Today I attended a classical liberal social event at a Stockholm research think-tank where I interned over seven(!) years ago. It was lovely to be back, great to say hi to a few faces I recognized from my pre-Bitcoin days (at least publicly).
They're all academically inclined, most who work there are almost entirely on a government payroll ("controlled opposition"?) — as civil servants, as experts for various gov bureaucratic offices, or as professors at public universities.
They all favor free markets — but, let's be honest: in name only and in ethereal, over-two-beers hypothesizing, not in any sort of practice. They're about small, incremental, microscopic, and insignificant changes ("life is better if we contribute one sentence to the latest parliamentary budget proposal that reduces taxes by 0.1%, right??").
The clash to my "burn-it-all-down" approach is palpable.
Still, small social victories:
- Recommended one guy to check out Nostr, "social media without ads or algos, where people just send you small amounts of bitcoin for posts."
- Talked about the pre-history of Bitcoin with two dudes, and said for them to read @Aaron van Wirdum 's book when one of them asked what to look at to learn more.
- had a 45 minute friendly convo with conservative dude about the virtue of discretionary monetary policy. He seemed interested in bitcoin, and genuinely surprised that somebody could be in it for other reasons than GREEN CANDLES-NUMBER-GO-UP.
He understands that the Swedish Riksbank hasn't done a good job printing money, and that it's "unbelievable that the krona has survived." Kicker? He thinks Sweden should join the eurozone (hashtag, massive faceplant...).
- Discussed Swedish housing market debacle with someone who researches intergenerational inequality. He was politely interested in bitcoin, wonder how I pay my bills.
- Gave away a few Print magazines to the CEO of the think tank — admittedly, a lady I know since before Bitcoin, but still. Now all of their interns and staff will have a chance to look at the highest quality writing in the Bitcoin space.
At dinner, I asked three masters students who had just finished their summer research internship about their work and their interests. We laughed, we teased, and had fun; we were being human.
And that's the most important bit for orange- (and purple-) pilling: just be a normal, friendly, engaging dude. No shilling, no technobabbling, no wacky crazies.
Just good vibes.
This is how we win.
