Bitcoin Tech Talk #439
Interesting Stuff
Why Christianity - One of the most lucid testimonies of a convert that I have ever read, complete with different levels of awareness of what was going on in his life. It’s definitely not the typical Christian story, about how he was bad and then found God and all was right again. He goes through a winding spiritual journey, from growing up in a Christian environment, being enlightened by Dawkins, finding no ground in atheism, escaping into hedonism, finding that unsatisfying and entering into spiritual practices like meditation and still finding it hopeless. He found his final resting place in Christianity and you can’t accuse him of not exploring deeply the many alternatives. The piece showed me just how unreal everything seems without a good grounding, not unlike measuring value with a fast-depreciating currency.
AI Dependency - The article is about research on how AI is used so much in certain contexts that its users are now reliant on it to perform their functions. Much like calculators obviate the need to learn long division, it seems AI is obviating the need for all kinds of skills, like research, writing and even thinking. Of particular concern is its effect on children, many of whom are already saying that they find AI useful, but often don’t feel like they’re learning anything.
Aid that doesn’t Help - Joel Salatin writes on his blog about his two experiences with international aid that focused on farming. Both are surprising in how beneficial they sound to the public (feeding people in Africa! teaching farmers how to grow stuff in Belarus) but in reality enrich large corporations while making the countries that they’re supposed to help poorer. It turns out that what’s supposed to be charitable aid often is just a subsidy to the large corporations that lobby the right departments to get the money that’s supposed to help the people in these countries.
Terrible Lincoln - Lincoln has a special place in contemporary historians’ minds and for many, he’s the greatest president ever who did everything right. This article is a much harsher evaluation of his presidency, particularly with respect to his justification for war and his conduct during it. It’s going to be a jarring read for anyone that reveres Lincoln, but the article is pretty well researched and the facts about him, like the fact that he inherited slaves and sold them instead of freeing them. Of particular interest is how he predated the Federal Reserve with Legal Tender and National Currency Acts, which essentially let him print money in what was a hard money system.
Crisis for Democrats - The article is about the current Democrat coalition and how it has been shrinking the past few years. The main insight is that there’s a “Mean Girls” phenomenon within the party that alienates men, particularly white men. What’s more, this trend isn’t subsiding and seems structurally embedded within the culture of the party. The culture is such that it demands ideological conformity, and any deviation is swiftly punished, hence the Mean Girls analogy. What was clear to me after reading this article is that the centralized power structure of the party is rock solid and not under threat. I don’t think there will be a shift until there’s a moral revolution.
What I'm up to
Crypto Summit Live Stream - I was on with Pete Rizzo on his new podcast, Supply Shock, to talk about the Crypto Summit and the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve that Trump announced through and executive order. We had a good time talking about the various things that were going on in DC and also reminiscing about the book we wrote together for policy people, Bitcoin and the American Dream. I apologize for the horrid audio on my part, I don’t think my browser gave permission for the real mic to be used.
Free Trade Doesn’t Work - I published this to various platforms, but it’s essentially a libertarian case for tariffs in the US. Fiat money gives foreign countries a potent weapon to destroy or compromise US companies and the mitigations that would work for other countries, like capital controls and currency debasement, aren’t available for the global reserve currency issuer. As such, tariffs are a reasonable way to bring manufacturing back to the US and add some resiliency to the brittle supply chain of world production.
Programming Blockchain - There is still time available to apply to the Programming Blockchain seminar in Austin TX, March 31-April 1! I will not be running this seminar again after this final time. Join over 700 alumni that have gone on to work at the biggest Bitcoin companies around the world!
Nostr Note of the Week
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