We're surrounded by quiet evidence we don't live in a free economy. Case in point: why/how is it that every item in a grocery store (with all their myriad inputs and complex supply/demand dynamics) fall into neatly quantized price increments? $1.99, $2.99, $10.99, etc.? Why isn't a box of blackberries $3.37 or $2.03? ....I understand there are reasons (psychological or otherwise) for charging round numbers, but those reasons are nonetheless distortions of free market dynamics which do not care about the difference between $9.99 and $10.02.

On-board a cruise with extended family... Let me just say that the Nostr/Bitcoiner vision of a future where the people rise up, throw off the yoke of the state, and demand freedom, liberty, and respect for their Natural Rights is OVERLY optimistic. Even more than I expected, the general population has ZERO objection to being bagged, tagged, and herded. The technoccracy will be embraced. Normies are already SLAVES to convenience and maintenance of status quo.

Leftists need to understand that the problem with billionaires is NOT that there isn't enough $$$ to go around and they are hoarding it. The problem is that the only real way one becomes a billionaire is by exploiting proximity to power and/or capitalizing on the degeneracy of the fiat system. Similarly, the problem with your neighborhood crime syndicate isn't how much money they have amassed. The problem is HOW they went about amassing the money. Redistribution doesn't solve anything.

Random thought: I've always heard the DOD touted as proof that a socialist system can work (e.g. Tricare). What's always missing from that claim is the obvious fact that it can only afford to be socialist because it is funded by the proceeds (and debasement) of a larger capitalist system. Also the fact that socialism always works... for a moment... until gravity kicks in and it collapses under its own weight (much like the bloated/corrupt DOD is doing now). That is all.

Orwellian double-speak has quietly created a deep semantic divide that enables reality-manufacturing at an unimaginable rate. Add AI, and all bets are off. We underestimate how much of "objective" reality is actually perspectival. Yesterday I learned, this whole time, that my wife has thought Trump Derangement Syndrome referred to irrational PRO-TRUMP zealots. Your media diet defines your reality. This successful coopting of language negates any hope of compromise, agreement, or a democratic resolution to modern societal rifts. This is tower of Babel stuff.

Why I fear we're fucked fucked... Anarchocapitalism is cruelty. This is the general sentiment of most mainstream (particularly left-of-center) detractors of such a system. Indeed this is the reaction to any sociopolitical/economic system founded on principles of individual accountability - sound money, libertarianism, small government, Austrian economics, etc. Individual responsibility, while empowering to some, is outright terrifying to others. The consequent reality is that a large swathe of society generally operates under a premise that equates consequences with cruelty. This bias is preserved down to the individual level, most commonly expressed in different parenting styles. Why is this important? It is important because it illustrates that what is needed is NOT a fact-based discourse highlighting the merits and drawbacks of the seemingly radical ideal of a predominantly individualist (as opposed to collectivist) system of governance. First a deep exploration of the underpinnings of morals and justice must occur. Before I can convince you that the libertarian vision is not one of cruel and indifferent individualism, we must first have a mutual understanding of notions like ‘justice,’ ‘kindness,’ and ‘cruelty.’ I am generally a proponent of facing the consequences of ones actions. This starkly opposes the opinions of many people I know personally who view this way of being as harsh or uncaring. So the problem is that when you view consequences as cruelty, then the type of society proposed by libertarians IS a cruel one. And this gap is unlikely to ever be bridged without catastrophe (e.g. Great Depression or Soviet-style civilizational despair). Nature to be commanded, must be obeyed. As people and societies experience prosperity and insulation from nature - and its uncompromising Darwinian competition for survival - they become increasingly intolerant of hardship. Stated differently, the better able civilization is to subdue the forces of nature, the more misaligned with nature and its principles we become. The problem with this is that laws - be they of physics or nature - cannot be escaped. They can be deferred. So eventually, the bill comes due. If individuals are not required to pay the price for their actions, eventually, then society writ large will have to. This the case in much of Europe. And it is becoming increasingly the case in the United States as we forget our own rugged, self-reliant origins. I suspect the dislocation will only worsen as we opt for continued attempts at denying the axiomatic truth that NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE. This is the weak-men-creating-hard-times phase of the cycle. If you’ve reached the end of this post, thank you. I don’t like to be a pessimist, but I just do not see a path forward, barring a major recalibration of society’s prevailing views on individual responsibility. Perhaps I am mistaken.

The cognitive dissonance of being a bitcoiner in medicine.... love my patients. Love treating them. Fucking hate Healthcare, the bureacracy, the corrupt incentives, and the way many of my colleagues think. Can't go on forever. Sigh.

I am increasingly hearing the term "spiritual warfare" pop up in the modern vernacular. Some obviously subscribe to this framing, but others I see cringe or recoil at this, as it appears to evoke religiosity and superstition. I would argue that intentional and exacting attention needs to be paid the WORDS, however. Spiritual warfare encompasses the Christian connotation people think of. But it also has a more general meaning. I would argue that ANY struggle that transcends establishing exclusively physical submission of an opponent is spiritual. When a UFC champion takes a match into late rounds to dissect a challenger, that becomes a war of the spirit. When a prisoner of war is subjected to psychological torture, the goal is conquest of the POW's spirit. The intent is to BREAK his or her spirit. So the question is: are there or are there not forces at play in society that strive, whether intentionally or otherwise, to break our spirit? #thinkstr

Probably an unappealing take, but I believe two facts exist in opposition in modern society (specifically with respect to the male psyche): 1. Emotional intelligence, the therapy revolution, comfort with being vulnerable, etc. are generally positive forces for actualization of men - as social creatures. This is a good thing. 2. Cultivating rich emotional fluency has the directional effect of domesticating men. Of course this a generalization, and there are/will be exceptions. But, generally speaking, emotionally actualized and vulnerable men are less savage men. The question is, does society need savage men? I would argue savage men in your populace aren't needed. Until they are. Every revolution in history has hinged on savage men. And if history teaches us anything, it is that revolution is ALWAYS coming. Eventually. This is the paradox I observe as we unconditionally push for more emotionally intelligent men. ...but idk tho 🤷🏾‍♂️

War is the difficulty adjustment.

If restaurants billed like hospitals.... 1. A menu item would cost X. 2. The value of X would be hidden from BOTH the server AND the guest. 3. The guest would then be charged some value Y (instead of X). 4. The restaurant would then be paid some value Z (instead of Y or X). 5. We, as a society, would then be downright BEWILDERED by how broken restaurant economics have become. Insanity 🤬

So is @PUBKEY DC open to public yet or nah? I think google is trying to lead me astray. Says it doesn't open till December

The US floating toxic financial thirst traps like this 50 yr mortgage scheme WHILE gutting the populace is the fiat govt equivalent of a mob boss that gives a usurious loan, then positions goons outside to shake you down for the borrowed cash. You end up broke and idebted to the mob boss - who ends up with the money & power.

I find it amusing that to many people I know, the statement, "not everyone needs to go to college" is more controversial than "not everyone needs to get married/have a family".... one statement is backed by 70 years of precedent, the other thousands. We have a long way to go yet.

Thought question: assuming bitcoin represents a new New World, complete with its own time zone - or rather its own timekeeping convention (block height)... Would this convention be tenable at extraterrestrial/interstellar distances? Is there already an accepted convention for timekeeping in space (I assume UTC would be a silly idea)? 🤔 #thinkster