What happens in voting booths is a measure of what’s happening in our culture 👀 I often shit on voting as I detest our two party model. The perpetual lesser of two evils is a grotesque system. Sometimes I’ve skipped voting, some times I write in Batman, and often I vote straight third party. But, the measure we took of our culture yesterday was encouraging. For years now it’s been terrifying to watch American culture slide toward authoritarianism. And not just that, but white Christian nationalism. Women losing rights, rampant Islamophobia. It becoming cool again to use ‘gay’ as a pejorative. And the rampant trans hate. I’ve seen people I know IRL call for rounding them all up and putting them in camps. Wow. There have been a lot of pretty fucked up social trends. But yesterday… Our humanity returned at least a bit. And to be clear, I don’t give a shit about red vs blue, I care about authoritarianism vs humanity. So here are some inspiring wins on that front… • 3 openly gay men got elected to congress from the states of New Hampshire, Indiana, and Michigan. • Nevada and Virginia amended their state constitution to give women bodily autonomy. • Missouri rejected an attempt to repeal women’s bodily autonomy. • Virginia solidified it’s gay marriage support deciding that marriage is between any two consenting adults. • Michigan elected the first Muslim U.S. senator. • Minnesota elected the first Native American woman U.S. senator. • Georgia elected the first Black woman governor in U.S. history. • Texas elected a Latina governor. • Nevada, Florida, and Wisconsin elected their first black governors. And there is some reason to interpret this ‘blue wave’ as a rejection of recent war mongering 🫶 However, the problem remains that probably half of these people are part of the Epstein class. But what is encouraging to me is to see American citizens reject the white Christian authoritarian image of our country’s future that has been pushed on them so intensely these past few years. That is such an epic relief. A tiny bit of my faith in humanity was restored ❤️

Elon has gotten a lot of undeserved hate over the years, but lately, he seems determined to earn that hate. For years I’ve seen people hate on Elon for contrived reasons, and I’ve defended him. And the man has been behind a lot of very interesting businesses. I’ve bought his products. It’s fair to admire his work. Credit where credit is due. But geez, at this point, having admiration for him as a human being is just a grotesque look.

Being autistic is not an excuse for being a shitty person. Being autistic is not an excuse for repeatedly acting like a middle school asshat. It’s very frustrating when people excuse shitty behavior because of someone’s autism. Autism does often make people direct, and others may experience them as rude, or tactless, but that is not the same thing as being a middle school asshat. Please stop it with this association.

🤣

I did like Elon... for like 5 mins, about 5 years ago. He has been behind a lot of cool businesses. Starlink is my favorite. It's totally fair to praise him for his part in that. But the man is just a shit human being on so many fonts. An absentee father who abandons his LGBT kids. A guy who, intentionally or not did throw a nazi salute on stage and then instead of apologizing just spent the whole next day making nazi jokes on Twitter. A guy who supports politicians and tries to buy votes. A guy who hangs out with the red pill crew. On and on. Praising him as a human being is a grotesque look.

The danger of getting close to authoritarians… If they would diminish the freedom of their loved ones for their own sense of superiority, how stupid would we be to think they won't do the same to us?

Your rawness dissolves my masks. Thank you.

Ahh the stupidity of patriarchy...

Here is the big problem with authoritarianism in Bitcoin: Someone who wants those closest to them, the people they claim to love and care for most in life, to "submit" to them clearly doesn't understand, or hold sacred, the sovereign soul. Those who proudly declare things like “Jesus is king!” reveal that they revere authority and domination. If they value sovereignty for themselves but not their loved ones, if they value peace and love but wish damnation for those outside their community, why should we think they will be consistent in applying their values in Bitcoin? Humans are complex. These people are likely not simple liars, but this hypocrisy is very concerning, and it matters a lot. If enough personal “freedom” were on offer, what might they demand others submit to in exchange?

Halloween is my favorite. Yesterday I had two costumes! A simple and classic costume - Carmen Sandiego. Great for taking the kids out. And then a more elaborate costume, a Druid! I took some artistic liberties here and went with a moss green robe, and the face paint is really more Nordic than Celtic, but it’s Halloween, the drama is fun!

Are y’all familiar with Warp Core Cafe? It’s one of my favorite pieces of art! Well yesterday whilst meandering around town I wound up at a really big bar where nearly everyone was in costume. Now of course Warp Core Cafe is Sci-Fi and people at the bar were Sci-Fi, anime, fantasy, pop-culture, etc, etc. But for a few mins there it really felt like walking through Warp Core Cafe and it was fabulous!

Happy Halloween

Marriage is tough

Authoritarianism – why are there so many Bitcoiners that are so weary of authority and yet proudly proclaim their personal authoritarian ideals? I was recently having a chat w/ a person from the crypto world and was trying to explain why things are done differently here. “No, we don’t have foundations, we don’t trust them”. “No we don’t do that as that would be a concentration of power”. Etc. etc. And I love that about Bitcoin! A desire to remove the concentration of power in the world that comes from fiat money is what brought me to the Bitcoin world. And so I am perpetually stumped by this strange dichotomy of so many seemingly anti-authoritarian Bitcoiners who also embrace patriarchy and Christianity. [Jesus was often anti-authoritarian, but unfortunately most modern American Christianity does not follow the teachings of Jesus and is intensely authoritarian] So how can these things co-exist in the same people? How can a person be such a fan of personal autonomy, free markets, free choice, freedom of speech, self reliance, not trusting others, etc. … and yet want their partner in life to submit to them, and think that others must conform to their way of life or justly suffer eternal damnation? Please do tell me, how the fuck can that co-exist in the same person???