Jamie Dimon’s flip on Bitcoin just proves what we already knew - in most cases, opposition to Bitcoin comes from self interest and a desire to protect the privileges Bitcoin disrupts.

Not at all. But it’s all in the execution.

After a long string of Bitcoin books, I’m rereading Modris Ekstein’s “Rites of Spring.” The book looks at the cultural environment that preceded WWI and the destruction of European civilization that followed. While our current civilization lacks the cultural elevation of the time, some of the threads still ring true - youth frustration, cultural norms being challenged, an elite unable to perceive the depths of institutional decadence.

Any honest observer sees the institutional decadence on full display. Regardless of your politics, the metaphor of Biden, personification of those institutions, declining before our eyes despite institutional insistence to the contrary, is glaring. Everything that has been directed at Trump, culminating in the events of July 13th, all spasms of resistance to that decline.

The sensation of a generational rotation is palpable. I give credit to a lot of people on this platform for building the tools that will help make this rotation a renewal. History books are replete with stories of the birth of technologies that changed the world for the better. I look forward to watching my own grandchildren read stories about the technologies being built here today, asking rhetorically, as we all do about previous generations, how anyone could have ever lived without them.

Conversely, the Washington DC area is abnormally crowded. Traffic usually subsides in the summer, and although tourists clog the usual spots, traffic in the suburbs is usually lighter all summer long.

Maybe people are just staying close, trying to make sure they get their cut of the Cantillon Effect in these uncertain times.

Smooth.

I agree. People who really needed the money had years of opportunity to sell their claims. Those that held on throughout the whole drama are more of the ride or die variety.

I think I’ve increasingly come to mistake cynicism for experience, or maybe even wisdom. I’ve traveled a bit, been part of a few things, fair to say I’ve been around. But it is only recently that I’ve noticed what might be an unhealthy degree of cynicism in my thinking.

I think this cynicism is unhealthy, it blocks doorways and inhibits gestures that might otherwise lead to fulfilling experiences and relationships.

Sometimes it’s hard to avoid the descent to cynicism. The world makes it easy, yet we can’t make it better if we too easily surrender to the temptation of extreme cynicism. I’ll keep my skepticism, but that does not prevent me from making an effort to be more faithful.

TWO BASIC TRUTHS.

GOOD MORNING🫡

Sketchy….

A hot Saturday in the Washington, DC area. Kinda rough on our Staffy!

Solid.

Celebrating Independence Day with a family hike down Turkey Run trail to the banks of a very low Potomac River.

Wishing everyone, no matter where you’re from, a happy and healthy Independence Day.

Awesome!

I feel wind in those sails!

Much of social media in a nutshell.

I’m three months into my hobby mining project. If you want to contribute some low maintenance hash-rate, the Bitaxe Supra is a beast. Fire and forget. Occasional reboots, but damn it just doesn’t stop hashing.

Wishing you a speedy recovery. Anything eye related is quite scary.

Hahaha, oh man. Fine work sir.

Yes! Thank you!

American policymakers are stuck in a fading framework - dollar dominance understood as the ability to manipulate currency as a tool of national power. And it isn’t Bitcoin causing this framework to fade, but rather the abuse of the very privileges people wish to maintain.

While Bitcoin is neutral, that neutrality speaks to what I hope can remain core American values - the sovereign individual, economic freedom. Challenged as these values are, people are seemingly waking to the realization of the false promises of collectivization. Because Bitcoin speaks to core values, it inherently offers Americans the opportunity to benefit from this competitive advantage.

The dollar system is resilient, but it is not immortal. When it comes to Bitcoin, the US enjoys the competitive advantages of values, hash rate, and innovation. Something will fill the gap left by the dollar as its role as reserve asset fades. Right now there is no clear successor. Perhaps we will stumble upon a new generation of leaders who see the possibility of filling this gap with a monetary asset that, while perhaps beyond our ability to directly manipulate, is well suited to help the American people realize a sound future for themselves and the country.

And with that example, might not other like-minded countries follow? I believe there is space enough on this Earth of ours for everyone to prosper.