This is a good one

A mini-thread on why "wealth" taxes (which often are forms of unrealized gains taxes) are Bad. In part, on how countries that have tried these have usually abandoned them. xitter.cf/aronro/status/11842846…

NEW: Trump’s mega Venezuelan oil deal, signed by Hegseth and Rubio, benefits an unknown group of investors and was intentionally crafted to keep the next U.S. president or future leaders of Venezuela from undoing it. @propublica saw the secret contract: propublica.org/article/trump…

我以前在法国最好的大学巴黎政治学院学经济学。以我在法国生活和读书的亲身经历来看，法国今天变成这个样子，我一点都不意外。法国最大的问题就是，所有人都在想着怎么分过去留下来的蛋糕，而不是怎么把未来的蛋糕做大。我在巴黎政治学院读书的时候，最让我震惊的就是，我们经济学课上读的东西，居然大部分不是亚当·斯密，而是马克思！ 马克思的理论说白了，就是人类历史是由富人和穷人之间的阶级斗争推动的。富人叫资产阶级Bourgeoisie，穷人叫无产阶级Proletariat。因为资产阶级掌握着生产资料，无产阶级没有，所以只能靠给资本家打工赚钱。这两个阶级的利益天生就是对立的。 但这套理论最大的问题，就是它假设生产资料是固定的，新的生产资料不能被创造出来。很多法国人被这套思想洗脑了，觉得如果自己是穷人，想过上好日子，唯一的办法就是把富人干掉。当年法国国王路易十六就是这么被送上断头台的，今天法国发生的事情，本质上也差不多。你看这个视频，一群野蛮人直接冲进一个年轻女孩开的店，把店砸了，再把里面的商品全部抢走。 马克思错就错在，在资本主义社会里，只要你愿意承担风险，就有机会创造出原本根本不存在的财富。而且你创造财富的同时，整个社会的生活水平也可以跟着提高。但要做到这一点，大家就得想着怎么去创造未来，而不是整天争抢过去的东西。 法国其实跟印度一样，有很多非常聪明、非常努力的人。问题是，这些聪明又肯干的法国年轻人，根本看不到自己国家有什么未来，所以最后一个个都跑去美国了。我认识的大部分法国朋友，宁愿死都不想回法国，因为那个地方真的太让人压抑了。 你随便哪天去巴黎街上走一圈，就能看到一群法国年轻人站在路边，一只手拿着烟，另一只手端着红酒。这些人对自己的人生根本没什么追求，也不想着去创造什么价值，每天就是混日子，慢慢烂下去。法国这种根深蒂固的问题，我觉得至少还得花一百年才能解决。

I wanted to share a story about the GOOD in people. I was flying back from Charlotte with my older son on Sunday night. I checked myself in through the American Airlines app hours before the flight. But I could not get it to check him in. I forgot about it. (He was playing soccer so I was distracted.) We got to the airport about an hour before the flight. Tried to get his boarding pass at a kiosk. Wouldn’t let us. Panicked I went to the “priority” desk at American. The woman couldn’t do it either. Called her supervisor. No answer. Went and looked for a supervisor. No dice. Another employee suggested she call the gate agent. She did. The gate agent overrode things and we were able to print him a boarding pass. This was at 7:30. Flight left at 7:50. We made it to the gate at 7:40. The gate agent who had helped us said “We didn’t want you and your son to be separated!” We got on the plane. We were back in DC by 9 pm after a VERY long weekend of soccer and logistics. Remember: MOST people are good. And good not because it benefits them but because we humans innately want to help each other. We need to never forget that. And extend as much grace to other people as we hope they extend to us.