Today I was talking with a friend about social sciences. Even though social science majors aren’t particularly in demand right now and can be tough to find work in, don’t ever make the mistake of thinking they’re useless.
If you want to make sound financial decisions, you need some understanding of political science and economics — to grasp how national policies affect your personal life, and how economic conditions evolve.
Student Question: I’ve recently noticed that I enjoy buying things. On the positive side, I don’t overspend on food — but on the negative side, I tend to buy a lot of everyday household items: shampoo, body wash, tissues, that sort of thing. When there’s a sale, I want to stock up even more.
This is especially true when I’m in a good mood — after landing a job, or after solving some major problem. The urge becomes particularly strong then. Subconsciously, I feel like I’m rewarding myself through shopping. I’m not sure whether this counts as some kind of psychological issue.
When I write, I have a default reader in mind — someone I’m writing to.
In most cases, that person is a young man or woman who loves learning, works hard to better themselves, and genuinely believes that effort can change their destiny.
Someone like that usually isn’t in terrible financial shape. And even if they are right now, they won’t stay poor.
In other words, my default assumption is that the people following me will keep improving over time — which is why I sometimes share things that may be slightly beyond where you are today. (I’ve already watered it down considerably.)
I was searching for something on a video site when the homepage threw career advice content at me. Curious, I clicked on a few.
After a few moments, I felt genuinely unsettled.
How do I put this? It was like sitting in a restaurant and watching the person next to you eat excrement.
They haven’t done anything to you, but just having them nearby makes your skin crawl.
The internet feels completely surreal to me these days.
1 - The sheer volume of real estate policies that core cities have released in this period is itself proof of one thing: a sweeping, fully-formed consensus has been reached, and a new wave of prosperity in the real estate sector is being pursued as a serious, concrete goal.
Objectively speaking, with a consensus this powerful and a direction this clear, “failing to pull it off” is simply not a realistic outcome.
Luchengming asks: Commander, greetings. I’d like to ask your thoughts on the future of the photovoltaic sector. Right now it looks like many domestic solar companies are nearly dead — there was just an announcement allowing M&A in the solar industry, but then nothing else followed.
Do you think more policies are coming to prop up the solar industry? After all, it wasn’t easy for the country to cultivate a globally dominant sector like this — they wouldn’t just let it die, would they?
Let me say something that might sting: mediocre, ordinary people have a habit of making both “rising up” and “making money” far more complicated than they need to be.
The path upward is genuinely simple. It has exactly one core principle: devote yourself completely to building your inner mastery.
Take my own life as an example. My daily existence is as stripped-down as an ascetic monk’s.
I do five things every day: earn money, train my body, learn, review, and maintain relationships. And for each one, I push for a small, visible gain before the day is over.
The truth is, most content about work that circulates online is wrong. The more you consume it, the more damage it does. Yet this kind of counter-consumerist message will always lose out — bad money drives out good.
Let me give you an example.
If someone is constantly being manipulated by their boss and pushed around by senior colleagues, what should they do?
The correct answer is: get out of that environment as soon as possible.
When Shoigu went abroad, his closest confidant was arrested on charges of corruption. Such matters can be treated as either minor or major — because their entire system operates in a decidedly pre-modern way. In other words, keeping everyone fed and well-compensated is not a crime but a skill. So while this was technically an offense, it was not the real reason for his removal.
There is a famous line from the classic Chinese film Let the Bullets Fly: “The boss is often just an empty shell.” From all the signs, the Plywood General looks more like a politician than a soldier — despite serving as the chief steward of Russia’s armed forces for so long. In fact, he backed the right horse twice in critical moments, which is how he soared to the top: someone who had never served a single day in the military became its supreme head.
After all these years, social media platforms have ultimately confirmed the most basic economic truth: creating genuinely good content is extraordinarily costly. That is why, when you scroll through your phone, the odds of stumbling upon high-quality, non-entertainment content are quite low.
Some students worry that staying off their phones means missing out on something. In reality, there is absolutely no need for that concern. The far better use of your time is work and reading.