Making some Wagyu beef stock.

These are bones from 1/8 of a locally raised Wagyu cow I bought yesterday using Bitcoin. The fat layer is thick, I'm guessing from all the marrow.

It's been simmering 20hrs on the stove in water, salt and a cup of vinegar.

I'll remove the bones, strain and start evaporating most of the water out in a few hours.

Beef stock is the secret ingredient in almost every saucy dish I make. I store the concentrated stock in cubes in the freezer.

GM

Remember that fear is the biggest enemy.

“Fear not” is written in the Bible 365 Times.

That's a daily reminder to live every day being fearless.

"Old slaves were in chains, new slaves are in denial."

Ancient Roman Taxes and How the State Kept the Lights On

Let’s dive into the ancient Roman tax system—a messy, evolving beast that somehow kept one of history’s biggest empires afloat until it finally collapsed as a form of late-antique socialist nightmare. From the Republic’s citizen-focused levies to the Empire’s province-squeezing machine, Rome figured out how to fund its legions, aqueducts, and free bread handouts. Spoiler: it wasn’t always pretty, and yeah, they even taxed pee. Stick with me—this gets interesting.

The Early Days Of The Republic

Back in the Roman Republic (509-27 BCE), taxes were straightforward but kinda brutal if you were a citizen with land. The big one was the tributum—a direct tax on property and wealth. Every few years, they’d do a census, sizing up everyone’s stuff and splitting the people into five fiscal classes. The richer you were, the more you paid. Fair, right? Well, if You're a commie that sounds like a good deal. It funded wars and kept the state chugging, but it hit Romans directly.

Then, in 167 BCE, after Rome smashed Macedon and hauled in a ton of loot, they pulled a flex: no more tributum for citizens in Italy. Sweet deal if you lived there, but it shifted the burden onto the provinces. These conquered lands started paying a fixed tax called the stipendium, originally meant for soldier salaries. Rome was like, “Thanks for the cash, new guys—enjoy being part of the club.”

The Empire: Augustus Levels Up the Game

Fast forward to Augustus (27 BCE-14 CE), Caesar's adopted son who turned Rome into an empire and decided the tax system needed a glow-up. He introduced the vicesima hereditatium—a 5% inheritance tax—and the centesima, a 1% sales tax on auctions. These funded a shiny new military budget, the aerarium militare, because legions don’t pay themselves. People grumbled—nobody likes tax hikes—but Augustus sold it as patriotic duty.

The Empire split provinces into two flavors: senator-run ones feeding the aerarium (public treasury) and emperor-run ones filling the fiscus (his personal stash). The fiscus started as Augustus’ Egyptian side-hustle but grew into a monster, soaking up cash from imperial lands. By now, Italy was mostly tax-free, while provinces picked up the slack. It’s like Rome said, “You’re Roman now—pay up.”

Publicani: The Tax Collectors

Here’s where it gets sketchy. Rome didn’t have a slick IRS—they outsourced tax collection to private contractors called publicani. These thieves bid for the right to collect taxes in a region, paid the state upfront, and kept whatever extra they squeezed out. Profit motive meets ancient bureaucracy? You bet it led to corruption. Provincials got fleeced, resentment brewed, and the publicani became the poster boys for Roman greed. Think of them as the ancient equivalent of a shady landlord hiking rent just because he can.

How’d They Spend It?

So, where’d all this money go? The military was the big hog—50-75% of the budget, depending on who’s counting. Rome had a massive standing army, guarding borders from Britain to Syria and occasionally conquering something new. That’s not cheap. Next up: infrastructure. Roads, aqueducts, temples—the Romans built stuff that’s still standing today. They also ran a welfare gig in the capital, handing out free grain to keep the plebs happy and riots off the streets. Add in admin costs, and you’ve got a budget that’d make modern governments sweat.

Late Empire: Diokletian’s Big Pivot

By the 3rd century CE, things were shaky—wars, inflation, chaos. Enter Diokletian with his capitatio-iugatio system, tying land and head taxes together. It was efficient but grim, chaining farmers to their plots like medieval serfs. Short-term, it stabilized cash flow; long-term, it stiffened the economy and provoked a booming black market economy and devolution toward barter. Rome was adapting, but the cracks were showing.

Weird Tax Flex: Pee Money

Okay, here’s the wild card: Rome taxed urine. Under Vespasian, they hit up public toilets and tanners who used pee for ammonia—think cleaning, leather-making, even fertilizer. When his son complained it was gross, Vespasian allegedly waved a coin and said, “Pecunia non olet”—money doesn’t stink. Practical? Sure. Bizarre? Absolutely.

Social Vibes and Reforms

One big move was Caracalla’s 212 CE edict, making every free man in the empire a citizen. Cool for rights, but also a tax grab—more citizens, more taxpayers. The census kept things “fair,” but corruption and exemptions for Italy meant provinces felt the squeeze hardest. No wonder some saw Rome as less liberator, more loan shark.

Wrapping It Up

The Roman tax system was a rollercoaster—from citizen duties in the Republic to province-powered empire cash. It bankrolled a military juggernaut, epic public works, and bread for the masses, but it wasn’t flawless. Outsourcing to publicani fueled corruption, and late reforms like Diokletian’s locked society into rigid tiers. In fact, Diocletian's reforms layed the groundwork for the medieval order. Still, Rome’s knack for taxing everything—even pee—shows how creative they got to keep the empire humming. Next time you groan about taxes, just be glad nobody’s billing your bathroom breaks - until now. I bet, the EU already has some brain storming central planners working around the clock on this topic.

#History #Economy AncientRome #Taxes #Grownostr #Nostr #NostrVibes #Plebchain

Institutions are failing.

Taxes are out of control.

Politicians sell out our country.

Our young men die for other countries.

The food we eat is fake.

Our news is fake and controlled.

The money we use is a tool of our enslavement.

Our culture is dying.

The young women have been propagandized.

Religion which served our families for millennia are mocked.

Have you no rage? Have you no self-respect?

You are a spiritual creature, greater than this world.

Wake up, take control over your life, and reject the reality they created for you. Remember your glorious purpose.

We are building the future, here and now. No more holding back or carefully choosing words. Laser focused, here on #nostr.

Join me.

LESS WHO IS SATOSHI

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THANK YOU, SATOSHI

Does everything work perfectly? Of course not. Is it for everyone? Lmao, no. Will it get better still? 100%

You can bitch and moan and dismiss it all you want, but to me the path ahead is quite clear: freedom-loving builders will continue to make this thing more awesome, more rugpull-resistant, more useful, and easier to use every day. The legacy web will have more rules, more friction, more KYC, cookie banners, sign-ups, deplatforming, and demonetization as time goes on and the walls close in. Innovations in freedom tech will REMOVE friction, tiny baby step by tiny baby step.

concentrate on that word demonization. this is a spiritual world that most have mo idea. we are almost at the end according to the Bible which is the authoritative map in this life.

sadly the Bitcoin ETF is the only way I could use my trapped 401k funds to add to my BTC stack. Now I am getting the growth of BTC price with funds I would never have been able to use with out a massive tax punishments' for taking it out.

My plan is when I can take out fund with out punishment, sell off the ETF and convert it into real BTC.

The head of Ethiopia’s central bank has a copy of Broken Money in his office.

He also has The Deficit Myth, but I can overlook that. 😅