*Adam Fergusson’s When Money Dies … shows that when money loses its integrity, society loses its sense of proportion. Signals invert. Prudence is punished. Speculation is rewarded.* View quoted note →

*Failure is a few errors in judgement repeated everyday.* View quoted note →

*Superiority alone guarantees nothing in markets shaped by network effects, institutional capture, and human psychology.* View quoted note →

*“moving out” only works for the fraction of humans privileged enough to emigrate.* View quoted note →

*sometimes the archipelago moves faster than the empire* View quoted note →

Interesting but how would you resolve the apparent conflict of not trusting the state on the one hand but requiring the state to enforce compulsory military service on the other hand? *if you want to destroy a society, you have to also end compulsory military service, in order to empower criminals and terrorists, who are the enemy of the people.* View quoted note →

*The purpose of empire is to maintain privilege for oligarchs. When it becomes cost prohibitive to take from outside the borders of the country, then they take from inside, which means impoverishing the populace and state infringement of their rights. The true purpose of democracy is to create a narrative that disarms the people, allowing the empire to grow tall if wide isn't an option.* View quoted note →

*To try to be happy is to try to build a machine with no other specification than that it shall run noiselessly.* - Robert Oppenheimer That quote from Robert Oppenheimer is a striking metaphor about the futility of pursuing happiness as an end in itself. When he says, *“To try to be happy is to try to build a machine with no other specification than that it shall run noiselessly,”* he’s making a philosophical point: a machine (or a life) requires purpose, design, and direction — not just the absence of disturbance. Happiness, in this view, isn’t something you achieve by chasing it directly. It emerges as a byproduct of meaningful activity, purpose, or engagement — much like a well-built machine operates smoothly *because* it performs a defined function well, not because it was built merely to avoid noise. His comment echoes themes found in both Aristotle’s *eudaimonia* (flourishing through virtue and purpose) and modern psychology’s findings on *flow* — the idea that fulfillment arises not from seeking pleasure, but from immersion in tasks that challenge and engage your capacities. (Perplexity)