Let Me Tell You About the Very Rich | Ghostwriters & Ghosting Relationships

“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves.”

“They’re a rotten crowd’, I shouted across the lawn. ‘You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.”

– F. Scott Fitzgerald, a writer who wrote about the first gilded age. It’s unfortunate that America doesn’t have a great writer to capture the zeitgeist of our current gilded age. Pnut’s publisher has visited the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum in Montgomery, Alabama and heavilyrecommends it. If one does make the journey to Montgomery, then we also suggest visiting The Legacy Museum.

To Have and Have Not: The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum begins today and runs through Friday in Davos, Switzerland. The development charity OXFAM’s annual wealth report, which marks the start of the forum, was released early this year. The 106 page report’s main focus is the growing inequality gap between rich and poor. The statistics are staggering. In the 10 years since the financial crisis, the number of billionaires has nearly doubled; between 2017 and 2018 a new billionaire was created every two days. In 2018 alone, the wealth of the more than 2,200 billionaires across the globe increased by $900 billion, or $2.5 billion a day, a 12 per cent growth. Contrastingly, the wealth of the 3.8 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world’s population decreased by 11 percent. Bottom line: in 2017 it took 43 of the world’s wealthiest individuals to collectively own as much as the poorest 50 percent of the global population—by 2018, it took just 26.

OXFAM’s conclusion is that the concentration of wealth is hindering the global fight against poverty. A mere 1 percent “wealth tax” could raise $418 billion, a sum that would educate every child not in school and provide healthcare that would prevent 3.5 million deaths annually. Oxfam’s director of campaigns and policy explained: “The way our economies are organized means wealth is increasingly and unfairly concentrated among a privileged few while millions of people are barely subsisting. Women are dying for lack of decent maternity care and children are being denied an education that could be their route out of poverty. Governments should act to ensure that taxes raised from wealth and businesses paying their fair share are used to fund free, good-quality public services that can save and transform people’s lives.”
Additional reads: “Davos becomes a liability in the populist era: What do Donald Trump, Justin Trudeau, Emmanuel Macron, Narendra Modi and Theresa May have in common? Besides leading the United States, Canada, France, India and United Kingdom, not much – except that all of them are skipping the World Economic Forum in Davos this week.” (Reuters) and “Analysis: How The Rise Of The Far Right Threatens Democracy Worldwide” (NPR)

A Five-Star Win For This Doctor: A Dutch surgeon has won the first “right to be forgotten” case involving medical negligence by a doctor. In 2014 a disciplinary panel suspended the doctor’s registration on the register of healthcare professionals; the suspension was later changed to conditional” which allowed the doctor to continue practicing medicine. However the first result shown people who used Google to search the doctor’s name continued to be a link to a website containing an unofficial blacklist. The doctor was able to show that by the first mention of her name being linked to a “blacklist of doctors”, and Google’s refusal to have those links removed, the search engine was committing “digital pillory”. (Kudos to her lawyer for turning that phrase.) The “right to be forgotten” was first established in 2014 by the European court of justice with its ruling involving a Spanish citizen’s claim against material about him found on Google searches. About 3 million Europeans have since used the ruling to get search engines to remove links to “inadequate, irrelevant or excessive” content. (Guardian)

Additional read: “In win for tech giants, EU copyright reforms stalled: EU efforts to reform copyright rules hit a roadblock on Monday when a meeting of lawmakers and officials was called off, prompting criticism of Google from publishers after it and other tech giants lobbied against the changes.” (Reuters)

Fuel Protests Lead To Gruesome Retaliation: Zimbabwe’s president Emmerson Mnangagwa raised gasoline prices above $12 a gallon right before leaving the country on an official state trip to Russia. He left his heavy-handed deputy, a former army commander, in charge. After widespread protests over the fuel price increase ensued, the deputy sent security forces door-to-door to crack down on protests. The terrifying operation has led to 12 deaths, 78 gunshot wounds, hundreds of instances of intimidation, assault or torture, and enough arrests to fill prisons beyond capacity. The ruling party’s chairman blamed the protests on the main opposition party, whose spokesman said five of its members of parliament had been arrested and four others had disappeared. (WaPo)

Additional read: “Zimbabwe high court orders government to restore full internet: Blackout on social media apps continues after arrests, strikes and protests over fuel prices” (Guardian)

100 Dead In Taliban Attack: The Taliban attacked an Afghan military compound in central Maidan Wardak province Monday, killing more than 100 people. The exact casualty figure was not being disclosed to prevent unrest within the armed forces. A US-made armored Humvee vehicle the Taliban had captured from Afghan forces was driven into the compound and blown up. Gunmen also opened fire before being killed by security forces. Concerns were raised about how a Humvee that had been in the hands of government forces could have passed through checkpoints while packed with explosives. Monday’s incident is the latest in a series of deadly attacks in recent months by the Taliban, which has seized control of about half of Afghanistan. (Guardian)

Additional read: “Described as Defeated, Islamic State Punches Back With Guerrilla Tactics. ‘Everyone knows… that the battle against ISIS has not ended….’” (NYT)

– “Trust in Russia’s Putin falls to 13-year low: state pollster” (Reuters)

– “Venezuela claims it has foiled attempted military uprising: Government accuses ‘shadowy interests’ in national guard of launching insurrection” (Guardian)

– “Former China envoys call on Xi Jinping to release two detained Canadians: Open letter says the arrests mean diplomats are more cautious about work in China” (Guardian)

– “China Using Taped Confessions to Intimidate Young Communists, Students Say” (NYT)

– “Scientist Who Edited Babies’ Genes Is Likely to Face Charges in China” (NYT)

– “A move by China puts U.S. small-town recycling programs in the dumps” (WaPo)

Cariuma is our new sneaker of choice. Straight out of Rio and taking the US by storm, they look stylish and endlessly compliment worthy, while being so much more.

They are classic, comfortable, sturdy and versatile – perfect for work, trekking around the city, meetings or hitting the bar.

What’s in our favorite Cariuma sneakers:

– Fairtrade cotton canvas, pre-washed to feel broken-in

– Raw natural rubber outsole for flexibility

– Ultra comfortable memory foam insole

We love that you can walk comfortably and live comfortably in their sneakers, knowing your footprint is stylish and small.

For both men and women, there’s probably a canvas, leather, or suede Cariuma for you, so take $20 off any pair here.

A Little Diversity Never Hurt Anybody: New York Republican Representative Elise Stefanik has a new group called E-Pac, dedicated to boosting women candidates. Stefanik launched the group at an event on Thursday and warned of a “crisis” of diminishing numbers of GOP women in Congress. Before the midterms there were 23 Republican women in the US House; now there are only 13. The top three House Republicans, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney and Minority Whip Steve Scalise attended the event, aiming to share ideas about the problem with candidates, pollsters and strategists, and hopefully come up with some solutions. (NPR)

– “Martin Luther King Jr. National Park Reopens For Holiday, Thanks To A Private Grant” (NPR)

– “A new video shows a different side of the encounter between a Native American elder and teens in MAGA hats” (CNN)

– “Why The U.S. Census Starts In Alaska’s Most Remote, Rural Villages” (NPR)

– “The ‘mega monk’ who wants us to slow down and embrace our imperfections: Haemin Sunim is the Buddhist monk whose hugely successful self-care advice books have made him a celebrity” Next step for him is his own Netflix show. (Guardian) And “Marie Kondo and the Life-Changing Magic of Japanese Soft Power: The tidying guru is heir to a long tradition: Japan marketing itself as spiritual foil to a soulless West.” (NYT) Netflix now has to compete with content: “Netflix’s upcoming content crisis, in one chart: The biggest shows on Netflix are shows owned by other companies. (Vox) Increasingly technology companies are becoming content ones.

– “5 Pieces of Advice From John Bogle: The founder of Vanguard, who died on Wednesday, changed how ordinary people invested. Here are some of his tips.” (NYT) Bogle won’t tell you this: “The Hot New Asset Class Is Lego Sets” (Bloomberg) As a father of two kids who has bought many lego sets and stepped on even more lego pieces I am shocked that Disney has not bought Lego.

– “How Do You Calculate The Emotional Cost Of Ghosting Someone?: A data-driven exploration of ghosting: how we ghost, why we ghost, and what emotional debt we owe the people we date.” (Buzzfeed News) And “You Matched With Someone Really Great Online. This Is Her Ghostwriter.:Meredith Golden charges a small clientele $2,000 a month to help them win at dating apps.” She should charge extra to help her clients avoid getting ghosted. (NYT)

“Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

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