I never knew that newspaper existed - but now I’m very educated on current affairs in Edinburgh!
2,158 karma · joined September 29, 2020
I feel like the hard part will be policing this going forward, no? "You said only 35 hours" "Yeah, but we have a deadline and it just moved closer"
But, great thinker and tried his best despite failings. I kind of think that is a good role model - try to be better, know you are going to screw up, and keep on trying.
Also - he pokes young people in the eye in a book and I always thought it was funny in a philosophical way:
"And yet is there anyone so foolish, even though he is young, as to feel absolutely sure that he will be alive when evening comes? Nay, even youth, much more than old age, is subject to the accident of death; the young fall sick more easily, their sufferings are more intense, and they are cured with greater difficulty.
Therefore, few arrive at old age...
They say, also, that the old man has nothing even to hope for. Yet he is in better case than the young man, since what the latter merely hopes for, the former has already attained; the one wishes to live long, the other has lived long."
Source: https://newsletter.butwhatfor.com/p/takeaway-tuesday-on-old-...
That is a new concept to me, unless maybe it was wealth / income / genetic disease related?
1) There is an entire family planning bureaucracy within the CCP setup to manage this; would do you do with all those people if they are not needed anymore?
2) China is more strict on population planning for certain minorities - not officially, but in the background; think Muslims in western China or Tibet or Mongolians, or ethnic Koreans in northeastern China... If you had no population planning for all the Han chinese, you might have a brighter light cast on this small in number but impactful population control actions.
3) Once someone has power, why let go of it? The CCP survives by creating a fairly good life for the majority in China - and it has done that extremely well - in exchange for control. It is easier to go from 3 back to 2, than it is to go from unlimited back to 2, for example.
Always jealous of the good story tellers and artists - that just was not the talents I was given!
It is saying - don’t wait on others to come and change or complete you; you have to make the changes yourself first.
In your situation; if you truly believe you need to stretch your skillset to be more extroverted at times, that is something you need to take personal responsibility for. You need to add to your capabilities through effort.
So I don’t think it’s really saying you don’t need others ever; it’s saying don’t look to others to “fix” you; if you need to be less introverted at times, that’s something you can work to control.
Your story reminded me of that feeling - so cheers!
At the same time, the Jewish people, whether you like it or not, are there in Israel right now. You can't get rid of them. They shouldn't have neighbors that talk about killing them due to ethnic hatred.
You have to do something so that both sets of people can live. Right now it feels like Israel is really in control and has the means to make life better for the Palestinians... and that that would be in their best interest as it should decrease the reliance of Palestinians on Hamas and other extremists...
In the meantime, stop terrorizing a trapped people:
"I felt like I am the terrorist...
For the first time in my life, the boundaries between good and bad that I learned as a kid - and obviously I learned that I am on the good side - was broken."
- Israeli soldier
Full Thread: https://twitter.com/ButWhatForBlog/status/139590382285003572... Video by Empire Files
What you have is an obligation to live a life that results in 1) you still finding meaning in what you are doing despite your old age and 2) that contributes something back to those around you, even in your old age.
At the end of the day, humans need to feel like that have responsibility / are making a difference (generalized statement I know) to feel their own life has much meaning. Just because you become a burden due to frailty or sickness does not mean you are unable to benefit others still.
Selected Cicero[1]: "But bear well in mind that in this entire discussion I am praising that old age which has its foundation well laid in youth. Hence it follows— as I once said with the approval of all who heard it— that that old age is wretched which needs to defend itself with words! Nor can wrinkles and grey hair suddenly seize upon influence; but when the preceding part of life has been nobly spent, old age gathers the fruits of influence at the last."
But it is our duty, my young friends, to resist old age; to compensate for its defects by a watchful care; to fight against it as we would fight against disease; to adopt a regimen of health; to practice moderate exercise; and to take just enough of food and drink to restore our strength and not to overburden it. Nor, indeed, are we to give our attention solely to the body; much greater care is due to the mind and soul; for they, too, like lamps, grow dim with time, unless we keep them supplied with oil.
Those, therefore, who allege that old age is devoid of useful activity adduce nothing to the purpose, and are like those who would say that the pilot does nothing in the sailing of the ship, because, while others are climbing the masts, or running about the gangways, or working at the pumps, he sits quietly in the stern and simply holds the tiller.
He may not be doing what younger members of the crew are doing, but what he does is better and much more important. It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgement; in these qualities old age is usually not only not poorer but is even richer."
[1] - has select quotes from Cicero on Old Age: https://newsletter.butwhatfor.com/p/takeaway-tuesday-on-old-...
But in that situation, I can give top performers more equity, but in the grand scheme of things, thats not much incremental total dilution to the average employee. We all still make more the same way - when the company makes money or is sold.
If you are at a larger company that is a going concern for a long time... it gets a bit harder and takes some more thinking.
But founders should talk to other founders about their experience with different investors. The good, the bad and the ugly.
In those situations, you can make it clear - in objective terms - what happened and why you would not take money from them again. Don't call them names or anything.
So, why should the person screening the candidates suggest the strongest candidates?
This is why I tend to suggest equal seniority individuals should not screen candidates. It's a subconscious thing ("He's too aggressive" "She seems like not a good culture fit" "He is too senior for this role") that most people don't think of directly, but happens.
Examples from Charlie Munger [1]:
"One of my favorite cases about the power of incentives is the Federal Express case. The heart and soul of the integrity of the system is that all the packages have to be shifted rapidly in one central location each night. And the system has no integrity if the whole shift can’t be done fast. And Federal Express had one hell of a time getting the thing to work. And they tried moral suasion, they tried everything in the world, and finally, somebody got the happy thought that they were paying the night shift by the hour and that maybe if they paid them by the shift, the system would work better. And lo and behold, that solution worked."
"Early in the history of Xerox, Joe Wilson, who was then in the government, had to go back to Xerox because he couldn’t understand how their better, new machine was selling so poorly in relation to their older and inferior machine. Of course, when he got there he found out that the commission arrangement with the salesmen gave a tremendous incentive to the inferior machine."
[1] https://www.butwhatfor.com/charlie-munger-the-psychology-of-...
In general, though, its amazing how little control we have over who we are despite the feeling that we are in control of it.
>Insist on doing everything through “channels.” Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.
>Make “speeches.” Talk as frequently as possible and at great length. Illustrate your “points” by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences. Never hesitate to make a few appropriate “patriotic” comments.
>When possible, refer all matters to committees, for “further study and consideration.” Attempt to make the committees as large as possible — never less than five.
>Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.
>Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.
>Refer back to matters decided upon at the last meeting and attempt to re-open the question of the advisability of that decision.
>Advocate “caution.” Be “reasonable” and urge your fellow-conferees to be “reasonable” and avoid haste which might result in embarrassments or difficulties later on.
>Be worried about the propriety of any decision—raise the question of whether such action as is contemplated lies within the jurisdiction of the group or whether it might conflict with the policy of some higher echelon.