There are two main ways humans can generate income: sales power and volatility. Added value is continuously created through production, which involves actions to generate this added value. By adding new layers of value to basic ones, additional value is created—for example, making bread from wheat flour. The ability to persuade someone to buy this added value is known as sales power. Therefore, VAT is a tax paid by the final consumer. When sales power is strong, a significant amount of added value remains, leading to wealth accumulation. The second method is volatility. We can buy and sell assets that create either fundamental or added value. The former includes items like gold or commodities, while the latter refers to companies and assets such as stocks. Volatility occurs because prices fluctuate based on the sales power of producers, creating added value, and the balance between supply and demand for assets. Warren Buffett has avoided investing in gold because it cannot generate add...
The tallest mountain in the solar system is Olympus Mons on Mars, towering about three times higher than Mt. Everest. Its area, covering 295,000 ㎢, surpasses the size of the Korean Peninsula (220,850 ㎢) and is nearly equivalent to that of France or Arizona. While Olympus Mons has a greater height than any mountain on Earth, its vast area results in an average slope of only 5 degrees. As a result, hikers who ascend Olympus Mons often feel as if they are traversing a flat plain. For humans, the steepness of a climb matters more than its height. For example, ascending a steeper 5 m pole can be more challenging than gradually scaling a 500 m mountain. In life, choosing the right slope to climb is often more crucial than focusing solely on the height reached, whether going uphill or downhill. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”