted that these vaccines are not a silver bullet for all age cohorts. Yet, there are those who still appear unwilling to accept that some of us clearly have robust natural immunity against covid.

Prophets of doom

This has similarities with the narrative around the climate crisis, or climate emergency if you prefer. Many say the science — the science that points to doomsday outcomes, that is — is settled; no aspect of it can be refuted. It's unquestionable fact. Even implementing radical changes now may not be enough to avoid our extinction or at least close-to-apocalyptic times.

'Some climate crisis activists are akin to religious fundamentalists. Their belief system is the way, the truth and the life.'

It's all about what we must do to lessen the impending doom, which seems somewhat oxymoronic.

For the record, one place to start for a less alarmist take on climate change is with Bjorn Lomborg.

Yes, there are those who truly believe we are only decades away from our extinction and the measures we take now are simply delaying the inevitable.

Yet, others in positions of influence and power appear less convinced of this destruction discourse but benefit from keeping it top of mind, promoting a perpetual state of fear. 

A positive end

It must be noted, I'm not saying that we should just carry on regardless. And many, particularly in the West, are at least trying to change what we now know have been harmful habits. 

Opting for cleaner, greener energy, engaging in practices that are more in harmony with the natural habitat, all of these should be pursued. (Heck, if more people lived like me we'd surely see a significant reduction in carbon emissions.)

The point is, by adopting the alarmist, hysterical approach, the chances of doing more harm than good increase. In fact, no real good may be done at all.

Indeed, some climate crisis activists are akin to religious fundamentalists — a tad ironic considering many of them are atheists who despise god-worshippers. Their belief system is the way, the truth and the life. Follow their path and we can have paradise on earth. Those who don't are wrong and hell bound.

Maybe they're right. However, in the same way that we can't say with 100 per cent certainty that there is no god, we can't know for sure what the planet will look like in the decades and centuries to come. Our changing of something in one area may lead to unexpected happenings in another, for good or for bad.

What can be said with certainty, though, is that our individual existence as we know it will end. We'll all face our "doom" at some stage.

So we may as well try to be as positive and proactive as possible while we're still living and breathing. Less of the hysterics, more helpfulness.
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Listen to The Corrigan Cast podcast here.

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Abandoning the beer standard

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio version of this blog story click here.]

In Bogotá's perpetual Corner Bar barrio, I explained how a working-class drinking culture permeates the neighbourhood I frequent the most in the Colombian capital. As somebody who grew up in rural Ireland, this is quite familiar to me.

It's best not to overly rely on the beer standard. Diversification is key.

One big difference, though, is that the barrio locals don't appear to have the same complex, schizophrenic-like relationship with alcohol as many Irish have. The barrio boys just drink when they want to drink — which is regularly — without this deep guilt, that nagging question, 'Am I overly reliant on booze?'

Lightweight battle

You see, both in Ireland and abroad, the notion of the heavy-drinking Irish is effectively accepted as fact. An Irishman — or woman, for that matter — who doesn't drink to excess is an anomaly.

Now, as fairly well-travelled, I've found that all historically Christian nations have a drinking culture — some a little more so than others, of course. In fact, according to various studies, Ireland isn't even in the top five globally when it comes to alcohol consumption per capita. Those eastern Europeans are our boozy betters.

Colombia, for the record, tends to be well down the list in such studies. It is, though, far from teetotaler territory.

Comparing myself to my barrio besties, it's safe to assume my weekly consumption is now below the average.

In contrast, back in 2016, when I first started socialising in Santandercito, I had what I now view as a rather immature macho-drinking attitude i.e. I liked being the one downing the most. And, more often than not, I was.

The small problem is that this set a precedent. The barrio buddies came to expect me to drink copious amounts when I "went at it".

This had less to do with the Irish-drinking reputation preceding me and more to do with that initial form.

Thus, my gradual change to not only trying but also enjoying drinking less when I socialise in such environments appears to have taken some acquaintances by surprise. Now, I may be overstating this somewhat. We tend to think that others are judging us on certain behaviours or whatever when in reality they're not.

'While many are generous, these are balanced out by numerous freeloaders. I've frequently spent double what I've actually drunk on nights out.'

There are also the vestiges of the Ireland I grew up in at play here. One would be viewed as a lightweight if he couldn't keep the same drinking pace as "the lads". All things considered, such silliness about boozing is less of a factor in Colombia (although, this isn't to say it doesn't exist at all — where there is bravado and booze it's bound to be present to some degree).

The missing rounds

Nonetheless, the fact that I've been drinking less means some barrio buddies have been seeing less of me. Of course, one can still go out and not drink but I don't consider the barrio tienda as a great place for that. I'm far more content to be in my panadería when I'm not drinking beer.

It must be noted here, it's not that I'm in need of company when I go to such establishments. I'm often happier when left to my own thoughts.

Indeed, as regards the panadería, I usually go there to read and write, so having people talk to me is an annoyance. It's just that I like the idea that I'm "out", that there's movement about me. Spending the majority of my time in the place in which I sleep is somewhat torturous for me. Working from "home" is not something I view as a positive.

Coming back to my overall reduction in alcohol consumption, alongside the health benefits, there's also the financial factor. Not only am I spending slightly less on beer for me, but more significantly I'm also spending less on others.

This is due to the popular "round culture" in Colombia. And while there are many generous folk about, these are balanced out by numerous freeloaders. I've frequently spent double what I've actually drunk on days/nights out.

OK, inviting people to a tipple or two now and again is a nice gesture when one can afford it, but multiple times a month? It tends to put me in a bad mood. And when alcohol mixes with one's bad mood, this often results in quite an explosive cocktail.

So my drinking less which results in spending less — at that moment of socialising anyway — is good for the bank balance, body and mind.

That being said, I'm not quite ready to abandon the beer standard completely. I am, however, loosening my ties to it.
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Listen to The Corrigan Cast podcast here.

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Focusing on filling the glass

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio version of this blog story click here.]

Of late, I've found myself reading books — both fiction and non-fiction — that, on the whole, are probably more negative than positive. Some might say, then, literature that properly reflects reality. Those old contrarians, eh?

Is the glass half empty or half full?

You got the motion

In some ways, such reading gives me a sense of comfort. That is, no matter how mediocre or unfulfilling I may think my situation is, I can rest assured that it could always be worse.

In fact, this could be viewed as a positive attitude to have. Look on the bright side, view the "glass of fulfilment" as half full rather than half empty.

In addition, residing and socialising in a working-class neighbourhood in what is on the whole no more than a middle-income nation gives one daily examples of this things-could-be-worse scenario, financially speaking in any case.

Yet, few of us are truly happy with our lot at any given time. There's always something that we'd like to change, something that we're working on that isn't quite yet how we want it to be.

'To borrow from an Irish folk song, 'what's done is done, what's won is won and what's lost is lost and gone forever."'

This is natural and generally salutary, of course. On a planet and in a universe that are constantly in motion, nothing remains stagnant, as much as we may want it to. Situations evolve and dissolve. At times, this is beneficial for us, on other occasions, it's not.

A corollary is that life's highs are but fleeting. A somewhat comforting counterpoint is that the circumstances that create the lows soon change, even if we struggle to pick ourselves up.

Antediluvian

Thus, longing for halcyon days of yore is about as useful as overly focusing on past traumas.

Yes, such experiences define and shape us, they are part of who we are, yet regularly ruminating on them runs the risk of missing out on personal enhancement in the here and now.

To borrow from an Irish folk song, The Town I Loved So Well, 'what's done is done, what's won is won and what's lost is lost and gone forever.'

While that can be considered overly negative — particularly in terms of 'what's lost' — the positive in it is that as long as one remains a functioning being, there are things that can still be won.

So rather than perhaps being disappointed when viewing the glass as half empty, look at the scope for advancement to add to the quality — or otherwise — of what's already been poured.

For when we stop trying to fill this metaphorical glass, or if we believe it's already at a satisfactory level, we'll most likely be inundated by life's vagaries.

And when it is actually "full", that's the day we're done. The glass and the liquid left within it shall be our legacy.
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Listen to The Corrigan Cast podcast here.

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