Charlie Munger & Social Theater

Charlie Munger, the impressive other half of Berkshire Hathaway partnership, recently passed away. His death prompted folks within the Tech Twitter ecosystem, in what is an all-too-familiar theater of virtue signaling. The adulation of Munger from a region that has turned “grin-fucking” into an art form was amusing. Why? Because many, if not most of us around here still need to learn the true qualities of the recently departed investor: conviction, courage, and patience.

“The big money is not in the buying and the selling, but in the waiting.”

Charlie Munger

Instead, we practice short-term bandwagonism. Most possess the patience of a fruit fly— always moving to the next thing. Conviction is also in short supply. What Munger also had was a lifelong friendship, not based on transactional relationships, but instead a real one.

Munger was brutally honest. If someone around here tried to be that clear, they would be ostracized. Instead of truth or answering the questions, most want the scope of the question changed. “It is remarkable how much long-term advantage we have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent,” Munger once famously remarked.

Everyone around here thinks they are the smartest person on Twitter.

November 29, 2023. San Francisco