Current Affairs

Problem with crypto is pointing to all these problems of centralised systems (be they web giants, banking system etc). But not having a practical, working alternative.

It’s always “in development”, “around the corner” etc.

Blockchain is hugely inefficient and for the most part has failed to scale meaningfully. Look at popular networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. If it weren’t for the Ponzi scams most people probably would have moved on.

Zksnarks might be great, but absolutely private transactions have downsides too. Most of us would like our daily purchases to remain private. But do we want to enable unlimited money laundering and tax evasion too?

Problems like that are social and political and technology alone can’t give a solution.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2022/05/why-this-computer-scientist-says-all-cryptocurrency-should-die-in-a-fire/

>Why Cryptocurrency Is A Giant Fraud

>Speculators might make money on it, but the arguments for its usefulness fail completely.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/04/why-cryptocurrency-is-a-giant-fraud

>Bitcoin is the greatest scam in history

>It’s a colossal pump-and-dump scheme, the likes of which the world has never seen.

https://www.vox.com/2018/4/24/17275202/bitcoin-scam-cryptocurrency-mining-pump-dump-fraud-ico-value

>The Great Cryptocurrency Scam

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jayadkisson/2018/11/20/the-great-cryptocurrency-scam/

>Dogecoin Creator Says Crypto Is a Scam

>Jackson Palmer went on Twitter for the first time in two years to remind us that the wealthy are ruining everything—even cryptocurrency.

https://gizmodo.com/dogecoin-creator-says-crypto-is-a-scam-1847292956

I have a hard time finding news sources I can stand; basically all the major outlets just turn me off with their bias and verbose irrelevant analysis. Over the part year I've collected a few lesser known options you may find valuable too:

https://theintercept.com - mostly anti-propaganda efforts

https://phys.org - an aggregator often linking to primary sources

https://www.currentaffairs.org - political opinions that generally seem thought out

http://www.realclear(politics|world|*).com - a network of aggregators with a good balance

http://evonomics.com - economic perspectives I also don't mind reading.

I would really love to find more options - especially something in a debate format so I can judge arguments from multiple sides on an issue.

There was a great article about this recently which basically says that modern architecture schools drills into you that any sort of ornamentation is a sin.

It also made another interesting point: modern buildings have no context, if you see just a picture of one, it's impossible to say if it's from London, Madrid or Shanghai.

And a great quote:

> There’s an easy test for whether a building is beautiful or not. Ask yourself: if this building could speak, would it sound like the Rubaiyat or the works of Shakespeare, or would it make a noise like “Blorp”? For nearly 100 years, we have been stuck in the Age of Blorp. It is time to learn to speak again.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2017/10/why-you-hate-contemporary-architecture

Nathan Robinson did a great piece[0] on Ray Dalio's principles and Bridgewater's culture, which looks extremely toxic:

> Make sure, of course, that you always make specific people feel bad about mistakes: “Instead of the passive generalization or the royal ‘we,’ attribute specific actions to specific people: ‘Harry didn’t handle this well.’” And make sure everyone knows it: “Use ‘public hangings’ to deter bad behavior,” he says, by which he means making sure to belittle (I’m sorry, accurately explain the failings of) employees in front of their coworkers so that the lesson is learned widely.

[0]: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/06/how-to-make-everyone-in-your-vicinity-secretly-fear-and-despise-you/

It's worth reading the counterpoint - about reactionary "back to the past" architecture in the UK.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/05/the-royal-dystopia-of-poundbury

I went to visit Poundbury a few years ago and my reaction was "Seriously?!" It's just as ugly and soulless as the output of the concrete box school. Even the name shows a hilarious absence of self-awareness.

The fact that these supposed extremes somehow manage to meet is an interesting clue to what is really going on.\

Edit: to add, another clue is the bizarre absence of gardens and independent greenery. There are some micro-lawns but most of the land is given over to roads or buildings. There is very little integration with nature.