Skin in the Game

I’ve started on “Skin in the Game” by NN Taleb, the third book in his Incerto series, which included his book on Black Swans, and Antifragility.

No, I haven’t finished it yet, so this isn’t a review, but an observation only one chapter in that this book, like Antifragile, will certainly give me a lot to think about.

Even in the opening of the book, he ties together the Golden rule, the “silver rule”, reciprocity, game theory, and of course “skin in the game” – and how the lack of it leads to poor judgment, even tyranny.

“Skin in the game”. Such a simple phrase, yet it unpacks so much.

For example – I’ve long said that authority and responsibility must match. Responsibility to another’s whims without the authority to do something about it is de facto slavery, and authority over others where others suffer the consequences, where one doesn’t have the responsibility to deal with the results of their choices, leads to de facto tyranny.

All of this, and bankster bailout frauds, covered by the simple question of “skin in the game”.

Socialism isn’t just a death cult, but is destined to fail. It’s destined for a number of reasons related to human nature and choices, and yet, the majority can be summed up as lack of skin in the game. The people making choices about other people lives aren’t always obviously doing so – yet anytime someone gets “free” healthcare, someone gets an expensive procedure done because they, receiving the care, aren’t directly paying for it, they’re shifting the cost, the responsibility, to others. They are not taking the risks, but getting the benefits.

ANY “positive” right suffers from this.