Tela Network

/ The God of Norway is the God of Genesis 1-2, the spirit that moves over the face of the deep before anything has been separated or named, before light had been divided from the darkness or the waters above from the waters below. It’s the God that precedes language. It’s the God who exists in the formless void, in the silence before the first command, who is not happy or unkind but simply terrifyingly there and everywhere. Sitting on that ridge in Lofoten with the Norwegian Sea stretched beyond you in every direction, grey and endless and alive with a power that has nothing to do with you, you understand why the world’s ancient first instinct was not to worship this God but to survive his wrath. The separation of the waters in Genesis is not a creation story but a survival one. Someone had to put a boundary between the sea and the sky so human beings could exist in that small little space between them. / https://minutes.substack.com/p/reflections-on-norway

An interesting demographic strategy: / Moroccan families pool resources to facilitate hrraga (illegal crossers) specifically for their most problematic members. The family calculus is brutal and rational. That cousin with addiction issues who brings hschuma (shame) to the family? Pool money from uncles, aunts, and grandparents to pay a smuggler. That nephew with a criminal record who cannot find work and sits unemployed bringing disgrace? Finance his boat crossing to Spain. The binary outcome serves family interests either way: he dies attempting the Strait of Gibraltar crossing (problem eliminated, family can claim tragedy rather than disgrace), or he reaches Spain and eventually sends remittances (problem exported, potential income stream created, family honor preserved). / Morocco reduces domestic crime, increases remittances (7-8% of GDP), and exports social problems to Europe. / https://asmium.substack.com/p/on-muslim-immigration-to-europe

Bitcoin is the first modern monetary system that is outside of the political control of any state. In the pre-modern era (earlier than the French Revolution), gold (and to some extent silver) was above the state. If the state issued too much currency, its value would visibly decrease relative to gold. However, tech advancement caused gold to become too difficult to protect on a small scale. Gold centralized into a few major locations inside states. It became impossible for an individual to escape the effect of money printing. Inflation is effectively another tax. (It also destroys the measuring stick that we use for value, and therefore for business.) For most young people, a house is out of reach. This was one of the only remaining ways to escape (somewhat, and badly) the debasement of inflation. For the next 15-30 years, despite the scams / fear / uncertainty / doubt, I think that Bitcoin will remain the most achievable method available to a young person to save for the future.

The maxim that there is nothing new under the sun is a very true maxim; that is to say, it covers about half the truth, which is a great deal of truth for a maxim to cover. - Arthur Livingston, (1938) 'Introduction', in "The Ruling Class (Elementi di Scienza Politica)" (1896) by Gaetano Mosca, pg. 8

This seems related... / Waluigi is the ultimate example of the individual shaped by the signifier. Waluigi is a man seen only in mirror images; lost in a hall of mirrors he is a reflection of a reflection of a reflection. You start with Mario - the wholesome all Italian plumbing superman, you reflect him to create Luigi - the same thing but slightly less. You invert Mario to create Wario - Mario turned septic and libertarian - then you reflect the inversion in the reflection: you create a being who can only exist in reference to others. Waluigi is the true nowhere man, without the other characters he reflects, inverts and parodies he has no reason to exist. Waluigi's identity only comes from what and who he isn't - without a wider frame of reference he is nothing. He is not his own man. In a world where our identities are shaped by our warped relationships to brands and commerce we are all Waluigi. / https://theemptypage.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/critical-perspectives-on-waluigi