Welcome to Z-Pack:.your antidote to the 24/7 news cycle. Cut through the noise, understand what matters, and get on with your week - in less than 10 minutes

If this is your first Z-Pack, welcome - I'm Zach.

_{The vibe-killer disclaimer: The opinions in this post and all other posts only represent myself and do not represent the opinions of my employer or any groups I am a member of.
This is not financial advice or recommendation for any investment. The Content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.}

⬇️ Let’s get it

Michael Jordan. Trump. Dave Portnoy. Kendrick. 

There’s one thing that unites these folks, and it’s not wealth and success.

They all mastered the art of the enemy.

While we've been watching trillions evaporate from the markets after Trump's latest tariff tantrum, I started thinking beyond the economic carnage and even his own tackiness.

What's actually happening here is a masterclass in enemy selection gone wrong.

The man can erase trillions in market value with a single announcement, Thanos-style.

You have to wonder: what’s his thinking behind this? _{(assuming there is any)}

Not to over psychoanalyze here, but based on his books and infinite posting, Trump basically thinks that the U.S. is getting ripped off.

Behind his chaos lies a pattern. Trump consistently identifies Europe as America's nemesis while cozying up to strongman states like Russia and Hungary.

Trump basically thinks all of the countries we rely on for free trade are ripping us off. It’s not just him failing to understand trade deficits ≠ national debt, but who he’s chosen to make his enemy.

It’s cute, really.

Then it hit me like a ton of tariffs.

Understanding who someone identifies as their "enemy" is incredibly useful. It reveals their priorities, strategies, and often, their biggest insecurities.

Often, who you choose as your enemy reveals more about you than them. It exposes your deepest insecurities, your priorities, and even where you're headed.

Sadly, this isn't just Trump's problem. It's hardwired into all of us.

You honestly can't help but have an enemy or two in your life — whether it's the old neighbor who lets their dog bark at 6am or the slimy coworker who steals your snacks from the fridge. _{(I know it’s you, Keri)}

It’s in your evolutionary biology — your brain is pre-installed with in-group/out-group thinking that makes enemy-making almost automatic. It's why identifying a shared enemy with a stranger makes an instant bond. Meet someone who hates the same person you do, and you'll feel closer to them faster than if you discovered five things in common.

But not all enemies are created equal.

After going down the rabbit hole of rivalries, from schoolyards to geopolitics, I've made you a spectrum that explains everything from tariff wars to Twitter beefs.

^{**curtains open**} The Hater Evolution Scale.

The Respectful Rivals Club

An old fashioned, classy kind of rivalry. Minimal antagonism or actual beef.

At this level, "enemies" actually make each other better through respectful competition.

Think Federer vs. Nadal — genuine respect while pushing each other to greatness.

In business, Apple and Microsoft spent decades as fierce competitors while maintaining critical collaborations. Microsoft saved Apple with a $150 million investment in 1997, while Apple made Microsoft Office central to Mac's success. Today, Microsoft's cloud services power parts of the iPhone experience.

Magic Johnson and Larry Bird: Their legendary basketball rivalry revitalized the NBA in the 1980s while maintaining mutual respect. Bird was actually the the first person Magic called when he was diagnosed with HIV.

The Japanese have a cool phrase that captures this dynamic: "to polish each other like jewels.” Japanese baseball teams famously study rivals to improve their own techniques rather than just exploit weaknesses. Unlike Western competition that focuses on getting the dub, this is more like mutual improvement through opposition.

This concept reaches its philosophical peak in the South African principle of Ubuntu: "I am because we are". Nelson Mandela leaned on this concept as he fought to keep the nation together after the end of apartheid. When asked how he avoided bitterness toward his former oppressors, he responded: "Hating clouds the mind. It's like drinking poison and hoping your enemies die."

Quite nice, isn’t it?

The Frenemies With Benefits Zone

Now we've entered the territory of actual antagonism (beef) – a chip on the shoulder, something to prove.

Nike founder Phil Knight built an empire on this mindset, famously declaring "business is war without bullets." The company thrived by positioning competitors like Adidas as worthy adversaries who needed to be crushed.

In their world, the enemy of innovation isn't competition. It’s complacency.

It’s said that Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison really didn’t get along. Their mutual disdain drove each to grind harder, but thanks to their beef, humanity won out from the massive innovation in electricity.

Ford vs. Ferrari perfectly epitomizes this level. Rumor has it that Lee Iacocca convinced Henry Ford II to spend millions developing the GT40 for the sole purpose of humiliating Enzo Ferrari. Not too nice, but this petty revenge brought us automotive excellence.

You can smell the hostility in the air.

It’s a beautiful paradox: healthy animosity that creates value. Largely a positive-sum game.

The Certified Elite Beef Society

Finally, the Promised Land. Welcome to the rarefied air where hatred becomes an art form, like a beautiful dance. The most legendary beefs mark these halls.

Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake, a hate so pure, with such finesse, that it commanded global pop culture’s attention for months.

Michael Jordan — the man who could weaponize any personal (perceived) slights as endless competitive fuel.

"Michael needed enemies, even imaginary ones."

Dave Portnoy built the Barstool Sports empire on strategic antagonism, picking fights with everyone from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to rival media outlets. A tribe united by shared enemies. Textbook.

India vs. Pakistan — historical enemies who were once at an even higher level of hate than this one. After fighting several wars against each other since the 1940s, they both acquired nukes, so they had to lower the temp. The stakes were too high.

Their annual border ceremony at Wagah exemplifies ritualized antagonism, a theatrical hostility.

This is the land of milk and spite.

I can only dream of cultivating my beef garden to this point with someone.

Unfortunately, it only goes downhill from here.

The Vendetta Vortex

Things start taking a turn here real quick. There’s now a disturbing level of obsession thrown into the mix.

Captain Ahab pursuing Moby Dick until it destroyed him and his crew. CNN's monomaniacal coverage of Trump that made his presidency their entire identity. North Korea building its national mythology around Anti-Americanism.

You haven’t self-destructed quite yet, but all you can think about is your enemy.

At this level, the enemy occupies the prime real estate in your mind, 24/7.

Honestly, this is where I’d say Trump dropped down to, in light of recent news.

The Biggest Loser

The final, fatal stage.

We’re officially in the territory of Pyrrhic victories — you achieve the victory but inflict such a devastating toll on yourself that it’s as though you lost.

Destroying your enemy becomes more important than your own survival.

In fact, you’re arguably so consumed by your enemy that the two fundamental elements in this equation (competitiveness and hate) are now irrelevant. Like Darth Vader, you have become what you sought to destroy.

Ergo, Trump's tariff policies — destroying the domestic economy and global free trade to rain down punishment on perceived enemies.

The Trump admin chose Europe as the main enemy of their story, rather than an ally, pursuing it to the ends of the earth. This is the kind of thinking that has tanked your 401(k) and made the world have trust in Greece’s 30 year bonds more than the U.S.’s (lol).

It’s all vendetta-based, personal enforcement of justice that drives decision-making, from top to bottom, just like honor societies.

Advanced economies like countries in Europe, Japan, Canada, and the U.S. aim for the other side of the spectrum, where institutions mediate conflicts. They avoid a tit-for-tat race-to-the-bottom.

In our society, you’re only allowed to shoot someone out of self-defense. If someone curses at you or cuts you off while driving, you cannot go and kill them.

Duh. And if you do, the government will prosecute, convict, and imprison you as punishment. The institution monopolizes and regulates violence and punishment.

Honor societies operate more like The Sopranos, where families are subject to a code that operates on short-sighted vendettas.

This is why these centuries-old blood feuds never occur in the United States, despite being home to thousands of different communities that once inhabited countries suffering from honor societies.

It’s hard to do business in a place where you’re always killing each other and operating at this level of the Hater Evolution Scale.

There are infinite examples.

• Albania's "Kanun" code of blood feuds created generational vendettas where families would kill rival family members for centuries.

• The Hatfields and McCoys: America's most famous family feud that sacrificed dozens of lives and generations of potential prosperity for a dispute that began over a pig.

• Northern Italy vs. Southern Italy: The industrialized North embraced institutional conflict resolution, while the South maintained honor-based vendettas, which is why you can see this massively correlate with the North’s much higher level of GDP.

The most successful people and societies find ways to channel beef and rivalry productively.

Now we’re stuck with The Orange Man who acts like Tony Soprano.

Choose Your Enemies Wisely

So, where do you fall on the Hater Evolution Scale?

Are your rivalries polishing you like a gem, or are you one perceived slight away from setting yourself on fire to watch your enemy burn?

As Packy McCormick explains:

“Competition breeds innovation. Kumbaya breeds peaceful complacency. But I guess what I would suggest is that we already spend so much time thinking about the divisions within our miracle tribe that it might be useful to spend a little more thinking about the much larger competition: our miracle tribe against all who have come before us and all those who will come in the future, against entropy and irrelevance and a big, cold universe."

We become what we fight, so choose your battles with extreme care.

Thanks for taking the Pack,

Zach

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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice or recommendation for any investment. The Content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.