Financial philosophy

Optimistic financial philosophy from a self-made man

I've never been especially keen on self-improvement literature. I found it fit for people with problems and I liked to think I'd always been beyond it. Call it cheekiness or narrow-mindedness, but my natural instinct was to shrug off all sort of friendly advice. It was enough to develop a sense of independence and being self-driven, which are good qualities by any standards, but I suspect now that this insistence on going my way has slowed my growth in a range of areas. It's a little like with education - you can get to understand things by your own discovery, but it takes up lots of time and leads you astray time and time again. On the other hand, you can go to school and absorb this knowledge in a condensed form within a much shorter time period. With too many life choices, I resisted turning on the acceleration that listening to others usually gives you.

In fact, I clearly remember thinking that self-help books, apart from being for the weak, are just an elegantly packaged way for their authors to make money off of their ideas. And it really did bother me, as if I was better off ignoring their insights (and losing a possible edge they can give you) rather than letting them make a living off of well-earned royalties. There's something oddly unconstructive about this attitude to people, ideas and life and I've been fighting it with a passion in the last couple of years.

Of course, there's no point being uncritical about self-improvement titles. Anyone who believes they can turn their miserable life around by merely imbibing somebody's words of wisdom is, in the vast majority of cases, plainly wrong. Many things are easier said than done. Nowhere is it truer than in self-improvement industry. You really need to see meaning behind what self-proclaimed gurus preach, separate wheat from chaff and see your own life in a wider perspective. Learning from your own mistakes during practical application is inevitable and takes polished and elegant ideas to the level of real experience. It allows you to transcend the book's message and take it in whatever direction is right and good for you.

So what attracted me to books such as Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki? I started to stagnate and it became a source of frustration. My intention has never been blowing up my current, rewarding and meaningful life and turning a completely new page; rather, I felt like I needed motivation to evolve. Kiyosaki's guide is about money, but I've become more open than ever to coaching in many other areas. In fact, this idea of seeking improvement that can make me a better person, not necessarily a millionaire, a famous person or whatever ambitious goals people might have, but somebody who's headed in the right direction, who keeps moving on, who resists satiation. What I also appreciate about self-improvement books is their adherence to a positive outlook on life and a belief that positive change is attainable. Not without effort, not without all sorts of investments, but attainable. There's never too much can-do thinking, especially if it's definitely not part of your national cultural baggage.

I like to think of Kiyosaki's small book (or should I say a booklet?) as presenting a particular philosophy of personal finances. By which I mean that it's, to a degree, a philosophical treatise. It offers a coherent vision of taking control over money in your life and giving it a place it deserves. Without deluding readers with promises of foolproof cash-generating schemes and other magic wand solutions, it places emphasis on the role of values and common sense. In places, especially when Kiyosaki was critiquing excess consumption and living beyond your means as sources of financial trouble faced by so many, I couldn't shake the feeling I was reading my own thoughts. Even though I don't necessarily agree that great minds think alike, it gave me a sense of satisfaction that I'd reached the same conclusions as Kiyosaki.

What values are highlighted in Rich Dad Poor Dad? I would start with individual responsibility for your financial condition, which is something I subscribe to vehemently. Too many people rely all their lives on outside forces for income, relinquishing control and laying foundations for never-ending frustration. First, they rely on parents, then on employers and finally on the government. This gives them somebody to blame for their money woes, which is some consolation, but unless they take things in their own hands, not much is going to change. In many ways, Rich Dad Poor Dad is encouragement to pursue a life of an entrepreneur.

Another value Kiyosaki seems to be propagating in his book is restraint. I understand it in two ways. First, he's unabashedly critical of spending more than you earn or even spending a disproportionate amount of your regular income. Delaying gratification is not only good for your bank balance, but also for your motivation. Waiting to be able to afford whatever it is that you crave gives you a strong psychological boost to do better, as opposed to taking out a loan or paying up front otherwise and simply having it. Restraint is also necessary to build your assets. Amassing capital, property or other money-generating investments is Kiyosaki's single most important piece of advice. What made Rich Dad Poor Dad so believable for me was the fact that he stopped short of pointing out which instruments or programs guarantee success. Instead, he left the readers with a general approach and plenty of space in between to fill out with their own investment ideas, which tend to change depending on location, market conditions and many other factors. This is what you'd call giving somebody a fishing rod.

The last strong message I picked up while reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, one that is sure to give me the most trouble in real life, is about the importance of risk tolerance. I'm OK claiming responsibility for myself, I'm OK saving and delaying gratification, I'm OK investing long-term in relatively low-risk assets (including stocks), but there are lines I'd be reluctant to cross for fear of capital loss. I'm also quite short on confidence that I'm capable of setting up and executing a business idea of considerable complexity. This translates in aversion to entrepreneurial risk. I'm simply too lazy, comfort-loving and individualistic to believe I can build a successful, team-based company. But I'm determined to change this.

Of course, the more you apply yourself to putting Kiyosaki's ideas into action, the more likely you are to get some interesting effect. For example, you might be able to retire at the age of 35 or 40 with a nest egg large enough to let you and your family enjoy complete leisure thanks to interest payouts. For many, it's an inspiring vision. But, admittedly, there other other things worth your attention and commitment than money and your financial security. It's a dilemma everybody needs to solve for themselves.

Iceland's Bloodgroup in Poznań

From Iceland, but not what you'd expect

Bloodgroup isn't what a typical band from Iceland sounds like. It's more international and globalized - dynamite synth pop that is being whipped up from Toronto to Manchester as you read it. Comparisons to classic Icelandic sounds like Sigur Ros, Björk, Olafur Arnalds or even Seabear are justified only as a marketing gimmick.

It was a tiny little concert Bloodgroup gave tonight in Poznań. They were ready to leave after about 45 minutes on stage. Whether they really did or came back for more, as the audience demanded, I can't attest. I left after the last piece in their regular time and could only hear from afar the lead singer Lilja Jonsdottir playing around with the fans.

I enjoyed the energy. If you can't offer something out of the ordinary by means of music alone, it's a good idea to put some effort into stage movement and contact with the audience. Bloodgroup were especially good at the former. It was Janus Rasmussen, the male vocal and the guy behind electronic percussion and synths, who was oozing excitement that naturally spread over to the crowd. Their stage presence reminded me, to an extent, of the Canadian duo Handsome Furs.

I'm quite sceptical about no-guitar, no-drums bands. For me, they face a much steeper incline to steal my heart. I know it'd be madness to dismiss electronica altogether and in fact there are some synths-based artists I adore, like Frou Frou. But it's much more difficult to achieve freshness by relying on computer-generated sounds alone. Bloodgroup were absolutely decent with their short setlist. I got what I wanted from their gig - a break during a week snowed under work. But they were nothing to write home about.

Apart from genuine energy from the stage, I kind of appreciated richness and variety in their own breed of synth pop. There were times when they sounded more like some new romantic band from the 1980s Britain, there were times when they sounded like Faith No More, there were times when their vocal harmonies made them sound melodramatic and touchy-feely. I went home with a reset mind and a little broader idea what music from Iceland is like, two major gains from the Wednesday evening in Blue Note.

Tearing down the facade in Carnage by Polanski

Roman Polański's had an endlessly meandering but inspiring life. Born into a Polish-Jewish family in Warsaw, he lived through the horror of the Nazi ghettos seeing the annihilation of his loved ones. In socialist Poland, he emerged as a talented film-maker with a style of his own and a boisterous personality that quickly outgrew what his homeland was ready to offer to let his creative skills out. After a brief period in London, his American career took off, possibly peaking with the creation of Chinatown, a dark gang drama starring Jack Nicholson, and Rosemary's Baby. It was marred by the gruesome murder of his wife, Sharon Tate, and friends in his private mansion by Charles Manson and his people. Another setback was the controversy surrounding the rape case, which forced Polański to leave the US and settle down in France.

With a biography like that and a cinematic talent to match, there is no surprise that Polański's films tend to be haunting and darkly coherent in their vision of the world. His latest production, Carnage, is a masterpiece that builds on and completes his legacy as one of the most original and skillful directors of our times.

It's an interior only drama that develops predominantly in dialogues, gestures, facial expressions and a single bout of vomiting. It's set in an affluent apartment in Brooklyn where two couples meet for a conflict resolution session after their sons take it out on each other in a street fight. Things seem to be going according to plan, they agree on a joint statement and the visiting couple (Kate Winslet and Christoper Waltz) get ready to leave, when the hosts (Jodie Foster and a phenomenal John C. Reilly) decide to invite them back for coffee.

O'Reilly: I have no patience for this touchy-feely bullshit. I'm a short-tempered son of a bitch.

What happens later is an urban farce at its best, with all four characters dropping social niceties they exhibited in abundance when trying to resolve the conflict and reverting to primitive, unabashed instincts. There is talking behind one's back, a fair amount of spite, neglect and contempt, accusations galore and an endless suppy of bad blood.

Carnage's had a mixed reception. One NY-based critic pointed out that it falls short of recreating the genuine Brooklyn setting by, for instance, not letting the characters start their relationship on a first name basis, which is a standard there, or giving unlikely names to children. I find this attitude flawed. Polański offers a universal story that uses Brooklyn as a stage of sorts, especially that the film is so theatrical in nature. Such script imperfections are unlikely to be noticed anywhere else outside Brooklyn itself. In fact, Woody Allen's latest European productions have run into similar criticism in Britain, where not only critics but also the audience deemed dialogues highly unnatural for modern-day London. However, outside this particular community, it wasn't that much of an issue as no one could really tell if it was natural or not. People concentrated on the story rather than accent or details of style.

As for Polański's Carnage, I found two ideas by critics inspiring. The first one, by Tadeusz Sobolewski, highlighted Polański's obsession with the evil and its place just underneath the thin veneer of social conventions and niceties. The idea has come up again and again in the Polish director's films, ever since his student shorts that relatively few people outside Poland (and even in it) have seen. The other one centered on the concept of entrapment, this returning inability to step out of conventions, roles, conflicts, instincts. In Carnage, this sense of confinement comes from the fact that the characters are incapable of leaving the apartment and overcome their grudges.

But for me personally it was the story of disintegration as excessive accumulation of grievances finally brings people to a boiling point. We are invited to witness a rare moment when civilized adults unintentionally let their frustration find its messy outlet. In our hectic lives, where we are repeatedly asked, explicitly and implicitly, to put on masks in order to handle modern pressures, seeing people like us completely lose it is liberating, hilarious and oddly familiar.

Somewhere to disappear

THE IDEA OF escaping from society has been alluring for me for a long time, so when I read the description for Somewhere to Disappear in the programme of Transatlantyk Festival in Poznań, I knew it was a film I couldn't miss.

Alec Soth confronting his elegant artistic idea with crude reality

It's an hour-long documentary by two young French directors who follow Alec Soth, a large scale photographer, as he travels around the United States shooting a project about people who have rejected mainstream society and live in seclusion of some sort. We get to know an unlikely collection of fringe characters, from a retard relishing the idea of having a place in the forest to run away from a house nearby to a desperately lonely young man living in a cave with his dog to a spiritual weirdo dwelling in the desert. Their stories tend to focus on some kind of grievance that made them retreat from the world. The sights we are offered are anything but encouraging most of the time, containing a powerful load of depressive weirdness and frustration. Soth seems possessed by the idea of finding a perfect reclusion model for himself, but as we meet different characters, it's clear that his concept is little more than a fantasy, a "desire to run away" as he calls it. It's probably only the spiritual guy in the desert who gives a semblence of control and joy in his life, while others are typically troubled cases whose existence you wouldn't wish upon anyone.

As you try to reconcile the ideal of life in seclusion that Both (and many others, including me) entertain with the reality of living in a shack or a lawless community of outcasts and drunks, it's easy to conclude that he was simply looking in the wrong places. The result is a film documenting quite random images of American weirdness as well as Soth's intellectual and emotional voyage into his artistic concepts. I understand that many of those who've seen it can feel short-changed or confused as Somewhere to Disappear offers no easy answers, not even a coherent narrative you can follow and take home to retell to your friends. But if you let the artist lead you through his own discoveries in a territory that might seem familiar in one way or another, you should be fine leaving the cinema. I was.

Les Mis w Romie, Warszawa w grudniu

Wielowątkowe widowisko inspirowane powieścią Wiktora Hugo

Nie jestem stałym bywalcem Warszawy, ale kiedy się już w stolicy pojawiam, zazwyczaj jest ku temu jakiś fajny powód. Na tydzień przed świętami Magda miała akurat wyjazd firmowy w czasie weekendu i zostałem zabrany jako chłopak do towarzystwa. Nasze plany były dość ambitne, biorąc pod uwagę to, że mieliśmy do dyspozycji niecałe dwa dni. Ostatecznie udało się odwiedzić Muzeum Nauki Kopernik, poszwędać się po nocnym centrum miasta, zajrzeć do obleganych przez wiewiórki Łazienek i obejrzeć musical "Les Misérables" w Teatrze Roma. To ostatnie było zdecydowanie najciekawszym punktem programu.

"Les Misérables" to wielowątkowy musical oparty na XIX wiecznej powieści Wiktora Hugo. Opowiada historię Jeana, który zostaje w dzieciństwie skazany na 20 lat koloni karnej za to, że kradnie chleb. Spotykamy go, jak wychodzi z więzienia i przechodzi obrzymią duchową przemianę nas skutek miłosierdzia, którym obdarza go przypadkowo spotkany proboszcz. Wiele lat później jest już burmistrzem miasta, mimo że przeszłość nadal go ściga. Jean deklaruje się zaopiekować Cosette, córką prześladowanej pracownicy fabryki, którą nadzoruje, gdy ta tragicznie umiera. Chce tak spłacić swój dług wobec losu. Dalsza część widowiska to także historia dwóch miłości - spełnionej i niespełnionej.

Przyznaję, że był to pierwszy musical, jaki obejrzałem na żywo, a przynajmniej innych nie pamiętam. Najciekawszy był dla mnie sposób, w jaki wykorzystano scenę, z inteligentnie zmieniającą się scenografią o dość imponujących rozmiarach. Wyobrażam sobie, że jest to zaawansowana logistyka. Inspirująca była też sama historia, oparta o trzy główne wątki: niemożności odcięcia się od swojej przeszłości, którą społeczne konwenanse każą zakwalifikować jako zbrodniczą, bez względu na to, jaką zmianę przeszliśmy; spełnionej i niespełnionej miłości oraz nieudanej rewolucji opartej na wzniosłych hasłach grupy studentów. "Les Misérables" to również wspaniała muzyka, między innymi utwór "Wyśniłam sen", najmocniej rozpropagowany chyba przez Susan Boyle w Britain's Got Talent.

Looking closer at American Beauty

"My name is Lester Burnham. In less than a year I'll be dead"

IN A STRANGE twist of events, I practically stopped watching films on my computer and resigned from pirated downloads, preferring instead to go to the cinema or buy quality DVDs on amazon.co.uk. I'm fully aware of the benefits of new forms of cinema experience and I have the know-how to make the most of them, yet I refuse to follow the crowd on that. I guess, it's a backlash of sorts. As everybody jumps at easy and cheap ways to consume culture, I'm going back to old-fashioned ways. It also has a lot to do with the quantity or quality dilemma. I'm not really under pressure any more to watch the latest or the most popular productions. I don't have a dog in this race anymore and I can afford to experiment and go my own way.

True to this attitude, I started collecting what I consider masterpieces or outstanding works of cinema art on DVD. Apart from watching these great stories again, often for the umpteenth time, I especially appreciate bonus material if it contributes anything. I was delighted to discover that American Beauty DVD I bought some time ago and only found time to watch yesterday included audio commentary by Sam Mendes, the director, and Alan Ball, the screenwriter.

I think it'd watched this film twice before. Once in the cinema in my hometown when I was seventeen or eighteen and a high school student. I distinctly remember going there on my own and bumping into two classmates of mine. I was shaken when I left and continued to think about what I'd seen for days to come. There was the kind of emotional and moral intensity I was seeking as a teenager. It mostly originated in the way every character in the film is going through an identity crisis, struggling to re-evaluate their lives and find meaning in a reality that's become unbearably counterfeit. Despite its focus on suburban hypocrisy and a sense of personal entrapment, it managed to leave me with plenty of good positive things to consider about my own condition. Not even the film's brutal ending was capable of drying this wave of inspiration flowing from the story.

This time round, I mainly watched it for superior acting, especially from Kevin Spacey whose performance in Margin Call reminded me of this outstanding actor. His head-over-heels journey from a subdued suburban father and a depressed rank-and-file employee into an assertive, gym-going buddy who is rediscovering small joys of life and regaining his shattered self-confidence is just remarkable. It was brilliantly written by Alan Ball and then masterly executed by Spacey to leave the audience with a classic tragic character who is destined to die as he breaks free from his limitations and gets to be happy one more time before the thunder strikes.

I have to admit I'm also attracted to American Beauty because of its passionate critique of hypocrisy running through today's society. This particular drama plays out in suburban America, but many of its mechanisms could be found elsewhere without much effort. Mendes and Co. did an outstanding job scratching beneath the surface, if not demolishing the facade that we are often encouraged or forced to put up and hide behind. It's no accident that rebelious characters, like Lester, his daughter Jane (Thora Birch) or drug-dealing neighbour Ricky (Wes Bentley) are likely to get an upper hand with the audience compared to those who stick to the oppressive rules.

Bohaterowie dwudziestolecia

Książki takie jak "Bohaterowie polskiej transformacji" kupuję w ciemno i czytam z olbrzymią przyjemnością. Jest to zbiór rozmów przeprowadzonych przez doświadczonych dziennikarzy ekonomicznych (np. Wiktora Legowicza z Trójki) z przedsiębiorcami i politykami, którzy wywarli największy wpływ na kształt polskiej transformacji ustrojowej w 1989r., szczególnie jej części gospodarczej. Cokolwiek nie wymyślą dzisiaj jej uparci krytycy, jest i było dla mnie jasne, że to kluczowy moment najnowszej historii Polski i bez ludzi pokroju Leszka Balcerowicza, którego cenię bezgranicznie, choć nie bezkrytycznie, Jana Kulczyka czy Krzysztofa Olszewskiego żylibyśmy teraz dużo gorzej.

Książka ukazała się pod patronatem Polskiej Konfederacji Pracodawców Prywatnych Lewiatan, ale nie ma się wrażenia, że broni tylko i wyłącznie interesów przedsiębiorców. Jest tu sporo refleksji nad całokształtem życia społecznego i gospodarczego w Polsce, a swoje miejsce znalazł nawet polityk kojarzony z lewicą prof. Jerzy Hausner, którego pogląd nie należą do bezkompromisowo wolnorynkowych. Z mojego punktu widzenia, jest to zdecydowanie najsłabsza rozmowa - najmniej konkretna, nasycona polityczno-naukowym bełkotem, dość mocno oderwanym od rzeczywistości i, co najważniejsze, niezbyt ciekawym.

Obcowanie z ludźmi sukcesu, którzy potrafią i lubią dzielić się swoimi przemyśleniami, to wielka przyjemność, nawet jeśli dzieje się to przez pośrednictwo tak odległego medium, jakim jest słowo pisane. Całość otwiera rozmowa z Leszkiem Balcerowiczem, który zgodził się wejść do rządu Tadeusza Mazowieckiego jako minister finansów i główny architekt planu gospodarczego. Wziąl na siebie olbrzymi trud oraz odpowiedzialność stworzenia, wdrożenia oraz firmowania przemiany, która - co było jasne od samego początku - będzie mieć fatalne skutki społeczne w którykim terminie. Był to krok, można rzecz bez dużej przesady, heroiczny, tym bardziej że Balcerowicz, wtedy pracownik naukowy specjalizujący się w zmianach ustroju gospodarczego, miał przygotowanie głównie teoretyczne. Udało mu się stworzyć zespół, który miał wystarczająco dużo determinacji, żeby wykonać w tym gorącym okresie tytaniczną pracę. Ciekawe są szczególnie jego wspomnienia dotyczące krótkiego horyzontu, którym dysponował jego resort oraz rząd. W momencie, kiedy bankrutował poprzedni system, przemysł i handel stawały w miejscu, polski pieniądz przestawał się liczyć na międzynarodowym rynku, nikt nie mógł liczyć nawet na minimalną stabilność. Praca trwała kilkanaście godzin na dobę i polegała na jednoczesnym reagowaniu na kryzysy i budowaniu trwałej strategii na nowe czasy. Jest to moim zdaniem gotowy scenariusz na polityczny thriller.

Z przyjemnością przeczytałem też rozmowę z Wiesławem Rozłuckiem, twórcą i pierwszym prezesem Giełdy Papierów Wartościowych. To również historia pracownika naukowego z teoretycznym zapleczem, które wtedy wydawało się totalnie nieadekwatne do rzeczywistości, zaproszonego do tworzenia kluczowych instytucji praktycznie od podstaw. Niektóre z jego wspomnień, np. szkolenie maklerów z francuskich materiałów, które wykładowcy tłumaczyli z godzinnym wyprzedzeniem, sami przeciętnie znając ich orginalny język. Cóż, dowodzi to, że przy przedsięwzięciach gospodarczych, a nawet instytucjonalnych, wiele zależy nie od perfekcyjnej organizacji, ale determinacji, żeby coś osiągnąć. Dlatego nie wolno marnować motywacji do działania, która wyzwala się w momentach takich jak rok 1989.

Wśród przedsiębiorców zaskakującym wspólnym mianownikiem była przeszłość naukowa. Co najmniej kilku, od Jana Kulczyka po Irenę Eris, wspomina, że właśnie odejście z uczelni było tym najważniejszym momentem ich drogi do gospodarczego sukcesu. Jestem przekonany, że wyjątkowy potencjał intelektualny, który zdobyli w trakcie edukacji, pomógł im rozwiązywać skomplikowane problemy biznesowe. Powracają też takie wątki jak szczęście, determinacja w dążeniu do celu czy ambicja stworzenia produktu lub usługi, które pokochają klienci.

U Jana Kulczyka, obok Balcerowicza chyba najbardziej inspirującego wywiadu, zaskakuje filozoficzne spojrzenie na zarabianie pieniędzy, widzenie ich w szerszym kontekście działań pojedynczego człowieka oraz jego otoczenia ("Grunt, żeby w tym wszystkim zachować miarę i utrzymać równowagę").

Margin Call - I'm buying it

It's interesting that the Polish title for Margin Call, a riveting financial drama taking place nearly entirely in office interiors, was translated as Greed (Chciwość). There was a good reason to do it as the original term has no direct equivalent that would mean anything to the audience or even sound good, but admittedly some of the film's subtlety has been lost in this process. In fact, spelling it out in no uncertain terms what the film is about is never a good idea, also because Margin Call is about so much more than greed. And because it is a film that is extremely subtle, coming as close as you can get to putting a finger on the fragile psychology of high-level finances.

I watched it today and I will pop in to cinema this Sunday to watch it over. This does not happen a lot with me. My agitation might well ebb away in a day or two, but it's not often that I walk out of the screening room wanting to go back as soon as possible. What was it that made such an impression on me?

It was surely superior acting and writing. As we travel though the organisation from its bottom to the very top, we get to know rank-and-file traders whose job it is to push the buttons on gigantic transactions in the markets few people fully understand, their manipulative managers and the top brass, complete with the company's ruthless mastermind. It's the entire cross-section of the corporation and actors take advantage of the opportunity to portray characters with conflicting motivations and differing work experience just brilliantly.

Quinto on the highway from innocence to corruption

There's the innocent-looking, sharply intelligent but also empathising Zachary Quinto who plays the rocket scientist turned risk analyst who blows the whistle and makes it possible for the company to liquidate its position on what soon will become worthless assets. It's a great character who finds himself at an important junction in his career, having just contributed to the company's success but also beginning to understand the extent of the machinations in the industry driven by talent of people like himself. In one of the final scenes, he is ushered into a top-floor restaurant with a spectacular but sinister view of New York where he is about to get promoted by the company owner. The way he stood up to the challenge on the day of the emergency, combined with his extreme intelligence, make him a perfect candidate to make the corporation even stronger. "It's all hands on deck. There is going to be a lot of money to be made after what happened today", says the tycoon John Tuld (Jeremy Irons).

Spacey in his best film role since American Beauty

Then there's absolutely outstanding Kevin Spacey, a quick-witted mid-level manager Sam Rogers who seeks emotional outlet in looking after his cancer-stricken dog but has no mercy whatsoever when it comes to firing people or manipulating those who escape the axe. He's not an easy character to judge, with his bouts of remorse about the fire sale of the company's junk assets and an aura of rebelliousness. In the top management, he's also the one showing the most human quality. We see him lovingly hugging his dog, listening to classical music in a lonely office room or splashing water on his tired and concerned face as he looks into the mirror. He's less of a corporate robot than others, but in the end he agrees to go ahead with the contingency plan that is at odds with his principles. There's also some kind of fascinating bond between him and Tuld, who both seem to have gone all the way up from rags to riches and struggle to cope with the consequences.   

Tuld: "There are three ways to make a living in this business. Be first, be smart or cheat"

Jeremy Irons gave another marvel performance to watch, but as with others credit for it has to go as far back as the screenwriter J.C. Chandor, who - by the way - directed the film too. Incredibly, Margin Call has been his first feature. Irons makes his first appearance halfway through the story as it becomes clear that the corporation faces a life and death situation. Its very survival is at stake and decisions have to be taken in the right places. Tuld arrives last to what looks like an emergency board meeting and reveals himself as a flamboyant and quick-witted business mastermind. In less than five minutes, having been updated in plain English about what the problem is, he is ready to take an uneasy decision to sell off rubbish assets to unknowing investors before the market discovers what they already know. It's against all standards of the industry and a major blow to the company's reputation, but failure to do so means going out of business. Managers who will have to execute this decision have a couple of hours to set the stage for the operation that due to its major breach of industry trust might as well irreparably snap their careers, to say nothing of its emotional and moral significance.

Apart from acting, Margin Call stands out with its language. It manages to be interesting for the general audience, even though it expresses a complex reality of the investment company. And the way the film captures its application to manipulate each other in a corporation is second to none. Take for example the opening scene when the head of the risk department is being fired by the company lawyer in a series of sharp, officious and ruthlessly efficient instructions. Another trademark corporate speech is given by Kevin Spacey as he motivates the suvivors of layoffs to do better by telling them it is their chance to make the company stronger. Jeremy Irons character speaks virtually only in soundbites, especially when addressing a group of subordinates. His closing lecture on the significance and insignificance of money is beyond comparison.

Finally, I was swept off my feet by the clarity of the film. The storyline manages to capture quite convincingly the workings of a large corporation where responsibility is spread out really thin and multiple levels of authority structure create space for manipulation and personal games. What is especially unnerving about this representation of the financial industry, though, is that it's run by people who have long lost control or even understanding of what they are doing. The ultimate driver of decisions is not careful analysis of facts as it's only rare individuals who are capable of looking into them, but human instincts and raw crowd psychology. Margin Call manages to squeeze a laugh once or twice, like when Spacey or Irons insist that they should be spoken to in plain English only (Tuld: "Talk to me as you would talk to a baby. Or your Labrador retriever") as they can't read graphs or most technical terms, but it's a rather sombre picture of the industry that has grown so important for everyone.

Czy Ikea ma coś wspólnego z Bauhausem?

Z różnych powodów nie jestem stałym bywalcem poznańskich muzeów i dobrze wiem, że nie jest to powód do dumy. Po pierwsze dlatego, że jest jakaś hipokryzja w lataniu po muzeach w trakcie wakacji czy wyjazdów do innych miast, a jednocześnie kompletnym ignorowaniu tego, co lokalne. Po drugie, nawet dla tych z superwysokimi wymaganiami (co nie znaczy, że się to tej grupy zaliczam), znajdą się w Poznaniu rzeczy godne obejrzenia, odwiedzenia czy dyskusji. I to nie raz w roku, tylko regularnie. To jedno z moich postanowień noworocznych, żeby w większej ilości takich rzeczy uczestniczyć, nie pozwalać im przelatywać przez palce, a przy okazji docenić ofertę miasta, w którym żyję z pewnym powodzeniem od ponad dziewięciu lat.

Dzień przed sylwestrem udało mi się wyciagnąć M. na wystawę Idea Bauhausu w Narodowym. Wzornictwo to ostatnio bardzo mocno eksploatowany temat i, chcąc nie chcąc, coraz więcej o nim wiem, a o Bauhausie wiedziałem tyle, że był bardzo wpływowy. Nie byłem jednak w stanie zdefiniować jego cech charakterystycznych czy nazwać przedstawicieli.

Wystawa jest skromnych rozmiarów, praktycznie zamyka się w jednym średniej wielkości pomieszczeniu, ale jak dla mnie to zaleta. Nie zawsze muszę być przytłoczony nawałem informacji czy eksponatów. Tu mogłem przynajmniej wszystko spokojnie przeczytać, obejrzeć i przemyśleć, bo nie miałem wrażenia przegrzania umysłu (co zdarzyło mi się np. w Centrum Nauki Kopernik). Najważniejsze fakty (Bauhaus to szkoła łącząca sztukę z rzemiosłem na potrzeby przemysłu), osoby (Walter Gropius, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee)czy założenia nurtu (prostota formy, użytkowość, projektowanie na potrzeby przemysłu), ale też dziwaczne anekdoty (jak np. ta o zakładzie Gropiusa z właścicielem fabryki Rosenthal oraz śwince RoRo) zostały mi bez problemu w pamięci.

Moje główne wrażenie z wystawy odnosi się jednak do skojarzenia stylu Bauhaus ze szwedzką Ikeą. Nie wchodząc w to, że założenia filozoficzne mogą się zasadniczo różnić, a ideolodzy Bauhausu pewnie nie pochwalaliby wielu działań szwedzkiego koncernu, strona wizualna obu zjawisk ma sporo wspólnego. Definiuje je prostota formy, nacisk na minimalizm i nienachalną użytkowość, rola ergonomii oraz podejście przemysłowe, łatwo adaptowalne do masowej produkcji. Kto wie może projektanci IKEI świadomie inspirowali się Bauhausem?

Opowieści przeciętnego Egiptu

"Taxi. Opowieści z kursów po Kairze" Chalida Al-Chamisi jest książką niewielkich rozmiarów i czyta się ją jednym tchem. Przeczytałem ją w całości w trakcie krótkiego pobytu w Trójmieście w czerwcu ubiegłego roku. Znany egipski dziennikarz i scenarzysta rejestruje swoje przypadkowe rozmowy z kilkunastoma taksówkarzami jeżdżącymi po stolicy Egiptu, a że jest to zawód obdarzony szczególnym zmysłem rozmowy oraz nadwrażliwością na sprawy polityczne i społeczne, układają się one w ciekawy, zabawny, ale i gorzki portret tego arabskiego kraju.

Opowieści pochodzą jeszcze z czasów sprzed Arabskiej Wiosny, a prezydent Mubarak jest ich stałym bohaterem. Polskie wydanie książki, zgrabnie przygotowane przez krakowski Karakter, zbiegło się w zasadzie z niepokojami na Bliskim Wschodzie, co na pewno nie zaszodziło jej recepcji. Moje zapotrzebowanie na obrazy Egiptu było w tym czasie wyjątkowo wysokie.

Obrazy z "Taxi", mimo że podane w przystępny, ironiczny sposób, są raczej ponure. Prześmieszne są opowieści o idiotycznej egipskiej biurokracji albo bezczelnej korupcji, ale kiedy zdamy sobie sprawę, że ci ludzie muszą w takim systemie żyć na co dzień i zmiana jest niemożliwa, bo to przecież opresyjna dyktatura, a nie tolerancyjna i przyjazna demokracja, nie jest już do śmiechu. Podobny wydźwięk mają opowieści o niekończących się długach czy pracy ponad siły. Z jednej strony historia jazdy z notorycznie zasypiającym taksówkarzem może być zabawna, ale przecież za tymi nienormalnymi zachowaniami kryją się jakieś nienajmilsze powody.

Po przeczytaniu "Taxi", Egipt wydaje mi się miejscem, gdzie przeciętni ludzie, jak taksówkarze, nie mają kontroli nad swoim życiem, funkcjonują jak chomiki wprzęgnięte w bezsensowną i demoralizującą gonitwę. Ich dramat polega na tym, że zdają sobie doskonale sprawę (lub przynajmniej tak im się wydaje), że klasa rządząca może więcej i ze swojego statusu korzysta, a ich własna pozycja jest beznadziejna. Są to trochę głosy wykluczonych, sfrustrowanych, często cynicznych przeciętniaków, niezadowolonych z systemu, w którym przyszło im żyć, ale niedążących do zmiany. Coś się od tego czasu w Egipcie zmieniło i jakaś część energii ludzi została uwolniona w trakcie rewolucji przeciwko Hosni Mubarakowi.

Jest w tych opowieściach pewne podobieństwo do socjalistycznej Polski, w końcu ona też była stęchłą, nieruchawą dyktaturą, która doprowadzała ludzi do frustracji na każdym kroku wykazując bezsens ich działań. Niektóre głosy rozgoryczenia połaczonego z czarnym humorem przypominają wypowiedzi ludzi, których pamiętam jako dziecko - taty, wujków, rodziców moich znajomych. Nie ma się zresztą co oszukiwać - ten ton nadal da się usłyszeć w nienajgorzej prosperującej, otwartej i demokratycznej Polsce.

Wyzwanie 30 dni

Znałem Matta Cuttsa głównie jako Pana SEO, człowieka, który zajmuje się w Google tępieniem wszystkiego, co zaśmieca wyszukiwarki. W bożonarodzeniowej "Wyborczej" przeczytałem o jego krótkim wykładzie dla TED.com, gdzie prominentni ludzie z różnych dziedzin promują najrozmaitsze pomysły.

Jego rada jest prosta. Wystarczy 30 dni, żeby osiągnąć większość celów, które sobie stawiamy, jeśli będziemy nad nimi pracować każdego dnia. Kolejne miesiące naszego życia upływają tak czy inaczej - definiując, co chcemy w ich trakcie osiągnąć, możemy je lepiej wykorzystać i skoncentrować nasze wysiłki. Poza tym, takie podejście urozmaica nasze codzienne życie. Dlaczego przez kolejne 30 dni nie napisać książki, dodając systematycznie ok. 1500 słów dziennie? A może zacząć regularnie pływać? Odwiedzać i poznawać las? Uczyć się konsekwentnie języka?



Niektóre z tych wyzwań są typowo jednorazowe. Większość nie będzie pisać kolejnej książki, bo wszystkie doznania, których poszukiwali, znajdą w pierwszych 30 dniach pisania. Wiele będzie jednak początkiem nowych nawyków, zdrowszego stylu życia, większej dawki przygody lub różnorodności na co dzień. W tym sensie, każde kolejne 30 dni będzie krokiem do ulepszania samego siebie i tego, co wokół nas.

Można się zżymać, że to szczyt sztuczności, programowanie siebie, które nie ma nic wspólnego z normalnością, że najlepiej być bardziej spontanicznym, niezaplanowanym. I tak, i nie. Mam silną reakcję obronną za każdym razem, kiedy czuję się zbyt mocno ograniczony tym, co dla siebie zaplanowałem, przeładowanym kalendarzem, zbyt wysokimi ambicjami. Instynktownie będę dążył do uwolnienia się od takich zbyt sztywnych ram. Ale pomysł na stawianie sobie 30 dniowych wyzwań wygląda na bardziej przyjazny i mądrzejszy. Po pierwsze, jest w nim pewna elastyczność. Po miesiącu zawsze można powiedzieć, że coś nie jest dla mnie. Zrobiłem to, ale to nie dla mnie na dłuższą metę. Po drugie, jest to świetny sposób na nadanie twórczego kierunku nieubłaganie płynącemu czasowi. W pewnym wieku, w pewnych okolicznościach jest to bardzo ważna sprawa.

Co ważne, 30 dni można użyć, żeby jakiś zwyczaj dodać lub usunąć ze swojego życia. Może on dotyczyć spraw zawodowych i prywatnych. To dość łatwo adaptowana metoda działania, a także osiągania całkiem skomplikowanych celów w dość prosty, przystępny sposób. Nie dziwię się, że zaprezentował ją Amerykanin - to społeczeństwo ma podziwu godny optymizm i pęd do osiągania powszechnie uznanego za nieosiągalne.

Moje typy do 30-dniowych wyzwań w najbliższych miesiącach:

USUŃ:
- bezmyślne oglądanie telewizji wieczorami,
- objadanie się słodyczami i marnej jakości jedzeniem,
- spanie w trakcie dnia,
- rzucanie notatek i dokumentów bez ładu i składu

DODAJ:
- jeden wpis na prywatnym blogu dziennie,
- 30 minut wieczorem z ksiażką,
- 30 minut dziennie z niemieckim,
- aktywność fizyczna każdego dnia,
- 30 dni z grafiką komputerową,
- fotografowanie tego samego miejsca każdego dnia,
- 30 dni z blogiem o języku angielskim,
- 30 dni z publikowaniem w 101suite / hubpages / helium i innymi sposobami na residual income,
- 30 dni z biznesem English copywriting,
- 30 dni z podstawami rysowania,
- jedno wydarzenie kulturane dziennie - odwiedzone i opisane na blogu,
- jedno miejsce historyczne / architektoniczne w Poznaniu - odwiedzone i opisane na blogu

Leaving the past, building home

It's not one of these timeless classics destined to stay with me till the end of my days, but Natasha Solomons' Mr Rosenblum's List was a totally enjoyable read. It tells a strongly fictionalized story of one Jewish family's road to fully-fledged English citizenship after they escape Nazi Germany as refugees. The central figure and the driving force of the book is Jack Rosenblum, a middle-aged industrialist hilariously and desperately determined to melt into the English society ("the role of the Jew was not to be noticed").

Upon arrival, he receives a government leaflet that includes detailed advice on what to do and what not to do in order to become respected in his new homeland. Irrevocably uprooted from his Berlin environment and fascinated by England as a land of gentlemen, he starts to follow the rules with furious devotion. This includes adding new observations to the list as well as wiping out any traces of his family's old identity, whether it is language, religious habits or even surname. Jack views joining the golf club as the ultimate sign of his inclusion into Englishness and as a result of multiple rejections on the ground of his Jewish / German origin, he sets out to build his own. To make it happen, he moves to the countryside, neglects his carpet business and focuses all his resources on achieving this dream. After trials and tribulations that continue for months and see, among other things, his wife's near death experience, getting dangerously in debt and becoming the laughing stock of just about everyone he comes in contact with, Jack accomplishes his goal in style and just in time to throw the opening tournament as part of the celebrations accompanying the Queen Coronation.

Natasha Solomons' debut novel is about identity, especially of communities, families and individuals who are forced to go into exile. It wraps this complex and often painful topic in light, charming litarature that mixes official history, personal stories and dreamy reality filled with folklore and myth. Even though it can be bitter at times, the book is sure to end happily and exude some sort of optimism.

I enjoyed the bitter moments the most, though. Fragments when Jack tries harder than anyone to stick to the rules of being English only to find himself rejected by nearly everyone around are a great testament to how large disparity between official rules and everyday life can be. When you arrive as an outsider, the impossiblity of blending in despite your best efforts can be overwhelming. The dream of being like others is a moving target as many will do anything to underscore their distinctness and no rules or advice is enough to help you get there. You live and die in exile.

Another bitter idea that came up again and again in the book had to do with painful observation of memories and personal history disappearing. With Jack plunging headlong into the English lifestyle, it was only his wife who made an attempt to connect with their ancestors. Baking the German Baumtorte becomes a way for her to commemorate the bygone era and it seems comforting that the locals appreciate her skill and embrace it as theirs. Jack is hellbent on achieving the other effect, cutting off the ties with the past. The ultimate act that obliterates his German Jewish self is shortening his surname to an English-sounding Rose.

Some vocab and quotations to remember:
. "One had to make one's own luck",
. to kick off your shoes,
. the Royal Warrant, By Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen,
. a travesty = an exaggerated imitation,
. Never thought I'd see that day,
. to apply for planning permission,
. a monstrous decision,
. a pipe dream,
. "I gambled a lot and I lost",
. to pull the bedcovers over your face,
. to cajole into = to persuade by being nice or promising something,
. a shibboleth = an old idea that is no longer applicable in modern times,
. a gangplank,
. halting English,
. bloodshot eyes,
. I've done my bit,
. enraged faces,
. a hillock - a little hill,
. to be pale-faced,
. to throw the door open with a bang,
. to be beyond one's means,
. an air rifle,
. to get one's throughts in order,
. to force a smile,
. to pass binoculars around,
. a soft-boiled egg,
. nicely groomed,
. to bow under the weight,
. to talk in hushed voices,
. in for a penny in for a pound (taking full risk),
. out of earshot,
. to spare somebody the bother of...
. "Time's ticking away",
. not give a fig,
. filmy and unseeing eyes,
. to be under orders to do something,
. a slacker = somebody who is lazy (=leń)
. a dragonfly = ważka
. a rook = gawron