Does it still pay to excel in America?
Friday, September 5, 2008 | Ethan RobertsRating:
Boy oh boy, I am really ripping mad today. I couldn't wait to write this article.You may have heard a story recently about a nine year old New Haven, CT lad named Jericho Scott, a pitcher in the local Youth Baseball League, who throws so hard that the league told his coach he could not pitch any more! Apparently, young Mr. Scott throws a 40 MPH fastball that the other kids have trouble hitting. When his manager tried to defy the league and put Jericho in the game to pitch, the other team forfeited the game, and the league officials said they would disband Jericho's team, reassign all the players to other teams, and refund the $50 sign up fee to anyone who requested it.
This action resulted in an on field protest of players and parents against the league. Said the team manager, Wilfred Vidro, "How can you punish a kid for being too good?"
Bravo, Mr. Vidro. That's bad enough, but what really gave me "agita" was when Jericho, blaming himself, was quoted as saying, "I feel sad. I feel like it's all my fault nobody could play."
So this is what we're doing to America's children in 2008? In an effort to protect the so called fragile self esteem of children whose performance is shoddy or at best mediocre, we have to destroy the self esteem of those, like this young man, who excel at their pursuits?
It was said that the other children were afraid to bat against this young phenom, but in several games he had already pitched, he never once hit a batter with a thrown ball. Maybe the kids were just afraid of looking bad in an era when no child is ever allowed to fail, lose, or be left behind.
Years ago, when I was a scrappy-hitting, little second baseman for the Long Island-based Harbor Road Little League, we had a pitcher on our team who was just about as good as this boy from Connecticut. My team was 16-1 that year, and we were the best in the league. But nobody worried about a child's self esteem simply because they lost to the best team, or struck out against the best pitcher in the league. Remember, baseball is a game in which the best hitters fail to get a hit seven out of ten times!
Of course in those days, only the one or two best teams in the league were awarded trophies. They didn't give a trophy to every kid who shows up on the field, like they do today. Hard to believe with all those hurt feelings, we haven't had a multitude of Long Island Little League serial killers!
David Berkowitz, aka "Son of Sam", infamous 1970s NYC serial killer. What made him do it? Was it because he couldn't hit the fastball?
It's time for our schools and sports teams to stop coddling the kids. You don't learn how to win unless you lose once in awhile. Now let's apply this to the financial world. Great stock traders became great because they learned from their losing trades, and then honed their skills to perfection. You don't learn how to overcome adversity unless you have some adversity in your life. Can you imagine if everyone in your office received a trophy, just for showing up at work every day?
More importantly, where will the next generation of Bill Gates come from if we continue to kill off excellence for the sake of self esteem? Already, you can see the effects of this ridiculous thinking in some of the mediocre dolts who are now entering the American work force. They can't spell, they can't add, they can't think analytically, and they have no inkling of common sense or independent thought.
A cake made by the leading retailer in America. The instructions to the bakery staff were to write "Best Wishes Suzanne", and underneath that to write, "We will miss you"!
If you read the Tycoon Report regularly, and especially if you subscribe to the Trend Rider and ETF Master Trader, you know that the writers here are continually on the look out to alert you to the BEST stocks and ETFs to buy, based on measures such as the strongest relative strength when measured against other stocks in the same sector and the S&P 500. Buying the strongest stocks gives you the best chance for success. How would you feel if the Tycoon writers recommended a crummy stock because we didn't want the CEO of the crummy company to feel sad or left out?!
Anybody seen MY trophy?
Similarly, in the real estate world, when I am searching for investment properties to buy, I want to compare location, price, features, floor plan, etc., and choose the superior property among the contenders. I am only interested in choosing the best of what is available. I know that in the long run, you have to focus on quality, and rule out mediocre investments if you are going to make the most money.
Let's face it, in life it's always the "creme de la creme" that creates the most innovative software, discovers the life-saving medicines, wins eight gold medals, and performs at the highest level in any field.
Okay, now I'm really going to open up the can of worms. Deep breath...steady boy, here goes.
Given our unbridled yearning for mediocrity, is it any wonder we have selected two guys to run for President today who are so completely UNQUALIFIED to hold the highest office in America? Now both may be very affable fellas, but how about demanding a little more experience from our candidates? If you were applying for a job at K-Mart, they would expect that much from you! One candidate says he's qualified to be President because he was once a "community organizer", and the other one just turned 72, can't remember how many houses he owns, and admits the economy is not his strong point!
Is this the best we could find from a population of 305 million people?!
How about we just give each of them a trophy, pat them on the back, thank them for their efforts, and send them packing? Then we could open the primaries up again and see if we can find the next Jericho Scott of the political world!
Ditto for Congress. Nancy Pelosi sent them all home early, just so they could delay a vote on an energy bill until after the elections, and make it look like it was the Democrats' idea. Our illustrious Speaker of the House is playing politics, while the American people try to decide if they should put gasoline in their car or pay the light bill this week! Hey Nancy, if you want to go home so badly, let's see if the American voters can arrange that for you when you come up for re-election!
And the winner of the "9% approval rating" trophy for 2008 is...
Tycoon readers, my intention is not to knock one political party over another here. What I am urging today is for all of us to expect and demand the best from others in every walk of life, including politics, and to REWARD, not punish excellence in our schools, in our offices, from our elected officials, and on our athletic fields.
For example, consider this idea of taxing the wealthy more. While it sounds great to the cheering masses, it's simply a means of punishing those who have excelled, in order to redistribute wealth to the mediocre. Most millionaires today are self made, not born with the proverbial silver spoon in mouth. When did we start punishing people for their success? Don't our politicians realize that doing this just saps people of the motivation to achieve more?
Would you work overtime if your pay was taxed at 65%?
To the Jericho Scotts of the world, I applaud you, and I sincerely hope that you don't allow the dolts who run your sports league (or school, or company) to take away your talent, your skills, and most importantly, your determination to succeed. Our country can not afford to demean our superior young talent, and still have a future in which we remain the best in an increasingly competitive world.
Jericho Scott demonstrates his superior talent in a youth league that promotes mediocrity...
See you next week!
(Please let us know what you think about Ethan Roberts's article.)
Rate his article here »
Rate his article here »
Ethan Roberts
Contributing Editor
The Tycoon Report
