Continuations

In yesterday’s “Dealbook” column in the New York Times, Andrew Ross Sorkin wrote that Goldman Sachs is headed for record bonuses and is thinking about making a $1B charitable contribution as a way to deflect criticism. That to me seems to fall far short of what they should do. First, a one-time charitable contribution is a case of “So fuehlt man Absicht und man ist verstimmt” (Goethe), which translates into “one senses the intention and is annoyed." Charitable contributions will only make a d...

Holiday gift shopping is in full swing and I have had a number of relatives ask me what I would like to get. I always say, please don’t give me more stuff. Stuff basically includes any and all physical objects (excluding books). I have long ago crossed the threshold of having too much stuff and find myself spending more and more time getting rid of stuff to unclutter my life. Paul Graham has a longer post describing his similar issues with stuff. Susan rightly points out that just saying what...