JORGE RODRIGUES SIMAO

German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer concluded that we forfeit three fourths of ourselves to be like other people. One of the reasons we do this is to try to please everyone. As is to be expected, wanting respect and approval from others is natural for human beings. The problem isn't our desire for respect and approval from a few friends and acquaintances, however. What gets us in trouble is the desire to please the whole world. "I cannot give you the formula for success," claimed American journalist Herbert Bayard Swope, "but I can give you the formula for failure which is: Try to please everybody." These words, indeed, are ones to ponder carefully. Way too many people squander most of their time and energy trying to please others instead of focusing on their own hopes, plans, and dreams. Don't be one of them.

Faber: Yuan devaluation is completely meaningless

Desvalorização do yuan ensombra bolsa chinesa e economias emergentes

“Capital is money, capital is commodities. By virtue of it being value, it has acquired the occult ability to add value to itself. It brings forth living offspring, or at the least, lays golden eggs. Now for the first time in over half a millennium it is the East that is in the ascendant, China and India in particular. Economic forecasts already predict that America will cede its top spot as the world’s largest economy to China by 2027.”

How the West was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly - And the Stark Choices Ahead

Dambisa Moyo

A primeira reacção do mercado global pela desvalorização de 2 por cento do yuan, efectuada pela autoridade monetária chinesa, a 11 de Agosto de 2015, com o fim de tornar mais caras as suas importações, resultou na queda do preço do petróleo e outras mercadorias. A medida, tomada pelo Banco Central de China, deu-se num contexto de abrandamento do crescimento da economia do país e consequente necessidade de contornar o estratagema do consumo interno, para se recuperar a partir da expansão das suas exportações, e teve como efeito pôr em estado de alerta todos os mercados, incluídos os de mercadorias.

A fireman is lamenting his fate to an acquaintance at the bar. "One day I had to fight a house fire and I saved a family's two dogs. Do you think anyone remembers? Another time my colleagues and I suffered severe smoke inhalation saving an old church from severe damage. Not one person ever mentions this. I also risked my life entering a burning house to save three children. I almost died. Does anyone remember this? Not that I am aware of. "But the only time lever cursed and kicked a barking dog, it turned out to be the mayor's dog," continued the fireman. "Someone saw me do it and told everyone in town. Do you think anyone has forgotten this?" The moral of this story is straightforward: Good deeds are seldom remembered and bad deeds are seldom forgotten. The ideal, of course, would be the converse. No such luck - reality intrudes again!

A great mystery to the successful of this world is why so many people choose to be victims - instead of empowering themselves to do something positive with their lives. In this day and age being a victim is even trendy. For instance, the media are always looking for victims to feature in their stories. In a society that actually promotes the victim mentality as acceptable - and in some cases, desirable - it takes a strong personality to be motivated and empowered enough to resist being a victim and instead make a positive difference in this world.