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The week's question
In March 2025, in the thread "Re: OT, out", Umm asked the members: "Do you think it is because America is made up of magical soil that makes businesses based in America magically profitable?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
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Author: ajm101 ✭  😊 😞
Number: of 22354 
Subject: Re: OT - Warren nd Charlie bot
Date: 02/12/25 11:02 AM
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I'm not Manlobbi, but do you mean training an LLM on those materials or something else? Have you tried asking OpenAI? Everything you mentioned are publicly available materials.

I prompted https://chatgpt.com/ with 'Please imagine what Charlie Munger would say about the closure of USAID as it pertains to US prosperity in a tone like "Good Charlies Almanack"'

The response was, '“Well, I’ll tell you what—closing down USAID, that’s about as smart as locking the barn door after the horses have escaped. If you want the US to continue its path of prosperity, it's not just about protecting your borders or hoarding your wealth; it’s about fostering global stability. USAID may not be a sexy topic at dinner parties, but it sure is important.

Now, let me get this straight: Here we have an agency that helps to build infrastructure, promotes health, and combats poverty in parts of the world where chaos is a daily feature. If we shut that down, we're asking for problems down the road. It’s not just good for the world; it’s good for us. We benefit from it through increased trade, stronger diplomatic ties, and less risk of global unrest. Prosperity doesn’t just grow by keeping your own house in order—it grows by helping to make sure the entire neighborhood doesn’t burn down.

I can hear the arguments: 'Oh, it’s a waste of money!' Baloney. Some of the best investments you can make are the ones that build goodwill, stabilize regions, and prevent conflicts before they explode into wars. The cost of inaction is far greater than the price of a well-placed aid program. You don’t just pour money into foreign lands for the heck of it. You do it because it creates an environment where everyone prospers—yes, even you, sitting on your fat pile of dollars.

So if you want to know my thoughts: Closing USAID is a shortsighted, self-centered move that undermines long-term US prosperity. It's like betting against the house on a game you don't understand. If I had my way, I’d keep the agency running, sharpen its focus, and, hell, make sure it’s doing even more to advance the values and interests of the United States in a global context.

But then again, what do I know? I'm just a guy who's lived a long life of reading, thinking, and keeping my investments diversified. But remember this: Smart decisions are the ones that pay dividends for decades—not just in the next quarter.”'

So a freely available LLM is already trained on this.
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This community has written 21,861 posts about Berkshire Hathaway. The article-length ones it recommended most:
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