If I Want To Not Be Charged

If I Want To Not Be Charged

If I Want To Not Be Charged

Copyright © 2024 by William Blanke

All rights reserved

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 : BE ALERT TO US GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

CHAPTER 2 : PEOPLE HAVE TO PAY THE PRICE

CHAPTER 3 : SO WHAT DO ALMOST ALL OF THOSE CHANCES HAVE IN COMMON?

CHAPTER 4 : BUT ELLIOTT BISNOW IS NOT AT ALL CRAZY OR STUPID.

CHAPTER 5 : THINK THE JAPANESE WAY

CHAPTER 1 : BE ALERT TO US GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

A rather traumatic experience for me personally that entrepreneurs need to take note of. In 1991, I sold cigarette manufacturing machinery from the US to Argentina. Due to business losses and the severe devaluation of the Argentine currency, the factory owner owed me $300,000 and was unable to pay. They offered to send me a new type of nicotine-free cigarette to repay the debt. I agreed and advertised in American newspapers about this type of cigarette that is not harmful to health.

One fine day, while in the office, 12 employees of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), specializing in protecting consumer rights, came to accuse me of false advertising, because according to They do not have any type of cigarette that is not harmful to health. They gave me 30 days to prepare evidence and respond. According to them, if I want to not be charged, I must have proof by doing clinical trials on 1,000 people and must hire an independent laboratory to do this. But if so, it will cost me at least 500 thousand USD, while the value of the drug warehouse is only 300 thousand USD.

At this time, the company was also having financial difficulties and did not have enough working capital. I had to confess that I was not able to prove it as required. After that, the authorities offered a mediation method with the condition that I not advertise cigarettes in the media for 10 years and not sell the above cigarettes. I had to sign that reconciliation form. A noteworthy point is that in the authorities' records, it is written that I am guilty of false advertising, followed by a statement stating that I have not pleaded guilty. That record had a negative impact on my company when I was later sued by the Securities Commission (SEC). They brought this up to defame me in court and public opinion.

3. Alan belongs to a group of speculative brokers who manipulate stocks to the detriment of investors

The crux of the matter: Various speculative groups have jumped on Hartcourt's stock to make a bid. This is a common phenomenon for any stock with rapidly increasing value and high liquidity. Super profits are always the main goal of every investor or speculator. However, in the US, the SEC is very strict and monitors transaction developments with the most sophisticated software. They are always wary of management colluding with speculative groups. Conclusion: after 7 years of investigation and analysis of transaction records, the SEC has not found any evidence that Hartcourt or Alan management colluded or violated securities laws in the transactions.

4. Alan's degrees are fake degrees.

The crux of the problem: Not a single anonymous person on the Internet forums accused Alan of lying about the degrees he received or the books he published that did not exist. They just say over and over again that these degrees are not valuable because the universities are relatively small and not reputable. Therefore, this is an appraisal of the value of the degree. I often laugh it off because honestly I have forgotten everything I learned in the 1960's or 70's. My actual knowledge about the topics I have studied is a huge zero. Sometimes I often show off my qualifications to tease these insects. With large intellectuals licensed by the government, I often have to admit that my academic degree is on par with a frog.

In short, these are four long stories that my enemies have persistently pursued for the past 15 years. Sometimes I feel very happy because I have caused so much frustration to my enemies, causing them to lose sleep and find every way to retaliate to ease their jealousy and hatred. But time passes, happiness and sadness gradually fade away. Who knows, in a few years, when my enemies disappear (illness or death), I will miss them and regret that no one will stir up the boredom of the days? Besides, all they are accusing are just small stories of the past, and have nothing to do with the thoughts and ideas we are creating here. Well, please allow me to apologize to you for the one-sided and useless actions of these enemies.

Eating and drinking in the knowledge economy

A rich man invited me and two American friends last weekend to Long Thanh to play golf. After that, he took us to a beautiful restaurant next to the Saigon River and treated us to a dinner with unforgettable specialties. I was very impressed with his spending style, more than 42 million VND for an afternoon. Two American friends have two large investment funds, but they have clarified from the beginning that they have no intention of investing or doing any business in Vietnam. In short, this is completely a social meeting where the Vietnamese tycoon wants to show off his wealth and luxury to two strangers.

The next day, I invited my rich friend to lunch to repay the favor. As we are organizing the Super Conference on Investment and Business on February 16, 2012, I sent you an invitation and asked if you would like to help the organizers by buying 10 tickets at a discounted price for management board staff (only 7 million). I guarantee you that the practical knowledge gleaned from 20 famous experts and businessmen will have more practical value than 10 courses of the MBA program. He refused and said his company (over 2,000 employees) does not spend money on these topics. I respect your stance; and said he would send 10 more invitations to his staff to see if the new knowledge was worth 7 million VND as I believed.

Each company has its own culture and in the end, only the results of revenue and profits and the sustainable development of the brand prove the performance of the management. There are many roads to Rome and there is no one formula that applies to every situation.

However, over the past 3 years, I have worked as an unpaid consultant for many Vietnamese businesses, large and small, public and private. While analyzing financial reports, I noticed a common denominator: spending about 4 times as much on entertainment (from 3% to 10% of revenue, depending on industry classification). Meanwhile, research and training topics are less than 1/10 of foreign companies with similar business models.

In a new world where knowledge is power, what message are we communicating to the next generation of managers? Officials, of course, like to eat and drink because they don't have to pay, but the price paid for private businesses is often quite expensive: in addition to food costs, we have to consider wasted time and increased illness. Unofficial breaks and drunken stupor are often accompanied by poor decisions.

However, my rich friend disagrees with me. He said that his success in the business world was due to the relationships created from drinking and drinking all night long. He believes that in business, it's not what you know but who you know (it's not what you know but who you know). He thinks this is the main reason I won't make money in Vietnam.

Up to now, you are completely correct in your assessment. I am also not naive to think that the 2012 Super Conference on Investment and Business will be successful in all aspects as expected. But I believe that the management methods of Vietnamese businesses will have to change quickly to hope to keep up with the progress of the global economy, an economy based on knowledge, not relationships with others. officials.

The economic value of officials...

Of course, we need leadership for the country to flourish and stabilize; But according to the experience of thousands of years of history, the more leaders, the poorer the people. A 3-year-old child also understands that the whole family can only produce 5 bowls of rice, but with 10 mouths to feed, someone has to go hungry. If you encounter greedy parents who eat their children's children, they will only be injured or die prematurely.

Anyone who has studied for an MBA must remember this funny story. A man went into a pet shop and asked to buy a talking parrot as a gift for his wife (he probably thought having it would make his wife quieter? Are men always stupid?). The saleswoman said the price was 1,000 dollars for this one. Oh, why is it so expensive? It can sing too She gestured and the parrot immediately sang the song five brothers on one tank. The customer was very pleased, but asked, What about this one? It comes to 2 thousand dollars, because in addition to singing, it also knows how to march, dance and memorize 20 important speeches of socialism. The customer pointed to the third child. Sales lady, Can you pay? 4 thousand dollars. What can it do? I don't know what to do. But the other two call it – Comrade Leader -.

Contribution of the mandarin profession

After the article about the official blood of the 9X generation, I received a lot of feedback. One reader commented that being a mandarin is also a noble contribution to society and many mandarins are also very good and honest. This friend misunderstood me. There is certainly no bad profession and I have met many gentlemen who practice thieving. Since this is an economic perspective, I would like to ignore ethics and politics, but only analyze the value of the real contributions of officials in the process of producing goods and services of the country. a country. This is truly the main asset and income that makes a rich people and a strong country; not vague statistics like GDP, CPI or happiness index.

First of all, in countries with market economies, most civil servants are considered referees. Their task is to set the rules of the playing field and monitor to ensure that no player breaks the rules. So, among the 22 athletes in a soccer match, we have 3 referees. In operating the national economy, American civil servants are not allowed to be involved in business, because any abuse of power will cause injustice in the market. In short, the contribution of the public sector in the production process or service provision is almost non-existent. However, all government spending through taxes or public debt is included in GDP, creating the impression that the government also contributes to creating national assets. This is a myth.

In countries with other strange orientations, sometimes there are more referees than players, causing confusion in the game. The saying playing football while blowing the whistle is a cute phenomenon in these countries. Because of their power, the rules of the playground also favor these referees-players, also known as interest groups. They monopolize the core positions and of course, always win the tournament, whether they play poorly or even when they don't bother to play.

The mandarin profession is in a period of prosperity

In the world, the mandarin profession is a profession with a good growth rate. Even in America, a country where people often despise politicians and officials, this profession has developed strongly. When I went to America to study in 1963, federal, state, village governments... spent about 18% of GDP. Today, the number has accelerated to 40 percent, totaling $5,800 billion per year. The number of civil servants in the past, totaling about 8 million, has now reached 22 million. While the entire United States was in economic recession because real estate prices were exploding, house prices in the suburban districts surrounding Washington, DC were skyrocketing in price because the number of officials under the Obama administration increased dramatically. This phenomenon is not limited to Washington DC but is also common in all capitals of the world. Rome, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo…

Meanwhile, according to official statistics, Vietnam has a total of about 2 million civil servants, not including the military and security forces (an additional 1 million people). If calculated dollar for dollar, the government spends about 34% of GDP, a quite large number compared to neighboring countries such as Singapore (19%) and Thailand (18%).

The above numbers do not include the number of civil servants in the staff of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). According to a not very detailed statistic from government experts, SOEs use 52% of the country's capital, but only contribute 24% of GDP. In rural terms, their productivity is about 50% of employees working in the private sector, or 2 people doing the work of 1 person, or 1 person getting paid twice as much as another person doing the same job.

Production needs leadership?

Therefore, if you add all the numbers together, in Vietnam there are 21 million workers and businessmen who have to work to pay taxes and pay debts to 3 million officials who lead. Of course, we need leadership for the country to flourish and stabilize; But according to the experience of thousands of years of history, the more leaders, the poorer the people. A 3-year-old child also understands that the whole family can only produce 5 bowls of rice, but with 10 mouths to feed, someone has to go hungry. If you encounter greedy parents who eat their children's children, they will only be injured or die prematurely.

Buddha said greed, anger, ignorance are the roots of all human suffering. I think the identity of being an official is a combination of these roots, therefore, it is a quite serious mental illness of people. The passion for fame, aura, achievements, dignity, being a parent, making a name for history, being a living (or dead) saint, being on top... has caused great disasters for millions of living beings. in the past through lessons that history has not hidden.

Even hundreds of thousands of people of Troy and the Greek army sacrificed their lives to return to God's kingdom early because the Trojan prince was infatuated with the neighboring king's wife. After both of them chased after love at first sight, the great king lost his dignity so he brought more than 120,000 troops on 1,100 warships to destroy Troy.

So when I heard that Mr. Xi Jinping came here to set up a Confucius Institute to re-propose the doctrine of military, master, father (oh, where has China's socialism gone?) I felt scared for the Chinese people and the slaves. Of course, Confucianism is very complicated, but Mr. Xi and the leaders only want the people to remember one thing: when the king tells the people to die, the people must die to show their loyalty. Chinese TV dramas show this topic over and over again. A disciple of China, leader Kim Jong Il, once threatened to attack South Korea because they dared to save the life of an actress that Mr. Kim was infatuated with and ordered his subordinates to kidnap her and bring her to North Korea. I wonder what Mr. Kim's 28-year-old son is currently passionate about?

One bee feeds 20 flies

In general, the economic value of officials is not much; But its impact on society is enormous.

Over the past three decades, the bee population in North America has inexplicably decreased by more than half, causing serious damage to the honey industry and the ecological environment of fruits and vegetables. Dr. John Hafernik accidentally discovered that the cause was a parasitic fly that invaded and laid eggs in the bees' necks. A tiny fly can give birth to dozens of children and use the bee's body as food to survive, even when the bee is dead. Flies also die, but only after completely decomposing the bee's body.

I think of societies with parasites clinging like hungry discs. It's a bit sad that the people who created real wealth for the country died before the idlers.

Diamonds are forever…

As Hitler said, Lies repeated every day into people's minds will make them come true. Three thousand years ago, a Chinese philosopher also made a similar judgment through the story of a butcher's mother who had to believe that her son had killed someone after hearing people talk so many times. Mao Zedong reiterated this principle in his Red Book platform for communist cadres. It turns out that billions of people around the world throughout history were not stupid, they were just deceived. But the most pitiful thing is that those who are deceived try to cling to lies because of their pride, they don't want to admit that a super intelligent person like them was deceived like a child.

Every teenager growing up in America is imprinted in their minds that diamonds symbolize the stability and romantic style of love. This message is repeated every day through 30-second TV commercials, through Hollywood love scenarios, through social news stories, and even serious literary works. The diamond ring is an indispensable item in marriage proposals across the European and American world. A popular movie by super spy James Bond is called Diamonds are forever. Diamonds are forever.

Two myths are associated with diamonds: diamonds are a special mineral that cannot be destroyed and the market price of diamonds never goes down.

De Beers's strategy

After World War I (1918), diamonds severely depreciated throughout Europe because of the economic downturn and the change in status of the upper nobility in the defeated countries. The De Beers family still occupies the top position among diamond producers, but the risk of bankruptcy lurks. In times of difficulty, they turned to distant America and bet on this rising new market.

Contrary to Europe, America is in a golden economic cycle called The Roaring Twenties. New inventions from America such as movies, radio, cars, telephones... captivated the whole world and created a new bourgeois class, no different from Vietnam after joining the WTO. De Beers entered the US market with an extensive and clever advertising campaign, using new media networks such as TV, radio... to broadcast a message to the newly rich people...Diamonds are forever. Diamonds are forever.

It symbolizes the romantic love of fairy tales, it is an expression of success through power and prosperity. Hollywood superstars are paid huge salaries to mythologize diamonds with scenarios that require couples and soon-to-be married couples to use diamonds as gifts... because diamonds are forever.

After more than 70 years, the legend is still alive and well, bringing diamonds and the De Beers family to the pinnacle of wealth and brand. They are entering the Chinese market and according to the plan, in the next 30 years, the majority of Chinese engagement gifts will be diamond rings... forever.

De Beers lessons apply everywhere

In the MBA program, there are many strategies and tactics to build a brand. I often advise students that just by carefully studying De Beers' marketing history of diamonds, they will have enough skills to effectively manage their company's business. Even the wizards of politics and religion are applying the De Beers model in their programs to develop and consolidate their factions' positions. The