Was about to send it to you, but you beat me to the punch.

PL: I've received it from about five different sources since Friday night. Like minds, etc...

I wish I could write a book that will be read for as long as our civilization lasts...
--http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Soros

PL: So do I. But all I have is fuck tales and epic drunks... Selah. We all can't be philosopher-billionaires.

Wow. Blows my fucking mind away. I hope that this letter will become ironic in the sense that it causes him to be remembered for it. But probably not.

I had heard before that hemp was made illegal to protect the economy once the cotton gin came out. Eddie Bravo, the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu master has a lot to say about marijuana...

PL: Like anything else that doesn't fit our societal "narrative" or worse, undermines it with unassailable criticisms, this will be forgotten. As Lahdi notes, nothing's significant in 50 years.

Of course, we never consider that openly in our culture. No, we hide that. Grappling with that consideration would cause people to think in a way that would upset the apple cart in a way we'd probably never be able to right.

So onward we go, confused and contradicted by so much common sense, spending, judging, preaching vacant values to the wind. An experiment rotting in an overcrowded petri dish, running out of re-inventions. Had to start going in the other direction sooner or later, right? There's gravity in everything, particularly something as heavy as Empire.

It's just so damned embarrassing. It's one thing to overextend like the British, quite another to fold under the pressure of conspicuous consumption and "entitlement culture."

Are you going to send this man a copy of your book?

PL: I hadn't thought of that, but it's a good godamn idea. Lord knows, all he's got is time.

Who knows, maybe the disgruntled office drones will one day get their pasty asses organized...

PL, may I distribute the letter non-commercially?

PL: Oh, God yes.

Spread this thing as far as you can. These things need to be screamed from mountaintops everywhere. Everybody's thinking what this guy said, but it isn't until the words connect us with one collective epiphany that these observations begin to be discussed and get some traction in the greater population.

But please also include the link to the original source (I have to fix the piece to make the title of the letter a hyperlink, but my editor's out for the evening): http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/daily-brief/2008/10/17/hedge-fund-manager-goodbye-and-f-you

D.B. Cooper of the 21st century.

PL: Only with 10,000 times the cash.

Could this be the New American Dream? Make a ton of money, cash out, and yell "Suckers!" while driving away in your Testarossa? Works for me.

Enjoyed the HarperCollins promo video. Though I'd always imagined your voice as more like Stephen Colbert's.

PL: It always has been. It just happens that at this moment, people are listening. Usually they're too absorbed in self-denial to notice the guy laughing and yelling from the convertible in the parking lot.

I forwarded this to everyone I know as soon as I found it on Friday. I think it's the greatest thing to hit the newswire in ages. Not many of my colleagues seem to agree, though. Mostly, the reactions I heard back ranged from "eww, he's just a bitter pothead" to "well, one good year doesn't make him a great investor" to "he'll be back; nobody can resist the money" and everything in between. Of course, those people missed the point entirely. But to my surprise, the most insightful comment I got was from my little brother, a college sophomore, who said, "Well, I don't really know what to think about this guy, but he's definitely got balls."

And he was right. Mr Lahde definitely had balls. People don't seem to understand the kind of fight that this guy almost assuredly had to go through in order to do what he did. Putting aside what he mentions about competing for places in universities, etc...this is a guy who, in layman's terms, set up a fund that made all-or-nothing equity bets that the entire American housing market would collapse in the very near future. At first, that might not sound so impressive, especially to people who play around in the markets. Hell, I had put options on Lehman and Wachovia when the shit hit the fan, and I, too, made some cash. Doesn't that put me in the same league? And the answer is ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOT.

Looking at the timeline, Lahde probably pitched this last fund in early 2007. In other words, just a few months before the Dow hit 14000. I'd imagine that was a hard sell. And that might be the understatement of the year. Guess that's why he only started with $10 million.

Good for him, indeed.

PL: Tell them this...

1. How bitter could a man who just pocketed that kind of cash possibly be?

2. One good investment the size of his is all a person needs. He made more than your friends will ever see. While they tell each other what good investors they are, he'll be waking up at 11:00, wherever he wants, with no plans for the rest of the day but doing exactly what he wants to do.

3. As to resisting the money, why would he go back when he can play with his own cash conservatively and make more in a year than 99.99999999% of the population?

4. Balls are what we need right now. If the US as a nation takes the current situation as a signal to pull back and stop taking risks at the individual level, we'll sink ourselves far more deeply than the Japanese recession we're headed into ever could. Perhaps the big banks are paranoid for a while, but there is money on the sidelines, and we've got to be hitting the bargain basement for getting into deals at a 'can't lose" basis in the coming six months. I pray we hit a new revolution of risk takers with an attitude like Mr. Lahde's. Work your ass off to succeed, but simultaneously never lose focus of The Real Prize... When you get enough to leave, leave. Don't be a hog and try to build yourself into the next Henry Kravis. Stop, sit back and realize that You Can Only Spend So Much. At a certain point, it's not even real money anymore and, as Lahde notes, and I think Frank Zappa also used to say, beyond being an illusion, "legacy," or the fixation with it, is pretty embarrassing.

Done, done and Done. Thanks for the link. Will shout it out as far as my voice carries.

All the best and thanks for putting many people's thoughts and wishes on paper in a humorous form. You wouldn't by any chance have an idea if your book gets sold in Indonesia/Singapore/Southeast Asia?

PL: I'm looking into that. I imagine you could get it from harper Collins' Australia: http://www.harpercollins.com.au/books/9780061349492/Happy_Hour_Is_for_Amateurs/index.aspx

Now I didn't have a gin and tonic to accidentally drop but Mr. Lahde surprised me enough to laugh out loud (for only a few seconds) in a crowded lecture hall. Huge props for him, I hope you can track him down if you want to send him a book, PL, but I'd expect by now he's on a beach or some slopes or somewhere where UPS doesn't deliver.

Man, I'm not even sure if I feel more jealous or proud of Mr. Lahde. But that a "legalize it" rant got stuck in there too is even more awesome.

I'd toss up an "enjoy your life" for him, but I highly doubt that it is necessary.

PL: I thought the "Legalize It" thing was a bit childish at first, but then I considered that this guy was not some clueless kid ranting. His message on that has real merit and perfectly compliments the rest of what he said. Why is it illegal? Certainly it's no more harmful than alcohol, which we celebrate. Well, the inescapable answer is that one drug, though I love it, makes you dumb and aggressive and aligned as much as possible with our collective national "narrative." The other makes you think a bit, slows you down and can leave a person asking questions about and in many cases seeing some of the silliness behind the warped version of the "American Dream" we're all living, most of us badly (even those of us with loads of money).

The continuation of the American Narrative in part depends on people believing a lot of ludicrous, incorrect things without thinking too much. We're collectively willfully ignorant. That said, in fairness, it's not all bad. Some people can't deal with the Big Questions. And if we all started thinking instead of believing, the grass would never get cut.

But now, where we are, I think we need to start thinking a little more. Deepen ourselves a bit. It'd help us a lot. That's a good first step toward addressing the rot in our national attitude Mr. Lahde drew so eloquently.

Put down the juniper, and back away from the keyboard, Phil.

That dude had me (despite the obvious chip on his shoulder re his Not Rich parents) until he went into the hemp thing -- I simply can't take the hemp issue (or people who rant about it) seriously thanks to:

(1) Dar Williams' fine song "The Pointless, Yet Poignant, Crisis Of a Co-ed" http://www.poplyrics.net/waiguo/darwilliams/012.htm

"We used to say that our love was like hemp rope/three times as strong as the rope/that you buy domestically./And we would bond in the face of oppression from big business and the deans."

and

(2) Slater from Dazed and Confused -- "Behind every good man there is a woman, and that woman was Martha Washington, man, and everyday George would come home, she would have a big fat bowl waiting for him, man, when he come in the door, man, she was a hip, hip, hip lady, man."

Oh, and who did you piss off at Barnes & Noble? I've been to two of the bigger stores in their chain, and they aren't stocking it (I refuse to order it from Amazon until after the election because I think that a Palin DOJ will lock up all of the degenerates that would read such drivel, and my fake name credit card doesn't work anymore).

PL: He goes too far on the hemp thing, true. But the broader commentary I think he was trying to make is worth noting. Hence my extrapolation...

One of my favorite overlooked lines from D&C is when the blonde geeky kid asks the black-haired geeky kid what he wants to do instead of law school: "I just want to... dance!"

As to B&N, I have no idea what that company's major malfunction might be. My only recommendation is to go to Borders. The people at Borders have been incredibly helpful, going as far as to stock the book in the center of the new release desks smack in the front of the store.

I even signed a bunch of copies in the Philly Borders a few days ago. The manager's a real nice guy and the people there are incredibly helpful. Can't give them a bigger plug.

The original email was sent by a marketing girl. This salutation reads:

"Dear Friends, Partners, Investors and Those Who Wish They Had Been Investors,

Attached is Andrew Lahde's farewell letter. We hope you enjoy it.

Best Regards,

Heather"

I got it just after noon on Friday and it ruined me for the rest of the day. All I could think about was how unbelievably perfect his letter was... Low hanging fruit... Do not expect a response within a normal time frame or at all... A rational argument on the destructive path our government is on... An endorsement of pot... OK, maybe the pot thing was a little out there for a "farewell letter", although I happen to agree completely, but he's earned the right to ramble a bit.

Also, he can never run money professionally again. The big money in hedge funds comes from institutions, and none of them would entrust him with a dime after reading that. Not that he cares.

PL: I don't think he cares anymore. I think he's where I was. Only a hell of a lot better off...

You hit a certain point where you look around and just say, "This is all such a fucking joke."

The insane run the asylum. I used to think, "It's me. Everyone else has it right. The systems around us have a brilliance to them. Like our Constitution. Breathing things working in concert, on instinct ans intelligence we can't understand."

Then you talk to smart friends who sit in high places in the system and realize, No, It's Not. They think just like you do. They're manipulating the people around them the same way you were. You wonder if anyone does anything earnestly anywhere and realize "earnest" doesn't exist. It's all just a joke.

We're all grifters. He's just saying it out loud.

I can only hope that when I have my 'Jerry Maguire' moment that it is as well thought out and articulated as this letter. I, at first glance, thought it was a joke and then after reading it several times, thought well who the hell cares if it is because the guy has made several good points. Thank you for re-posting it.
I am going in search of your book today but seeing as I live on an island in the Pacific-they seem to think that we like to stay behind the times (I actually witnessed a man riding a horse down the highway yesterday-I almost ran him over in my little Honda Accord, narrowly missing the the elderly woman that was hitchhiking) so I don't know how successful I will be in locating it. Not to mention that I only have one book store here. I will get it eventually.

PL: I'll shoot you an email to find a way to get you a copy. Oh, and stay on that island. Islands are nice. Nobody has heart attacks on islands.

What's so outstanding about the piece? Seems like run of the mill blogger stuff to me. Just because the author made a lot of money his words carry more weight? I've read just as poignant "fuck you world" commentaries about society on forums coming from Steve Sysadmin and Sally Secretary.

PL: Nobody does this as obnoxiously and humorously, and with a bag of money over his shoulder, laughing all the way. It's a funny, crazy way of shredding the narratives so many of us believe in, buy into and worship in this country. And he's right. Sally couldn't write this with a stitch of his brio.

Sally Can't Dance, either.

This a Johnny-Rotten-saying-fuck-on-television moment. Perfectly obnoxious and crude - the only way of describing the festering subject matter at hand.

As I read this for the first time off of the Sludge Report I absolutely thought of you, PL, and the "like minds" that comment here and everywhere else that's a haven. A haven for the millions of us who are sane with our souls screaming out that this can all be better, but even if we just decide to make it so there's too many idiots fully plugged into the Matrix that outnumber and stop us.
True to form, as I type this I am hearing Michael Savage all over how true this letter is and he segues right into how everyone visible on Wall Street and Washington the last month and prior is the "low hanging fruit" we get to watch further screw this up.

Keep up the fight everybody.

Mr. Lahde, I will buy you a drink someday - maybe two... but I really hope you buy rounds 2 through 10 with that kind of money.
Congratulations on being free.
"Do you think that's air you're breathing now?"

PL: I am jealous. If anyone out there works in finance and wants to hire a jaded prick who's a good study and willing to work his ass off to grab a boatload of money, send me an email. Lahde's letter made my day and simultaneously broke my week. On one hand, I live it. On the other, I realize there is but one arena to make such a fantasy come true.

I don't think linearly. I'm perfect for betting on this market...

I kind of think that's his point: when you reach the place in your world where you have enough, then that's just it: ENOUGH! He has the money, his life back, and can walk away with his integrity, that qualifies you as "fuck you" money rich enough. Isn't that the damn purpose for all of us, we just don't know when to stop, and when we finally slow down enough to realize it, it's usually too late. Very few times in a person's life do they see clearly enough to speak their truth, or even know what that truth is. I think this guy hit it on the first shot: greed and corruption equal failure not virtue. This is a great piece of philosophy,unfettered by any need to impress anything upon the reader other than
"this is my truth"; believe it, don't believe it, I said it and you can deal with it. This is the new "SUX 6000", and I like it!

PL: If somebody gave me $3 million tomorrow (after taxes), I could easily walk away from everything. Some folks say you need more. I don't think so. No Ferraris, no mansion. Just the thrill of viewing the rest of the only thing I'll ever have as a source of entertainment for its duration, rather than an asset to be traded to someone for something.

Great stuff. Thanks for posting it. I think that anyone who has ever had a job that he/she dislikes (most of us) has written some version of that letter in their minds more than once. What is disheartening is when we finally escape whatever hellhole we're in and reach what we thought would be greener pastures, only to find that we are still mentally writing that "fuck you" letter to be delivered when and if we reach the next "promised land."

Before going to law school and becoming a lawyer (sighs), I worked on an offshore oil rig both during summers and Christmas breaks from college, and full time after finishing undergrad. Many of the workers (including myself) would buy lottery tickets on the way to whatever bumfuck dock or heliport we would be "catching out of" at the time. I use to think about what I would do if I were to win the powerball. Get the hell out of the oilfield, for sure.

Needless to say, I never won the lottery. No, apparently I am better at picking among five multiple choice answers than at picking winning lottery numbers, because I took the LSAT and did well enough to get a full scholarship to law school. Fuck you oilfield.

To get to my point, fast forward six years, and I recently departed the lovely company of a mid-sized insurance defense firm (fuck you, hour factory) to open my own plaintiff practice. I am now waiting on the "big case" so that I can give the finger to the legal profession altogether. There is something to truly look forward to, I suppose.

The danger, I think, in cashing out, is the possibility that we will be no happier than we were while we were in the rat race. Don't get me wrong, I will have no problem getting out. I just think that we need some sort of challenge or adversity in life in order to appreciate everything else. Case-in-point: as much as I disliked working offshore, I hardly ever get the same high as when I would step foot on dry land after 14, 21, or 28 straight 12-hour days, surrounded by nothing but hardlegs. Or that feeling I had when I shaded the last bubble on my bar exam. If I ever make enough money to cash out, what will I have in my life to ensure that there will always be something for me to look forward to? Where do people who live at the beach go for vacation?

PL: Thanks for the compliments and I wish you the very best of luck going forward. I hope you nail an eight figure bombshell.

But always remember, the people who tend to get the biggest paydays live the field. And they're not, in my experience, very happy sorts. Don't forget why you;re doing it. When you get enough, quit. Spend time with the people who matter and leave the rat race to the rest of the rats who aren't as lucky and still have to run. Don't become a "lifer." Not suggesting you will, but that shit can sneak up on the best of us.

People who live at the beach are always on vacation. Richard Nixon famously said his life was defined by struggle. That's not living. Life's too short for that thinking. That thinking will make you crazy, like Nixon.

I'm pretty sure that many people 'at the top' have similar philosophical views. They just don't have the brass balls to get out at a reasonable time/age that Lahde demonstrated. Warren Buffett, Scott Kapnick, Nassim Taleb -- these guys have always known that we're all living a continuous, one-star comedy. Somehow, it seems that the people that can walk away and truly 'get it' just aren't able to do so early.

PL: There's a cyclical thing to "actualization." I think I called it the "Accidental Wisdom of Following" in the book.

Your philosophical views should be based on the realization that you are an animal with a finite life span which should be maximized (the maxmimization being tempered by concern for others and being 'decent,' I think). Once you reach that understanding, next thing you have to ask yourself is whether you want to: (A) maximize comfort, or; (B) maximize knowledge/rewards.

If it's A, well, you're better off believing the games are reality. You're better off assuming that what goes on in management hierarchies and the reindeer games of the organization has an intrinsic value beyond the paycheck it provides and you probably shouldn't consider the world outside that universe in too great an amount of depth, I think. This will ensure comfort.

If it's B, well, you're probably never going to be comfortable. You're going one of two ways. You can run aimlessly like me, a seeker eternally stuck looking for stimulation, paranoid he'll die not having experienced every vocation that interests him. Or you can play the game like a pro. What I mean by that is treat work like sport. Think bigger than the people around you and find ways to make the system benefit you.

The big question in life, I think, is "How much do you want to know?" Do you want to see through things and deal with the loss of faith and belief that comes with that or do you want to just join something and be comfortable?

I'd like to be clueless about a lot more than things than I am.

I, like yourself, have done the law thing and quite frankly I have recently of late felt like I have done zero to assist humanity in any way, shape or form. It is the money, the prestige, etc., etc. I originally went to law school because I had hoped to become someone who would actually help society. What a joke that turned out to be on me! You need a decent job just to pay off your unfathomable loan obligations. I did want to become a geologist, but did not study in undergrad never realizing that I would be getting two further degrees. I still feel the strong urge to help society in some way. I applaud Andy for having the guts to write this letter to his clients and to slow down to stop and smell the roses. Life is too short to play this game anymore. I think there comes a time in everybody's life where they look and said that is the crap that I am doing? I do not want to be that person.

PL: I have nothing to add there.

PL: Just got back from a week of sensory overload scuba in Curacao, I sent this thing out to 22 people before I left. I didn't bother with fucking tv, newspaper ( can't read or speak Dutch any way) and no computer for 8 beautiful days. When I got back to Chicago, I checked my mail, 51 responses from family, friends , and forwards. Interesting to say the least were the responses, but I think you hit on right on the head with one of your earlier responses to another poster: most people aren't going to get it, sadly because most fucking people have long since given up on any kind of life or dream of a life, and now function purely by rote. It's beyond sad and disappointing to read feedback from folks whose opinions ( not always agreeing with) I value, who this little message just flew right over their fucking heads, or the first thing they reacted to was the "evil weed" bullshit, shockingly shallow from persons I always felt had sincere depth. I'd say about 10% actually got Lahde's meaning, "fuck you" means: I've had enough and I want OUT!!! Stupid rabbits, trips are for kids....

PL: People have narratives about the way life is supposed to work and they don't like hearing otherwise.