60 years old.

I have won the world's best lottery.

I was born in the middle of the 20th century

In the United States

In the middle of the United States

White

Male

To a family that valued education. 

And I have been lucky enough to have made some money, married the love of my life, have the best siblings in the world, made some great friends, never had to fear for my life, worried about dangerous water, or felt I could not go somewhere because of the color of my skin.

This is how this happens. Not through bootstraps. Through hands up. I need to thank some people.

The first hand up was from the Founding Fathers. They recognize the need to create a society that offered opportunity to the second sons of the world. The appreciation that self interest, properly managed, can be a very valuable asset. They created a living Constitution that has served the US well for over 200 years. I could not have succeeded the way I have without this.

I also need to thank Abraham Lincoln. For keeping the country together during a terrible time. To know that sacrifice is worth it. And for keeping The South, and particularly Louisiana in the Union. For reasons that will become clear later.

The depression in Europe in the 19^th century also gave me a hand. That, combined with the enlightened view of immigration in the US at the same time. My father’s grandparents all escaped poverty in Belgium by coming to Wisconsin to start a new life. That new life allowed me a chance to get into that 1%

There is a huge debt I owe to my father. For the usual things, of course, love, shelter, caring, but more for the fact that he decided to graduate from High School (the first in his family), and then college. And the joining the Army in 1941, just prior to Pearl Harbor. He would never have met my mother had that not been the case.

And my mother. A child of the plantation south, her family has had their share of hardships, including bankruptcy. But she had the intellectual curiosity to attend college in Lafayette in the 1930s. And her father let her. Then she had the sense of adventure to correspond with a young man fighting in Europe, finally marrying him when he returned. And the strength to stand up to her family when he moved her from south Louisiana to central Wisconsin. That set up a level of success I could not have achieved elsewhere.

I also owe thanks to Kimberly Clark, their shareholders and management. For hiring a young chemist, keeping him employed for 35 years and affording HIM the chance to raise a family, retire with a nice pension and provide an education for his seven kids.

When it gets to more concrete gifts I have been provided, I must thank the taxpayers of Appleton, WI for uncomplainingly funding an excellent school system that give the kids in town the ability to learn whatever they wanted.

And for my math teacher in 7^th grade who pulled me out of the “slow” class and started me on the “gifted” path. And to tracked learning. I benefited. It worked for me.

To the Appleton Post Crescent. For employing “paper-boys” who, at the age of 13, could make enough money to understand the value of work. (Hard work? Not so much. But you had to show up on time, rain, snow, or shine, and deliver the papers)

I owe my ability for critical thinking to a number of high school teachers, but probably mostly my debate coach, who was able to get our small team to be a major competitor in the state at the time.

The Wisconsin taxpayers gave me a hand by having supported The Wisconsin Way at the University of Wisconsin, where I was able to afford a great education. Because it was the right thing to do for the people of the state.

There are many people inside of many companies who took a chance on me, and from whom I learned how to do what I do. From the father of a friend who got me a job in Peru while I was still in college, to my first, great job at Exxon Minerals with several great bosses, to the horrible job I had an Exxon Synthetics, with the worst boss I ever had. He helped me get to where I am by showing that a petty, condescending, arbitrary, and conniving management style doesn’t bring out the best in people.

The many small companies I worked for all showed me how one can trade off current opportunity for future gain. The risk sometimes pays off and sometimes it puts you in the bottom 10%.

I never set out to become rich. But I am not naïve enough to think that I got here on my own. The path to success is paved with many, many people who give you a leg up. It is crazy to think otherwise.

It has been a good 60 years. I hope during the remaining years I continue to be cogent, affable, and happy. That is all anyone can hope for.