$ jlc (10,317)

It was a remark here in the Gulch that produced the AHA moment for me: Someone pointed out that if you exchanged $100 for a warm wool coat, your overall worth had not changed (and now you were warmer).

So if you used a million or so dollars to buy a big ranch and add secure gates, solar power, and a well, you have purchased a degree of security against some forms of mischance. You might also be able to sell said ranch for more than its cost + improvements, thus earning money by making yourself more secure. (Repeat.)

Jan

And my morning grammar could use a bit of brushing up. Please make that "Their" and not "There".

Sigh.

Jan, drinking coffee

Nice metaphor. I know a lot of people with great cars, but they are oblivious to the scenery and driving conditions. There functional capability is equivalent to a standard car driven by an alert driver.

Jan

Interesting categories. I know some LimoLibs (older people) and some DunnaLibs (younger people).

Huh.

Jan

Ha, some 'dotage'!

But this began with your question of 'what about lottery winners'. I would not want to put the money in a bank, but I don't want to keep it in a mattress either. I am not nautically accomplished, so boats and ships are not where I would go - but land is.

I would hire a property management company.

Jan

People need places to live. My parents said that, during the Depression, the only folks who had income were people who could rent out apartments or rooms. If you have a ton of money, you do not have to take Fannie may into the process - just buy a block of nice apartments outright.

Since you were discussing Tbills (above)...I don't think apartment buildings is beyond the range of feasibility.

Jan

There are other answers:

#1. Buy stuff. Land. Houses. Rental properties. If you buy $6M worth of 'stuff that appreciates' or 'stuff that will give you an income over the next years' then you have something that can actually earn money.

#2. Spend your money on something you regard as worthwhile: De-extincting mammoths or the Thylacine; commercialization of space; longevity research.

You can do both, of course: You need about $3M to keep you in independent luxury (invested in real estate); then put the rest into something intersting.

Jan

Good question. I am not sure.

The articles I read pointed the finger at the difficulty in the child of famous parents living up to the fame. Nothing they could do would make them 'better' than their parent(s). They always felt 'second class' or 'worthless by comparison'.

So, perhaps the winning of a lottery is a different phenomenon, though I think that you are probably accurate to point out that 'this rarely ends well'.

Jan

Very Heinleinian. I think that something along those lines might work.

Jan

Desiring to comment on this, I first looked up "PIAAC Proficiency Levels for Numeracy". Level 2 is the cutoff level for the chart, and its definition is:
"Tasks at this level require the respondent to identify and act on mathematical information and ideas embedded in a range of common contexts where the mathematical content is fairly explicit or visual with relatively few distractors. Tasks tend to require the application of two or more steps or processes involving calculation with whole numbers and common decimals, percents and fractions; simple measurement and spatial representation; estimation; and interpretation of relatively simple data and statistics in texts, tables and graphs."

I read this and other the other level definitions over several times. I am still not sure that I understand the definitions. OK, Level 2 is supposed to be able to handle fractions and decimals and read graphs and charts. Are we talking about '6th grade math' here?

Does anyone else see a problem when the standards are so mealy-mouthed?

Some of the people I know who like Sanders are somewhere between capable and brilliant at math, so I do not think that mathematical ability is the core issue.

Jan

Your work, johnpe, is a combination of inherent (your innate genius) and acquired (your hard work) - both of which is in the 'you' category. What is in the 'not you' category is stuff like inherited wealth, power, prestige, fame. All of your work is 'you'.

None of the 'not you' category needs to be apologized for, please note, but it is dangerous. Studies done on the 'children of famous people' show a very high incidence of alcoholism and drug use, for example. (I just tried to look up some stats but could not find any easily - have read many articles on this in the past, however.) I observe that this sort of 'leg up' to success is often a poison pill.

Jan

I have not given up (though there is sometimes the temptation). So far, what we are terming a 'failure' is still better than any other country on Earth. I do not think it will take us 100 years to get back to freedom because we still have a map to it.

Jan

Ha! And no one would dare say otherwise!

Jan

Ha! And no one would dare say otherwise!

Jan

I have seen some beautiful tats. Since I am in my 60's, I go out of my way to complement people who have tats that are well done and which complement their body type. The startled person often pauses to chat with me about the style and motif they chose. (I know something about Celtic and Viking interlace art and we discuss which their tats are and why.)

We both go away from the conversation aware that we have constructed a thread-thin bridge between eras.

Jan

Yes! This is the good thing, not the bad thing

Jan, no tats but complements them if they are good

I agree with you on the incremental improvements approach. While purists will point out, not inaccurately, that such a technique has not resulted in a country of capitalism, freedom, and personal independence, my answer is simple: I am a scientist. Give me a base line.

We do not have an 'alternate reality' against which we can compare our current achievements (or lack thereof). We cannot answer the questions: Better than what? Worse than what?

I suspect that the world we are in is a lot better than if people who cared about freedom had stopped voting for the best person available...but then...I don't have a base line either and that is only my opinion.

Jan

I still have my old one, on a shelf in the library. It 'works' inasmuch as there is nothing broken and the knobs turn properly, but it does not 'draw' any more. Kept as a momento - I was never very good at it, but I enjoyed it.

Jan

I would make a slight correction to your otherwise great advice, DavidMc. There are actually three classes of 'advantage' (two of which are in your list, the third I add for completeness since all of these are railed against): Inherent (athletic, genius, art), borrowed (political connections), and acquired (earned wealth and position). So, to your advice, I would add: Take care to distinguish between the privileges that are 'you' vs those that are 'not you'. While you do not have to apologize for any of the items in the list, relying too much on achievements of others leads to a false sense of self esteem and/or may set standards that are inappropriate for you.

Jan

Short answer: It went from, "Whoopee! There are actually other people who believe kinda-sorta like I do!" to "Here is the only place I can vent about what I see going on in the world to a sympathetic audience."

So, we have minimized the joyous the bonding element and elaborated the kvetching moments.

Jan

I find the lack [of humor and sense of humor] to be disturbing. - teri-amborn

I find your lack of faith disturbing - Darth

Oh NO! Can't breath....

Jan

That is neat. I have avoided the Hunger Names because...another dystopia. I may go back and pick it up someday, but your Latin poem got me to look up the English lyrics to National Anthem of Panem.

Schadenfreude.

Jan

Thank you! Usually I have to be the one to explain that stuff.

Do you write poetry? You seem poetically inclined.

Jan

"azure" scans better.

Jan

Then we might consider two videos: One with a 'known' proponent as narrator/ host and another with an 'anonymous' theme. See which one does better.

Jan