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...
A balloon will pop when placed atop a single pointed needle. However, if you drive the needle with multiple thumbtacks arranged like a rug, the balloon won’t burst. This illustrates that the impact of sharpness can depend on context. Even if we face inner turmoil, the way we position our challenges and the situations we create can transform those difficulties into connections rather than sources of pain. The key lies in how we manage the distribution of sharpness rather than the sharpness itself. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”