There has been a lot of interesting things going on this last week or so regarding the planet we find ourselves on. The market has shown strong resilience. Again, today the re-opening optimism is great. Traffic is picking up. There is a lot of pent up demand.
I went out Friday night in Old Town Scottsdale. People were out, parking was almost full, and a couple of places had waiting lines. Most staff at the restaurants wore masks, while almost no patrons had on masks. Some places looked like business as usual with friends eating and drinking and laughing again, albeit with fewer tables. Going out for the first time in 2 months was a real treat.
According to my cousin, Ed Verdi, who has a large property management company, vacation rentals are full of people coming from California to Arizona just to shop and dine.
Many places were open with just a few customers. Places that had gone over the top with safety measures were mostly empty. The way they were set up wasn’t conducive to a good time.
Earlier this week Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports (who I didn’t know) went on a rant about the re-opening of America. It has 5 million views and is still surging. If you eliminate the comedic intent and profanity you get this basic message: We were told that when we “flattened the curve” and got to where we wouldn’t overwhelm hospitals we would be ready to resume life. He says our leaders and health experts have now moved the goalposts. He likens that to being on a six-hour flight and having the crew come on and announce it’s now a 12-hour flight (a close paraphrase.) I agree.
If we let the country be run by scientists and “experts” we will end up like Rome. At least we won’t have to drag it out over 45 years like they did. Dr. Fauci and company are very valuable in theory, but the personality profile of a scientist is not usually one of leadership, vision or optimism.
By listening to Dr. Fauci, it is easy to see he lacks optimism, but what is worse, he sees no capacity as to how to balance risk vs. reward. Scientific thinking tends to be black and white, no gray. An analogy:
You decide to paint your house interior. Off white over off white. Sherwin Williams let’s you pick one of their top people to run the job. You think it would be good to choose the scientist who developed the paint. Now, your job time has doubled, the scientist is screaming “You must use Primer!” “you must use two coats!” An easy job becomes complicated, more expensive etc. Scientists are not the people to do such jobs. An on-site painting contractor knows that those things aren’t always needed, but the scientist, like the Shampoo scientists who invented “a second shampooing” is gumming up the job at every turn. His expertise is scientific, not practical in real life. This is what you have letting Dr.Fauci and others control the debate.
I pray we have a fun Memorial Day with family and friends, and I am thankful I don’t live in a state that won’t allow camping and walking on the beach.
If you have not seen the excellent and viral YouTube video “Why the majority is always wrong” by Paul Rudkins, check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNGFep6rncY Interesting and funny.
See you soon,
Craig