Private wealth management. They take a large cut but it’s worth it for most mega-rich folks. They will manage the money for you and invest it according to your goals. They spread the funds out into various investment classes to lower overall risk and they work full time moving money around to maximize gains. They also have access to tax experts who can advise on how best to minimize taxes.
Not for breaking news perhaps, but for in-depth analysis and critical commentary the Economist is in a class of it’s own. It’s the only news magazine I subscribe to. They don’t dumb down stories, they treat their readers as adults and they scrupulously avoid sensationalism. The standard of written English is exceptional, (something for which it is renowned). And I love the humor in some of the regular columns. The whole magazine is a joy to read from Letters to Obituaries. 10/10
There are two main reasons to conscript citizens. The first, to fight wars, has largely faded into irrelevance (barring exceptions for those waging war, like Russia, or those defending their country, like Ukraine). For the most part wars are better fought by paid professionals.
It’s the second type of conscription that I will discuss. Many governments promote a system of national service for reasons of social cohesion, (the so-called Scandinavian model). It has much to recommend it. It creates a shared experience in otherwise fragmented societies, breaking down barriers of class, race and gender. It can be used to instil the values of a country in its population. It builds respect for the armed forces, teaching civilians that their freedom ultimately depends on others’ willingness to kill and be killed. And it subjects a pampered population to a bracing dose of spartan clean living, away from iPads and alcopops.
The problem is in the implementation. Social service should not be confined to the young. One of the biggest divides in society is generational, and national service only for the young would not change that. Moreover it would do many older folks a lot of good to learn the value of inclusion and diversity.
On the contrary, a volunteer army allows the ruling class to prosecute wars without risk to their own families. Volunteer armies are primarily recruited from poorer and disadvantaged families, and the “volunteers” are serving because they see no other option to support themselves.
If a war arrives that is necessary, justified, and also has broad support among the population there will still be those who avoid fighting because they know that others will do so for them. They will unjustly reap the benefits of victory without making any sacrifices.
You can make a similar argument about taxation. By your logic payment should be optional, since a society that genuinely wants to be just and fair should also voluntarily want to give money to achieve that.
Something similar happened to me with my first wife … I read an email meant for her that was quite descriptive, not to mention x rated, and it left me pretty devastated. I was in a very dark place after that. But now, many years later, I’m very happily married to a partner who is perfect for me in every way. My advice to everyone who goes through this is hang in there, it hurts like hell but things will get better and one day you’ll look back and realize it was better you found out and got out when you did.
It’s all very well telling people what to cook. The problem is many don’t know how to cook. By that I mean they don’t know the logistics and workflow, so a meal that should take 15 minutes to make instead takes an hour or more. When I enter the kitchen the first thing I do is switch on the stove. Then I prep in the order that I need ingredients. I’ve noticed a lot of people do all the chopping and dicing first and only when they have everything prepared they put pans on the stove. If you’re going to make potatoes get the water on the boil first, then get the potatos out and clean and chop them. There are lots of things that save time when cooking. I cook most things together in a single cast iron pan, and I add leftovers to the dishes I’m cooking so the ingredients go further. I think that should be taught more instead of just handing out recipes.
You could make the same claim for salt, saturated fats or even water if you wanted to. Everything is a poison… it just depends on the dose.
Our bodies actually need a certain amount of sugar . It’s why evolution built into us the craving for sweet things … sugar is instant energy and in the distant past that often meant the difference between life and death.
I eat a lot of sugar, but I also run 70 miles a week and swim 5 so all that energy is not only consumed but required. If you like sugar maybe the answer is to increase your excercise rather than reduce your intake.
Guy Fawkes wasn’t just killed though. He and his fellow conspirators suffered greatly before they died, and even after death their executioners inflicted torment on the corpses.
"They were to be “put to death halfway between heaven and earth as unworthy of both”. Their genitals would be cut off and burnt before their eyes, and their bowels and hearts removed. They would then be decapitated, and the dismembered parts of their bodies displayed so that they might become “prey for the fowls of the air”.
I was taught that my job is “to make sure all my bosses surprises are pleasant ones”. 15 years of working as an engineer and that never changed. Now I have my own business and that’s the thing I look for employees… someone I can leave on their own to do a job. It they have problems they can always ask me. If they screw up I expect them to tell me immediately and to have a plan of action to fix it and to prevent it happening again. And I never ever get cross if someone does come to me and say they screwed up. Far better that we tell the client about a problem than wait until the client finds the problem themselves.
Reading all these comments makes me realize how lucky I’ve been in my career. I’ve always had great bosses who defended me and backed me up.