#439 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Thursday August 25)
Good morning,
Thursday potpourri…
NARCISSISM VERSUS COMPASSION
Within a few days of each other, David Lash and Mark DiMaria discussed two sides of the coin “is it about me or is it about something greater than myself?”
David noted that “The thing about Trump is that he seemingly is a diagnosable narcissist. If so, he is incapable of thinking of anyone but himself. So he turns the horrors and tragedies of Ukraine into an opportunity to talk about himself. He has no empathy, never has. Which makes me wonder even more about his supporters. Even if you like lower taxes and a draconian immigration policy, even if you see nothing wrong with telling lie after lie, even if you are deluded enough to subscribe to The Big Lie, can’t you see that his world view is all about him, that he cares for no one else? As an American doesn’t that enrage you? America is about ‘us,’ not ‘me.’”
And he reminds us of the words of JFK, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
Meanwhile, Mark notes that the most important quality of humanity is “empathy, and its twin, kindness.” He asks, “Imagine how different our current world would be if everyone, before acting, asked themselves, ‘What will be the impact of this action upon others?’ This reflexive practice is certainly the greatest evolution one goes through as one moves into and through adulthood.”
And so it is, a battle between “what’s best for me” and “what’s best for all of us.” I’ll be musing about this in more detail soon…
BOOK BANNING, REDUX
Bill Ginn reported in that he wears a shirt to the gym with the motto “Read Banned Books” emblazoned on the front. I’m ordering one!
Bradley Mindlin notes: “When it comes to kids and ‘banning books,’ where are the responsible parents and/or guardians bringing up their children? I remember my parents not letting me listen to certain music, reading certain books/magazines, seeing certain movies that they thought were inappropriate to me at specific ages while growing up. When did we abdicate all upbring of our children on society, teachers, etc. I heard somewhere that it takes a village. That village should include the parents.
GRAMMAR AND STYLE FROM THE WSJ
I love some of the Wall Street Journal’s style and grammar clarifications, to wit:
This less/fewer mistake can arise often: Investors hold less assets, not fewer assets. Reason: We are almost always talking about an amount of assets (so: less), not a specific number of asset choices (such as three different kinds of assets), which would call for fewer.
Our style for the plural of emoji is emojis. There are arguments made that emoji is both the singular and plural. But as with any word that originates in Japanese, the English plural can go either way. In this case, as with tsunamis, we think the plural is more natural as emojis.
Recently we said prices were 1.55 times higher than before, but we meant 1.55 times as high. They aren’t the same. For example, 9 is three times as high as 3. But it is only two times higher than 3.
Have a great day,
Glenn
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