The article has a refers to a few sources towards the end including:
One such study found that children who grew up in homes with between 80 and 350 books showed improved literacy, numeracy, and information communication technology skills as adults.
I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss this as vanity or consumerism.
Re: India. It’s very common. Large IT firms like Tech Mahindra, Cognizant etc do it. I had offers from a company where they wanted around 1 year salary of signed check. If I leave before 2 years, they use the check.
Some companies go a step ahead and keep your original documents (Degree certificate etc) so you can’t apply elsewhere after accepting offer. It’s ridiculous.
I agree with most of your comment and it's making me rethink some of my opinions. But is this accurate:
> Wealth creation isn't zero-sum, just because someone builds a business and creates wealth doesn't mean they're taking it from others.
I'd say that's exactly the model that some of the startups are taking. Uber and Lyft come to mind. A part of their wealth is coming from the pockets of workers who have to work for lower wages than before and get hit by depreciation that they didn't account for when earning.
I admit that politics is mixed into my opinions here.
It's just that based on current political climate, I think it's hard to keep politics aside.
My thoughts about pg have essentially gone through this flow:
- Start reading some of the old essays in college, agree with most of the points
- Start working, the essays slowed down. I read old ones once in a while, still mostly agree
- Start following pg on twitter. There's some stuff I don't agree with but it's alright.
- See a lot of stuff that I don't agree with [1]
(in between somewhere, I got convinced that keeping politics on sidelines is not an options)
Then I see the essay on wealth tax. My read is that main argument is that the tax compounds. But I don't see any alternative arguments. So I see his position as against the transfer of wealth and societal equality and I don't agree with that.
Maybe I'm being too opinionated or not reading deep enough, but that was my line of thought.
It’s my opinion but that was a very one sided view. And I need to read more on this but I don’t think the way he pointed it out is how anyone is proposing wealth tax.
Couldn’t agree more. I read all his essays in my early 20s and became a huge fan. Not just startup advice wise, but general big picture stuff wise too.
Then I saw his recent tweets and especially the essay about wealth tax, I was a bit disappointed. But as you said, his position is well earned. But I don’t see any useful real life advice from him anymore.
I rarely blog about interesting problems that I think could help others and sometimes gaming.