The first step in kicking an addiction is admitting you have one. And indeed, I do – childish t-shirts.
My favorite features Bert and Ernie in a convertible, the Count trailing overhead. Scribbled in the sky, we find Bert’s assessment of his situation:
“We can’t stop here. This is bat country.”
Bert is borrowing from Hunter S. Thompson’s classic, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – perhaps the pinnacle of “gonzo journalism,” a reporting style in which subjectivity and immersion are a feature, not a bug.
Fear and Loathing doesn’t want for memorable lines. My favorite?
“Once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.”
I recalled my silly t-shirt as I read The Wall Street Journal’s recent coverage of this year’s Korean KOSPI mania, when the country’s benchmark index more than doubled before plunging 40% over the summer. As one investor put it, “My hard rule used to be that when too many people seem to be boasting about their stock gains, we’ve probably hit the peak.
“But FOMO got the better of me.”
A speculative mania obeys Thompson’s Law: buckle up and hang on as long as you can. Even if you have doubts, you know remaining clear-eyed will cost you.
It’s all gonzo: Immersion becomes a feature, not a bug. And self-imposed sobriety costs more than detox.
Back to Fear and Loathing. In the film adaptation, Thompson’s protagonist eventually attempts to park his car – an attempt that ends on a sidewalk. The valet objects, at which point the protagonist earnestly inquires:
“Is this not a reasonable place to park?”
While the KOSPI has recovered nearly a quarter from its July nadir, plenty of investors likely wonder how they’ve ended up on the sidewalk.
It’s gonzo.