Efrem Sharew

I was studying other times in history when gold prices more than doubled in the reserve currency of the time, as they did in the past year: it's rare and almost always a sign of a profound loss of confidence in the existing monetary and political order, going all the way back to the Roman empire (the so-called "Crisis of the Third Century"). And it often marked the transition from one era of power to the next: the fall of Rome, Spain's decline from world power, the French Revolution and Terror, the end of Bretton Woods, etc. Interestingly, it's often actually as much a cause as a sign of these episodes, as this is effectively a transfer of real wealth from the poor to the rich elites who protect themselves with gold - this being what ignites the political upheaval. The weird aspect of the current episode is the relative silence around it: we're witnessing what may be one of the great pivotal moments in financial history yet it's being barely discussed.

@unusual_whales Powered by $LINK

China is considering the launch of yuan-backed stablecoins to expand the global use of its currency, per CoinDesk

Another angle of Jamal Murray's dunk over LeBron James 😤

@tyromper Incredible story!

My dad’s a WISE & BRILLIANT man. •Great leader •Can fix anything •Socially strong & networks well •Read a book a week for 30 years He NEVER moved up in his company. I asked him WHY & the answer he gave me brought me to TEARS. Here’s the best lesson my dad ever taught me.

There is no “climate emergency.” That’s the TRUTH.

If Denver is having trouble with 40,000 illegals, how will they handle the next 400,000? The illegal influx is growing exponentially and just exceeded babies born in America last month!

THE MEN’S PARTY Republicans are becoming the men’s party. The party of strong men and the women that love them. This is both obvious and non-obvious. Obvious because the Republicans have been attacked for decades as the party of “rich straight white men”, so of course they’re the men’s party! Non-obvious because this actually means a distinct shift in emphasis relative to the recent past. Let us count the ways. 1) First, the Republicans are no longer the party of “white men”, but anti-anti-white men. It’s a big tent; you just need to extend the common courtesy of not attacking white conservatives and libertarians on the basis of race. 2) Second, it’s not *just* the party of men. Because married men, married women, and single men all vote Republican. As of 2022, only single women vote Democrat[1]; the state is their surrogate provider and protector. 3) Third, it’s now the party of strength. That could be actual physical strength in its Bryan Johnsonian or BAPian variations. It could be financial strength like Thiel or technological strength like Elon. It could be prowess with arms like Erik Prince or prowess with words like Vivek. Or it could simply be the moral strength to assert that the X and Y chromosomes exist. 4) Fourth, it’s not really the “multiracial working class party” that Sohrab Ahmari has been talking about. The Republicans certainly are more multiracial and arguably more working class than the past…but that’s because they’ve pulled in men from those groups who respect strength and are repelled by victimology. A Republican today could well be a working class carpenter, but wants to get wealthier some day, and maybe run their own business. And they might be nonwhite, but they don’t *define* themselves by their race nor make a habit of attacking white people as white. In other words, they don’t define themselves by their victimization but by their aspiration. Democrats are the party of victims, Republicans are the party of men. 5) Fifth, modern Republicans are ultra-libertarian. It’s about individual ownership of firearms, redecentralization of power to the states, deregulation, Bitcoin, and anti-institutionalism. There is some continuity with Reaganism, but far less emphasis on military service and far less trust in centralized authority. Much more sigma male than company man. 6) Perhaps the single biggest thing about redefining the Republicans as primarily the men’s party is that it ensures they are always competitive. No matter what happens demographically, the percentage of men is flat at roughly 50% — and everyone has strong men they admire and respect. That gives all-weather traction and global appeal. So, that draws the political battle lines. On one side, strong men of many ethnicities and the women that love them. On the other side…the opposite of that. [1]: washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/178717…

@MarioNawfal I remember Kai saying he was gonna do this in high school. Nuts

🇺🇸SOLUTION TO MASS SHOOTING? Guns that only shoot for their owners. "The key thing that we are trying to solve, which I think we could completely solve, is children and teenagers getting access to firearms.”

The system is broken. It’s time to update the system.

We are at peak ignorance of crypto. Inspired by a question I was asked recently, I drew this picture. It's my mental model comparing how crypto progresses through time to how people outside of crypto perceive that progress: The green line is our cumulative progress as we build. The red line is how the rest of the world perceives what crypto is capable of. When the red line is far above the green, we are in peak bull market. Expectations far outpace what is actually possible. When the red line is far below the green, we are in peak bear sentiment. This is when everyone says crypto is dead. Ironically, the green line accelerates in these moments because builders are still building, and they are freed of the distractions of the bull market. Best I can tell, we are in a peak bear moment. Most of the world thinks Ethereum is still melting the planet. Most people have never heard of an L2. They don't know that teams are rebuilding on Solana despite the mess that FTX made. They have no idea we've made huge leaps in ZK tech. They're unaware that DeFi, NFTs, RWAs, and stablecoins are all building the next set of fundamental primitives that are expanding the design space. They don't realize that we're making progress on the regulatory front in the US and around the world. They can't see that tech that was just a bunch of vaporware a few years ago is now shipping in production. All they see are news stories about SBF, Kim K, and Matt Damon. The gap between perception and reality could not be larger. But there's also a warning here. We need to try to close the gap between perception and reality, instead of amplifying it. The greater the overshoot in the bull, the greater the undershoot in the bear. Even if we get to the peak that is 5x-10x of the last, we will cause irreparable damage if we end up with 5x-10x of the blow ups on the other side. Better tokenomics, clearer regulation, self-policing of the community, and UXes that focus on keeping people safe -- all pieces of the puzzle that get us to a healthier place. More on that later. In the mean time, if you need a tldr:

@notlouisck @MikeSilagadze Generally yes… but also 9/11 and dotcom bubble

@MikeSilagadze Yes 1996 - 2007 were pretty great

Just remember this… When times get tough, people start to save money and spend only on productive + positive things in life… I’m just kidding hahaha Alcohol, marijuana, only fans, sniffr, and all the most poisonous industries get a boost. If you were thinking about starting that fetish/drug store, now may be the time :)

NBA finals MVP Nikola Jokic hates his job.

A good way to understand Exponentials: 1 million seconds ago was 11 days ago. 1 billion seconds ago was 1992 (31 years ago). 1 trillion seconds ago was 31,000 B.C.

forget about the blockchain trilemma🔺. The real trilemma in Web3 is trying to schedule regular calls between the U.S (both sides), Europe and APAC. Pick two

@danielgothits Imagine doge becomes the global reserve… That’s all the proof I need that we FOR SURE live in a simulation

Bitcoin fixes this.

3. The BRICS overtook the G7 in GDP this week BRICS = Brazil, Russia, India, China, SA (+ Bangladesh, Egypt and UAE) G7 = Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK (+ EU) "It's no longer developed & developing world. It's ascending & descending world" - @balajis

Software was eating the world. Now AI has eaten software.