THE OUTSIDER CLUB - Be The One On The Inside

By Mbokani GAMA

The World is a Syndicated place; from Commerce and Trade to Sports to Politics to Religion - They all work in Syndicates and Cartels. Those on the inside get to dictate the rules of the game and those OUTSIDE pick up the pieces.

 

Received wisdom is that you must be President of a nation or the richest man around or some big-shot to be on the inside BUT in reality, you DON'T.

 

This book identifies the fundamental four variables to Autonomy (being President or the richest man alive NOT being one of them) and Four fundamental "tools" to be "the Insider".

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mbokani GAMA
• Release date: Dec 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393460114

Book preview

Contents

Acknowledgements

Dedication

BOOK ONE: AUTONOMY

Chapter One. Autonomy

Money Knowledge Territory Legions

Thresholds

MONEY

Lending

Debt

What can go wrong as well as right

Old Money

New Money

If something goes wrong, duck

I feel like I fugitive because I escaped my Nine to Five

KNOWLEDGE

LEGIONS

Armies, Mercenaries, Militias, Teams

CONTACTS

Many switch sides – With Necessity Loyalty Change

During the Time of Peace Prepare for War

TERITORRY

Syndicates and Cartels

To the Winner Belongs the Spoils.

BOOK TWO

CHAPTER TWO: TRUST THE PROCESS

Trial and Error

Pathemata mathemata – Learning through Pain

To learn we must err

CHAPTER THREE: LUCK

Predicament

Tip-off

The Next 100 Miles

Limited and Defensive Approach

House Treats Luck like an Insult

Humility

Opportunity

The Power of Dummy Variables

Convictions and Prejudices

The what, when, how, who – Don’t Ignore where

TALENT

The Disconnect

Ambition versus Execution

The very difficulty of it is why you must

Exposure

––––––––

CHAPTER FOUR: CIRCLING BACK

What goes up must come down

Build an Advantage. Hold on to your Advantage. Secure the Future.

Not add to the empire while the war is in progress – Pericles

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t   

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It shall be stated that this is my first book so my list is a bit long.

To my father, Christian Hugo Gama, for provision, sustenance, tough-love and direction. Throughout my life he has inspired me to think and work independently. It is from him that I have learned to look for the invisible and always raise my game. My interest in reading and reasoning is very much derived from him. For him, my ability to think for myself was paramount priority when I was growing up. His vision to always send me to our village Likuyu Fusi (where the entirety of this book was written) for most of my school breaks when I was a kid has made it possible for me to build a sense of belonging and made my stay here fabulous during the whole period I was writing this book.

His eagerness to challenge me at every turn, never letting me rest is what has given me the stamina during the period I was writing this book even in the late nights of the months of June and July when it was extremely cold in these parts. His name recognition in these parts has also made it easier for me to get assistance whenever I needed some. I have never in my life known another person more competent, more competitive and with better foresight than him.

My late mother, Adelbertha who was a special human being but left us far too early to go be with the LORD. There is no one nicer or more genuine than her. She was very rich in important things, her life was built on faith and generosity. There was never a dull day in the Gamament when she was still alive. It was in her short life that she encouraged me to achieve. Her generosity and kindness to others is still well remembered by many twenty years after her death, which makes it easier for me to be accepted by those who knew and benefited from her. It is only now that I understand why there were always guests at the Gama household (the Gamament) when she was still alive and with this book, I am hoping to make her proud.

My sister, Stahmili-Christine Gama famously Six, for all her steadfast love and support that she gives me. In the absence of our mother, she has been outstanding. She is the one person I know that genuinely prays for me and wants me to succeed. Many times have I thought to myself where I would be if I didn’t have a sibling, she, in specific and the answer is always; I would have been LOST.

To, Mr. and Mrs. Paulo Mwazyunga, who for many years have been, not only for me but also for my sister, our guardian angels, may the GOD of Major Prophet Shepherd Bushiri, continue to bless them abundantly.

Also to my Homeroom and Oral English teacher from 1996, the late Sr. Yvonne D’Souza who pushed me to aim higher with her constant comment on my report cards; There is more Room for Improvement regardless of the grade that I scored. I am hoping that I have improved.

Also, my English grammar teacher from 1996, Mrs. Lifa, who challenged me to enter the Essay writing contest which I won and I believe to be the genesis of my interest in writing. My success with that essay has been a source of inspiration for this book. 

Special thanks also go to Iddi Baruani and Edgar Lwila for the initial creative design of the book cover and Clarence Z. Ngatunga for the final print. Each of these gentlemen worked very hard to make sure that the book cover by itself tells the story of the book.

Also, very special thanks to Tumaini Mwenda of Peramiho Bookshop for putting the manuscript of this book in the proper order of a book in a very short period of time.

Lastly, to the Peramiho Printing Press of Peramiho Abbey where the very first copies of this book were printed, I am very thankful and I hope that we continue to work together in other projects that will come as per GOD’s will.

DEDICATION

To my Mother, Adelbertha.

Rest in Peace.

I still remember your face and your voice.

BOOK ONE

AUTONOMY

CHAPTER ONE

AUTONOMY

Money Knowledge Territory Legions

Lindy was telling me that, for a certain class of things, I had less to prove, less to explain, and less to theorize. It is what it is. –Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Although no one will tell you in exact words, autonomy is the most sought after status by mankind. Though complicated, there is a simple way to define autonomy by an equation; Autonomy = Freedom from debt + having fewest wants.

It is the reliance on others that we want to avoid. The compelling need to theorize our thinking or explain ourselves to others so that we do not offend them is what we want to avoid, and the only way we can do it is by becoming autonomous. We can say we are autonomous when we are so self reliant to the point that others cannot gain access to us simply by their choosing or when they cannot deny us access because of their choosing. The sovereignty to choose, accept and deny is what we are looking for, is what I refer to as autonomy.

Autonomy is the ultimate sign of respect and with it, it brings prestige. A status which is translated by having dominion over variables that humans desire; money, knowledge, territory and legions, to the point that an individual feels no obligation to act in certain ways in order to please others, gain their attention, acceptance, help or favors – a status that we don’t need to react to the will or wishes of others.

The key to autonomy is not through the abundant possession of the four variables but rather the dominion over the four variables and their harmonious utilization. Therefore, for a person to achieve complete autonomy he first must possess sufficient quantities of each of these variables and second, have these variables under his total control and have the ability to manipulate them to his favor or in other words, he must have complete dominion over these variables to the point that they bring him sovereignty.

The mere possession of these variables, no matter the quantities, does not constitute autonomy until it is complimented by the domination and application of the variables to bring sovereignty to an individual, family or group.

It is so vital to be autonomous that in the book of Genesis 12:1-3; the Bible teaches us that even before Abraham had a child, GOD first bestowed him with autonomy. GOD understood that in order for Abraham to have significance in the world, he must first possess the tools necessary to dominate, so GOD first gave Abraham; wealth, knowledge, territory and legions before He even promised him a son, let alone giving one to him. So, even before Abraham had a son, GOD made sure that Abraham was already a nation–state, he was sovereign.

THRESHOLDS

The best way to define autonomy is by using thresholds – the cutoff point of the quantity of each variable that an individual must attain for eligibility to autonomous status. Since autonomy is a status that involves not only having success in certain aspects of life but even more importantly, balance and dominance over the mentioned four variables, we therefore cannot describe it in a single blanket statement. This fact compels us to study these variables both separately and collectively in order to gain proper understanding of the subject and functions of the variables. While being the master of only one of the four variables would be commendable, it is not however sufficient to attain or claim autonomy since autonomy is not a mutually exclusive but rather mutually inclusive state of each of the four variables.

We must therefore show the connection between the four variables and the application of each in the equation of autonomy if we want to shed light on the path to achieve autonomy. To stress even farther, an individual must be able and willing to pursue, to possess and to dominate certain degrees of more than a single of these four variables if he is to attain autonomous status.

There is a misconception about two desires of man – money and autonomy; that the amount of money that a person possesses is directly proportionate to the amount of autonomy he would have and enjoy. Although it is true that we all desire autonomy for ourselves, and that we require sufficient amount of money to afford and fulfill this desire, it is also certain that they are not directly proportional.

Autonomy is subjected by the law of diminishing marginal utility which illustrates that from certain point, unit increase of a variable does not bring more productivity or satisfaction. So, if we apply the law of diminishing marginal utility (utility being autonomy in our case) to the relationship between money and autonomy, we would at some point start to realize marginal autonomy to that relationship. What we will find out is that, above certain amount of money, autonomy becomes marginal.

The law of diminishing marginal utility brings the necessity for us to determine the threshold point at which increase of money would start not to be directly proportionate to autonomy gained. At this threshold, an individual starts to enjoy autonomy regardless of how much more of money he has.

The equation which we use to define autonomy is the cutoff point; being debt free + having fewest of wants. This equation helps us to determine the amount of money that is sufficient to make a person autonomous. Any amount increase above the thresholds will potentially bring diminishing autonomy.

Hence, if we were to draw a money/autonomy graph we would probably observe the diminishing autonomy versus money increment after we cross the threshold amount. The decline in autonomy after we reach the threshold could mean that any increase of money thereafter can be considered negative returns – Avarice. So, although money is an important variable in the equation of autonomy, it has its limits of how much autonomy it can exclusively bring. Therefore, the other three variables must be present in the same equation to complement money in order to deliver autonomy.

Since we have now established the law of diminishing marginal utility to the autonomy equation and highlighted the concept of threshold in the same equation, we will continue to use both the law and the concept in the coming discussions in the following chapters of the book because they both apply to each of the three remaining variables. 

The law of diminishing marginal utility to the autonomy equation proves two facts; first, it debunks the misconception that the relationship between autonomy and money is directly proportional; and, second, that the accumulation or possession of only one of the four variables; money, syndicated knowledge, territory and legions (separate from the others) is sufficient to achieve autonomy. It law shows that a person must have control over more than one variable in the autonomy equation for him to achieve any kind of autonomy because these variables are mutually inclusive – that each of these variables plays a complementary role to the others in the pursuit of autonomy. 

Think about a threshold as an eligibility mark or a point of admission to a syndicate, club or something desirable. To elaborate this point let us look at the example of the banking sector in Tanzania where the bank law requires each bank to have Tanzanian currency, the shilling (TZS) 15 billion shillings, a minimum as operating capital. This is a threshold that has been set by the law to govern the banking sector which each bank must reach before being admitted to play in the banking playfield.  Have less than the threshold and you do not get admitted to the league, but you can certainly have more. As we all know the purposes of capital in a business; to increase productivity and attract more money and also to maintain access in the current sphere which capital operates as well as to provide access to other spheres that require capital for admission. So, in order to achieve those objectives, there is no point in setting a ceiling limit on capital requirements but there is certainly a necessity in setting a threshold at the entry point.

How that is set is a question we may never find an answer to. However, for an individual who desires to have access to the banking sector and other cycles that are related to or influenced by the banking sector in the country, he would not need to possess the whole amount of TZS 15bn/- to gain admission to play in that field but only a portion of the TZS. 15 billion/- to get admission to the banking play field through the purchase of banks’ equity in the capital market. The share price of a bank in the stock market is the threshold for an individual to gain access to that sector.

A portion of TZS.15 billion/- equity is the entry fee at the gate which is enough to make an individual an investor; a partial owner of a bank, an employer and a lender – significant amount of access not only to a particular bank but also to the financial sector at large. This is how thresholds work. While a bank is required by law to have TZS 15 billion/- at the point of entry to the market, a shareholder of the same bank only needs to own a block of shares starting from TZS 100,000/- as his entry fee to the same sphere. So for shareholders, it does not matter whether you invest the minimum TZS. 100,000/- or TZS. 100,000,000/- you are a recognized shareholder of a bank because you have crossed the TZS 100,000/- threshold.

You have the privilege to information of the bank, access to the stock market and any other privileges that a bank shareholder is entitled to. Compare this type of access to access that a home owner enjoys.

A home, no matter how much it costs, makes the owner; owner and possibly a landlord. By these two models of access we could say that liquid assets such as a bank stocks provide for their owners relatively more access to their sphere and other spheres such as the stock market as well as more contacts because they get to deal with much more people than physical assets like a house provide for their owners.

Based on these two models, let us look into thresholds a little deeper. A stockholder (preferred stockholder) of a bank is exposed to more opportunities and prestige than a homeowner because he has more business contacts (legions) than a homeowner. Through his equity in a bank, which makes him owner, he sits in on the board of directors of the bank, which also means that he employs staff of the bank and lends to businesses and individuals, which equates to legions – his equity provides for him far more outreach. A homeowner however, in case he chooses to lease his house is only a landlord to a fixed number of tenants – his outreach is limited by the number of his properties he owns and leases. Therefore, there are numerous more advantages associated with being a bank owner than there are with being a home owner although the cost of equity for being owner of a bank could be less than or equal to the cost of construction of a home.

But to gain recognition and prestige in these two spheres, a homeowner must own numerous buildings for him to be recognized as a serious player while a bank owner could just have his equity in one bank and enjoy recognition and prestige in the whole banking sector. This is how thresholds can benefit people. It is not in the extreme possession of variables but rather in the adequate possession of variables which give entry to a sphere by beating the threshold, then the domination of those variables and the making sure that the variables benefit you as the holder of the resources. 

So, an effective way to approach the subject of autonomy is by looking into the threshold equation and the effects of money, knowledge, territory and legions; the four wheels of autonomy in a person’s pursuit of it. As we have established in the above models, a bank owner gets more access of the variables of autonomy than a homeowner. The bank owner’s equity exposes him to a broader sphere; more people in terms of fellow shareholders, bank employees and debtors, broader territory because his ownership of shares also make him stakeholder of the stock markets.

To understand autonomy a bit farther, we shall observe each of the variables to build an understanding why it is important for a person to gain control of them and be able to manipulate them separately and collectively in order to attain autonomous status.

MONEY

Apart from its well known economic attributes, economists have failed to include in the list of attributes that money is the greatest measure of loyalty and trustworthiness or it could be because economists like to complicate themselves with charts and graphs to explain a simple subject which makes it problematic for them or because these attributes can be neither quantified nor graphed.

But it is practical knowledge that if you want to find out how much you can trust a person, give him access to your money, the same as if you want to measure their loyalty to you or to a cause. The Mafia understands this attribute very well and has been using it for their recruitment for as long as their existence. This criminal gang understands not only the economic power of money but also the spiritual and moral aspect of money over people.

Money is a very powerful variable to human life and progress both natural and spiritual and the availability of it or the absence of it are used as the measure of man’s characters since time immemorial. It is believed that the best way to gauge the character of a man is when he has money. This belief has made the Mafia and others apply it as a litmus test for their new recruits.

For our religious practices, unlike the old days when they used animals, we now use money as offerings in all religions and faith. In our natural lives, I think we can all agree that there is rarely a day in a person’s life that passes without the involvement of money somehow either it be earning money or spending money. Money is a necessity, so important in life that people would go to great lengths to get it.

Because of its power and mystery it also comes with a lot of misconceptions. The significance of money as well as its mystery and power which I believe are the derivatives of its scarcity, attract wide discussions in societies. Many books on secrets and rules on how to get money, how to keep money, how to invest money and how to spend or not spend money have been written, television programs created and debates argued just to satisfy the human curiosity and desire for money. But despite all the efforts and the information to elaborate on the workings of money, there are very few people in the world who really understand the subject of money. 

Because we humans love power and money is the source of much power, the Bible warns us about it in the book of 1Timothy 6:10 for the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. Money is so powerful that syndicates and dynasties are formed, survive or collapse because of it. With money, they can afford the means to defend and to extend their spheres of influence in areas which they operate or intend to operate and without it they fail. Money is one variable that can provide access to territory, information, weaponry, people and materials which are necessary for the survival and expansion of a syndicate or dynasty.

Among the variables which bring autonomy to an individual, money has absolute value; there are no substitutes for it. When money is attained, the scope of achievement it brings is wide. It opens up options much wider than the other variables. This is why governments, warlords, militias, gangs and terrorists use every means necessary to collect revenue in the form of taxes, penalties, donations, contributions or even extortion in order to finance their existence and expand their dominance.

In the former Zaire which is now the DRC, the warlords of the Kivu region and other regions of the north–eastern part of the country used to charge tax on people, goods, and vehicles that traded, passed through or were traded in their territories. It was through the money they obtained from these taxes that they were able to finance their mining activities in those regions, buy weapons and take care of their militias and fight wars which enabled them even more access to the minerals which resulted to even more money and power for a very long time. Without these tax revenues I doubt if they could have amassed all the power and dominance that they have over the population and the minerals of those regions or defended their positions so successfully for as long as they have been able to.

Money is also mysterious hence a topic of most discussions. I remember as students back in secondary school one of the popular debate topics was; Money Vs. Education – Which is more important? I remember in one of these debates, every smartass in class at the time including myself argued that it is education which is more important than money – we were confusing education for the wisdom of King Solomon. I still remember one of my classmates at the time, the late Damian Mgilla, Rest in Peace, being one of the very few who argued for money being more important. Damian invoked the concept of value although without using that exact term. He sucker punched everybody in class when he asked; Let’s say you are a PhD and you went to the market to get some groceries and while there, the shopkeeper asks you to pay and you come up with the; I am a PhD so I will take the stuff for free!. The whole class laughed really loud at his example! With that question he ended the debate and he won.

His, was a valid argument which highlights the need to understand real value in real life. I do not remember many people at the time being on the side of money being important because we were still either kids or brainless! But I cannot imagine anyone today who used to sit in that same class back then and argued for education, who will still argue today in favor of education being more important than money! Though I did not get it then, I get it now that money is absolute and has more practical prerogatives than education or territory or legions. While money is absolute, knowledge and the other variables of autonomy on the other hand are not and they require complementing with or converting them to money in order to generate their practical application. 

But the concept of threshold occurs when we want to establish the sufficient amount of money which is enough to afford autonomy. An amount which we can be confident that when attained and it is complemented with the other variables, is sufficient to bring autonomy. Like we have already established, when it comes to money, the fundamental threshold to complete independence is self sufficiency; freedom from debt and having the fewest wants. Monetary status which guarantees an individual not to go broke – always having some cash in your pockets or in reserve.

Lending

Unless you are a bank, don’t be a lender. Lending means giving out money which results to less money in your reserve; it translates to fewer options and less autonomy for yourself. If you really have to lend out your money do it with the purpose of expanding your sphere of influence which gives you access to the people who will owe you and even with this purpose, only lend the least amounts of your money. You shall remember that money in hand gives you options and autonomy so under no circumstances should you lose your autonomy; under no circumstances should you put yourself at the mercies of others by giving out large amounts that you will definitely need. Being at the mercies of others is something we want to avoid, by avoiding lending we also avoid relying on others.

The way that banks operate their credit systems is by lending to people who actually do not need the money, those who can guarantee to pay the money back with collateral. At an individual level however, we lack the prerogatives of a bank, it is difficult to obtain guarantees from our debtors hence when we lend we expose ourselves to a greater risk of loss by credit default.

It always seems mysterious to me how fast you can move from being autonomous to being in the mercies of others. That is why I advocate for a no lending policy at an individual level, especially in large sums.

I am also curious how people can smell a person with money right at the time he has some money, and how they could smell a person who is broke just as easy! Have you noticed that right when you have money in your pocket or money on the way is when you receive more requests for money from friends and acquaintances?

At the time I started writing this book I had enough cash to live on for a whole year then suddenly I did not. Right when I had the money was when so many people asked me for help. Giving out money requires a person to be generous but knowing who will repay the money requires a person to be a good judge of character so that he may detect the payers and the bad debtors right on the onset. Depending on the nature of a person, requests for money could bring the temptation to give out money even to people who have not yet proven themselves that can be trusted to pay back. Remember to avoid this temptation as you go about lending people money so that you can protect your independence.

Both lending and borrowing actually bring same demands; relying on other people which is inverse of the whole prerogative of autonomy.

I consider myself generous but a terrible judge of character. It is impossible for me to gauge people by looking or listening to them and judge how much trustworthy they are. My background too does not help because I was not really bothered about the issues of money and the attitude of people towards money while I was growing up. My personal experience with lending therefore is not very encouraging. People rarely pay me back perhaps it is because I am not very good at demanding payment.

I  have always believed that the biggest challenge to my autonomy was borrowing not lending and I even vowed to myself that I will stay as far away from debt as I possibly can but I did not say the same about lending which I later came to learn that it is just as bad as borrowing.

Because I didn’t consider lending as being a threat to my autonomy, it was not a tough decision for me to just give away money to whoever asked until later when I started to learn from experience that lending carries the same burdens and penalties as borrowing. Through experience I have learned an important lesson about the other attribute of money that economists have failed to identify which is well identified and applied by the Mafia; money is a good measure of character, a measure of trustworthiness. That it is only the people with strong character who will keep their promise to return money at the time they promised or return it at all. People of weak character will not keep their word and will make you work to get your money back – like you are looking for money all over again, if they were to return the money at all.

I did not learn this attribute of money in my finance or economics class in the university but through life itself. I now believe that generally, people hate giving money away even if the money they are supposed to give away is actually not theirs. They just hate it and they will do everything possible to keep the money even if they were supposed to be paying debts. When it comes to money, the attitude shall be that of mistrust, not trusting anybody with your money unless they have been proven to be trustworthy with issues concerning money before. 

At a certain time, I lent some money to two gentlemen who I did not know very well in the affairs of money. Each promised to repay me in a month. When it was time for them to pay, they changed their minds and started coming up with stories and excuses. It was so frustrating because they owed me substantial amounts. It was through this experience that I started learning the attitude of people towards money and what it reveals about their characters. It also opened my eyes on how much lending resembles borrowing by the amount of stress that they bring because of following up on debtors. Contrary to my original belief, I learned that debtors can have just as much power as creditors if they choose to not honor their word.

In my case, I had to make calls and visits which I would not have made if I did not lend money to these people or they paid me on time. At times it felt worse than borrowing because I had set up some of my immediate plans with the expectation of receiving payments within that specific period as I was promised. Because they didn’t pay, I found myself in a situation that my plans were halted. I was helpless because I had to rely on their mercies to get my own money back. I had to either call or visit these guys frequently and all through this period I felt like it was them that were in charge and me who was chasing them. I even started fearing that if they did not come through with their promise to pay me back, I was facing the possibility of going broke.

During this period, these guys would often ignore my calls and if they did answer they did not feel compelled to commit to the exact date they would pay me back something which was the reverse of our agreements the time when they came to me asking for money. The valuable lesson that I learned out of all the chasing I had to do to get my money back was that lending brings just as much headache as borrowing!; That you only have autonomy when you keep your money in your pockets and you start losing autonomy as soon as you lend your money to people.

They did not teach me this in school! I learned this lesson from the school of hard knocks, a lesson on the contrasts of what things are supposed to be against how they really are and that lending, because of the control you lose over your own money and that over the situation with your debtors, resemble borrowing. It is one lesson