Bitcoin Tech Talk #391
Interesting Stuff
Self vs the Mob - This rather long read is motivated by the question, what is the main struggle of the 21st century? The author goes through the concept of Hegelian dialectic and the defining conflict of the 20th century, which was capitalism vs. communism. The author argues that the internet has been the technology that has brought forth the conflict of the 21st century, which is self-sovereignty over the mob. He even writes a little about Bitcoin, though I find his understanding rather shallow. But his point that this is the century where it’s the individual vs. the group is very much an insightful one.
The Abortion Pill - I really didn’t know very much about this pill until I read this article, but it was eye-opening to say the least. Much like with vaccines and birth conntrol, there’s definitely an ideological bias toward calling all things related to it safe, even if it isn’t. Most hospitals will code abortion pill related complications as miscarriages, despite them being quite different circumstances. The article just goes to show how political even things like health become when infused with ideology of the authorities.
Headed toward Totalitarianism - This is another of many different people from former communist countries that are sounding the alarm about how western democracies are headed in that direction. The author is the daughter of a prominent Czech journalist who fought communism and she calls out the censorship of the press and many show trials that clearly are meant to frighten the people that would protest. Yeonmi Park has a book out which similarly compares western democracies with North Korean communism.
Wonks - One of the concepts I return to over and over in my writing is that of rent-seekers and this is an interesting, more positive perspective on the type of people that become rent-seekers. The article traces the modern “wonk” which is essentially a manager/bureaucrat emerging from the large-scale businesses emerging from the industrial revolution. But even with the positive view of these people, the author recognizes that there’s a significant loss by making these positions so gate-kept and credentialed. Fiat money has degraded even the quality of the rent-seekers over time.
What I'm up to
Block Insider - I talked with these guys from Brazil about Bitcoin’s origins. I talked with them about the pre-history of Bitcoin, including Wei Dai’s b-money, Hal Finney’s Reusable Proof-of-Work, Chaum’s e-cash and the Cypherpunk mailing list. We talked a bit about the nature of software and Bitcoin and how it’s more a money than a technology. I also ranted about the stupidity of ordinals and NFTs and how they’re not going to last. Finally, we talked about future scalability.
Bit Block Boom - The annual Texas conference is finally here! Tickets are sold out from what I hear, but there are enough side events that there should be opportunities to hang out with fellow Bitcoiners. I’ll be there Friday and Saturday, selling some books and giving some talks. Come by for some steak and Bitcoin!
Oslo Freedom Forum - I will be at this annual conference on June 3-5 in Oslo to talk about human freedom, particularly monetary freedom. The conference is always a great exploration into what’s actually going on in the world and not just what the mainstream media tells about. If you want to learn how Bitcoin helps the fighters for human rights, this is the conference to go to.
Nostr Note of the Week
What I’m Promoting
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