It is astonishing what a little chutzpah and a whole lot of luck (plus 400 million to start) can do for a guy. We’ve all learned the lesson—lie, lie, lie. Never give in. The rubes will believe you. And there is still this great bridge I have to sell…
My local HoR Republican is definitely using the lie, lie, lie in his mailbox adverts. Repeat the same lie frequently and some people will believe it. Courtesy Goebbels and the advertising biz.
You take on Trump as a "success" is an interesting POV on what "sucess" means. If he was a movie character, say a thief, who keeps getting out of scrapes and being caught by teh skin of his teeth, would that be "success" or just luck? "Lucky Loser" seems to be a far more apt description than "success".
It's important to remember that Marcus Aurelius was the last of the Five Good Emperors. And appointed his son Commodus his successor - who was awful and eventually assassinated.
Marcus Aurelius I think would, for one thing, use Mr Trump's political career as 'proof that democracy doesnʼt work', his perspective being such that he would be unable to see how two of our system's more undemocratic features—partisan duopoly and the Electoral College—were vital to his initial success. (Why 'partisan duopoly'? the lack of options for any other serious contender for the nomination—as opposed to, say, possible alliance with a centrist party—meant that Mr Trump's fans represented a vital part of any eventually-winning Republican ticket, meaning that his opponents refrained from mounting anything like the attacks they could have mounted against him for fear that in November he thin-skinnèdly would have told them to stay home or even to vote for Clinton. [Of _course_ he might have done that.])
More to the point of the post, even with the usual understanding of 'happy' Mr Trump is not—except when eating, spending time with some of his family, exacting vengeance, absorbing adulation, or (likely) having sex, he seems a profoundly and continually unhappy person. When he's not recently done or threatened a barbarity, and the better angels of my nature hold sway, I feel sorry for him.
A general question: is there a standard way of determining what (say) $80B on paper in good–to–high-quality equities were actually worth when realised with sales over say, six months, one year, ten years? …given the effects on the shares-prices of someone trying to sell so many.
I feel like the dollar is, effectively, not a constant for a large enough hoard sold quickly enough. (Nuclear physics has the concept of a 'running coupling-"constant"' once energies get high enough; for that matter, an high enough charge-density creates virtual particle-antiparticle pairs that make the effective charge lower…and no, I don't believe that these have direct effects in economics, those are just things I know that present themselves to me as metaphors.)
Can you flesh out your issues with Romney's approach to Trump? The view from the center has to be that Romney does not like/support Trump. And seems harsh to describe him as a "professional Republican" after he declined to seek reelection.
We have no idea how much money he has. He has a a lot of judgment liens against him with more coming. His wealth may be mostly illiquid. How much he could get his hands on immediately is unknown. Allen Kamp
Mafia took their cut
Given that Marcus Aurelius was a general who served Rome well, I'm sure he'd view President Bone Spur with total contempt.
It is astonishing what a little chutzpah and a whole lot of luck (plus 400 million to start) can do for a guy. We’ve all learned the lesson—lie, lie, lie. Never give in. The rubes will believe you. And there is still this great bridge I have to sell…
My local HoR Republican is definitely using the lie, lie, lie in his mailbox adverts. Repeat the same lie frequently and some people will believe it. Courtesy Goebbels and the advertising biz.
Indeed. The German master. He was better at it than Trump. I shouldn’t offer praise, no matter how back-handed, to an architect of the Third Reich.
You take on Trump as a "success" is an interesting POV on what "sucess" means. If he was a movie character, say a thief, who keeps getting out of scrapes and being caught by teh skin of his teeth, would that be "success" or just luck? "Lucky Loser" seems to be a far more apt description than "success".
It's important to remember that Marcus Aurelius was the last of the Five Good Emperors. And appointed his son Commodus his successor - who was awful and eventually assassinated.
Marcus Aurelius I think would, for one thing, use Mr Trump's political career as 'proof that democracy doesnʼt work', his perspective being such that he would be unable to see how two of our system's more undemocratic features—partisan duopoly and the Electoral College—were vital to his initial success. (Why 'partisan duopoly'? the lack of options for any other serious contender for the nomination—as opposed to, say, possible alliance with a centrist party—meant that Mr Trump's fans represented a vital part of any eventually-winning Republican ticket, meaning that his opponents refrained from mounting anything like the attacks they could have mounted against him for fear that in November he thin-skinnèdly would have told them to stay home or even to vote for Clinton. [Of _course_ he might have done that.])
More to the point of the post, even with the usual understanding of 'happy' Mr Trump is not—except when eating, spending time with some of his family, exacting vengeance, absorbing adulation, or (likely) having sex, he seems a profoundly and continually unhappy person. When he's not recently done or threatened a barbarity, and the better angels of my nature hold sway, I feel sorry for him.
The Greeks said to call no man happy until the day of his death, but I don't think the opposite applies -- we can safely call Trump miserable.
A general question: is there a standard way of determining what (say) $80B on paper in good–to–high-quality equities were actually worth when realised with sales over say, six months, one year, ten years? …given the effects on the shares-prices of someone trying to sell so many.
I feel like the dollar is, effectively, not a constant for a large enough hoard sold quickly enough. (Nuclear physics has the concept of a 'running coupling-"constant"' once energies get high enough; for that matter, an high enough charge-density creates virtual particle-antiparticle pairs that make the effective charge lower…and no, I don't believe that these have direct effects in economics, those are just things I know that present themselves to me as metaphors.)
I suspect Marcus Aurelius would not say much about tRump, but would give a clear eye roll.
What would Marcus Aurelius have thought? "Oh crikey, not Galba again", most likely. Certainly, we must imagine Trump unhappy.
Trump may have all the talents of Becky Sharp, but they are wasted given that he *started out* with all the wealth of Jos Sedley.
:-)
Can you flesh out your issues with Romney's approach to Trump? The view from the center has to be that Romney does not like/support Trump. And seems harsh to describe him as a "professional Republican" after he declined to seek reelection.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/romney-stays-course-whether-supports-trump-president-matter-personal-character
Was that 80 billion or 8 billion he could have made?
He wanted to be a player, not a passive investor.
We have no idea how much money he has. He has a a lot of judgment liens against him with more coming. His wealth may be mostly illiquid. How much he could get his hands on immediately is unknown. Allen Kamp