“It is because you don't know the end and purpose of things that you think the wicked and the criminal have power and happiness.” — Boethius, On the Consolation of Philosophy

Nobody has a precise idea how much wealth anyone else has. There is a good chance that you don’t even know your own. We are all engaged in an elaborate game of assumptions, even about our own future.

The fact that men are posting gain and loss porn on Reddit is not a sign of transparency, but opacity. The narratives only go skin deep.

Beneath the narratives, people are silently crying out for order—a link between cause and effect, or some indication that hard work still matters, or the assurance that they will be rewarded for good decisions and not for reckless ones.

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