Coming from a weekly comment I receive from an investing firm. Emphasis on the last part for all doomsayers:
MY TRIP TO MOSCOW, RUSSIA
Quote of the Week:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The U.S. Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
On Sunday, I returned from a trip to Moscow, Russia. I had the opportunity to go with The Young Entrepreneurs Organization (YEO), which coordinated with The U.S. Russia Center for Entrepreneurship. It was an incredible experience.
If you ever have the opportunity to go, make it happen. In fact, one of the speakers at the event said that his father, while sitting on his deathbed, declared, “The one regret I have is not living EVERY year of my life in the same way that I lived this last year. I waited until the end to do the things I love.”
Moscow reminded me of what I have read about doing business in the Wild West in the 1800s. There is a tremendous amount of opportunity combined with tremendous risk. I was encouraged by the spirit of optimism in the people that I met there. They want to shake their communist past and create a new future for their families. They have a long row to hoe, but I believe they will do it.
But the real message for today has everything to do with how fortunate we Americans are relative to Russians and others around the world. We need to continue to have confidence in our future and invest in our future.
A small group of us had dinner at the “home” of an upper-middle-class Russian family. This family of four – mother, father, 21-year-old daughter, and 19-year-old son – were incredibly nice people and great hosts. I plan on knowing them for a long time. The parents were both advance degreed engineers with “high” incomes. They were also very proud of their lifestyle.
Their tiny home measured 600 square feet consisting of 3 rooms. Their building - virtually everyone in Moscow lives in an apartment building - would be considered a seedy tenement here in the U.S. Their small “dining” room was actually converted back to their daughter’s bedroom while we were leaving, yet they were very proud of their well-kept home.
Now consider what this family has endured. During the last 14 years, Russian citizens have gone through severe upheaval in their life. They had the old Communist system that ended in 1989. Then they had the “new” capitalist system that ended in 1997. Now they have the “new” entrepreneurial/democratic system that began in 1998.
As Tatiana, the Russian mother and dinner host explained in broken English to us, “We went to bed one night with a communist government and we woke up the next day with no government and a huge void. We felt helpless and alone.” Imagine having no confidence in whether or not your government, your bank, or your dollar would be around tomorrow. Consider living in fear of your family members being taken by government officials never to be seen again.
Now consider the United States of America. Our government and monetary system has had a stable existence for hundreds of years. The U.S. has emerged in history as a country comprised of a remarkable combination of freedom, capitalism, tolerance, ambition, abundance, power, ingenuity, hard work, self-worth, and confidence. Since we have become very wealthy, as a nation, we sometimes forget that the courage, hard work, and strength of our forefathers created the fertile soil from which this country has grown; for without that fertile soil, and without the sacrifices of our forefathers, there would be no certain future, and there would certainly be no reason to save and invest and plan for your future.
We’ve been through 2 World Wars, The Vietnam War, The Korean War, The Cold War, a depression, an oil shock, September 11th, and scores of other negative events, yet our spirit and our capitalist markets continue to grow.
I’ve read a lot of negative reports about the future of our economy because of terrorism. My belief is that we will be alright, just like we’ve been alright for 200 years. We are a great country, with enormous pride, and we will continue to grow and prosper for a long time.
Respectfully submitted,
r. sapio
October 16, 2003
Long live America!