I just got back from a truly wonderful experience, one that greatly exceeded my expectations.
I had been invited to spend a week aboard a Caribbean cruise with members of the Young Presidents’ Organization, with whom I would discuss history, political and moral thought, and such topics as “globalization” and “national security after 9/11.” (The last item turned into something of a debate with William Kristol of The Weekly Standard.) I’d never been on a ship for more than a crossing of the English Channel before (and even that always made me a bit green about the gills), so I was hesitant. And I didn’t know much about the YPO. Well, I was terribly ill the first night, most of which I spent in a long conversation with my waste bin, but after that awful night the cruise was a remarkably elegant and wonderful experience. (The ship was the Silver Whisper — and it’s beautiful.) Not only was the cruise experience much better than I had anticipated (or feared), but the members of the YPO are some of the most interesting people I’ve met in a long time. It was a treat to be around people who accomplish so much, not only in business enterprise, but also in family, community, and the professions. (The only events I’ve been at with a similar group of accomplishers who are nonetheless authentically modest and personable are the Cato Institute Annual Benefactor Summits for Cato Sponsors. I’ve never seen such people snap their fingers at waiters or otherwise treat hard working people shabbily, something I have seen done by professors and pundits. I think the reason is that so many of them were waiters and waitresses when they were kids and have a keen respect for honest work.)
I also was reminded of what a small world it is. It turned out that two of the other speakers overlapped with me at Oxford (the writer Andrea Ashworth and the philosopher Mark Greenberg. Andrea realized we had both been at Hertford and we decided that we had heard of each other from a common friend, Stan McGee, from whom I received an email while on board ship, as he had just interviewed a former intern of mine for a job. Weird.)
So it’s back to the office tomorrow morning. Next weekend I’ll be in Berlin, where I’ll give a paper on free trade and cultural values.