anonisko

I'd much rather see a super majority of Congress choose a prime minister at this point.

It's not really news if you've been paying attention the last few years or decades.

Not enough people have been paying attention.

Tape reels would probably be best for cold storage, not paper or live, network connected disks.

*more desperate every year

It could be a moving or cyclical target.

Once the collective subconscious comes to consensus that a particular design is what looks 'cool', then it opens up a niche for someone to come in and do something 'ugly' as a demonstration of power. It's like saying, "this is so much better that we don't even care what you think about its appearance."

I think the Cybertruck is attempting to do exactly this to wedge itself into the 'badass' American pickup truck market. "Oh that's a cute little F-150 with all it's smooth curves. Does the paint job match your nail polish?"

Those without power will always look for new niches and edges to leverage their way into power. That often comes from just mentally reframing what you decide is valuable, because the market for traditionally valuable things is already too crowded.

Note; I'm not really giving a moral judgement or approval of this kind of machismo mentality. Just doing some armchair psychology.

I'd see it as more about PR.

If poor desperate people regularly see these kinds of badass weapons that a foreign power has, it's just going to be that much harder to recruit for organizations that violently resist oppression, because the individuals you need are fearful and demoralized.

Then you need crazy things like religious indoctrination that promises rewards in heaven for fighting such an unassailable power.

It's not complete bullshit. Against other sophisticated actors, yeah, it's bullshit. But posturing and intimidation is important to keep less sophisticated actors in check.

I'd be shocked if the military doesn't include aesthetics when considering which new equipment to use.

You'd want to look badass and cool to the people you serve and hellish and terrifying to those you attack. The psychological impact in both directions almost certainly has important, real world consequences.

I'm not sure the occasional bank run by people who get over zealous with their greed and desire for MORE is necessarily a bad thing.

The problem in my mind is when banks are doing fractional reserve without the explicit understanding and consent of their depositors. This might mean we'll have to get used a world where we pay banks a tiny fee to secure our money, rather than the risk free interest we expect now.

Could you have written the same thing 6-8 years ago about AMZN?

What you identify as irrational markets might actually be you simply being wrong.

This is an underappreciated possibility of bitcoin.

All that insane amount of gold that's collecting dust in vaults being used as a store of value? Suddenly free to be used productively if bitcoin replaces it. Same with real estate that owners let sit unsed because they're primarily using it as a store of value rather than a productive asset.

Isn't the fundamental difference here that we can't print more bitcoin to bail out bad investments?

Yeah, you can lend out bitcoin and even do fractional reserves, but ultimately, the bill must come due and over leveraged bad bets will get wiped out and good bets get rewarded.

Contrast this to the current environment where we are constantly bailing out and even financially rewarding business and investment failures, which comes at the expense of the working class who both foot the tax bill and aren't well insulated from the ensuing inflation.