Recently, someone (of foreign origin) confessed to me that she couldn’t savor her successes: as soon as she achieved a goal, she felt she had to prepare for the next one right away. As an immigrant, I recognize this pattern all too well. Immigrants live in a state of permanent instability—a broken contract, an illness, a change in the law, a missing document… is all it takes to feel like you’re back to square one. And I don’t think this is exclusive to immigrants, but it’s a pattern I see often. A friend of mine, deprived of parental love, has lived since childhood in “I’m unworthy of being loved” mode.…

Covid is further accelerating the isolation of the ultra-wealthy. Here is the translation of a text I found on Instagram and found very interesting: It echoes the evolution of the luxury consumer I shared with you last time. The richer you are, the more you can say goodbye to shared infrastructure, shared spaces, shared risks, and shared reality. Today, isolation has become a luxury good: a continuum running down the social ladder, each level buying a little more separation from common spaces. At the very top, there is geographic escape in the literal sense. Private islands, estates in New Zealand (now the preferred apocalyptic refuge of tech billionaires), etc. The…

Recently, I read a magazine that explained why so many people are drawn to craftsmanship. “[the world of work] has deprived us of our ability to thrive and has trampled on our “visceral need for recognition” that Hegel talks about. For what characterizes human nature is to seek to express our unique abilities, and for these to be recognized. We then experience a feeling of dignity and self-esteem. […] The world of work only ends up responding to imperatives that are beyond us, and only ensures survival logic, depriving human activity of all meaning possible”. Whereas “craftsmanship, on the other hand, relies on know-how. Those capable of bringing out the…

Here’s a translation of a text written on January 1, 2026, by my favorite contemporary Vietnamese philosopher, Dang Than. This text echoes what I wrote about the novel Brave new world. You’ll find the text original in Vietnamese & the English text here. [Best wishes for 2026] Democracy, Autocracy, and the “Three Principles” Democracy, in theory, grants rights to everyone. In practice, it’s often hijacked by a small elite that deceives subtly oppresses the masses through the art of “soft governance.” Autocracy is “hard governance.” A handful of rulers need only a few managerial tricks and an iron fist. The people may suffer more, but they see the brutal reality…

In the Art of War, Sun Tzu writes: “The potential of troops led with skill in battle can be compared to that of round boulders rolling down from the top of a mountain” and “If a falcon strikes its prey in one blow, it is because it strikes at exactly the right moment”. How to apply this in daily life? Today, we will study how to combine “momentum” (placing round boulders atop a mountain) with the opportune “moment” (to strike like a falcon). This post was written by Vietnamese writer and philosopher Dang Than. I will also copy/paste the Vietnamese text below and add my own comments. Here is the…

I came across these two slides from a marketing course for luxury brands in Vietnam. I find them really interesting, and after mulling them over for a few days, here are some thoughts and explanations of the slides. Contemporary luxury as we know it is largely a construct of the LVMH conglomerate and Bernard Arnault, who industrialized and democratized what was once a niche artisanal market. Historically, access to exceptional products came through direct relationships with artisans and family-run workshops. The shift to mass production created a hierarchy: the first three levels (Entry, Aspirational, Mature) mainly target the middle classes and the nouveau riche through volume and relative accessibility. The…

I read a text written in Vietnamese by a communication expert that I really enjoyed. Here’s my summary of it: He describes a crisis of meaning in the modern world: individuals, lost and without bearings, desperately seek to feel useful and recognized. From this thirst for importance is born a market of emotional comfort, where one can “buy” meaning through seminars, training, and products promising to “awaken your potential” or “find your life’s mission.” Two groups fuel this market: Around them hover the meaning entrepreneurs, who turn collective distress into a commercial opportunity. The most emblematic are life coaches, those “life guides” who, often in crisis themselves, sell their own…