https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2009/04/04/long-ago-in-the-sunset-district/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 08:06:50 -0400<![CDATA[Three years before Marcos fell I was sitting in the San Francisco living room of Gaston Ortigas, who had been the dean of a business school in Manila, but was then on the run from the regime. He had fled to the United States by sneaking over the sea border to Malaysia. Since we were waiting for one of those conspiratorial meetings to start, he with his cigarette and I with Worm Ouroborous from the Green Apple bookstore by the bridge with in nothing particular to talk about before the meeting, I asked him about his reputed disinterest in finance. He answered, &#8220;I&#8217;ve always thought it was a little odd to have high-rise buildings full of grown men handing little pieces of paper to each other and calling it work.&#8221; Today Mark Steyn has a post in the National Review which returns to that very subject: how far can a virtual economic activity be disconnected from bricks, mortar and people? He observes that ultimately, things come from people doing stuff. If you run out of people or they no longer do stuff, sooner or later the music stops &#8212; even for the people shuffling the bits of paper.]]>Sat, 04 Apr 2009 13:32:06 -0400<![CDATA[Richard Fernandez]]>https://pjmedia.com/richard-fernandez/2009/04/04/long-ago-in-the-sunset-district-n187727