#181: An Opportunity for Nearing
This line from Irwin is amazing to me.
“Physical distancing invites us to develop new ways and opportunities to innovate emotional and psychological Nearing.”
Below Irwin connects (re-connects!) investing -- which is the business space of Coburn Ventures with—with whole of human experience. Mother Teresa worried about the “West” thinking our abundance would entice to consider we were independent – that we could escape the gravitational force of interdependence. Here we are now. Thank you, Irwin. A long time ago my friend and mentor in Maine Hale Whitehouse asked “Pip, you sure are generating a lot of energy… what are you planning to do with it?” I think we are all creating a lot of energy and it is fun doing it with all of you and I sense it is one way of contributing to the world.
- Pip
An Opportunity for Nearing
I feel blessed to be a part of this community. In thinking about the serious challenges and uncertainty we face a few things have come to mind that Pip invited me to share.
1. John Maynard Keynes on Speculation from The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money writes: "The professional investor is forced to concern himself with the anticipation of impending changes, in the news or in the atmosphere, of the kind by which experience shows that the mass psychology of the market is most influenced...The social object of skilled investment should be to defeat the dark forces of time and ignorance which envelop our future.”
In other words (my words), while the financial object of investment is to make money the psycho-social object of investment is to defeat fear!
Investment is fundamentally an act of hope in the future as a whole. It is worth remembering this as we do our work figuring out investment strategies in this period.
2. We don't often think about the psycho-social object of investment or the relationship between markets and our social relations as the incredible innovation, prosperity, and abundance of the past decades has given us the sense that markets can fix everything. The coronavirus is teaching us that our unprecedented interdependence, driven by technology, is not just transactional but transformational. Open markets, globalization of supply chains, and free flow of capital which have enabled the unprecedented abundance of the past few decades do not "simply" reflect financial interdependence. They embody social interdependence the likes of which only poets and mystic sages could have imagined. Coronovirus is reminding us that our interdependence is social, ethical, and moral. This may be the most important long term learning of this crisis. As we come through this shock to our many systems, markets may well be reconnected in very direct ways to the psycho-social dimemnsions of life and the free flow of capital may well begin to include concern for many other forms of capital, including social, emotional, psychological, and moral. How this will impact the value of brands and businesses and intersect with populist critiques of capitalism will be interesting.
3. I humbly suggest that this community has never been more important. We have all recently learned a new expression - Social Distancing. Yes, it is problematic for us to be physically together right now but isolation is also problematic. Physical distancing invites us to develop new ways and opportunities to innovate emotional and psychological Nearing. This community actually does virtual beautifully. I intend to invest in our community now more than ever. The ROI in this community is so obvious to me and I imagine it will be something we will learn how to measure in the years to come.
May we be healthy and safe,
Irwin