I don't think the problem is the paper losses so far. The problem is the entire social contract...or I don't know what to call it -- governmental contract? Financial world contract? Is on fire.
What are some good European ETF providers? Do you have to be physically within Europe to use them, or can you use them as long as you have an EU passport?
It's an ETF, so it boils down to whether you have access to a particular stock exchange. European brokers support trading on US stock exchanges, so I'm sure it works the other way around too. I use Amundi and Xtrackers because they have large fund sizes, low TER, and that's what's available at the brokers I use, though not all of my brokers have Amundi, for example. The availability outside the EU shouldn't be a problem, since most funds are also at the London Stock Exchange in either USD or GBP.
I think too that one thing that's important is to decide beforehand -- what can I do? What would I be willing to do?
That is to say, some people really are willing to be activists. They will organize protests and boycotts and things like that.
Other people are in marginalized communities and are trying to get a feel for whether they should move to a different region or even a different country.
Some folks don't really have a plan but they want to stay informed. If at some point a magical line is crossed, they might suddenly say, "That's IT! I can't take it anymore! I have to DO SOMETHNG!" and that's when they'll become activists.
But some folks are realistically never going to lift a finger to help themselves or anybody else. They'll just bitch online and/or be stressed.
What I'm working on is figuring out in what ways I might, in the right situation, be moved to contribute. If things get really bad (and they will), what will I realistically be doing? I'm disabled, so I can't be out in the streets. If things get even worse, I might write about the niche public health / politics topics I've accidentally become an expert in. And if something happens where medicare and medicaid are shut off, well then all hospitals everywhere will basically be non-functional. This will be a crisis for all but most immediately for the chronically ill -- any of us at that point who are able to will be leaving the country ASAP.
In other words, I need to know enough to keep writing (which I would do anyways) and I need to know when things are hopeless enough that a person with a messed up spine should travel out of the country anyways. That is currently all I need to know because it's all that is actionable for me.
There is a massive temptation to doomscroll into infinity, but that merely serves the enemies of sanity. I know what happens next because I've read Sarah Kendzior and Hannah Arendt. It's not good. But I also know that one of the first things that happened during the anti-semitic purges in Nazi Germany was that a ton of Jews got appendicitis from stress. Sometimes the body wants to align with power so badly, it aligns even with evil power and against its own interests. We have to be very careful not to poison ourselves and make evil's job easier.
I have OCD and sadly one of the ways I've dealt with it is to drown it out by being on social media and, before that, just playing NPR nonstop all day. I basically chose a new, louder voice to drown out the other voices in my head.
Unfortunately, in this day and age it's like choosing between two different forms of torture. Social media is so toxic and fries the nervous system so much - it's awful. The news is awful. And being alone with OCD is awful. (And yes I've tried various treatments - so far, nothing's worked great. B12 shots did help a bit and so did prednisone accidentally, but I can't stay on that long term.)
Have you tried giving meditation a try? I have no idea if it helps for OCD, but for me it gives space around all the thoughts that’s floating around in my head. That space gives me a bit more freedom to select which thoughts to listen to.
If you're feeling sick in a building, you can't leave out mentioning mold. Mold will really destroy you.
Also ozone machines, when used properly and safely (no occupants), can sometimes help to speed up the offgassing process. If you're interested in doing this, please read up on it so you don't do it wrong or dangerously. It can also in some cases cause new, worse VOC's to form, so...user beware.
For the vast majority of people, becoming rich is a means to an end. More time to make art, freedom from stress, ability to travel more, or just the fun of buying lots of toys.
He keeps talking about wanting to do something "important." But I think he is conflating the "prestigious / expected" meaning of important with another interpretation: "meaningful."
Plenty of next steps for a founder are prestigious. But few are meaningful. Most new companies make money by finding efficiencies and disintermediating people from processes in various ways. This usually means pushing an entire sector (like travel agents) out of gainful employment. For whatever reason, Silicon Valley startups rarely punch up - they don't find efficiencies in health insurance or healthcare billing, they don't do "Moneyball" for CEO's and figure out how to run a company for less, they don't find efficiencies that cause us to pay less money to the rich (except Cost Plus Drugs).
No, they punch down, and make increasing numbers of the middle class into the new precariat. For that, the founders are praised and told that they are important. But the work, being morally questionable, is not meaningful.
By contrast, many meaningful endeavors are about charity - giving access, opportunity, dignity, and money to those on the bottom rungs of society.
The emptiness he feels is a lack of meaning, but he's trying to fill it with more prestige, and that's why it's not working.
Extremely smooth! I can't comment on the c-spine issues but I'd argue that it's the smoothest driver I've ever experienced. Surely they have some math in their AI driving code that clamps acceleration and jerkiness. It's NOTHING like Tesla Full Self Driving, which I find to be incredibly jerky for both steering and acceleration.
Also, perhaps it's a consequence of limited supply. If the SF fleet is still just 250 cars that seems quite small to me for a city with a lot of demand for ride services.
I'm pretty liberal. I also had an experience somewhat similar to the person in this article, although not as extreme. I grew up in a very dysfunctional and unstable home, which was very unhealthy, and even so I got into a top prep school and then Harvard...
...but I dropped out of Harvard, in part because of health problems that were delayed consequences of extreme neglect and an unhealthy home life.
My take on things is this. When you are the "exception," people talk a lot about how you should Just Get a Good Education, and then you can escape all this. You may get a scholarship to a good school, but that's it. Abuse in the home? That's your problem to deal with. Parents poor and overwhelmed? Screw those parents, we're abandoning those parents, we only care about their kids, and only if they're such prodigies that they can succeed in spite of the other numerous obstacles.
Here's the thing. I've known several prodigies from challenging backgrounds who got into great schools. Many of them had a lot of problems because of physical and mental health issues caused by their upbringing and environments. Some of these problems interrupted or curtailed their educations.
By contrast, I've also known people who had safe, stable homes, and long-term affordable housing. These folks were always able to further their education. But smart, educated folks with chaotic and abusive home lives were not always able to make it to happiness and stability.
Saying education will fix all woes is a cop-out. It's a way of uplifting a few show ponies and leaving everyone else in misery. Speaking as a former show pony. If you replace "two parent household" with "safe, stable, healthy home" I agree with what he's saying. I would also add healthcare. My knowledge of calculus did not help me as a young person when I was injured and had no money for physical therapy. Only socialized medicine would have helped me. Education is great, but it's not a substitute for a functioning society with a safety net.
replace "two parent household" with "safe, stable, healthy home" I would also add healthcare.
this is a key point. in fact my own experience was that i didn't get a safe and stable home until my parents divorced, so it is not automatic that a two parent household would be better, but we grew up in a country where the social security provided adequate support for us to get that stable home.
myself living in a country now without that support, i would not be able to provide a stable home without a partner. if i were to loose my partner i would have to leave this place (but at least i would have the option to do that).
the locals here don't have that option. and since social security in the USA is lacking, the focus on a two parent families is easy to understand, because it is more likely to lead to more stability. but in the end, stability is what matters, not the number of parents,
When I had thrush but didn't know it, I craved yogurt and garlic, both of which would be excellent in restoring floral balance. I don't know how bodies know these things, but they do! It's fascinating.
