[[How has been]]

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

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Having quit warclicks and some other game that I played for 1 day, I think I need to rest as opposed to distract.

It is so easy to just open some stupid app or some stupid game or some stupid puzzle and then press some stuff around. But why? Why is that more pleasurable to my brain than just stoning?

I need to recalibrate the "value" of each of these actions. I think if I am able to rest without distracting I will scale well.

This distract just flows in. Ever since I unlocked more time, I spend more time on insta, and also like more time on checking stock market and such. NO GOOD. Would like to swim upstream and do what is countercultural.

[[I wrote this at]]*|7:54 AM|

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

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Do I trigger all the people that i am close with (or used to be close with) when we have different worldviews? Perhaps it would be just better to not talk about worldviews with other people?

I don't really get quite a lot of things though. But ok, what to do? I am very hesitant to conclude that I am fully in the right, but I really can't see what I did wrong. Is it really attributable to fragility or the clash in worldviews (i.e factors outside my control)? Is there no way to talk about it in a way that does not trigger someone else? Is it worldview issue or is it my (presentation / attitude) issue?

Should I just practice not talking about worldview stuff when it has previously been triggering? Even if a seeming opportunity presents itself? I feel that that is a very dishonest way of living, to strongly believe that some way is better for the person and to not say it, even if it runs the risk of triggering the other. Well, I wonder who will vindicate me in the end, if I will be vindicated.

People that I care less about I am more happy to not say anything, because I don't care. But it is in the caring and saying that I create rifts. What a conundrum

[[I wrote this at]]*|1:10 AM|

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

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I dreamt of her, and she asked me did I do it, to her. And I said I did, and she stormed off angrily again. And I tried to justify myself. But it was like deja vu and I could feel the anger from her and the trying to prove myself and my intents.

Perhaps there are things that, if done, should not be said. But how to do that without lying?

[[I wrote this at]]*|7:55 AM|

Friday, September 6, 2024

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Many thoughts in my head after watching some gary's economics youtube and reawakening thinking about wealth and inequality (but now with a bit more tax experience).

1. Singapore is very correct to pay political decision makers a high salary.

From PSD, Singapore benchmarks to top 1,000 salary earners in Singapore. Based on some simple deductions, an entry level minister earns 60% of what the 500th highest salary earner in Singapore earns and the prime minister earns 120% of what the 500th highest salary earner in Singapore, paid in a clean wage (see our minister Iswaran's corruption case for example).

The stated goals are to attract talent, to prevent corruption and to have fair remuneration for the responsibilities and work done. I think these are all well and good.

However, incidentally and perhaps more importantly, the salary sizing serves to:

a. Make up a large proportion of the office holder's income (this not only prevents corruption in the common sense where the office holder has to find other income sources to supplement their income, but it also prevents corruption in the other sense where an office holder's main income is from other sources e.g passive from already being rich or having a rich spouse (see Rishi Sunak))

b. Align the interests of the political decision makers to the employment class by making them part of the employment class (albeit at the highest end)

c. Places the job in the realm of "aspirational employment wealth" which is "attainable" by many people if they are smart and hardworking.

d. Allows the political decision maker to hold the same amount of "power" through salary / wealth / money as the rich, who they are interacting with, i.e doesn't disadvantage them on a social standpoint and/or make them need external wealth to match the social wealth related standing. (see Jerome Powell's 200k salary while setting policy affecting billions and billionaires)

e. Doesn't overstretch the "discount" for public service ethos. (40% discount on the median of the median 1,000 salary earners because they are in the job for "public good")

f. Ideally it is stressful enough such that a very wealthy person (e.g 100+ million dollars wealth) will never choose to do it for personal gain (over public gain) while offering sufficient personal gain for the capable but not very wealthy

2. The tax code's distinction between capital and income is very abusable by the rich. It seems to me that labour derived income and capital derived income will catch the rich much better (to split income tax). On top of that, there should be certain capital / wealth taxes in itself.

a. Capital gains tax (the most prevalent form of capital derived income tax) is essentially useless if the rich can take a loan against their asset and defer the sale of the asset forever (especially if there is remission or equivalent of capital gains at death). To elaborate a bit more, this control over when to be taxed is OP and shouldn't be allowed. Presumably this was done due to liquidity but for income-derived illiquid things like stock options are also taxed upon receiving control and you have control over your capital gain.

b. Rental income / dividends income, in my opinion, should be considered capital - derived income.

c. Tricky to tax unearned capital gains or maybe a matter of political will? - if they can take loan to get liquidity without selling to avoid capital gains they could take a loan to pay taxes but of course they don't want to)

d. Corporate income tax, especially 1 tier corporate income tax is technically also capital - derived income. This is as the gains accrue to the shareholders essentially who have only contributed capital (they should be remunerated with a salary / director fee if they act in other capacity)

With this "grouping", you can then see the net rates of taxes in capital derived income vs labor derived income. If you want to cover land and entrepreneurship, you can put land pretty much into capital and entrepreneurship into labor since the remuneration would be labor derived.

[[I wrote this at]]*|12:13 AM|

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

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Actually do you reckon that the human race is pretty egalitarian in terms of abilities. Like... very rarely is someone a 100times stronger than another person and almost never is someone a 1000 times stronger than another person. The same goes for all other generally "natural" attributes. However, not so for "man-made attributes" that are determined by man / society e.g wealth / "power" (if u can quantify it) / "opportunities". I think there is a point here somewhere but it is late and I am not thinking that much.

On another train of thought, I was thinking what did I miss / what am I lacking now that I had previously, socially. I think it is the being known (or the feeling of being known). For my dear friends now, there is a lot of self disclosure, and yes knowing through self disclosure is cool and all, but yknow, its like the difference between the auditor auditing your financial statements and doing a warehouse / store check. While I try to disclose myself as truthfully as possible, I suppose I deceive myself sometimes and am deceived by myself sometimes. And if there isn't a copious amount of shared life, what is there to ground pushing back on (on what grounds do you challenge my self declaration? other than it seems sus in general? But common im not so easily deceived)? Maybe that is what a spouse has that friends (in a city, yknow the modern city life of 1 meal a month = "meet a lot" as opposed to rural life where you can drop by and chat with your friend every other day) necessarily cannot have.

And I think, another point is that I haven't really fought much with my friends. At least the friends that are still close to me. I think you learn a lot, and understand a lot about people after fighting and forgiving them.

On the bright side, I'm reading my libby a bit more, maybe thats why I can formulate some thoughts (though it seems the work has seeped into the examples - whats with auditing).

Also, on the bright side again, I think i'm up for really seeing peoples, like truly seeing. After a period of haze and looking inward. God willing!

[[I wrote this at]]*|11:27 PM|

Monday, August 26, 2024

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Oh boy oh boy, august is almost over and I have not posted. That won't do. I have a reputation to maintain (to myself cos few people read blogs nowadays).

[[I wrote this at]]*|11:28 PM|

Thursday, July 18, 2024

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I think I need to less distract myself, and at the same time, after removing distractions, not fall into new distractions. I could almost get used to this life yknow.

I wonder.. its been a year since doulos hope was last in Singapore. That being said, I feel like maybe life is on the up and up again. But this time it will be a bigger up. We shall see, God willing. I don't like unfounded optimism, it only sets up disappointment.

Is it time to gain the world and not lose my soul in the proccess?

The cycles are really so interesting man.

[[I wrote this at]]*|11:00 PM|