My essay, When the Family Becomes Predation, examines how the family can become the first institution through which a society teaches predation rather than morality. Children absorb less from what parents tell them than from what they see practiced around them: hierarchy, manipulation, opportunism, and the use of relationships as leverage.
The essay argues that institutions cannot manufacture morality from above. Good faith, restraint, and conscience must already exist in family, marriage, friendship, and in the small promises that no judge can enforce. When they are absent there, formal institutions inherit the same moral emptiness. Corruption is therefore not merely a defect of government; it grows out of the private relationships from which society itself is built.
Read the article at Counter-Currents →
On Investments
- Nameson Holdings (HK: 1982; HK$0.78) is a small company with a market capitalization of HK$1.8 billion, yet it manufactures knitwear for major international brands including UNIQLO, Tommy Hilfiger, and Ralph Lauren. The company paid dividends of HK$0.11 per share for the year, representing an 83% payout ratio of earnings, which translates into a trailing cash yield of 14%. I expect this to rise next year. What interests me is the contrast: a relatively small and little-followed listed company embedded in the supply chains of some very large international brands, with substantial manufacturing operations in Vietnam and China, while distributing a large part of its earnings to shareholders.
- Aztec Minerals (AZT; $0.27) continues to extend the Tombstone mineralized system northward. The first drilling in the newly acquired North Extension included 88.4 meters grading 1.42 g/t gold and 14.58 g/t silver from only 10.7 meters depth, including a much higher-grade interval. More important to me than any individual intercept is that mineralization remains open to the north and at depth. Eleven additional step-out holes were awaiting assays, with some collars as far north as 230 meters. I am one of the larger shareholders of Aztec Minerals, so readers should take that into account when considering my enthusiasm for the company.
- Cygnus Metals (CYG; $0.145) is merging with Central Asia Metals for 0.06 CAML shares for every Cygnus share. Since I last wrote about it, the Scheme Booklet has been registered. The Cygnus shareholder meeting is scheduled for 18 September, with implementation currently targeted for early October. The arbitrage upside is 15%, and I expect to continue to hold the merged entity.
- European Lithium (EUR; A$0.29) is being acquired by Critical Metals Corp. (NASDAQ: CRML) under an all-share scheme in which EUR shareholders are to receive 0.035 CRML shares for each EUR share. The current arbitrage upside is 12%. By selling November CRML call options in proportion to the CRML shares expected under the merger, the option premium can substantially increase the potential return. At recent option premiums, depending on the strike and actual execution, I calculate that the combined potential return can approach 25%. Of course, a major risk is that if the merger fails, the options will be uncovered.
Registration is now open for Capitalism & Morality 2026, to be held in Vancouver on 18–19 September 2026. See the full program and register here.
Jayant Bhandari
Disclosure and disclaimer: These are my personal observations, not investment advice. I may own, buy, or sell the securities mentioned. Please do your own due diligence. [Full disclaimer →]