Joseph's "Just My Thoughts"

Debt inevitably incurs costs: the interest and the usage fee. Borrowing means using someone else’s property as if it were my own. When the purpose of borrowing is achieved, or when the agreed time to return it arrives, it is returned to another person’s possession, and the borrowing cost is no longer incurred. Costs also serve as the basis for production and are the consideration for almost all debts, regardless of the borrowing purpose. The frightening aspect of debt is that it incurs costs and requires repayment of the principal. Originally, the principal was not mine. Thus, spending with other people’s money exposes you to significant risks, especially when you spend on perishable consumption that disappears after use. If you spend someone else’s money without differentiating between production costs and costs for extinction, you are on the fastest path to destruction. Therefore, luxury can ruin even the rich. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Regardless of your earnings, spending is inevitable. Therefore, spending holds more significance than merely earning, and wealthy individuals emphasize teaching their children how to allocate money toward education. This highlights that human emotions and desires are central to economic theories. Spending can be categorized into two main types: “consumption” and “investment.” “Consumption” refers to expenditures on necessities or perishable goods, whereas “investment” involves acquiring assets aimed at production. Without grasping these distinctions, money spent may be seen as a “waste.” - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Price and value are different things. Value is relative and subjective, but price makes those numbers tangible and helps us empathize with others. The result of that empathy is a deal, an exchange. Only when value is assetized does wealth arise. The way to assetize values is to price them. In other words, pricing is the process of valuing assets. Determining whether the value assigned to an asset is appropriate is called investment. From an investor’s point of view, investment begins by questioning the objective price of an asset. Consumption is the exchange of goods and services at a price agreed upon by all parties. Consumption and investment are two distinct concepts. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Cotton needs 500 mm of water to produce cotton wool, and 1 kg of cotton wool requires 8,500 liters of water to fill 40 baths. A fashion company can make a pair of jeans from this. It needs at least 2,700 liters of water to create a T-shirt. This amount is enough for one person to use as drinking water for three years. Clothing consumption has recently increased by an average of 60% each year on Earth. The Aral Sea in Uzbekistan was the fourth-largest lake in the world, but it has now shrunk to one-tenth of its original size, as river water has been used to grow cotton due to increased consumption. Few people are concerned about how their consumption affects the global environment. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”