Outrunning the Bear
There are many iterations of a certain joke, some with boy scouts and some with lawyers, some told longer with more buildup and some short and sweet. But the punchline between the two conversing characters in the woods is virtually the same in all versions.
“Why are you putting tennis shoes on? You can’t outrun a bear!”
“I don’t have to outrun a bear. I only have to outrun you!”
Jokes with that much life to be told so many times in so many ways are so because they are funny. And things that are funny tend to rely on things we all know to be true. Relatable things are funny. But who do you know who’s literally escaped death from a bear? Obviously, the “truth” must be figurative. The bear represents inevitability. The runner has the plucky spirit to outwit inevitability by finding nature’s loophole… let someone else fall to inevitability and use the time to his advantage.
Unfortunately, there are a lot more people resigned to the fact that they can’t outrun a bear than people putting on their tennis shoes.
These are the victims who always have an excuse why they are in a lousy situation. “The economy is bad; nobody’s hiring right now.” These are the people who refuse to change what they don’t like about themselves. “There’s no point in trying to lose weight. My metabolism is just slow.” These are the complainers. “Why vote? It’s all going to hell in a handbag anyway.” These are the people who think that instead of running, that only a third party can step in and stop the bear. “I’m going to lose my house. The government ought to do something about that.”
It’s easy to see why this is the case. Trust me, no one has ever been proven wrong for believing in “the inevitable.” People who are sure that they can’t win never do win. Not only are these people not running, most often they go looking for the bear, awaken it from hibernation, and then poke it in the eye. Having circumstances so much against them is a convenient excuse for failure.
Interestingly enough, this has created another inevitability… politicians who vie for votes based on saving people from whatever crisis du jour from which they suffer. Because there is more power in “fixin’ to fix” things rather than actually permanently solving a problem, at best you get stop-gap measures. At worst, you get a complete exacerbation of the problem. Government control and politically motivated regulation is at the heart of a great many real problems… health care costs, energy costs, mortgage and bank failures, education problems. In all these areas, the biggest player in the game was the government. If the failure happened with disproportionate government involvement, how will more government involvement fix it? Thus government in some sense has become the bear. Long gone is the national debate over limited versus large government. The only contest is rate of growth. The non-taxpayers, currently 49% of the adult population, will soon become 51%. They will vote themselves the riches of the producers to “solve” their problems. The producers will shrink, and the economy will fail.
The best predictor of the future is the past, and we can see a path that matches histories of once free societies. Get ready.
Yet here I am putting on my tennis shoes. That’s pretty bold for the bleak scenario which I’ve painted. I have no illusions that I can outrun the bear. I can outrun a lot of other people. As of today, taxpayers are still a slight majority of us. As of today, I will actually keep a slight majority of the money I make. As of today, I have time to compound my wealth. As of today, while I am forced to take part in some “solutions” (Social Security, for one), I am still free of others (Mandated Universal Healthcare).
Capital and wealth are the “tennis shoes” that help me run. Money is freedom. I am not necessarily talking about being rich. This is the essence of “capital survivalism.” I am talking about using the freedom you currently have to make money today, and then doing the things that cause money to compound in value over time. The time window between when you see a bear and when it will catch up to you is the time you have to make a difference in the outcome, maybe not for everyone, but for yourself. That’s why I went to school, worked, and saved money instead of spending it all. I’ve used that to start a business. I’ll use that to set the next stage of my life. All that may not help me outrun a bear, but I can sure outrun the people not even trying. And the best part is that success is easier that way; outrunning by a mile or just a hair makes no difference.
You are the only person who will ever be able to save you. Get your shoes on!
Jared A. Chambers
