Why I am not a democratic socialist: The "oligarchy" decried by the Democratic Socialists of America isn't a product of free-market capitalism. It's a product of corporate socialism and broken money. Regulatory capture, corporate welfare, and monetary/fiscal stimulus are the lifeblood of entrenched elites. Corporatism and cronyism thrive in our so-called "mixed economy." Socialists rightly view our Keynesian welfare state and Cantillonaire central bank as a broken system. And yet, their fix to reduce wealth inequality is to further expand and empower that broken system. Inflation is inherent to our fiat monetary system. US M2 growth explains ~70% of CPI variance since the 1970s (FRED/St. Louis Fed long-run regression 1971–2024: R² = 0.69–0.72). Entitlement programs meant to help people afford groceries and healthcare drive monetized fiscal deficits and, ironically, long-term economy-wide inflation. Entitlements account for 61% of federal spending ($54.4T projected over 2026–2035) and fuel our $1.9T deficit in FY 2025 (CBO). The lower class bears the brunt of this policy-driven inflation—especially when food and energy costs soared 20–30% during the Biden administration (BLS CPI, 2021–2024)—because they lack financial assets. Calls to tax the rich and expand the welfare state inevitably follow. This is immediately met with a surge in debt growth (~$38T or 122.6% of GDP, 2025). The Fed artificially lowers rates to roll over this debt, and money printing stimulates the economy. Inflation accelerates. Cost of living crushes families. Wealth inequality steepens. Calls to tax the rich ring out once again. The vicious cycle repeats and runs alongside catastrophic systemic strains on the federal budget and tax base. Dependency Crisis: 1 in 3 Americans—over 110 million—are on entitlement programs like Medicaid and SNAP (Census/CMS/USDA). Benefit cliffs disincentivize socioeconomic advancement and correlate with higher fertility among the poor (1.8 vs 1.6 births per woman, CDC 2023). Tax Base Erosion: High-income filers ($100K+) show net migration losses from high-tax CA/NY to low-tax FL/TX. The tax burden rises on a smaller base (IRS). Fiscal Cost of Migration: Millions enter the country (~2.6–2.8M net in 2024, Census/SF Fed) and impose $177B+ in state and local costs (CBO 2024–2034). Affordability crises caused by government spending, money printing, and a failing tax base cannot be solved by more of the same. Sadly, this acceleration of a broken system is exactly what the economically and historically ignorant socialists just voted in.

America is culturally, ethically, and historically a Christian nation. Culturally: - Christmas & Easter federal holi(holy)days - “In God We Trust” motto - “So help me God" - Sunday-excepted veto (Art. I §7) Ethically: - Liberty of conscience (Art. VI) - Imago Dei (Declaration of Independence) Historically: - Founding-era state Trinity oaths - 60-90% of Americans

FDR was THE most authoritarian and far-left President we've ever had: - confiscated private gold - interned 120,000 citizens without due process - fixed prices and wages via NRA codes - proposed Supreme Court packing - permanently eroded civil and economic liberties over 4 terms The modern resurgence of authoritarian leftist cultural and economic principles reflects a fundamental misdiagnosis of the true problem: Broken Money.

If a person is telling you to vote against billionaires, then it's probably in their best interest not to vote at all. Liz Simons, Preston Werner, and the Soros clan supported Mamdani. Billionaires back all major candidates in critical US races. Wealth knows no ideology.

Nothing validates Dunning and Kruger quite like the X "For You" algorithm.

Human rights are rooted in ownership of your body, labor, and speech. Compulsory provision of food and healthcare violates those rights; thus, economic goods can never be "human rights."  Compassion is best expressed via voluntary charity, not coercion.

If labor creates all value, then why do identical hours yield different prices? The Marxist Labor Theory of Value is empirically false. Capitalism lifted 1.2B from poverty since 1990.  Surplus value created voluntarily isn't theft. Coercive taxation is.

Significant LTH distribution increases the average cost basis and the Realized Price, both of which historically align closely with bear market price floors. Robust demand absorbed substantial sell pressure. Less concentrated OG supply derisks and thus indirectly supports a higher Sharpe ratio for Bitcoin.

The US government is taking in record tax revenues ($5.23T FY 2025). Entitlements are ~63% of the budget and drive the long-term debt growth. The FY 2024 data from the IRS and the CBO show that the top 10% of income earners paid approximately 72% of all income taxes, corporate income taxes accounted for 11% of all federal tax revenues, and other taxes paid for by the wealthy and corporations (gift, estate, and excise taxes) amounted to another 5% of total federal tax revenues. Seizing all $68.8T billionaire and millionaire wealth with no market collapse (which is completely unrealistic) would fund the US for just 8 years. Clearly, our national debt growth isn't a revenue problem. It's a spending problem, and the majority of this spending is structural and mandatory due to programs enacted by Democratic administrations.

Just a few short years ago, Goldman Gary Gensler debanked me. Voting matters.

The Fiscal Singularity: Why the US Debt Spiral is Inevitable #nothingstopsthistrain High rates widen our structural fiscal deficit. Low rates spur speculative attacks on fiat (borrowing $ to buy hard assets such as Bitcoin). Under current policy and politics, a long-term fiscal spiral is mathematically and politically inevitable by the early 2030s. 1. The Math is Inescapable Debt Dynamics: d_(t+1) = d_t * (1 + r - g) + pd - d_t = Debt-to-GDP ratio in year t - r = real rate - g = real growth - pd = primary deficit d_0 (2025 debt/GDP) = 100% locked-in r (real rate) = 2% → 2.5% ( ⬆️ debt → ⬆️ yields) g (real growth) = 1.7–1.9% locked-in (aging/productivity) pd (primary deficit) = 2.5–3% GDP locked-in (entitlements/interest) r - g = +0.6 % to +0.8% pd > 0 IF real rate > real growth and primary deficit > 0, THEN debt grows exponentially. 2. Escape Routes = Political Fantasies - Primary surplus: Cut $1.5T (10% of budget)? → 0% chance - Raise taxes +50%? → 0% chance - Growth >4%? → <5% chance - Inflation >10%? → possible, but destructive CBO: “No plausible policy combination stabilizes debt.” 3. The Spiral Timeline 2025 → 100% debt/GDP 2030 → 118% (interest > Medicare) 2032 → 130% (tipping point) 2035 → 150% (exponential phase) 2040 → 190% (crisis) By 2032, interest > all discretionary spending (Fed caps rates or monetizes). 4. Market Delusion = Time Bomb - 10-yr Yield: 4.08% (still normal) - Foreign Buyers: Down from 50% → <30% of Treasuries - TIC Data: China, Japan net sellers in 2025 confidence cracks → yields spike → spiral accelerates 5. Only Two Options Remain: A. Inflationary Spiral: Fed monetizes → 10–20% inflation. Savers wiped out. B. Default/Restructure: 7–10% yields → dollar credibility collapse. Both entail wealth transfers from fiat holders to hard asset owners. In either case, the outcome is the same: Monetary repression. Debasement. Loss of purchasing power. The system simply cannot deleverage mathematically or politically. No policy fix is remotely plausible. If banks are chiefly leveraged bond funds and a long-term fiscal spiral seems inevitable, then where do we securely store our savings? Exit fiat-denominated, duration-exposed assets. Enter the capped-supply, seizure-resistant store of value. The Fiscal Singularity is Near. Bitcoin is the exit.

In a single sentence, please answer this question: As a human whose highest aims are love, truth, wisdom, meaning, virtue, harmony, and freedom—and who desires to pursue these aims in a manner most aligned with historical, philosophical, and scientific realities—which worldview is optimal? ChatGPT: Claude: Grok: Perplexity: Venice:

Constituents deeply overestimate the correlation between eloquence and correctness. Grandiloquence correlates with sophistry and implies that the communicator is concerned with promoting their voice to a greater extent than their ideas. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

SNAP's economic multiplier only measures its short-term stimulus in downturns when funds go to people likely to spend them immediately. This boost doesn't mean SNAP is a perpetual wealth machine, nor does it erase the underlying costs or trade-offs in resource allocation. Taxing $1 reduces private resources that might have generated more than $1.50 in activity if left invested or spent privately, especially since only a portion of tax revenue is effectively converted into economically productive government spending. Over time, excessive taxation and inefficient government allocation retard economic growth and compound negative effects on quality of life, innovation, and wages. Benefit cliffs in SNAP infamously create a disincentive to increase income. Recent policy changes in SNAP benefit calculations (benefit increases without income eligibility limit adjustments) have exacerbated these cliffs. Such perverse incentives keep recipients dependent longer. This perpetual government backstop for massive corporations such as Walmart, who captures 25% of all SNAP spending, acts as an indirect form of corporate welfare as well. SNAP drives ~24% of all U.S. grocery sales despite comprising ~12–15% of households. They outspend average American workers by ~15–20% on groceries. Data: USDA ERS, BLS CE, Numerator (2025). A moral hazard subsidizing corporate margins through dependency loops is suboptimal policy at best. Always beware of economically illiterate politicians with proven track records of inefficient capital allocation touting benefits while ignoring costs. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

The US, a nation with unpredictable monetary policy, nearly $40 trillion in debt, and a debt-to-GDP ratio of 125%, is investment grade. A company with preferred shares 5x overcollateralized by pristine collateral and the hardest asset known to mankind is junk. We are so early.

It's simultaneously dispiriting and exciting to witness the success of prompt engineer content creators in various niches. The generic AI slop voice justifiably annoys people. And yet, much of the same audience ironically mistakes its cringey syntax for elevated prose once it conveys substance.

A Perpetual Bitcoin Spring Instead of storing our time like a freezer stores ice, our fiat monetary system melts it into liquid dripping relentlessly down the drain. Money, at its essence, is meant to be a battery of stored human effort traversable across space and generations. We are still producing energy, yet it no longer compounds. Rather, it is instantly confiscated via inflation and taxes to sustain the image of stability. It isn't "the price we pay for civilization," but a tribute to Leviathan—a pure extraction. In our paycheck-to-paycheck society, the present must steal from the future just to survive. This is the culmination of a half-century feedback loop: - In 1971, Nixon terminated the gold standard. - In the 1980s, credit expanded and wages stagnated. - Post-Y2K, American dynamism faltered while asset inflation exploded. - Post-COVID, liquidity divorced itself from productivity. Now, loose fiscal policy is dominant, tight monetary policy is subservient, and our fiat monetary system parasitically feeds on its own citizens. Quantitative easing borrowed order from the future, and quantitative tightening is the repayment with chaos as interest. We human beings have become collateral to maintain the appearance of solvency. The vicious cycle only continues to accelerate: Fed tightens → liquidity drains → corporations tighten their belts → consumers absorb costs → demand weakens → Fed errs → Cantillonaires soak up liquidity → pictures of rocks sell for millions → rinse and repeat. Ever-greater entropy climbs down the wealth ladder with each successive cycle. Those without assets bear the consequences of sovereign mismanagement. When the price of money is controlled by fiat central planners, a free-market capitalist economy becomes a cronyist and corporatist bureaucratic state—an unsustainable system sowing identitarian division to distract from its exacerbating wealth division. True wealth is the freedom to lower time preference, delay gratification, and plan beyond the immediate. A paycheck-to-paycheck society is a citizenry stripped of temporal leverage and condemned to lives of quiet desperation. Nearly 70% of us are bound to the never-ending now—neurotic, reactive, and nihilistically unwilling to even consider posterity. As scarcity tightens, our optimism and beliefs decay. When our core beliefs decay, fiat—whose only real collateral is belief—is at its most vulnerable. Every empire fails when it extracts energy from its own citizens to preserve its appearance of vitality. - Rome literally melted away its currency's value. - Britain abdicated industrial production. - The US offshored its workforce *and* delegated its financial sovereignty. After punishing savers for decades, the outsourced empire is now running out of foreign energy to extract. Tariffs are nothing but a death rattle. From a metaphysical perspective, our purpose has inverted: Humans were meant to use money as a tool for coordination. Fiat now uses humans as a Matrix-style battery to artificially sustain itself. When money dies, it is buried not by revolution, but through a paradigm shift in belief and technology: - The Roman denarius collapsed into nature's ledger (gold). - Gold was abstracted into mankind's ledger (fiat). - Now that the gap between settlement and transaction speeds has closed, fiat will dissolve into proof-of-work cryptographic consensus. As we've witnessed over the last 15 years, fiat beneficiaries will stubbornly sink with the ship. Bitcoin will not rise because more people suddenly believe in it, but because they sense their wealth melting away like an ice cube. They *will* migrate to the life raft. This Fourth Turning is the harsh but temporary winter prelude to a blooming monetary consciousness: A Perpetual Bitcoin Spring where time, energy, and value realign. Block by block.

Culture peaks in periods of political stasis. Politics thrives as culture declines. Clearly the spiritual and, in turn, cultural pillars of our civilization are deteriorating.

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Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) on X

At the “No Kings” rallies, we saw countless, open calls for violence against President Trump and other Republicans When pressed, some Democrat...

We all desire progress. When on the wrong path, however, we must turn back and rediscover the correct one. The mob mentality playing out in the streets exemplifies Fourth Turning upheaval: "Helplessness and panic lead to group formation or rather to a clustering together in masses for the sake of gregarious security." - Carl Jung, Civilization in Transition

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Academy of Ideas (@academyofideas) on X

Do We Live in a Sick Society? https://t.co/rSGXJZj50a

The proclivity of individuals today to engage in group identification is not only a danger to the stability of a society, but a psychological regression to primitive consciousness marked by a pathological craving for belonging over truth. https://medium.com/@academyofideas/edward-bernays-and-group-psychology-manipulating-the-masses-2ef53544a4cd

AI is fundamentally incompatible with our inflationary fiat monetary system. Sovereign debt levels depend on expanding GDP and moderate inflation to remain serviceable. In the US, the Federal Reserve's dual mandate is to achieve stable inflation and maximum employment. AI introduces deflationary and labor pressures antithetical to said mandate. Central banks must react to these pressures with artificial stimulus. As a result, real output will continue to decouple from money expansion. In a sovereign debt crisis, debasement and repression to inflate the debt away are all but inevitable. If AI counteracts inflation and replaces human labor, then the fiat system weakens even further. While fiat may persist in the short term through monetary adaptation (stablecoins, e.g.), the long-term macro direction points toward a bifurcated economy: Asset owners will continue to compound wealth while real labor income continues to contract. Over time, this may trigger structural monetary reform away from pure debt fiat toward a currency tied to energy, as envisioned by Ford and Fuller. Bitcoin’s energy-anchored, scarce design offers a deflationary digital monetary system uniquely suited to an AI-driven economy. To elaborate, Bitcoin resolves both historical and emerging issues: - AI Currency (digital scarcity for digital abundance) - Sovereign Debt Crisis (appreciating vs. fiat) - Triffin's Dilemma (globally neutral reserve asset) - Gold's Weaknesses (digital, portable, decentralized) In our era of unsustainable sovereign debt, deglobalization, and AI-driven productivity and wealth inequality, Bitcoin's integration with renewable energy and national strategic reserves signals its growing role as the monetary foundation of the future. "It might make sense just to get some in case it catches on." - Satoshi Nakamoto

Zcash launched in 2016 with enormous hype, reaching an all-time high around $6,000. Even after the recent pump, it trades ~94% below that peak. Price reflects network effect, liquidity, and trust. $ZEC has lost all three relative to $BTC. For years, 20% of every Zcash block reward went to the Electric Coin Company (ECC) and the Zcash Foundation—a built-in developer tax. Bitcoin has never had a pre-mine, dev fund, or central authority. Its fairness and immutability give it unmatched monetary credibility. Zcash's privacy originally relied on zk-SNARKs initialized through a trusted setup ceremony. If even one participant in that setup was compromised, the system could've theoretically created infinite undetectable ZEC. The 2022 Halo upgrade introduced a new type of zk-proof, eliminating the trusted setup entirely. The current shielded pool no longer has this vulnerability, yet funds remain in the older Sapling pool. Zcash’s original design introduced an unverifiable trust assumption at the protocol level—a dealbreaker for sound money. Zcash’s cryptography is cutting-edge but highly complex, widening its attack surface. Bitcoin’s simplicity (UTXOs, PoW, open auditability) makes it antifragile. Every Bitcoin node can easily verify total supply. In Zcash, supply verification is comparatively opaque, though less so after Halo. Bitcoin’s ~20,000 nodes, ~1M daily active addresses, & vast developer base dwarf Zcash’s ~200 nodes & ~3k daily active addresses. Low usage cripples Zcash's network effect. Currently, only ~6-15% of Zcash transactions are shielded; ~94% of volume is transparent, enabling correlation attacks. Clearly, most users skip its core privacy feature, undermining its unique value proposition. Bitcoin’s partial privacy beats Zcash’s shielded pool via scale. Its ~500K daily transactions boost anonymity across Taproot, CoinJoin, and Lightning. Zcash’s low adoption limits its privacy. Bitcoin’s anonymity set grows with every Taproot output, CoinJoin mix, and Lightning node. More users = more privacy. Zcash’s small shielded pool (27% of supply) remains easier to analyze. Taproot boosts Bitcoin’s fungibility. Complex scripts now blend seamlessly with regular transactions. At 39% adoption, privacy scales with use. Zcash’s optional shielding splits its anonymity set, reducing its effectiveness. CoinJoin adds entropy to Bitcoin’s chain analysis. Each mix obscures inputs/outputs. Larger mixes (100+ users) make tracing harder. Zcash’s ~94% transparent volume leaks data, weakening privacy. Lightning nodes route payments off-chain, hiding details via onion routing. Channel opens blend with Taproot spends. Zcash’s 27% shielded supply lacks sufficient volume for true cover. Privacy needs liquidity. Bitcoin’s $2.3T market cap and ~500k daily transactions amplify its anonymity set. Zcash’s $4B market cap and low shielded use can't compete. Scale is king. Zcash’s regulatory overhang limits adoption. It’s grouped with Monero and other privacy coins under AML scrutiny. Major exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance have restricted or delisted ZEC in multiple regions. Bitcoin, in contrast, is legally recognized as a commodity in major jurisdictions and held by public companies, ETFs, and nation states. Governance disputes between ECC and Zcash Foundation have led to further fragmentation and confusion, blurring its narrative. Is it a privacy coin, a payments coin, or a compliance-friendly hybrid? Uncertainty kills conviction. Bitcoin has one chain and one vision only: hard, sound, decentralized, permissionless, and uncensorable money. Zcash is transitioning to a hybrid PoW/PoS consensus algorithm (Crosslink & Trailing Finality Layer). Modifying the base layer protocol erodes immutability and sound money principles. This consensus shift reallocates rewards (~40% to stakers), potentially centralizing power among large holders. Founders, ECC, and Zcash Foundation (~1-2% of supply from past rewards) could earn outsized staking yields, exacerbating wealth centralization à la fiat. Like the Cantillon Effect, early insiders (who benefited from Founders’ Reward and Dev Fund) gain from new staking rewards at the expense of smaller holders, compounding their advantages in a PoS system. Bitcoin avoids this with pure PoW. Ultimately, Bitcoin has crossed the monetary Rubicon. It's now a macro asset held as treasury reserve and collateral globally. Zcash remains a niche tech experiment, not a monetary network. After 9 years, Zcash has failed to achieve network growth, liquidity, or cultural relevance. With Bitcoin’s evolving privacy roadmap, it will incorporate most of Zcash’s privacy capabilities while keeping its monetary integrity intact. In the long run, Bitcoin’s modular privacy approach is more sustainable, auditable, and adoption-friendly. Sound money demands absolute credibility in scarcity, decentralization, and security. Zcash fails on all three compared to Bitcoin. $ZEC has underperformed $BTC in every market cycle since inception. All signs point to that trend continuing indefinitely.