The Pandora Papers

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The Washington Post reported Sunday that millions of private financial records shared with the newspaper showed that members of the global elite, including King Abdullah II of Jordan and other country leaders, used a secretive offshore system to hide billions of dollars from tax authorities, creditors, criminal investigators, and others. The documents detailed the Jordanian king spent more than $100 million on luxury homes in Malibu, California, and other places. Leaders of the Czech Republic, Kenya, Ecuador, and other nations hid millions of dollars’ worth of property and cash. The trove of documents, called the Pandora Papers, was far larger than the Panama Papers disclosed in an investigation five years ago (Washington Post 10/3/2021).

My comment: Has it always been this way since time began? Have we always been governed by people with only a passing interest in the ruled. What is it that sparks the lust for millions of dollars, pounds etc? There are only so many cars you can drive at the same time; only so many palaces you can enjoy and fancy holidays you can take simultaneously. The same can be said of companions of the opposite gender, if you get what I mean.

Epicurus would probably laugh at this modern grabbitariat and point out that fear of discovery, of thievery and assassination, makes these anxious, bigwig bullies in reality insecure. He would likely advise you to pity them as they await their comeuppencies.

You call this an “airport”?

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We arrived in New York last Tuesday and had to change airlines to reach our final destination. I thought for a moment that we had landed in an undeveloped country. The chaos, lack of help or helpful signs, the rather surly staff, the quixotic building layouts and what seemed like a route march to the next flight – all had me wondering if, once we had clearly missed our onward flight, whether we would have to navigate our way to a local hotel for the night – yet another stressful endeavor!

As it happens the secondary flight was delayed because of a fault in the windshield apparatus in the pilot’s cabin! Saved by a window wiper! We got home that evening. But I had had a vision of Hell – it isn’t far away.

Pay for the poor

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The single-most significant problem millions of American workers face on a daily basis is the simple fact that they’re not paid enough. The federal minimum wage is only $7.25 an hour, which leaves millions of full-time workers in poverty while dragging down the wages of the rest of the workforce in turn.

$7.25/hour, or just $15,000 a year for 40 hours of work a week, 52 weeks a year, leaves the overwhelming majority of these workers living below the poverty line, unable to adequately provide for themselves or their families. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment, for instance, is almost twice what a person working minimum wage could afford. Even with several roommates, affording a place to live is a serious struggle for low-wage Americans.

On the tax front, income earned from labor is taxed at a significantly higher rate than income derived by wealth (called “capital gains”). This puts working people at a perpetual disadvantage against the already-wealthy.

The tax most people pay on their earnings – ordinary income tax – is taken from money earned through labor. Americans go to work, receive a paycheck, and pay income tax. Capital gains taxes, on the other hand, are the taxes paid on profits that come from the sale of assets – wealth someone already owns. Investors buy a stock or a piece of real estate and then sell it for a profit. The profit is considered a capital gain, and as long as the investor holds on to that asset for at least a year, they pay much less in taxes than they would on ordinary income of the same amount.

Make no mistake, this is a massive tax break. A billionaire earning $800 million a year in capital gains pays a lower top tax rate than someone earning $90,000 a year in ordinary income. (Patriotic Millionaires, 8 Sep 2021)

My comment: I think this should be filed under the heading of “obscene”. What has it to do with Epicurus? The very rich contribute to election expenses and in return get gentle tax treatment. Some would call this massive corruption of the system. Epicurus was not an admirer of massive corruptions of the system, and nor should we be.

Religion

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Back in 2018, in reply to John Falconer, Michael Martin commented as follows on this blog:

“You should live your life and try to make the world a better place for you being in it, whether or not you believe in god.

If there is no god, you have lost nothing and will be remembered fondly by those you left behind.

If there is a benevolent god, he will judge you on your merits and not just on whether or not you believed in him.
(Michael Martin)

The health effects of music

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Owing to the release of dopamine listening to music makes you feel good. This much is known. Studies by Levitin and others suggest the brain’s natural opioids also play a part. Their findings might help explain why music can act as an analgesic, and support its use by some hospitals to help relieve pain after surgery.

Some types of music may have greater healing potential than others. A key factor appears to be rhythm. One reason is that neurons in the brainstem seem to fire synchronously with the tempo of sounds we hear. In a review of research on the neurochemistry of music, Levitin and his colleague Mona Lisa Chanda cited research showing that slow-tempo music can reduce heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature and other responses controlled by the brainstem. Such rhythm effects might help music combat stress and anxiety.

Research by Peter Sleight at Oxford indicates that slow music with a 10-second repetitive cycle calms listeners. He believes this is because it matches the length of a cycle of signals sent from the brain to the heart to regulate blood pressure. Music by Verdi, as well as the slow movements of Beethoven’s ninth symphony and the arias in Puccini’s opera Turandot are rich in such 10-second cycles. (based on an article in New Scientist, Sept 2015).

My comment: So why is it that orchestras and pianists in particular, now play pieces far to loudly and very much faster than a generation ago? I personally get exasperated with this, but it does one surefire thing- it gets the audience on its feet in frenzied enthusiasm.

Yes, the standing ovation! Some music is intended to stimulate and excite, but it is usually accompanied by other, slower, quieter passages, so that the audience is treated to a wide range of moods. The current trend is away from the gentle, musical treatment of music towards crude sensational “sturm und drang”- to its great loss.