In the boom years of globalisation, Hong Kong was always said to be the epitome of a commercial city whose citizens cared little for politics, as long as they could buy, sell and shop. But, across the world, the period when economic concerns always seemed to override politics is over. Once again, Hong Kong is at the forefront of a new era.

Very interesting point made at the end, doing something quick and easy, that makes you feel like you're doing something useful, may come at the expense of actually doing something useful.

"Having an anxious reaction, and living to tell the tale, is actually an important part of learning to live with one’s brain. Rather than issuing trigger warnings, universities can best serve students by facilitating access to effective and proven treatments for P.T.S.D. and other mental health problems... if you feel you need a trigger warning, maybe what you really need is better medical care"

"If voting were universal, parties would not benefit from whipping their bases into a frenzy. Instead, they would need to court swing voters, pushing policies towards the centre. That centre, however, would sit to the left of its current position, putting the brunt of the adjustment on Republicans."

"if you want to improve society then we need to be able to pursue long-term goals which are beyond profitability"

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi asks, "What makes a life worth living?" Noting that money cannot make us happy, he looks to those who find pleasure and lasting satisfaction in activities that bring about a state of "flow."

In Senegal, West Africa, TM was taught to everyone--wards, guards, staff, inmates--at 30 of the 34 federal prisons (about 90% total of the federal inmates). Virtually all 30 of wardens at the TM prisons reported overnight (literally overnight) and very drastic, drops in prison violence the weekend the program started, and subsequent measures were consistent with the overnight drops.

"The 75-year-old American-led international order will be back in his firing line. Men like Pompeo may tell themselves they can steer him in a different direction. But if they finally stand up to him, they may find themselves with urgent business to attend to in Ulaanbaatar or, worse still, at a potash factory in the Urals."

"then spent two decades at General Electric learning from Jack Welch how to erode industrial capacity in favor of shareholders"

Today Hong Kong rests upon a delicate balance — one in which western liberal capitalism and Chinese authoritarianism find themselves juxtaposed, not always without conflict, but never without mutual benefit. Far from the parallel tracks that we had once placed our obdurate faith in, my fear is that “one country, two systems” will end its days as a violent clash between east and west. The death of an independent Hong Kong will mean the death of the peaceful coexistence we have all come to take for granted.