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Atlantic
22-05-2025
- General
- Atlantic
In Times of Trouble, Seek Moral Beauty
Want to stay current with Arthur's writing? Sign up to get an email every time a new column comes out. Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish priest and Franciscan friar who was arrested by the Gestapo in 1941 for hiding Jews and publishing anti-Nazi tracts, then sent to Auschwitz. He might have survived the camp and the war had he looked out for himself. Instead, he volunteered to take the place of a man randomly selected to be starved to death in retribution for another prisoner's escape. After several weeks without food, he was still clinging to life and leading other prisoners in prayer. The impatient guards finished him off by lethal injection. Kolbe submitted calmly, offering his arm to the executioner and waiting for death. His story lives on, in no small part because the man whose place Kolbe took, Franciszek Gajowniczek, did survive the camp. In the decades after the war, his account of Kolbe's self-abnegation came to inspire millions of people, of all faiths and no faith. This is an example of how an act of moral beauty—visible in any form of charity, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, courage, or self-sacrifice—can acquire an extraordinary power. When you can see moral beauty in others, you will find goodness in yourself as well. If you're frustrated with, or cynical about, the state of the world today, or if you simply want a sure way to get happier, looking for such moral beauty might be just what you need. Jonathan Freedland: The unheeded warning Acts of selflessness are at the center of many ancient teachings and religious traditions, both Abrahamic and karmic. Kolbe's own Christian faith teaches, 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' Charity toward others is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Dharma in Hinduism refers to the righteous path that a person's life should take, which includes being honest, avoiding causing harm, and showing generosity toward others. Although self-sacrifice might seem unnatural and against human nature, the reverse is true. Some evolutionary biologists contend that altruism is an innate trait that evolved to foster cohesion in kinship groups; they note that the characteristic is also found among nonhuman primates. This behavior extends even to laying down one's life for friends and kin, a phenomenon that scholars believe occurs because of what they call 'identity fusion': I am willing to die for you because I believe my membership in this community is paramount, so defending it is worth my sacrifice; in that sense, I am dying for me, too. Such courage and self-sacrifice toward kin can certainly be inspiring, but moral beauty is most striking in acts of goodness toward others with whom one does not have obvious ties, exhibiting a degree of altruism that is clearly contrary to one's individual interests. This occurs when a person helps another for no reason at all, forgives someone who truly does not deserve it, or—in the most extreme circumstances—gives up their life for a stranger. Witnessing this kind of moral beauty elicits what the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt calls 'moral elevation,' which is experienced both psychologically and neurologically. Indeed, researchers writing in the journal Brain Research have identified specific areas of the brain that are stimulated by moral beauty. The psychologist Rhett Diessner has written a great deal about moral beauty and elevation. With his co-authors, he notes that this association induces 'pleasant feelings of warmth in the chest, feeling uplifted, moved.' Further, as Diessner told me by email, new research undertaken in his laboratory at Lewis-Clark State College, in Idaho, demonstrates that these 'magical' feelings lead to a desire to be better people ourselves and to help others. This results in prosocial actions, which can provide higher levels of individual and collective happiness. Happiness derived from self-sacrifice is much deeper than plain positive feelings. Psychologists writing in 2016 showed that people feel that their life has more significance when they either help another person, without self-aggrandizement or any expectation of gain, or work to make the world a better place. The scholars found this has the greatest benefit when people are suffering from a loss of their sense of significance, perhaps after being rejected in a relationship or losing a job. Arthur C. Brooks: A compliment that really means something Putting all the research together, we know that witnessing acts of moral beauty can elevate us to higher happiness, all the more so if we imitate these acts. We should seek out moral beauty in our lives, especially in times of suffering, when we need inspiration and a reminder that there is good in the world. Here are three ways to do so. 1. Keep more morally beautiful company. One obvious way to find more moral beauty in your life is to spend time with people who are generous and dedicated to other-serving behavior—and to avoid those who are not. This is not always easy; in fact, we commonly seek out people who are negative in the ways that we are—especially toward others—because making common cause helps us feel bonded to them. But this can create a vicious cycle that only intensifies unhappiness through mutually reinforcing negativity. So ditch the gossip circle, and find friends who are more positive and generous than you are, people who model the moral beauty—and thus the happiness—that you want in your life. 2. Make moral beauty your leisure pastime. I have met many people who have dramatically improved their lives by dedicating their leisure time to serving others. They may spend their weekends and free time volunteering in their communities or take service trips instead of beach vacations. What they typically tell me is that when they volunteer for the first time, they're deeply inspired by the people they meet, and want to feel that way more. When they make serving others a way of life, their happiness and sense of meaning rise—just as the research predicts. 3. Practice gratitude. Humans are not by nature grateful creatures. Our survival as a species has favored individuals who are vigilant, suspicious, and hyperaware of threats, rather than those who bask in the glow of gratitude. This has resulted in what psychologists call 'negativity bias,' which causes things we resent, such as others' bad behavior, to grab our attention, whereas the things that we're grateful for, such as acts of moral beauty, tend not to. (This shared bias obviously explains in part the appeal of the mean-gossip circle.) You can override this tendency by consciously focusing on things you're grateful for. By taking time each day to reflect thankfully, you will start to notice acts of generosity and self-sacrifice, and people who are good and kind. You'll see moral beauty all around you if you only stop to notice it. Arthur C. Brooks: The bliss of a quieter ego One last, important point: We are naturally drawn to moral beauty, and it is very good for us to follow that attraction. But many of us have a competing fascination with moral depravity. By way of illustration, from 2018 to 2021, documentary content on streaming services increased by 63 percent, with the largest growth in the genre of true crime; from 2019 to 2024, the number of true-crime-podcast listeners nearly tripled. According to the Pew Research Center, these trends were especially clear among women and people under 30. Scholars have tried to account for this rising interest only in a glancing way, suggesting that it provides a complex kind of pleasure that combines pursuit of knowledge with 'cultural tourism.' Maybe this anodyne description suffices, but it's hard not to feel that, at some level, such morbid curiosity is akin to focusing not on the beautiful acts of Maximilian Kolbe, but on the sadistic, deviant behavior of his captors. This is not actually an argument based on taste—or, rather, distaste. It concerns the risk to well-being, with potential longer-term damage to character. We know that consuming news about crime can raise fear and lead people to overestimate the danger of being a victim of crime. By analogy, treating moral ugliness as a form of entertainment may almost certainly arrest and even reverse the effects of moral beauty in your life. Instead of achieving elevation, expect depression. But choose what's morally beautiful, and you will be rewarded.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla's Sales Are Somehow Continuing to Fall
If there's a light at the end of the tunnel for Tesla, it's an oncoming Model Y trapped inside Elon Musk's dorky Vegas Loop. Already in a dire deliveries slump while its brand image goes up in flames, the EV automaker experienced yet another devastating plummet in sales last month in several of its most important European markets, in what is the latest sign of how its CEO's bizarre behavior is driving customers away. In Sweden, Tesla's new car sales nosedived by a staggering 81 percent in April, Reuters reported, to its lowest level in two and half years. Sales in the Netherlands experienced a 74 percent decline, the lowest for that month since 2022. That decline looked like 59 percent in France, while Denmark sales dropped by 67 percent, and sales in Portugal fell by a third. Even worse, Tesla is trending in the exact opposite direction of the European EV market overall, which is blossoming. In the first quarter, according to new data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association cited by Reuters, Tesla sales in the continent, including the UK, fell by 37 percent, while EV sales rose by 28 percent. Last year, Tesla sold 86,000 cars over that time period. This year, it sold 54,000. This is Musk's vaunted business acumen at work. His support of far right politics, his role in the Trump administration, and his off-cuff Sieg Heils have made him an extremely unpopular figure in Europe, where customers have seemingly little patience for his thinly-veiled Nazi bullshit. Protestors and vandals, for example, have smashed up Tesla dealerships and spray painted them with anti-Nazi slogans. "The brand has taken a reputational hit here in Europe," CEO Ginny Buckle told Reuters. In a survey of over 1,642 people between March and April conducted by the website, 59 percent of respondents said that Musk made them less inclined to buy a Tesla. Tesla is also facing a lot more competition than it used to. Its fleet has remained largely the same, and its newest and most "exciting" vehicle, the Cybertruck, isn't even legal in Europe. "Tesla's technological lead has largely been eroded with the current model lineup," Andy Leyland, co-founder of supply chain specialist SC Insights, told Reuters. "Competition from both legacy auto and Chinese entrants will be weighing on sales." With so many red flags popping up, the automaker looks doomed for a repeat of last year, when its net profits more than halved from $15 billion to $7 billion and its revenue from car sales dipped by over $5 billion, experiencing its first-ever annual decline in deliveries. This year, Tesla revealed that its number of vehicle sales dropped by 13 percent between January and March, making it the worst sales drop in the company's history. During that period, its earnings fell by 71 percent compared to the same quarter last year — far worse than what analysts expected — while its total revenue slid by nine percent. Tesla could also lose its lucrative revenue from selling carbon credits, if Trump delivers on his promise to revert the Biden-era regulations that made them possible. All told, Tesla faces significant hurdles to restoring its sales and its image. Investors hope their savior will be the automaker's long-hyped, affordable $25,000 car — but it's unclear when that will even hit the market. More on Tesla: Elon Musk Erupts in Rage at News That Tesla Trying to Replace Him as CEO Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
New European
08-05-2025
- Politics
- New European
This is what VE Day means to Germans
Flashback to 1945. The allies themselves didn't put an emphasis on freeing Germany. To America, Russia, Britain and France, May 8 marked victory over Hitler, the defeat of the Reich and its people, the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht. It took Germans some time to see May 8, 1945, for what it was: a liberation. And yet, that hard-won consensus is under fire again today. In April, Washington DC had issued a directive to the commander of the US forces that stated: 'Germany is not being occupied for the purpose of its liberation, but as a defeated enemy state.' In other words: The Nazis hadn't invaded the country, they were the country. To Germans, the day was – at best – complicated. In the East, the self-declared anti-fascist GDR, socialism celebrated itself, its heroes and the Red Army. In West Germany, Theodor Heuss, a liberal who would later become Bundespräsident, pointed out the ambivalence: 'We were redeemed and destroyed in one,' he said in 1949. In 1965, on the 20th anniversary of what he called 'the German capitulation', chancellor Ludwig Erhard of the CDU did not want to speak of a day of liberation in a broadcast address. In 1970, the SPD chancellor Willy Brandt, an anti-Nazi exile, called it a 'total defeat' of a 'total war'. When he used the term liberation, he meant others had been freed, from German rule, 'from terror and fear'. It wasn't until 1975 that President Walter Scheel, again a liberal, dared to give the 'contradictory' date its full dimension. In Bonn's Schlosskirche, he said: 'We were liberated from a terrible yoke, from war, murder, servitude and barbarism… But we do not forget that this liberation came from outside, that we, the Germans, were not able to shake off this yoke ourselves.' The trouble was: No one was ready to hear it. It took Marvin J Chomsky's 1978 TV mini-series Holocaust to jolt the post-war German public awake. And it was the younger generations who fully embraced Richard von Weizsäcker's now iconic speech to the Bundestag on May 8, 1985 – probably the most celebrated (and controversial) in the last 80 years. 'Most Germans had believed that they were fighting and suffering for the good cause of their own country,' the Bundespräsident said. 'And now it was to turn out: Not only was it all in vain and pointless, but it had also served the inhuman aims of a criminal leadership.' The abyss was history, but the future was dark and uncertain. And still, he insisted, 'What we all need to say together today: May 8 was a day of liberation. It liberated us all from the inhuman system of National Socialist tyranny.' He also expressed sympathy for Germans who had lost loved ones, were victims of expulsion or rape. But he made one thing very clear: the cause of 'flight, expulsion and lack of freedom' for many Germans, particularly in the East, hadn't been the end of the war – but the tyranny that led to the beginning of the war. 'We must not separate May 8, 1945 from January 30, 1933,' he said, reminding everyone that Hitler had never concealed his hatred of the Jews, that everyone knew or could have learnt about the deportations, that people chose to look away. 'Who could remain unsuspecting after the burning of the synagogue… the incessant desecration of human dignity?' he asked. Weizsäcker's conclusion: 'We certainly have no reason to take part in victory celebrations on this day, but we have every reason to recognise May 8, 1945 as the end of an aberration in German history that held the seeds of hope for a better future.' Today, this sounds self-evident, blindingly obvious – but back then, it really stirred things up. The applause was mixed with massive outrage. Criticism didn't just come from people who remembered the nights of bombing, the loss of their homeland, hunger and helplessness but especially from the far right and from within Weizsäcker's own party. More than 30 MPs from the CDU and CSU boycotted his speech. A defeat, it was said, could not be celebrated and wasn't it time to stop the endless self-flagellation – the notorious Aufarbeitung? That sort of view had nearly vanished from public life. But now, it's back – courtesy of the far right. Only recently, Brandenburg's AfD state parliamentary group whinged that calling May 8 a liberation was 'inappropriate and historically ignorant', demanding the state government to drop the term. The motion flopped, but it's part of a bigger pattern: the AfD railing against the 'left-Green unpatriotic' narrative that – in their eyes – robs Germans of pride in their 'glorious' past. 'Hitler and the Nazis are just a flyspeck in our 1000-year history,' as then-chairman Alexander Gauland said back in 2018. Another complaint: not enough focus on German suffering. The AfD wants to put local victims front and centre. In Berlin, where May 8 is a public holiday this year, the local AfD fumed that it didn't 'do justice to the victims of Soviet oppression in Eastern Europe'. At best, they said, it was a 'half liberation'. In Thuringia, they accused the left of 'walking over dead bodies' just to get a holiday out of it. One problem for the AfD, though: their Russophilia doesn't quite gel with their remembrance agenda. You can't snuggle up to Putin while erasing WWII and the Red Army from memory – Russia, after all, treats its war dead as sacred. Pick a lane. Meanwhile, the Bundestag didn't invite Russia's ambassador to this year's commemorations. He kicked up a fuss about being left out – but tough luck. When your country justifies war crimes by falsely claiming it's 'fighting fascism', you don't get a front-row seat at memorials. 'The Red Army liberated Auschwitz, we will not forget that,' said President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. But today's Kremlin is pushing a 'manipulative historical narrative' around Ukraine. And Germany has its hands full already – keeping its own history from being reframed.
Daily Mail
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
How being famous has backfired badly on a one-time Neighbours star - as he complains: 'Feel shame'
Former Neighbours actor Damien Richardson is not enjoying a surge in renewed fame years after his final appearance on the popular Aussie soap. On Tuesday, Richardson appeared in the Moorabbin Magistrates' Court after being charged under Victoria's anti-Nazi salute laws. Richardson was allegedly filmed doing a Nazi salute to a crowd of far-right activists at an event in Melbourne last year. The actor, who also starred in shows such as Blue Heelers and McLeod's Daughters, was speaking at a National Workers Alliance meeting in September. The alleged act made national headlines at the time, with NWA claiming it stood 'for the preservation of Western culture and identity'. Appearing in court alongside his mother, the court heard Richardson was keen to keep the suburb he resided in a secret due to some unwanted attention. 'Just recently, your honour, Mr Richardson did have posters of him posted outside bus stops in the area to which he lives,' his lawyer told Magistrate Angela Bolger. 'There has been a concerted effort to get Mr Richardson to feel shame by some within that area.' The purported posters asked commuters if they felt comfortable having Richardson 'living next door' to them. It was a request refused by the magistrate, who directed Richardson to appear in court again in June. It is understood Richardson plans to contest the charge of performing the salute. In October, Australian far-right extremist Jacob Hersant, 25, became the first Victorian convicted of intentionally performing the salute in public and chanting 'heil Hitler.' Hersant was sentenced to one month in jail, but was bailed to appeal the decision. Before doing the Nazi salute, which was revealed by ABC's 7.30, Richardson declared that Australia was experiencing 'a war on men'. 'I thought it was a war on Western tradition, Western values … and actually, it's an anti-white male agenda.' It was then that Richardson raised his right arm and alluded to the fact that Hersant was given a one-month jail term for doing a Nazi salute. 'Am I gonna be fined now? I'm gonna go to jail for five years?' Richardson said. 'I mean, really? I mean, this is absurd. This is insane. It's crazy. It's so crazy you can't believe it's even happening.' After Richardson did the salute, which was broadcast live on Facebook, members of the National Socialist Network neo-Nazi group could be heard cheering. Despite his actions and words being filmed, the actor has tried to distance himself from the neo-Nazis he was addressing. Matt Trihey, who organised the Melbourne gathering, said 'there has been a lot of misinformation spoken about the event, Damien, the National Workers Alliance and myself'. 'Neither Damien or I have ever been members of Nazi organisations and we have no connection with the NSN,' he told the ABC. 'I am a free speech advocate and have no control over who purchases online tickets to my events.' Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said he was 'disgusted' at the footage. 'I was shocked enough when I saw the salute, disgusted when I heard the applause,' he said. 'They might think they did it in a private place, but the moment you put things online there's a new legal question on whether it was done publicly, so that will be something our authorities will work through.'
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Anti-Elon Musk Tesla Vandalism Will Spike Insurance Rates For Owners
Tesla owners could be in for a shock when their insurance premiums renew. The electric vehicle company has been the subject of public ire in the past, but more for the environmental holier-than-thou stance held by owners than company CEO Elon Musk's personal politics. Ever since the company CEO threw up a Nazi salute at Donald Trump's presidential inauguration in January, and began haphazardly dismantling the federal government, Tesla has become an imploding house of cards. Some political opposition activists have taken to attacking the cars as an avenue to channel their hatred of Musk himself. Vandals have pasted Teslas with anti-Nazi graffiti, broken windows, shot empty cars and dealerships, and set cars, chargers, and Tesla property on fire. The world's richest man is firing hundreds of thousands of federal employees and ripping their safety nets to shreds, all while asking why people don't like him. Musk shows no sign of stopping, and the retaliatory Tesla smashing will likely continue. Tesla was already one of the most expensive automotive brands to insure as the company won't work with independent repair shops, parts are more expensive, and Tesla drivers have been found the most likely to crash in a recent study. But even if you're one of the safe Tesla drivers who has never been in a crash and doesn't get speeding tickets, your rates are going up. Regardless of your reason for buying a Tesla, the car has become a target thanks to Elon's ridiculous actions over the last six months. While car insurance is getting more expensive for every car across the board, Insurify told Newsweek that Tesla's popular Model 3 increased more than any other car, an incredible 30 percent year over year, averaging $4,362 annually. Depending on trim and options, you could be paying ten percent of your car's MSRP in insurance every year, and if it trends continue ramping up, it could get much worse. Read more: There's A Relic Runway From America's Failed Supersonic Future Hiding In The Everglades "As we have learned from the 2023 TikTok theft trend targeting certain model Kias and Hyundais, if these types of losses continue, carriers could refuse to offer coverage for Tesla vehicles altogether," Bankrate insurance analyst Shannon Martin told Newsweek. With Elon Musk seemingly leaving his numerous companies and dozen-plus children in the dust to become an acting head-of-state and rub elbows with international leaders, it doesn't seem that he'll be dedicating much time to the EV company that made him a household name. The more time he spends messing with the government and spewing Nazi talking points, the more public the hatred aimed at him will become, and more Teslas will continue to get tagged and firebombed. If you are a Tesla owner and want to continue being a Tesla owner, you'll just have to deal with higher insurance rates as part of your dedication to the brand. Tesla, for better or worse, has inextricably linked itself to the company CEO and whatever ire he has brought upon himself infects his companies as well, and in a way that can't be washed off. Even if Tesla were to push Elon out as CEO today, it probably wouldn't be able to recover from the stink he's left behind on the company. If you have a Tesla and you don't want to pay the exorbitant insurance rates, just make sure you drop your coverage down from comprehensive to simply collision coverage. You won't be covered in the event of vandalism on your car, but you could probably pay for it yourself with all the money you saved on cheaper insurance. Then again, you'll have to own the car outright in order to drop your insurance coverage below comprehensive, because most bank loans require comprehensive insurance be held in order to protect their investment in loaning you the money to buy the car in the first place. This is all a roundabout way of saying that this doesn't really affect you if you're wealthy enough to have paid cash for your Tesla. Good luck, everyone else. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
