There are two types of people.
First, bitch about a shitty hand they've been dealt in life. They spend all their energy fantasizing about how it should be different, or how others got it better. They imagine spending money they don't have or going places they can't afford. They avoid planning because none of the available choices match their wants. A chase for wealth and health ends in neither.
The rest call themselves realists.
#twotypesofpeople
October 2024
First, bitch about a shitty hand they've been dealt in life. They spend all their energy fantasizing about how it should be different, or how others got it better. They imagine spending money they don't have or going places they can't afford. They avoid planning because none of the available choices match their wants. A chase for wealth and health ends in neither.
The rest call themselves realists.
#twotypesofpeople
October 2024
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About a year ago, when anti-Israel protests were picking up steam in a few, albeit prestigious US universities, some of my Jewish friends started to raise alarms of antisemitism. Their panicking attitudes were bold and quick. Parallels were drawn with Hitler's rise to power. According to these observers, we were on the verge of a downward spiral like the one Germany underwent in the 1930s. Any anecdotal petty crime was immediately blown up to support this hypothesis. When asked about evidence none could be provided. The exceptions were young hoodlums chanting "from the river to the sea" and some rare occurrences of vandalism targeting Jewish owners in surrounding areas where protests took place.
U.S. Department of State provides the following definition
As accurate as it is, along with other interpretations and examples on that page, it is a qualitative description. Yet, alarms went off for what was perceived to be a pandemic situation. Rational arguments against such views, based on the discrepancy between qualitative and quantitative evidence fell on deaf ears.
Why educated and highly paid adults, who spent most of their lives in the US, were so eager to imagine things into existence? Why did they extrapolate isolated cases into a systemic problem? I don't have a good answer. Perhaps it was the fear of the outcome turning off their rationality and allowing emotions to run unchecked into dark places. Maybe it was a deeply rooted generational trauma. A generous intake of Fox News, or all of the above.
Whatever it was, these fears, as expected, turned out to be misguided. People moved on with their lives and the whole ordeal was quickly forgotten.
My dear Jewish friends, please remember that systemic antisemitism that we all fear cannot just happen in a vacuum. The following conditions are necessary:
- A zero-sum dynamics of a severe and prolonged drop in standards of living with political class directing blame to a certain minority group.
- Wholesale change in attitudes towards the said group by the majority of the population.
- The rise of populist politicians eager to exploit these attitudes and as a result,
- Changes in legislation and executive practices to limit the rights of the minority.
If you think that such seismic changes are possible in the U.S. I suggest you start packing. Good luck finding a greener pasture though. But before you do, try to find evidence supporting the magnitude and the scale of what you're trying to escape, for solving a nonexistent problem is generally not a rational use of one's time.
#twotypesofpeople #AmericanDynamism
October 2024
U.S. Department of State provides the following definition
Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.
As accurate as it is, along with other interpretations and examples on that page, it is a qualitative description. Yet, alarms went off for what was perceived to be a pandemic situation. Rational arguments against such views, based on the discrepancy between qualitative and quantitative evidence fell on deaf ears.
Why educated and highly paid adults, who spent most of their lives in the US, were so eager to imagine things into existence? Why did they extrapolate isolated cases into a systemic problem? I don't have a good answer. Perhaps it was the fear of the outcome turning off their rationality and allowing emotions to run unchecked into dark places. Maybe it was a deeply rooted generational trauma. A generous intake of Fox News, or all of the above.
Whatever it was, these fears, as expected, turned out to be misguided. People moved on with their lives and the whole ordeal was quickly forgotten.
My dear Jewish friends, please remember that systemic antisemitism that we all fear cannot just happen in a vacuum. The following conditions are necessary:
- A zero-sum dynamics of a severe and prolonged drop in standards of living with political class directing blame to a certain minority group.
- Wholesale change in attitudes towards the said group by the majority of the population.
- The rise of populist politicians eager to exploit these attitudes and as a result,
- Changes in legislation and executive practices to limit the rights of the minority.
If you think that such seismic changes are possible in the U.S. I suggest you start packing. Good luck finding a greener pasture though. But before you do, try to find evidence supporting the magnitude and the scale of what you're trying to escape, for solving a nonexistent problem is generally not a rational use of one's time.
#twotypesofpeople #AmericanDynamism
October 2024
❤1
About 2.8% of U.S. GDP is in the path of hurricane Milton's forecasted trajectory. If property and casualty damages will exceed allocated cash reserves of the insurance industry, expect the yield curve to steepen, for they'll be forced to sell treasuries.
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Есть два типа людей. При слове "валить" первые спрашивают куда, вторые кого.
#twotypesofpeople
#twotypesofpeople
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Есть два типа людей. Первые ищут грязные носки в холодильнике. Вторые просто любят Камамбер.
#twotypesofpeople
#twotypesofpeople
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There are mistakes, and then there are mistakes that should end one's political career.
The 2016 presidential election crystallized a negative selection algorithm. The basic idea is not to vote for a candidate who, by admission or omission, managed to execute a serious mistake of enormous proportions.
In September 2012, Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State. During her tenure, the US Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, along with three other US citizens were killed by local terrorists. Despite the growing hostilities, she didn't act on the intelligence information and instructed the US mission to remain in place. That decision resulted in a tragedy, followed by the humiliation of dragging the ambassador through the streets of Benghazi attached to a car. Later, she took her time to acknowledge the responsibility, while initially trying to distance herself from the ordeal. This alone sealed her faith in the eyes of this voter.
Fast forward to Trump's presidency, and two equally colossal misdeeds could be recognized. First, was his handling of and posturing to the attackers on the US Capitol Building during January 6th, 2021. Luckily, that dark episode remained mostly symbolic, albeit psychologically damaging. The second unforgettable mistake deserves more scrutiny. It was the mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bypassing the specific details, my main beef is the flagrant number of deaths. Be it by the absolute count, by the number of deaths per 1M of the population, or by any other metric, the numbers are staggering. More than 1.2M people died. That's a number-one spot worldwide. India, a poor and underdeveloped country with a population four times greater had 533K deaths. It's 2.28 times less for those keeping score. It's a shame, especially since the gravity of the impact was preventable.
Over the years, I've heard a number of counter arguments downplaying Trump's responsibility. A distributed political system in which individual states make their own decisions. The extremely liberal nature of American citizenry with an eye towards the government's defiance. Are among the most common ones.
These claims are weak and missing the point. Which of these accurate descriptions was news to the commander-in-chief when he took office? None. At least they shouldn't be. Furthermore, the federal government can act with a heavy hand during times of crisis. Look no further than the draft during the Vietnam War or the powers of the War Production Board during WW2. It is that very leadership and guidance from Washington states were looking for. Unfortunately, it didn't occur in time due to extreme chaos in Trump's cabinet and the normalcy bias from the Fox News circus.
CEOs are routinely fired for significantly smaller errors.
#politics
October 2024
The 2016 presidential election crystallized a negative selection algorithm. The basic idea is not to vote for a candidate who, by admission or omission, managed to execute a serious mistake of enormous proportions.
In September 2012, Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State. During her tenure, the US Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, along with three other US citizens were killed by local terrorists. Despite the growing hostilities, she didn't act on the intelligence information and instructed the US mission to remain in place. That decision resulted in a tragedy, followed by the humiliation of dragging the ambassador through the streets of Benghazi attached to a car. Later, she took her time to acknowledge the responsibility, while initially trying to distance herself from the ordeal. This alone sealed her faith in the eyes of this voter.
Fast forward to Trump's presidency, and two equally colossal misdeeds could be recognized. First, was his handling of and posturing to the attackers on the US Capitol Building during January 6th, 2021. Luckily, that dark episode remained mostly symbolic, albeit psychologically damaging. The second unforgettable mistake deserves more scrutiny. It was the mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bypassing the specific details, my main beef is the flagrant number of deaths. Be it by the absolute count, by the number of deaths per 1M of the population, or by any other metric, the numbers are staggering. More than 1.2M people died. That's a number-one spot worldwide. India, a poor and underdeveloped country with a population four times greater had 533K deaths. It's 2.28 times less for those keeping score. It's a shame, especially since the gravity of the impact was preventable.
Over the years, I've heard a number of counter arguments downplaying Trump's responsibility. A distributed political system in which individual states make their own decisions. The extremely liberal nature of American citizenry with an eye towards the government's defiance. Are among the most common ones.
These claims are weak and missing the point. Which of these accurate descriptions was news to the commander-in-chief when he took office? None. At least they shouldn't be. Furthermore, the federal government can act with a heavy hand during times of crisis. Look no further than the draft during the Vietnam War or the powers of the War Production Board during WW2. It is that very leadership and guidance from Washington states were looking for. Unfortunately, it didn't occur in time due to extreme chaos in Trump's cabinet and the normalcy bias from the Fox News circus.
CEOs are routinely fired for significantly smaller errors.
#politics
October 2024
❤1
$7.75 trillion - the increase in federal government debt over 10 years as estimated by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget under plans floated by Presidential candidate Donald Trump.
$3.95 trillion for the other candidate.
#factoftheday #AmericanDynamism
$3.95 trillion for the other candidate.
#factoftheday #AmericanDynamism
Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
The Fiscal Impact of the Harris and Trump Campaign Plans | Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
Note: This analysis has been updated to incorporate new proposals announced by the candidates since we initially published on October 7.
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