True but interestingly "about ten percent of Americans will spend at least a year in the top one percent and more than half of all Americans will spent a year in the top ten percent. This is visibly not the same for the more static –but nominally more equal –Europe"

Taleb medium.com/incerto/ineq...

As someone who has done that - I think that welcoming, outgoing energy feels out place somehow. Buddhist groups often have this chill vibe and there's this perceived social caution, like no one wants to impose on someone else space. It's nice & peaceful.

Fair point tho. No reason not to be friendly

Best example of this was my friend who pointed out that we take our shoes off for the plane but not the subway.

Horizontal axis is a measure of value (market cap for non financial stocks / total gross value added).

Vertical access is 12 year s&p investment return if you invested at that valuation in the past.

He then assumes a statistical relationship btw them. At today's value the best return would be 5.5%

Yeah the impact on incentives is real - but passive investors still add value by supporting capital markets for businesses, and bearing the investment risk. That doesn't go away just because the allocation follows an index

Except Buddhism. After studying moral philosophy heaps it's the only one that makes sense practically. In a weird way it focuses on understanding subjective experience to minimise the significance of subjective motivation. It's different in that it is inherently practical - inward looking.

If consequentialist ethics can justify the reaction to this man's hate and violence, with the hate and violence in this video and in these comments, it just proves that consequentialist ethics isn't for me.

One of my favourite philosophical texts is Wittgenstein's Lecture on Ethics - and it sort of tackles this head on within a modern western analytical framework with similar conclusions. I'd cite it but no one quote does it justice.

wittgensteinproject.org/w/index.php/...

One ray of hope Bhante is that per capita emissions are reducing for US and EU while others are increasing the proportion of renewables.

Not enough and the main problem is over consumption but directionally positive

ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-e...

ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-e...

The real injustice is not wages but capital returns. Look at total earnings including capital gains.

Then consider that monetary policy intentionally inflates capital prices and capital gains tax is discounted / lower than wages.

I've also noticed that not everyone is ready to embrace it. The very real challenges of life flood our wisdom and ability to feel/see.

Some don't see it. Some want to see it too much, obsessing on the wrong things. Some, like me see it and feel it but don't actively choose its path.

I've also found the similarities between ancient Greek philosophy, stoicism and buddhism interesting.

I think their common focus was directing rationale enquiry and reflection towards living well in the present life. Great to see they have similar conclusions.

He's got nothing on ghandi.

Time will show whether the violence achieved change or just titilated a gun loving and media obsessed nation with a modern Rambo story.

Welcome back Bhante 🙏.

While distressing, it seems the only way out is for us to see our own desire, aversion and delusion. You have kindly devoted your life to that.

It's different when the union represents all the labour for a monopoly service (state gov buses, trains etc)

I was wondering how people would use it from scratch and it just throws you in and you learn through error/self discovery

It was helpful to me as a way of reinforcing or extending a strong existing foundation.