51
Escitalopram Why?
51921ff47c14fb210e8806362d54bb98122b5b6ec9073046e0ad083c9001f450
Replying to Avatar Carl B Menger

I have yet to share my personal #Bitcoin journey, but I believe now is the right time to do so. It marks the beginning of my descent into the Bitcoin rabbit hole and, much like the Bitcoin White Paper itself, my story is closely tied to the financial crisis of 2008.

This account is deeply personal, laced with self-pity and a sense of stupidity. That's why I've kept it private and not even shared it with my closest friends, but I think it's important to share it now with you. Giving back to a community I received so much in the previous years. All too often, those who fall victim to the shortcomings of the fiat system internalize the guilt, unaware that they are being taken advantage of by a corrupt fiat system.

My parents, hardworking individuals who dedicated their lives to building their own business from scratch, had little time to acquire financial education. In the early 2000s, they were advised — like many companies and individuals in Austria — to finance their company/house with a Swiss franc loan. The arrangement was complex and opaque, involving multiple loan accounts and significant commissions for both the bank and our financial advisor. My parents, trusting the system, unknowingly became entangled in a speculative gamble, exacerbated by the euro's introduction and the franc's relative strength over time. It turns out that debt in a strong currency and income in a rapidly depreciating currency have only one outcome: Default over time.

As a result of the financial crisis of 2008, the Swiss National Bank could no longer suppress the upward pressure on the franc in 2014 and the fallout was inevitable. Overnight, my family faced a substantially larger loan burden than initially anticipated, to threaten us to file bankruptcy and lose everything we worked for in the previous decade. This devastating turn of events — driven by corrupt banking practices and greedy financial advisors — left an indelible mark on me. As a young man, witnessing my parents' hard-earned savings and efforts eroded by a system they trusted was enough to cement my distrust of financial institutions forever. At this point in time I made a promise to myself: Trust no one, educate yourself and verify.

A few years later, I discovered Bitcoin. It clicked immediately. Here was a decentralized, incorruptible solution to the very problem that had caused so much pain for my family. Bitcoin represented a chance to opt out of a fiat system riddled with perverse incentives and predatory practices. My family's experience — our suffering under the weight of a corrupt financial system — motivates me to advocate for Bitcoin adoption. For this reason, I will never trade my Bitcoin for fiat currency ever, no matter the fiat price. It represents more than wealth to me; it’s a symbol of resilience and justice, a way to honor the sacrifices my parents made.

Looking back, I am almost grateful for this painful chapter of my life. It woke me up and set me on a path I might not have found otherwise. Many people experience similar losses at the hands of the fiat system without even realizing it because the theft happens incrementally, through inflation and hidden costs. Fact is, that honest, hardworking individuals are being robbed every day — second by second — by a system designed to erode their purchasing power over time. Like my parents, but more gradually.

While it’s exciting to see Bitcoin’s fiat price increase, that is not its ultimate value. Bitcoin represents so much more. And I know, many others who HODL Bitcoin not for fiat wealth but for deeply personal reasons — reasons rooted in justice, independence, and freedom. For those of us who have been wronged by the current system, Bitcoin is not just an asset, it’s a revolution for a better future.

Yours forever thankful, Carl. 🧡

didn't read, blocked you instead 🖕🏻gfy

it's called being well fucking rounded. comes at a cost.

The outgoing Biden regime probably seeks to do a few things. For one, escalating the war when the entire world knows peace is imminent makes the new administration’s job more difficult. The unelected white house staffers, likely seeking to cause as much damage as possible before leaving office, would approve of such escalations just as a way to stick it to those who are taking their jobs.

Though this level of pettiness seems to be a bit extreme even for the classic D.C. bureaucrat, for many of the personalities currently involved in the Ukrainian war, they may indeed do everything they can to take a scorched-earth stance, and try to stoke World War III just out of spite.

Another likely goal of the Biden regime is simply fraud. While the entire western world panics at the technical line for a nuclear war being crossed (at least according to Russia), one small detail may calm concerns…Ukraine might not actually have the munitions to conduct any long range attack with. Suddenly allowing Ukraine to use long-range munitions against Russia, when they don’t have any more long-range missiles, is a classing political move emblematic of the entire Pentagon intelligentsia. Ukraine gets to shuffle some more money around and pretend to have the capabilities to severely impact Russia, while Russia herself knows that Ukraine can’t do much even with these allegedly new permissions.

While many may put a lot of weight on Ukraine previously being told “no” when it comes to the use of long-range munitions to strike Russia, the sharp reality of this increasingly-desperate war is that Ukraine has shown anything but restraint. Any munition that the United States gives them, gets used immediately (for the most part), as would be expected of any nation in a similar situation. As such, assuming that Ukraine has some large stockpile of ATACMS missiles that they haven’t used yet might not be entirely accurate. Additionally, even considering the “long-range” nature of the specific missiles in question, “long-range” does not mean “unlimited range”. Geography matters, and it’s doubtful as to if the “long-range” missiles given to Ukraine could actually strike Moscow, for instance. Ukraine has already fielded many munitions (such as drones) that have already been used to target Moscow directly, albeit with a very small payload.

On the other hand, only a handful of missiles can cause a rapid escalation into a more kinetic war; one missile evading countermeasures and successfully striking a substantial target in Russia could draw a response that the world is not yet prepared for.

Russia is probably banking on what the whole world knows is happening…the west trying to funnel as much money as possible through Ukraine before an inauguration, and adopting a scorched earth policy to increase the hardships for the next wave of political leadership in the United States. Putin, though technically allowing himself to use nuclear weapons, probably won’t do so in this instance. He knows the war is largely over, and that an armistice (and the buffer zone he wanted) is only a couple of months away.

Despite their rhetoric, Russia is not likely to launch nuclear weapons based on Ukraine striking a few targets inside Russia with a handful of ATACMS missiles.

None of this is particularly comforting for the American taxpayer, however. If the cultural norm is changing to allow for an outgoing regime to try to start WWIII so that the incoming regime has to deal with it…this is a very dangerous game that highlights that the apolitical decorum within Washington (however minimal) that has maintained some level of stability over the years is largely gone.

fucking propogandist lol

no.

the whole "dildo of consequences" construct doesn't make sense

braindead horny 18yos made it popular and that lot of jackasses has grown up.

it's like saying "the chicken of consequences rarely arrives plucked"

sure, i could ram the chicken up your asshole, feathers and all. but that's not whst chickens are for.

same goes for dildos.

Replying to Avatar OneBigLife

People are currently infatuated with Micro Strategy / MSTR "because it is a 1.5 leverage play on bitcoin", and are in (deserved) admiration of nostr:npub15dqlghlewk84wz3pkqqvzl2w2w36f97g89ljds8x6c094nlu02vqjllm5m for beating the S&P 500 so convincingly.

I know people close to me who have worked hard and saved bitcoin, but are now being tempted to exchange BTC for MSTR, spurred on by influencers like American nostr:npub1rtlqca8r6auyaw5n5h3l5422dm4sry5dzfee4696fqe8s6qgudks7djtfs (I'm a fan) and his latest strong endorsement.

But, MSTR is nothing like BTC. You sell 1 BTC and buy the equivalent value MSTR. You now own a security that is holding ~0.35 BTC on your behalf. The 'BTC yield' isn't yield on your 1 BTC. It is growing the 0.35 BTC up a little higher each year, but nowhere near the original 1 BTC you had.

Yes, I understand Micro Strategy is offering a service that is of value "like an oil company" (see latest Micro Strategy Earnings Call) and therefore trades at a premium. But this is pure speculation just like buying any other company share. The calculation is whether MSTR will generate more value with his company on the 0.65 BTC (the non-BTC treasury part of your 1 BTC investment) than holding the 0.65 BTC would. And in Saylor's own words about other companies, that means MSTR needs to compound more than 29% a year going forwards in terms of company value. That's quite a hurdle - one that very few companies in history have achieved over the long term.

There are good arguments on both sides regarding MSTR, the value the company provides and therefore its premium.

BUT BEFORE SELLING THE SCARCEST FINANCIAL ASSET on earth, one with no counterparty or company director risk, for a speculative asset, one should just THINK VERY HARD.

You may never be able to get the BTC you sold back again.

(disclaimer: I hold both BTC and MSTR - but MSTR only where I can't hold BTC)

it's all a ponzi scheme. stay humble and stack sats. let these fuckers die

nope.

from the study:

"...The increase in excess cardiopulmonary arrest deaths may also be attributed to COVID-19 infection and disruptions in emergency care during the pandemic."

i.e. the far more likely explanation.

for the record I personally know ~500 vaccinated and boosted people, none of whom have had serious ill effects.

wow so useful.

your OPINION is fucking GIBBERISH

there is that clear enough?

do less weed

Replying to Avatar shep21

fiat fiat and more fiat

what the actual fuck