The Old Lone Ranger

The Fascist and the Communist

By Rich Marin | November 23, 2025 by Rich Marin

Yesterday, Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani met face-to-face in the Oval Office of the White House. This was characterized by many as a timeless contrast of the fascist and the communist. Fascism is a far-right authoritarian political ideology characterized by dictatorial leadership (concentrated power in a single leader or party), forcible suppression of opposition (elimination of political pluralism and dissent), extreme nationalism (often with racial or ethnic superiority themes), militarism (glorification of military strength and…

Reloading Latin America

By Rich Marin | November 22, 2025 by Rich Marin

In 1985 I was running the largest merchant banking unit in my bank, something called the New York City Division. It was what all my peers aspired to do, but I found it sort of boring to be doing things like helping ITT do its next acquisition or helping Ron Perlman at Revlon reshape his juggernaut. I was asked to go up to talk to our Vice Chairman, who said the Management Committee wanted to…

Fiction/Humor Memoir

Coat Bonanza

By Rich Marin | November 21, 2025 by Rich Marin

We all have our quirks. One of my quirks has always been that when I order something, I rarely, if ever, return it. If it doesn’t fit, I stuff it in a lower drawer or just put it in the give-away bin. This is completely contrary to Kim’s way of life with regard to online shopping. The number of packages she gets is only slightly greater than the number of packages she returns. Our Amex…

Business Advice Love Memoir

Sweating Equity

By Rich Marin | November 20, 2025 by Rich Marin

My dear friend Frank is the guy who mentored me in the handling of private equity investment. He was a venture capitalist long before it was even known how cool it was to be a venture capitalist. Frank is a Marshall Scholar who attended the London School of Economics just when America was entering the 1960s. He did a stint in the Army like any good red-blooded American male did in those days, but luckily…

Politics

Common Sense

By Rich Marin | November 19, 2025 by Rich Marin

Today I have been watching the latest Ken Burns extravaganza called The American Revolution, another PBS documentary, this one about the most important revolution in the history of mankind. We all tend to think that it was the French Revolution which was the most impactful, but I think it might be debatable based on how we define “impact”. Most people would be surprised to learn that before heading to Wall Street some fifty years ago,…

Fiction/Humor Memoir

The Joy of Cleansing

By Rich Marin | November 18, 2025 by Rich Marin

This morning I spoke to my friend Steve, who lives in Phoenix. He mentioned that he and his wife Maggie have bitten the bullet and rented an apartment to move to starting in two weeks. He talked about the move less about not wanting the rigors of a large sprawling house and garage, and more about this being an opportunity to finally get a grip on downsizing and cleansing. Steve is of Scandinavian heritage (and…

Business Advice Memoir

Bedside Manner

By Rich Marin | November 17, 2025 by Rich Marin

I am more focused on personal healthcare than I can remember ever being. One obvious reason is watching my brother-in-law struggle with his various maladies and the healthcare system’s back-and-forth about how best to handle it. I’ve seen the importance or specialist expertise in immediately fixing problems. I’ve seen specialists contradicting one another as to the state of their patient, perhaps overly focused on their specialty without adequate consideration of the bigger patient issue. I’ve…

Fiction/Humor Memoir

Popcorn Brain

By Rich Marin | November 16, 2025 by Rich Marin

Today here in Southern California, we are having he storm of the year and it has been pouring down much of the morning. Luckily for us, we here in San Diego are not getting the worst of it…the folks in the L.A. area are once again getting the brunt of the deluge. I’m sure we will be hearing about mudslides and such based on the large amount of wildfire-scarred hillside land that is now exposed…

Memoir

Guilt

By Rich Marin | November 15, 2025 by Rich Marin

Like many like-minded people across the globe, I am always stunned by the abject lack of guilt that gets displayed by Donald Trump and much of his following, whether in the Administration, Congress, the Judiciary or the general public. Let’s start by asking ourselves what exactly guilt is. Guilt is a powerful moral emotion that serves as an internal compass for our behavior and relationships. Guilt is the uncomfortable feeling we experience when we believe…

Business Advice Memoir

Quiet Enjoyment

By Rich Marin | November 14, 2025 by Rich Marin

One of those great conflicts that regularly afflicts me (and probably other liberal-minded sorts) is how to balance the Good Samaritan aspects of the ethos I try hard to consistently espouse and the lifestyle we live and like to maintain. I long ago determined that I am no Sister Teresa that insists on living my life with no creature comforts. I look to Pope Francis, someone who most would agree chose, even as Pope, to…

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