I’ve been up since 5am Central European time, mainly to deal with my work back in US time. My wife is enjoying blissful slumber behind me as I hear the rain padding the windows here in Aix-en-Provence, France. We’ve got 3 weeks to go on our journey, and it’s finally coming to an end. While it’s been awesome and fun, I’m craving a real burrito, not the one made by the falafel guy down the street.

I just finished a very interesting book by Scott Galloway called “The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Google, Apple, and Google.” It was interesting to me because it made complete sense how these 4 companies have essentially created an oligopoly of sorts that have pervaded global society. Right now, I am using my Apple devices to work, and to type this blog, on a Google chrome browser, managing my Amazon business (that could disappear at their whim and completely screw me over), while Facebook is lurking in a hidden tab behind a few windows, tracking my online activity to serve me the right ads. I’m a cog in the machine. The things I took away from Galloway’s book were as follows:

• The Four are essentially responsible for the impending destruction of the middle class. Thanks to their entrenched (and further entrenching) infrastructure, there will be a whole population of poor people (he calls “serfs”) that ostensibly will serve the very few rich (“lords”). I see the world already well in that direction, especially the US. Ask any Uber driver.
  • A quick aside – I usually stay quiet on political issues, but there is an irony I have to note for the future here. As I type this, Trump is on his second year of his presidency. While he won largely due to apathetic democratic voters and a swath of low-income, low-educated folk who wanted to Make America Great Again, there is an almost funny irony to the whole situation as it unfolds today. A significant portion of the constituents who voted Trump into office are the ones who are now suffering the consequences of their decision. This is because of the fiscal and regulatory policies that are now being put into place by House and Senate resolutions that happen behind the scenes while the news highlights a primadonna Yeezy in the White House ranting about meaningless things, Kavanaugh, and the verbal diarrhea Trump spews on 60 Minutes interviews. Behind the distractions, Trump is royally screwing these constituents, then rallying them behind misinformation – it’s a real comedy to watch, actually (I wonder how those American steel workers are doing nowadays). At the same time, what many don’t see is that Trump is actually helping the actually rich folks by protecting old legislation that conserves and consolidates wealth. It’s a real spectacle, but if you ever get a chance to look around, you’ll notice that the rich these days have largely gone into hiding, more so avoiding the spotlight wherever possible.
  • So yes, it’s ridiculous, but it’s also funny to see. I just sit back and enjoy the show. Whenever I come across a Trump supporter, I love hearing their beliefs of how great Trump is doing as a president as a businessman, with all those trade deals ‘n all. I look into their eyes and wonder how well Trump has done for them personally. I usually see a glossy haze of blind adoration.
  • My real news source is https://www.govtrack.us/ – where I see what legislation actually impacts me on both micro and macro levels. It’s a great source of truth that has no political agenda. I highly recommend it to anyone who is tired of the confusion and nonsense in our government and media these days.
  • I digress. Sorry!
• A large cause of this new “serf v. lord” class is automation, and concentration of the wealth of the world in the “innovation class,” comprised of the (relatively) very few technical intelligentsia.
• If you don’t thrive and make it in this ecosystem, there is ever-increasingly omnipresent downward pressure to turn you into a “serf.” The gravity is real. The rate of change for people to need to learn new skillsets is maddening and honestly, not sustainable for mental sanity.
• You should build your own business to survive in this new economy. But if you feel you can’t hack it on your own, you must try to become an employee of one of the Four – this is the fastest career accelerant for your resume. If you can’t make it into one of the Four, best of luck to you in this new world. (I took this part with a grain of salt, because I feel there are still many verticals out there that are still fairly isolated from the apocalypse of the Four)
•  While it’s never been easier to become a billionaire, it’s never been harder to become a millionaire. I agree with this wholeheartedly. My mentors have always said the first million is always the hardest. After that, it gets easier, they say.
• AI will eventually largely replace current professions that demand high-touch, e.g. lawyers, doctors, psychologists, artists, etc.
• AirBnB may become what Galloway calls the “Fifth horseman” due to its intrinsic nature of supply and demand. Houses are already everywhere. People always visit places. The connection has been made, and already scaled to 6 continents. I’m actually sitting inside one as I type this message.

So what’s a guy gotta do to make it in these next 30-50 years? My answer: build income-generating assets. That’s the simplest, most straightforward method I can think of. For me, that asset class is real estate. Relatively comparing to other kinds of income-generating assets, I believe that real estate is the one that has the highest potential that for the most part, is idiot-proof (if you set it up right). But I won’t get into too much of that here.

As we get ready to settle back into Santa Monica, there’s a lot of excitement for what’s to come, and the year ahead. I can’t wait to be reunited with our little Lola, who probably has forgotten who we are by now. I can’t wait to drive my M5 down the PCH, and get fresh farmer’s market groceries. Most of all I miss family and friends, and building relationships.

But for now, the South of France awaits our discovery. 3 weeks!