Spend Money Making Memories
Memory as a Consumer Durable by Garrett Jones:
People often shrink from driving to a distant, promising restaurant, flying to a new country, trying a new sport—it’s a hassle, and the experience won’t last that long. That’s the wrong way to look at it. When you go bungee jumping, you’re not buying a brief experience: You’re buying a memory, one that might last even longer than a good pair of blue jeans.
U.S. Treasury during the Holocaust
From remarks by Tim Geithner:
When we think about the Holocaust, we are forced to come to terms with more than just the evil of Adolf Hitler. We must also confront the failures that allowed this genocide to occur—the moral failures, the institutional failures, the cowardice and apathy and hate.
Henry Morgenthau, John Pehle, and Joe DuBois refused to accept those failures.
They knew that when institutions fail, individuals must act. It did not matter to them whether it was in their job description or not.
When warned by an official of the political risks, Secretary Morgenthau responded, “Don’t worry about the publicity. What I want is intelligence and courage.”
These men understood their own power as individuals in public life to make a difference—their obligation to do so—and they took it very seriously.
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We live in a world in which people still possess an alarming willingness to abuse, imprison, and murder others because of the god they worship or because they are different.
In confronting this reality, we are always reminded of the complexities of the world—the shades of grey, the intricacies of choice, the risks of action and inaction.
The world is indeed a complicated place. But our basic responsibilities as human beings are not. Protect the weak. Shelter those in need. Resist evil in all its forms.
These are our responsibilities. They cannot be fulfilled only with thoughtful reflection. They require action.
Art as a weapon
“If any official institution was in a position to celebrate the collection of Leninists, Trotskyites and heavy drinkers that made up the New York School, it was the CIA.”
