Awards Season

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Award Season

It is the awards season, in many aspects of life there are now annual awards. I recognize that this isn’t everyone’s “cup of tea”, many are highly subjective and some…well frankly they are bought marketing manipulations. Some argue that successful people have already had their rewards by virtue of a swollen bank balance. I have some sympathy with those points of view.

There are of course good and “bad” awards, sometimes you may have a preference about who wins, sometimes… not so much. It wont surprise you that I enjoy awards for music, art, film and theatre which are arguably daft as they are completely subjective… so perhaps I’m a little daft too

Presidential Medal of Freedom

One award ceremony that I saw recently was the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom. Critics of awards tend to dismiss them as unnecessary fluff for people that are already thanked and seem to miss the point of the hard work, often selfless struggles that expose the true nature and values of the individual concerned and their impact on others.

Inspired to greatness

Watching reactions, hearing snippets of their stories is both moving and inspirational. They affirm what we hope to be and inspire us to greater things… (I can’t believe its just me that feels that way). To my mind one of the great attributes of President Obama was (is) his integrity and his ability to relate to ordinary people in a quite extraordinary manner. All of us probably want recognition for our efforts, few of us are likely to receive this in any form other than our wages, except perhaps from our small group of friends and family.

The contrast could not be greater

Watching the clip of the event I was encouraged and inspired, informed and moved. A humorous, personal speech from Obama along with a clear affection for those that were being recognized. This is the America that most of us wish to see, that is the world leader of inspiration and reflects the source of the special connection that in reality most nations probably feel to some extent. Whilst I recognize it is full of contradictions, (as am I) this is the version of America that today feels rather different and lost under the new President. In time we shall see what sort of President Mr Trump makes, but an inability to understand, empathize or appreciate the difference between facts and lies does not bode well.

I suspect that you don’t spend hours watching reality TV shows, but if you do have about an hour this video is worth seeing, even if you have it on in the background as you work. For more about the 2016 recipients click here.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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Donald Trump

It is very easy to ridicule Donald Trump, whilst obviously being rich and a shrewd businessman, which for some seem the only important credentials, for most ordinary people, there is an obvious lack in his basic ability to lead, let alone act with any sense of compassionate understanding.

Thankfully, the US Presidential election is now just a little over three weeks away, with the votes being cast on Tuesday 8th November. Over the last few months I have met many Americans and all of them, without exception have felt the need to begin with an apology for how Donald Trump has even managed to make it this far. Yet in truth, despite the obvious inappropriateness of his presence at the Presidential election, our own politicians scarcely do much better.

It’s not as if these roles are unimportant. There are clearly enormous problems at home and abroad that require a collaborative approach to finding solutions. The most obvious being that of climate change, yet the US, now eclipsed by China as the world’s largest polluter, has a Senate that is significantly paid by fossil fuel companies to block any progress on climate change policy. Many of whom are deny the reality of climate change, supporting the 3% of scientists who take the same view. In 2016, some $20.7m went to Republican senators from the Oil and Gas industry ($2.9m went to Democrat Senators). This isn’t so much cash for questions, but cash for impediment. In fact, the entire energy and resource sector paid out $9,280m to Democrats and $38,904m to Republicans in 2016 (source: www.opensecrets.org).

Walk the talk…

There seems to be a chasm of difference at times. Many calling themselves “Christian” essentially expressing the view that difference is not simply unwelcome, but provides a legitimate reason to murder and annihilate (see the report from the conservative Republican newspaper in Arizona who for the first time in its history endorsed a Democrat rather than Donald Trump). What is jaw-dropping about this is simply the utter lack of self-awareness, humility, humanity and an inability to see that there is just about a gnat’s whisker of difference between some of them and other extremist zealots that we call terrorists. Yet this apparent contradiction between stated “faith” and personal actions seems completely lost.

The small but deeply misguided minority

Which brings me back to my point. Americans apologising. Well, for starters I know of nobody that thinks all Christians or all Muslims are extremist bigots, any more than anyone thinks all Americans are nuts. OK I don’t keep company with those that express such views, but my point is that whilst we are shocked by what can come out of the mouths of Donald Trump and his “supporters” we don’t really think all Americans are like this, not for a millisecond. In the same way that we don’t think all Christians or Muslims, Jews or anyone else are hell-bent on making life utterly miserable. Some do, most don’t. Generalism is decidedly unhelpful in the world of adult conversation, particularly when serious topics are being discussed.

Comment is free… but costly

We have our own rather ridiculous politicians, many of them leading the country, or attempting to be an opposition, we are all hoping that common sense will prevail – eventually, yet our own prejudices are fed on slime from virtually every angle. Social media provides a forum to air frustration and requires significant self-control to avoid being dragged into argument. There is a very good radio play called “Comment is Free” by James Fritz which addresses the collective problem (well worth a listen).

So as I, and perhaps you, mock Donald Trump – publicly or privately, it occurs to me that one good thing has come from all of this – that topics of importance are being raised and discussed in homes all around the world. So perhaps there is a silver lining after all, though I do feel as though I’m grasping at straws…

As for the impact on your investments whoever wins, sadly the truth is uncomfortable. Nobody knows. Most have an opinion, but nobody knows. However, there is nothing that I have seen or heard to date that offers a credible challenge to the long-term principles of investing.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA