Bogle's "Enough"

I really enjoy Bogle for having created Vanguard. A company that keeps investment costs low. Sadly, it isn't available in Canada.

This book has moments of interest and interludes where Bogle waxes a little too enthusiastic about his own virtues.

My favourite chapter is the entitled "Too Much Focus on Things, Not Enough Focus on Commitment". In this chapter he praises the values of the 18th century since they valued intangible virtues whereas today's world is focused far too much on material things. Here's a taste:

In my day, I've met many successful men and women, too many of whom express their pride in having done it all themselves. But I don't believe that any one of us can take sole credit for our success. Most of us have been blessed by the nurture and love of our families, the support of our friends and colleagues, the dedication of our teachers, and the inspiration and guidance of our mentors, to say nothing of the providence that brought us the opportunity to realize our goals. "We did it ourselves." Really? When I hear that, I'm bold enough to ask, "Now just how did you arrange to be born in the United States of America?"

Other than the nationalistic complacency at the end, the idea is right. We live in a civil society. So much of what we are capable of is embedded in the civil relationships that let us get to where we are and allow us to leverage skills/time/assets for gain in the future. To pretend that this is self-created is absurd. But that is a prevailing attitude today.

The book is a healthy antidote to a lot of what goes for "financial wisdom" these days. It harks back to an era before financial engineering and other madness took control. He emphasizes honesty and trust. These are the values that let you build an economic society. The right wing lie of libertarianism -- i.e. we are all out for ourselves and the devil take the hindmost -- is a clarion call for the dissolution of social ties and the collapse of civil society into mutual distrust and unwillingness to carry out any economic activity. Sadly, that lie has controlled society for over thirty years and delivered us a mess.