Wake Up Podcast with Svetski

All complex systems, all living systems and life by its very definition is something that moves, and is dynamic. There are inequalities everywhere, there is compounding and power laws, there are self-reinforcing spirals & death spirals. These are all normal aspects of living systems and when allowed to operate, they do so in a dynamic equilibrium. This is direct contrast to the morons running around taking about the “The 1%”. Whilst I agree there are UNFAIR inequalities, this is only because the base incentives of society are skewed. But so strong is the dynamism of life that even with such unfairness, those who have rigged the game are still subject to going back down the ladder. In a FREE & FAIR system, where we all operate on the same economic rules (economics being defined as the allocation of time & energy by the individuals involved), we get a beautiful dynamic equilibrium where people move up the ladder & back down. There is no "static" 1%. Not in free systems, and not even in rigged systems (nature is too powerful). This is why Freedom is so important to building natural, functional societies. The more freedom you give society, the more opportunity you create. The more you restrict freedom for equality, the more you destroy the opportunity to create opportunity. Therein lies the fallacy of the collectivists. A focus on the individual and on a fixed set of rules (unable to be changed by one party) gives rise to a society in which the best of us is rewarded. It’s a convergent network effect that rewards ethical & productive behaviour/ People move up & down the scale of have’s & have not’s. Some start at the bottom, whilst others start at the top. But those at the bottom rise, because they grow up learning the value of hard work and perseverance, whilst those at the top, who had it easy; learn complacency. We’ve seen this in all stories of the hero’s journey. Rocky 3 is a great example. Mr T whooped his ass because he was fucking HUNRGY. By removing hunger from the equation, you kill spirit & drive. This dynamic equilibrium, found in living systems, is how freedom operates. It’s a constant flux. The notion of fixed equality or “balance” is what we know & define as death. Life is alive. It’s dynamic & unpredictable by nature. The more you can predict it, the less alive it is. “Be like water”, as Bruce Lee said. A flowing river is alive, static water goes rancid. ____________________________________ Thanks again for listening. Subscribe on YouTube, Anchor, Spotify: https://anchor.fm/wakeuppod And follow me on Medium & Twitter @AleksSvetski More coming soon!

Most modern economists (ie; professional sophists) unfortunately don’t understand entrepreneurs, have never run a business, nor been in a position of significant responsibility in a business and therefore have the unfortunate audacity to perpetuate the moronic concept that businesses, business owners & capitalist merely exist to “take advantage of their customers”. This is incredibly naive, short sighted and reinforces why modern economics is completely OUT OF TOUCH with reality. Entrepreneurs are like the stems cells of the economic body. They are crucial, whereas these economists (the modern & Keynesian types who don’t understand logical consistency or sound philosophies) are useless leeches who try to apply mathematical models to that which you cannot model. In this video I use the example of a forest, and lumber to think about what capital & capitalism actually means in the context of the entrepreneur and the incentives in a FREE MARKET who’s cornerstone is PRIVATE property rights When it’s your asset, you don’t go and rip it all up unless you’re a moron, who will wind up ruining himself, and that is the self correcting mechanism that a free market organically includes, and which moron economists think they have to somehow dictate or decree. Pubic = no idea how much is needed, if it’s even needed. Blind & stupid. Public + Private = raping & piligaing Private = YOU GIVE A SHIT. And if you do not, you ruin yourself. Ta-daaaaaa. You CANNOT have capitalism with public property or central planning. THAT is why it’s failed so far. When you mix up the incentives - you screw it all up. It devolves into madness. The cancer that is collectivism will eat up the organic structure that is capitalism. You need a mechanism to take the power away from the state. And this is why #BitcoinFixesThis. ____________________________________ Thanks again for listening. Subscribe on YouTube, Anchor, Spotify: https://anchor.fm/wakeuppod And follow me on Medium & Twitter @AleksSvetski More coming soon!

This episode was inspired by a Tinder debate...of all things. What I thought was going to be an interesting discussion, evolved into a debate with someone who believes that “free markets” have somehow been disproven, that money is an illusion, and that the core problem with the world is lack of regulation with respect to large corporates who exist to rape & pillage society and it’s people. When confronted with ideas like the Cantillon effect; the only response she could muster was: “it’s not that simple; central banks do not have that much power”. She claimed to want to do “help people” and then basically stated that “individuals are too incompetent & (in her words) irrational to make decisions on their own”, and as a result we should have regulations which enforce limits on growth. I was clearly triggered and I wish I saved the damn conversation but she deleted / blocked me on tinder before I could do so..hahahaha Oh well - at least it inspired this video, which I hope you enjoy. ____________________________________ Thanks again for listening. Subscribe on YouTube, Anchor, Spotify: https://anchor.fm/wakeuppod And follow me on Medium & Twitter @AleksSvetski More coming soon!

The word “Crypto” has been co-opted, and it now refers to something which is a fantasy at best, and a scam at worst. The Crypto's you see floating around everywhere are not an answer to anything. They're a distraction at best, and at worst a bigger scam than the existing, legacy financial system; because they're perpetuated by entitled morons who think “they’re the right people to make the right choices” just because they can write some code.. They’re no different to the politicians and bankers of today, and if anything, less experienced & more incompetent so instead of working in the old guard, they spin up their own instances of the same garbage; only with a different smell. They miss the entire point of Bitcoin; which is to have an autonomous network deliver a guarantee of rules that are unchangeable - like the constitution of America, but orders of magnitude better. Bitcoin stands against everything that "crypto's" stand for. Bitcoin lowers time preference, it ensures nobody is in charge, it gives us a level playing field, and it fundamentally adjusts the base incentives of society. Therein lies its power. Crypto is just a bunch of young, inexperienced nerds who think "they know better". They don't seem to understand Bitcoin’s raison d'être. The idea that the supply is fixed, the parameters are fixed and the rules of the game are the same for everyone - and if anyone tries to change them to their own advantage (at the expense of everyone else) they get booted off (ie; forked off) the network. That’s the edge. Shitcoins (all altcoins), ICOs, Tokens and now "Decentralized finance" (aka; DeFi) is just a replication of the existing system, only on a more fragile network, with less checks & balances. It does nothing to re-stabilise society or change behaviour. It just perpetuates the existing fraud, and makes it such that catastrophic failure is even more likely. I tweeted on this (link below), and obviously discuss it further in this video. https://twitter.com/AleksSvetski/status/1278684910962782208 ____________________________________ Thanks again for listening. Subscribe on YouTube, Anchor, Spotify: https://anchor.fm/wakeuppod And follow me on Medium & Twitter @AleksSvetski More coming soon!

It’s July 1st and the start to the second half of what’s been a shitshow of a year. In this episode I touch on the continued madness, and what’s likely the nail in the coffin for Hong Kong. To see these peaceful, intelligent and innocent group of people subjugated by a murderous, authoritarian dictatorship like the CCP truly saddens me. Furthermore, to not hear a PEEP from any of these “woke SJWs” who’ve been making a fuss about non-issues like racism over the past few weeks, simply reinforces why none of them actually gave a crap about what they were allegedly standing up for. In fact, when they attempt to philosophically align themselves with the protests in HK, it makes my stomach churn, because they’re literally fighting on the side of more state control and tyranny, which is EXACTLY what the HK people are fighting against. It’s a sad day for liberty, and although I know that corrupt, centrally managed institutions ultimately collapse in on themselves, the collateral damage along the way is painful to watch. Share this with your friends & who knows; maybe we can at least wake more people up to the perils of collectivism & statism. Key Tweets: https://twitter.com/TruthAbtChina/status/1278258459268579328 https://twitter.com/RollandNadege/status/1277949160982003712 NY Times write up: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/world/asia/hong-kong-security-law-explain.html ____________________________________ Thanks again for listening. Subscribe on YouTube, Anchor, Spotify: https://anchor.fm/wakeuppod And follow me on Medium & Twitter @AleksSvetski More coming soon!

Follow on Twitter @AleksSvetski Find Audio version on Anchor/Spotify/ Other podcast platforms @WakeUpPod https://anchor.fm/wakeuppod https://open.spotify.com/show/6POdgh4pgd7G63CnCYwDBm I had a debate with my brother over a year ago now, about Taleb VS Peterson. His conjecture was that Peterson’s work is just religious shit, whilst Taleb is a genius trader → and that’s all that apparently matters. This triggered some thinking on my part, but it didn’t come up again until recently, over the course of the CoronaScam, where I’ve seen him throw out many of his purporter values. This was further reinforced by his recent behaviour & comments about Bitcoiners too. Now don’t get me wrong Taleb is a brilliant mind, but I think he’s a hypocrite in many ways (really fat & unhealthy guy who apparently deadlifts), so I question the authenticity of his character → the quality of his work notwithstanding I enjoy both their work, but Peterson to me has a depth of authenticity, and a depth of character which I truly admire. And the more mature I become, the more I realise that is where the value lies in the humans we learn from & aspire to be. I’ll let the video do the talking. Shout out to @AmericanHodl, and @AllenFarrington ____________________________________ Thanks again for listening. Subscribe on YouTube, Anchor, Spotify: https://anchor.fm/wakeuppod And follow me on Medium & Twitter @AleksSvetski More coming soon!

Arnold reminds us to stay hungry, but the presupposition here is that you had to become Hungry. To truly be hungry you need to know what it’s like to have nothing. To be a have not. To be rock bottom. Let’s look at one of the most important dynamics in Life. - being at the top VS - being at the bottom People inherently don’t want to be at the “bottom” and want to get to the “top”, but in this episode, we explore why they both exist, and why this differential is absolutely critical for Life to exist. The benefits of being rock bottom, or down & out include: - Depth. - Hunger - Strength The upsides of starting at the top are great. - Luxury - Comfort - Ease But they miss out on the depth that you experience and build from being at the bottom. By eliminating the top & bottom, and forcing everyone into a lukewarm middle, we miss the best of both side. In our attempt to remove the pain, we remove the meaning & numb the benefits. The bottom is extraordinarily important. It’s where you build depth, and the lower you go, the higher you can rise. And the broader the range, the richer the life. We’ve been conditioned to believe that struggle is something we should avoid, and this conformity through comfort is a disease that makes you weak. Hunger has its place. It makes you strong, it makes you worthy. ____________________________________ Thanks again for listening. Subscribe on YouTube, Anchor, Spotify: https://anchor.fm/wakeuppod And follow me on Medium & Twitter @AleksSvetski More coming soon!

**Disclaimer** I'm still working on the flow & quality, so bear with me. Subsequent videos are getting better. These might be better as podcasts, so check Wake Up out on Spotify/Anchor/iTunes, etc. https://anchor.fm/wakeuppod ____________________________________ Equality is the WORST outcome for society, unless you want to create a one full of drones, who all think the same (ie; USSR, CCP, Nth Korea). The very definition of “different”, or “original thinking” is the antithesis of equality. If we force individuals to conform, for some short sighted notion of equality, we literally destroy the very essence of what makes life special. Look at who we’ve aspired to be & been inspired by throughout history. Everyone from Jesus, to Aleksandar the Great, to Eminem, to William Wallace, to Oprah, to Bonnie & Clyde, Kurt Cobain, Beyonce, Tupac, Kanye, Batman, Orwell, Dostoyevksi, Rothbard, Einstein, Tesla, Newton, Solzhenitzin, Peter Theil, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Joan of Arc, Terrence McKenna, Maradona, Mandela, Ghandi, The wright brothers, Banksy, Oceans 11, The Matrix, V for Vendetta. Whether they're entrepreneurs, explorers, philosophers, musicians, actors, writers, psychologists, leaders, comic book heroes, warriors or your best friend. What defines those who are memorable is that they chose to be unique, not the same. Being different & thinking different is only possible when people are free to do so. This is fundamentally antithetical to conformity, and as an extension; equality. Monocultures cannot, by definition breed diversity. They become baron, dry, uni-directional, and grey. Freedom may be messy, but it’s where all the colour in life is. This is where real, emotional, personal art comes from. Not the super-predictable, overtly political bullshit we see today, with a bunch of “woke” brands & corporates just parroting the same thing. There’s nothing unique here. There’s nothing original. It requires no courage to say what the last person said. It takes courage, strength, passion and bravery to be different - and that’s what we kill as we lead with “equality & conformity” instead of “freedom & individualism”. What a sad, drab world it would be if we were all the same. There’s one example I can think of that’s done well at this. They’re efficient, but at what cost to the human spirit? Yeah - Nth Korea. Much of China is like that too. That’s not a world worth living in. Another good visual is the Pixar movie; Wall-E. That’s unfortunately where we’re headed. To grow, on an individual level, and as it’s logical extension; the level of the organism (humans), we have to move outside of what’s known. We have to move beyond the comfort zone, but this is only possible with Freedom. You take that out of the equation, we become stale. Struggle is where the beauty & colour of life comes from. That’s the very definition of being “alive”. The more we push for equality, and eliminate the freedom to choose, the freedom to discriminate, the freedom to speak, transact, and think, the more we sterilize the very “life” out of life. __________ Thanks again for listening. Subscribe on YouTube, Anchor, Spotify & follow on Twitter & Medium @AleksSvetski

This new stupid legislation that just came out which enforces non-discrimination in the work place based on sexual orientation, extending from race, nationality and whatever else they have in there. Soon enough it will extend to IQ, intellect, and every other “minority” complaint so as a business you’ll no longer have ANY choice as to who to hire, because you’ll get sued for any number of reasons. So much for freedom of speech and the right to choose. I literally just recorded on this the other day, so I’m going to add a little more in this video. Forcing someone to make a decision based on your notion of morality is violence!!! This new law is a form of violence perpetrated by the state. Let’s use an example to illustrate it’s stupidity: The LGBTQ community has fought for a while (especially the LGBs) to be recognised as a legitimate sub-section fo society. And that’s fine. Especially things like Gay marriage etc. That’s a non-violent act of 2 people eloping. I personally have no interest in it, but if two people of the same se love each other & wanna get it on, go for it. I'm happy for you! I’m glad that they stood up & fought for the right to do that. The very fact that they needed to actually fight for it pisses me off anyway, because it just shows how insane society is. We give up our moral agency to state institutions that supposedly “know better”. So anyway. LGBs in particular, got some well deserved wins. And I’m happy for them. They should also join us in defunding the very clowns they had to ask permission for, so they don’t have to ever be subject to such begging ever again.. But now with this law. Let’s say you’ve got a business full of gay people, and your edge is that you hire gay people only because you guys all share common values, mental models, tastes & styles. It’s a part of your USP. Should you not be allowed to do that? Is it not discrimination now that if you don’t hire some straight guy, who’s nothing like you to come in and work with you? How would you feel if the government turned around tomorrow & said, nope; you have to hire this person "because discrimination laws”. Like seriously. How can you give the state that power. Private property implies you have the right to choose (ie; the very definition of discrimination) what you can & will do with YOU own property (whether it’s you, your stuff or your mind). It's nobody else’s right to force you to do otherwise. By enforcing these laws, you remove personal agency and responsibility. You basically admit that you don’t actually own anything, nor do you own yourself. You’re just a subject of the government; or a “vessel” that fulfils a duty that you’ve neither agreed to or understand. Welcome to the matrix. Congratulations you’re now a drone. No free will. It’s time to Wake Up. ____________________________________ Thanks again for listening. Subscribe on YouTube, Anchor, Spotify: https://anchor.fm/wakeuppod And follow me on Medium & Twitter @AleksSvetski More coming soon!

Discrimination & Diversity Part 1: **Disclaimer** This is my first episode since I dissected that Dan Tapiero & Raoul Pal video (yeah, I’ve been busy). It’s rough, but I hope you enjoy the content and can bear with me as I churn these suckers out. I promise they will improve, so thanks for listening and remember to subscribe, etc. Check the Pod out on Anchor / Spotify, etc @WakeUpPod Follow on Twitter & Medium @AleksSvetski ___________________________ There is a major level of cognitive dissonance going on with people (especially leftists & collectivists) who are ‘against' discrimination, but ‘for' diversity. As usual, because they don’t take a moment to THINK before they speak, their positions are contradictory! In this short video, I’ll break that contradiction down and make the point that discrimination is fundamentally critical in the path to diversity, because to discriminate means to choose, and choice is the basis of differentiation and diversity. The idea of self-ownership and personal property rights, whether that property be your business, your money (and where you choose to spend it), your friends, your body & being, your opinion, or what goes on in your mind, is that YOU can choose to make a decision (ie; discriminate), based on whatever reason you want to. It implies it’s yours to do with as you please. That’s freedom. Now…if you decide to initiate violence upon another, based on some discriminatory reason; well the problem is not discrimination; it’s the fucking violence - irrespective of the reason. The aggressor is the aggressor - and who is being transgressed upon has the right to defend themselves. The very notion of not being able to discriminate means choice does not exist. And you might say “oh it’s not to that extent”. And I say: “oh really? Where is the line drawn? Who gets to decide that? And what happens when the next group starts to demand more?”. Tyranny never starts out blatant. It begins as small transgressions on our freedom. It requires us to ever so slightly violate our values, and continue to do this incrementally, until before you know it - we’re Nazi guards or deranged Karen’s. We need to discuss these things early and cut out their venom before it spreads. ____________________________________ Thanks again for listening. Subscribe on YouTube, Anchor, Spotify: https://anchor.fm/wakeuppod And follow me on Medium & Twitter @AleksSvetski More coming soon!

Here we go... Aleks Svetski here (yep, founder At Amber.app). For episode #1 of Wake Up, I'm sharing my take on the real vision interview between Raoul Pal and leading macro-economist Dan Tapiero. I'll be dissecting and reinterpreting the conversation to help people better understand the nature, benefits and philosophy of Bitcoin, whilst attempting to explain the nuances a little deeper. Thanks in advance for listening. Subscribe on YouTube, Anchor, Spotify & follow on Twitter @AleksSvetski More coming soon!