Don Antonio de Villarroel Peláez

Th Skin in the game embodiment

The following post contains excerpts from two books: Victus: the Fall of Barcelona, by Albert Sánchez Piñol and Skin in the Game: The Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. The story and the ideas underpinning the post belong to Albert and Nassim, not to me. I have added very little and have merely shaped the content to blend the two works of these great craftsmen. First, I would like to thank the authors for publishing such outstanding works. I thoroughly enjoyed them. Secondly, a heads-up: if you haven’t read these books but plan to —highly recommended!— you might come across some spoilers!

Last, but not least, a detail that may seem insignificant to you, but is far from it: the inspiration to write this reflection came to me while walking, exactly 310 years later, through the place where the following story unfolded:

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When a man like Don Antonio de Villarroel Peláez appears, it is impossible not to love him. I can’t describe exactly why. Perhaps because Don Antonio was the only general in the world “who used his rank not to hide behind but to make himself more exposed”. Maybe for what Nassim Nicholas Taleb describes as Skin in the game.

According to the antifragile wildboar from Lebanon, Skin in the game is the central pillar for the organic functioning of systems: it is about having an exposure to the real world, and paying a price for its consequences —good or bad. And learn from them. It seems logical, right? Well, today it’s not so much: especially among politicians, bankers, and other inept individuals like Josep Maria Bartomeu i Floreta.

Skin in the game is what Putin, Obama, or Netanyahu lack: they are cowards who make decisions about wars they don’t have to fight. The harm these wars cause will be suffered by others, right? Bastards. These are people who benefit from being isolated from the consequences of their actions. Politicians who are happy that the opposing party has to deal with the mess left by their mandate. Powerful individuals who make extremely risky decisions, the consequences of which are passed on to others.

Skin in the game is what Richard Fuld, CEO of Lehman Brothers, didn’t have —and I doubt he ever has or will. His incompetence was responsible for triggering a global financial crisis. During his tenure as CEO managing other people’s money, he earned over $300 million. When his poor management —accumulating excessive risks, toxic assets, and debt— imploded, Richard Fuld was not penalized legally or faced with criminal charges. He walked away unscathed while millions of people suffered the consequences of his disastrous management.

Skin in the game is the opposite of Richard Fuld. Skin in the game is taking on your share of the harm, not spreading it around to others to come out unscathed. Skin in the game is about justice, honor, and sacrifice, things that are existential for humans. Skin in the game is about virtue: doing something for the collective, sacrificing yourself for the sake of the survival of a higher layer—your family, friends, tribe, or humanity.

Skin in the game is about courage. Skin in the game is Don Antonio de Villarroel Peláez: