Joel Bowman with today’s Note From the End of the World: Buenos Aires, Argentina…
“Skip the debt. Build the man.”
That’s the message from Doug Casey, the author of The Preparation, along with co-authors Matt Smith and his son Maxim Smith.
I spoke with Doug recently about their latest project. The Preparation, Doug told me, is an actionable blueprint for college-age kids who want more out of life than what modern day college campuses offer… which, for the most part, is little more than indoctrination, keg parties and a whole lotta debt.
“Most kids ask the wrong question,” Doug says. “They focus on what they want to do when they ‘grow up,’ when actually, they should be asking themselves what kind of person they want to be. The Preparation offers a practical roadmap that helps them answer that question.”
With Maxim Smith as the ‘beta tester’ for The Preparation, Doug and the team mapped out a four year program, broken down into 16x 3 month cycles, that focuses on developing real world skills and refining personal character.
Over the course of The Preparation, the student will learn things like basic Emergency Medical Training (EMT), how to sail a boat, how to write persuasive copy, speak publicly with confidence, how to manage a farm, wrangle a horse, and plenty besides.
“The goal isn’t to ‘opt out,’” as Doug and the team put it, but rather “to opt into a life where a young man becomes useful—someone who can save a life, build a house, launch a venture, and carry his weight in any crew.”
Doug and I talk about all this, and plenty more, in today’s Notes From the End of the World Podcast, which you can listen to in full, above.
The Preparation is for college-age students, and the parents and grandparents who love them… and it’s available now on Amazon.
If you’re interested in knowing more about The Preparation, or you know someone who might be, you can also follow their work on Substack, right here:
In the meantime, we’re heading down to Patagonia today to refine another life skill… preparing the perfect asado. We’ll be back later in the week.
As always, stay tuned for more Notes From the End of the World…
Cheers,
Joel Bowman
