Urban Elites, Organic Farming & The Hypocrisy of No Skin-In-The-Game
The first two years I returned to America from the El Toledo coffee farm in Costa Rica, I was convinced that every farmer everywhere needed to adopt the practices El Toledo had. Armed with a job as a columnist and as a regular shopper at farmers’ markets, I wasted little time shaming anyone who used chemicals.
Then I became a dad. Putting food on the table took on new meaning. And almost overnight, I realized what an ignorant ass I was being. The problem: my opinion was completely free, and I had nothing to lose by voicing it. Those I was talking at had everything to lose.
Many of the ideas I’ll talk about here borrow heavily (exclusively?) from the work of best-selling author and trader Nassim Taleb. He would argue that the fact that I had no skin in the game — or exposure to positive and negative consequences as a result of my opinions — rendered my opinions moot.
In ancient times, societies realized the best way to align incentives was by forcing decision-makers to have their skin in the game. The bridge builder was forced to live underneath his bridge; the King would be on the front lines of any war.
Our world today is a far cry from that: bankers that almost brought down the financial system got golden parachutes, and can you imagine Donald Trump…
