Pictured: Charles de Gaulle when he was a child, aka the current adult height of butterboy
Editor’s note: Thanks to my friend, and one of the funniest churners I know, the vertically challenged butterboy, for today’s guest post. Only he could look at 20th-century French history and see a metaphor for churning/MS. Enjoy the post!
History has the remarkable power to inform us on a variety of topics, and, in particular, historical figures can teach us valuable lessons about subjects seemingly unrelated. Today, on my dear friend Riley’s blog, it would be my pleasure to share some thoughts about Charles de Gaulle, Gaullism, and how I believe they relate to our hobby of churning and manufactured spend.
If you have ever read about or studied General Charles de Gaulle, a single word will pop into your head: France. The General, who saved France twice over the course of his life, was born into a fiercely patriotic family in the Third French Republic. From a young age, he idolized France, studying her history, crying when he learned of her military defeats. As soon as he was able, he joined the French military, fighting in the First World War. Later, as France succumbed to the tyranny sweeping the European continent, he saved the reputation of France from collaboration as the leader of the Free French. Again, when colonial squabbles and military putschists threatened the institutions of the Fourth French Republic, de Gaulle returned from his retirement to save her once more.
To take away one lesson from history, Charles de Gaulle allowed himself to be consumed by one thing: France. France, the grandeur of France, and advancing French interests were the sole focus of de Gaulle throughout his whole life. De Gaulle became associated with an amorphous ideology called Gaullism. To its proponents, Gaullism was not a checklist of policies but a mindset: the relentless actualization of France’s independence, prestige, and power. In this, it was broadly successful.
In churning, I see many of my peers spread thin. They dabble in a variety of targets and banks, but they lack a clear direction. They miss the opportunity to maximize their limited time and effort by focusing on what they do best and what they can scale, instead favoring a shallow familiarity with everything. Did the General understand every nuance of domestic and foreign policy? Of course not. Did he make massive gaffes that exposed his blind spots? Absolutely. But the General maximized his impact on the world through tunnel vision about France. I believe many of us who churn would benefit from behaving more like the General – picking our “France” and committing to it fully.
As for your “France,” I cannot say. You already know what it is.
-butterboy
Pictured: How butterboy sees Charles de Gaulle