BuT aReNt YoU a FrEe SpEcH aBsOlUtisT?

Astonishing, definitely.

I get what you're saying. I'd rather listen to a podcast or hangout on Nostr, if I wanted to learn/discuss certain topics.

I don't like using the term "irl friends", because I consider the many Nostr anons I interact with you be irl friends. So let's call them my local friends.

My local friends are people I can have great discussions about running a small business, the sports & entertainment business, athletic performance, ect.

I like GameStop as a company. I hope they adopt a Bitcoin standard and thrive in the future.

I think people are just scared of freedom. Lack of certainty is too volatile.

Yeah, that left a bad taste in my mouth.

To me, the issue isn't that he's paying people to play his account. It's that he lied about it.

Honestly, minus their bad takes, they are very nice people. If I need something, they're there for me and that's what makes them friends.

While I think they are completely missing the big picture, when it comes to their view of the world, they are very good at what they do in their own industries. They're just caught in the matrix.

I'm the black sheep of the friend group, I've accepted it.

Always 🫡

I just ask questions, and sprinkle in some things here and there.

For example, when discussing the DOGE team, I said "I read today that one of the zoomers created an AI that can decipher burnt ancient scrolls. That's pretty awesome!"

It's true, makes them kinda look stupid for talking shit about these young people without knowing anything about them, and I'm not arguing them on their previous statements.

Of course

Went to a dinner last night and caught up with some friends. We talked a bit of politics for the first time in a while, and it really hit me how radical I must seem to them, though I genuinely don’t understand why.

It’s surreal how their opinions align almost word-for-word with what you’d read in corporate media.

"Oh, saving $100 million here and there is just a drop in the bucket for the US, it doesn’t even matter."

"The U.S. is such a mess. They have 18- to 20-year-olds working for DOGE. They have no experience in anything, and no one elected them."

"It’s crazy how fast fascism can take hold. They're defunding the government and gutting a bunch of regulations."

And these are people living in Alberta, the so-called Texas of Canada. Honestly, it makes me pretty bearish on Canada’s future.

So many people can't seem to grasp the concept of a free market, believing that everything must have some form of centralized control.

Healthcare, for example. I often say I’d like to see a true free market in the industry, and the immediate response is, "Okay, so how would it work?"... as if I need to present a fully developed business plan for an industry I have no intention of entering.

Every time, I have to clarify that I’m a hockey coach, not a healthcare entrepreneur. My focus is on my own field; someone else can figure out how to compete in healthcare.

At this point, the conversation usually shifts to, "So you want to get rid of universal healthcare, but you don’t even know what you'd replace it with? How does that make sense?"

That’s when I explain how incentives function in a free market and how they drive innovation, efficiency, and competition in every industry where market forces are allowed to work. I outline how these same dynamics would apply to healthcare.

And yet, inevitably, the discussion loops back to the original question: "Okay, but how would it actually work? How would you run it?"... as if my personal blueprint is the prerequisite for the concept itself to be valid.

It's annoying.

Fuck Trudeau.

I'm inspired by all the winning down South.

Those same types of data nerds are trying to make their way into hockey. Lots of the sport has been infiltrated, but not nearly as deeply as the other big American sports.

I posted this meme on my Instagram anon account a while back. Lots of people in my industry got butthurt about it.

BuT hE's A cOnViCtEd FeLoN!

Interesting, so your definition is more of a discovery of the truth, if I understand correctly?

If I remember the MMT literature, that's how they view it.

I suppose we need a clearer definition of what it means to be red-pilled. Is it about being right about something, or is it a mindset/an approach to seeking truth?

Can someone be red-pilled yet still be wrong about reality? And conversely, can someone be blue-pilled yet still be correct about a particular aspect of reality?

This reminds me of my favorite quote from the goated best character from Naruto.

I don't think anyone truly has a full grasp on reality. To see reality clearly, one would need access to all available information, something no one ever has.

Even in The Matrix, the red pill reveals the truth about the illusion, but it doesn’t grant complete clarity about reality beyond that system.

To me, being red-pilled means being open to new information and thinking critically to get as close to the truth as possible.

Being blue-pilled is choosing to remain in a comfortable version of reality, avoiding information that might challenge it.

Interestingly, there are no red-pilled individuals who claim to be blue-pilled, but there are many blue-pilled individuals who claim to be red-pilled.