“What is really amazing, and frustrating, is mankind’s habit of refusing to see the obvious and inevitable until it is there, and then muttering about unforeseen catastrophes.”
– Isaac Asimov
-
Archives
Brexit.
Feb 8, ’21
12:15 AM
“When the UK was in the EU, and during the transition period, (Andrew) Moss and other small businesses did not charge VAT (value-added tax) to customers in other EU countries. But EU rules dictate that VAT must now be paid before goods are received from the UK.
“Moss could not believe what was happening. Loyal customers were being told to pay about 20% extra on top of the quoted price for his goods. Of course, if this continued, they would look elsewhere.
“Moss had three options – and none would be easy. First, he could bite the bullet and pay the VAT himself. This would mean running at a huge loss and was not possible for the long term. Second, he could stop all exports to the EU – this would reduce the size of his business overnight and mean that years of hard work finding customers abroad had been for nothing. Or third, he could set up and register a company in the EU, ship all his goods once a week to avoid the delays and individual Brexit-related payments, and distribute his goods from there. The European branch of his company could then pay the VAT and claim it back from the government of whichever EU member state it was based on.
“To Moss, this looked like the best option, albeit one that would involve short-term costs and effort.
“As he pondered what course to take, Moss contacted his MP, the Conservative Lucy Frazer, warning her that if no help was offered he could have to “sack lots of people”. Frazer put him in touch with a civil servant in the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy who knew nothing about the VAT problem. “It was a complete surprise to him,” said Moss. But the civil servant did refer Moss to a senior trade adviser in the Department for International Trade.
“He confirmed that he couldn’t see any other way,” said Moss. “He told me that what I was thinking of doing was the right thing, that he could see no other option.”
[…]
“I just want somebody to tell me [admit] that Brexit is not about making Britain great again, not about empowering us, not about giving us back our sovereignty, Brexit is about the engine room of Britain investing significantly in Europe.“
“False Dawn”, The Guardian (January 29, 2021)
On Confidence (3/3)
Jan 9, ’21
12:41 AM
“Confidence is not the belief that we won’t meet obstacles. It is the recognition that difficulties are an inescapable part of all worthwhile contributions. We must ensure we have plenty of narratives to hand that normalise the role of pain, anxiety and disappointment in even the best and most successful lives.”
– The School of Life, Confidence – The Battle Against Timidity
On Confidence (1/3)
Jan 7, ’21
12:34 AM
“One of the greatest sources of despair is the belief that things should have been easier than they have turned out to be. We give up not simply because events are difficult, but because we hadn’t expected them to be so. The capacity to remain confident is, to a significant extent, a matter of internalizing a correct narrative about what difficulties it is normal to encounter.”
– The School of Life, Confidence – The Battle Against Timidity
Crisis Competence
Jan 1, ’21
5:54 PM
A surprise of the pandemic has been how well many older adults have adapted to the restrictions. “There’s crisis competence,” said Mark Brennan-Ing, a senior research scientist at Hunter College’s Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging. “As we get older, we get the sense that we’re going to be able to handle it, because we’ve been able to handle challenges in the past. You know you get past it. These things happen, but there’s an end to it, and there’s a life after that.”
“How the Oldest Old Can Endure Even This” – The New York Times
Inaction.
Dec 30, ’20
7:05 PM
“We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.” – Bill Gates
Wallace
Dec 22, ’20
8:33 PM
“He learned his lesson in third year, when, after he had passed his preliminary exams, Simone pulled him into her office to debrief. She sat behind her desk with her legs crossed, a beautiful winter day lying white and smooth behind her, all the way to the lake, that blue-white churn and the trees like delicate woodwork in a diorama. He felt good about himself. He felt, for the first time since coming to grad school, like he was finally doing what she always urged him to do — catching up — and he imagined that he saw pride in her eyes. He was excited. he was ready to begin in earnest — to really begin. And she asked, How do you think that went? And he said Oh, well, I thought it was okay. And she shook her head grimly. She said, You know, Wallace, that was … frankly, I was embarrassed for you. Had that been another student, it might have gone differently. You might not have passed. But we talked a long time about what was feasible for you, what was reasonable for your abilities, and we decided we’d pass you, but we are going to watch you, Wallace. No more of this. You need to get better. She spoke as though she was bestowing blessings. Bestowing beneficence. Bestowing irrefutable grace. She spoke as though she was saving him. What could he say? What could he do?”
Nothing. Except to work.“
Real Life, by Brandon Taylor
2019-20
Nov 2, ’20
2:13 AM
“It is we in particular, those remorselessly skilled at not giving up, who need to hear a curious-sounding lesson in being a little less loyal. We need to hear that, surprisingly, some people just don’t change: that their characters have been bolted shut through trauma and there is no chance that they will ever – whatever they may say and however intensely they promise – display any evolution. We need to hear that surprisingly, some people aren’t entirely good and we aren’t necessarily the problem. We need to learn to blame and get annoyed with someone other than ourselves. We need to do something very strange: walk away. This is no sign of cowardice or weakness of character. It’s a sign that we have (finally) learnt to love ourselves and so place our needs where these should always have been: at the center of our considerations.”
The School of Life, The Capacity to Give up on People
Paying Attention
Jul 14, ’18
12:52 AM
“If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.” – Lao Tzu