Collection: Charlie Munger - #223 'People That I Admire'
[Transcript]
BECKY QUICK 00:00
Of the five people or so you most admire, could you please name a few so that we might become more familiar with and potentially learn from these individuals?
CHARLIE MUNGER 00:09
Well, I don’t have any one person that I admire.
I would argue that the greatest governmental leader whose life overlapped mine was Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. And I would argue that he was the one that taught Deng Xiaoping of China how to fix China the way Singapore fixed itself. So it was a huge achievement.
So I've seen some remarkable, I think the Marshall Plan that my country did after World War II was a marvelous thing. That was a credit to the human race. I’ve seen a lot that I’m proud of.
On the other hand, I see a lot now that I’m not proud of. I don’t like this crazy hatred in our party system. I don’t see anything wrong with having a good-sized government safety net that goes up with GDP. I think it would be crazy to be as rich as we are without a good governmental safety net. By the way, do you know where that came from?
Otto Bismarck. He was the iron chancellor of Germany, exercising the unlimited power of a German king. That’s who gave us Social Security and so forth. Nobody thinks of Otto Bismarck as a great hero of democratic capitalism but he really was. It shows how complicated life is. Strange things happen. My hero Otto Bismarck. I’ve never seen Otto Bismarck’s picture on an American wall. He should be there.
Well, Becky, have you had enough?
BECKY QUICK 02:13
Yes, Charlie, I want to thank you very much for your time today. Jerry, thank you too. And thank everybody for all the questions today. Appreciate everybody coming to Daily Journal meeting today.
CHARLIE MUNGER 02:24
It isn’t that we want to be the guru for the world or something. We used to know all the shareholders. And we felt that they only come in once a year, we ought to at least stand here and answer questions. They started asking these odd questions and we kept answering them. And there was a market for it and we kept doing it.
So Warren and I are artificial, accidental gurus. I used to be sort of bothered by it because I don’t ordinarily make this many pronouncements. But I’ve gotten used to it and I hope you people have too.
(Source: https://youtu.be/8RxLj9OVqLo)
[YAPSS Takeaway]
Some people and things you might want to read about:
Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore.
Deng Xiaoping, China.
Otto Bismarck, Germany.
Marshall Plan.
