video: Fix the Incentives, FIX the Nation — SIMPLE

. Charlie Munger, that oracle of Omaha’s sidekick, once said, “Show me the incentives, and I’ll show you the result.” And oh boy, when you look at the incentives in today’s world, it’s like staring into a dumpster fire at a circus run by lunatics!

Let’s start with California, where they decided shoplifting under $950 is basically a free sample at Costco.

You walk into Walgreens, plop down $38 for your toothpaste and deodorant like a chump, while some dude strolls out with half the store stuffed in his pants, waving and smiling at the cashier like it’s a just for Laughs prank.
But that would be an explanation in a sane world.
Meanwhile you’re standing there, holding your receipt like it’s a participation trophy for being a law-abiding idiot! Why am I paying for this crap when the state’s practically got a “take one, leave one” policy?
It’s communism, but with better skincare products, that are free, at least for the end user. So many thieves with radiant skin nowadays.

And you know what happens next—everybody sees this, shrugs, and joins the crime conga line. It’s a snowball of theft rolling downhill, picking up speed, and the only thing getting arrested is common sense!

Then you’ve got the census, counting non-citizens like they’re collecting Pokémon cards. Why? Because Democrats looked at the border and said, “Open the floodgates! Let’s get more bodies in here to pad our House seats!” It’s like they’re playing a rigged game of Risk, except instead of tanks, they’re deploying busloads of people to swing the electoral map. More bodies, more reps, more power—and if those folks vote blue later, well, that’s just the cherry on the corruption sundae! Meanwhile, the Republicans are too busy arguing over who’s got the best beard to notice they’re losing the game.
meanwhile the activist judges, when their not side against The Donald more frequently than if he were being prosecuted in Iranian courts with the head mullahs as judges. Their incentive, the fame and glory of standing up to the evil orange.
 
And don’t get me started on Washington, D.C., where the only job description for a politician is “get reelected and bring home the bacon.” These people are incentivized to pork-barrel their way to power, tossing out free money like they’re Oprah at a tax-funded giveaway show. “You get a bridge! You get a community center! You get a statue of a random cow!” They don’t care about the budget; they care about their next campaign ad. Term limits? Hell yeah, we need ‘em! Without the threat of reelection, maybe they’d stop pandering like political prostitutes desperate for a five-star Yelp review.

Right now, they’re just incentivized to keep the gravy train rolling until the national debt hits a number so big it needs its own zip code.

This is what happens when you build a system on rotten incentives. You get spiking crime, borders that might as well be a revolving door at a Walmart Black Friday sale, and politicians who’d sell their own kids for a vote.

Meanwhile, look at Singapore—Lee Kuan Yew, that mad genius, designed a system so tight it turned a sweaty slum into a gleaming powerhouse. You jaywalk there, they cane you. You litter, they fine you into the next dimension. Incentives! You reward hard work, punish stupidity, and suddenly you’ve got a country that runs like a Swiss watch on steroids.

But here? We’re incentivizing chaos. We’re handing out free passes to crime, power, and pork like it’s a dystopian clearance sale. Charlie Munger’s spinning in his grave wondering how we ignore the simplest of of principles while the rest of us are stuck paying for toothpaste in a world where the shoplifters are the only ones laughing. Wake up, people—fix the incentives, or we’re all just extras in this tragic comedy of a collapsing empire!