It's hard to imagine, but today is actually Sovereign Man's 9th birthday.

Nine years ago, on June 19, 2009, I sent out the first ever Notes from the Field email.

To commemorate the occasion, I thought I'd republish that first article… because I think it still captures the challenges we face, as well as the boundless solutions ahead of us.

I hope you enjoy.

William "Bud" Post is flat broke.

He has dealt with lawsuits, jail time, bankruptcy, and now lives on food stamps.

It seems strange to think that he used to be a multi-millionaire… but it's true. In 1988 he won $16.2 million from the Pennsylvania lottery (valued at $30 million in today's increasingly worthless money), and Bud became drunk on his own wealth.

You've probably heard similar stories—the struggling, working class lottery hopeful hits it big in the Powerball only to return to the trailer park, broke, within a few years.

In irresponsible hands, wealth can evaporate faster than Nancy Pelosi's approval ratings… and the lottery winners like Bud generally make bad decisions.

They become careless and foolish with their wealth, spending enormous sums of money on opulent consumer goods, gambling trips, and nights in the champagne room.

Banks line up to provide them with generous lines of credit that they blow on useless toys or handouts to a fawning entourage.

At the height of this bubble, someone like Bud has fame, wealth, power, friends, women, houses, yachts… but no foundation for the future.

Each trip to the ATM is a missed opportunity to make a smart decisions… but Bud never cared. He thought the money would last forever. He thought the banks would always give him a loan. He thought his friends would never leave him.

Then one day Bud went to the ATM and found that his balance was ZERO. He went to the bank for a loan and was declined. The money was gone. His friends had disappeared.