Welcome to YakiHonne, where we’re excited to introduce you to our innovative Smart Widgets! These interactive components allow you to create dynamic and engaging campaigns directly within social feeds, all without needing any coding skills. Whether you’re new to Smart Widgets or looking to refine your approach, this guide will walk you through the process.

Step 1: Log In

Start by logging into your YakiHonne account. This is your gateway to creating and managing Smart Widgets. If you don’t have an account yet, sign up easily on our website.

Step 2: Create Smart Widgets

Once you’re logged in, it’s time to get creative. Head over to the “Post” section and select “Smart Widget.” Here, you have two options:

Option 1: Create from Scratch If you have a specific idea in mind, you can create your Smart Widget from a blank canvas: • Click on “Create Blank Widget.” • Begin designing by adding your unique content, interactive features, and any elements that match your campaign’s needs. • Customize the appearance and functionality to fit your brand or message.

Option 2: Choose a Template If you’re not sure where to start or want some inspiration, using a template is a great option: • Select “Templates” from the options available. • Browse through a variety of pre-designed templates. • Choose one that fits your campaign’s goal, and customize it to make it your own.

Option 3: Clone a Community Widget If you want to explore what others are doing, you can clone a widget shared by the community: • Click on “Smart Widgets” to see what the community has shared. • Browse through the community’s shared Smart Widgets. • Find a widget you like, and click “Clone.” • Modify the copied widget to create your unique Smart Widget.

Step 3: Explore Smart Widgets Features

Your Smart Widgets can do much more than just display content. Let’s dive into the features you can integrate: • User Engagement Tools: Add polls, surveys, or quizzes to interact with your audience. • BitcoinFi Integration: Enable features that support Bitcoin transactions, like tipping or payment gateways. • Governance Options: Incorporate voting systems to allow users to participate in decision-making processes. • Product Growth: Use widgets to drive user growth through referral programs or viral marketing techniques.

These features are designed to enhance interaction and make your Smart Widget stand out. Feel free to experiment with different combinations to see what works best for your campaign.

Step 4: Publish Your Smart Widgets

After you’ve created and customized your Smart Widget, it’s time to share it with the world: • Preview your widget to ensure everything looks and works as intended. • Click “Post my Smart Widget” to publish it. • Your widget is now live and ready for others to interact with in their social feeds.

Step 5: Add Smart Widgets to Notes

To maximize the impact of your Smart Widget, you can integrate it into your Notes: • Go to the “Notes” section on your dashboard. • Select “Add Smart Widget” and choose the widget you’ve just created. • Publish the note, and now your audience can engage with your Smart Widget directly through the note.

Tips for Success

• Experiment with Features: Don’t hesitate to try out different combinations of features to find what works best for your audience.
• Engage Your Audience: The more interactive and engaging your Smart Widget is, the better the results.
• Monitor Performance: After publishing, keep an eye on how your Smart Widget is performing. Adjust and optimize based on user feedback and engagement metrics.

User Guideline Video Resources

Create from Scratch Choose a Template Clone a Community Widget Full tutorial video

Conclusion

Creating and using Smart Widgets on YakiHonne is a powerful way to engage with your audience, promote your brand, and drive meaningful interactions. With no coding required, the possibilities are endless. Start exploring today, and see how Smart Widgets can take your campaigns to the next level!

Happy creating!

O conceito de minarquia apresenta um cenário político intrigante, no qual existe um estado mínimo com o foco em salvaguardar as liberdades individuais, ao mesmo tempo que fornece serviços essenciais como a aplicação da lei, defesa militar e funções judiciais. Esta introdução explora os princípios fundamentais e as principais características da minarquia, preparando o terreno para examinar como ela contrasta com várias ideologias e quais implicações essa filosofia pode ter na formação de uma sociedade que defende a liberdade pessoal sem sacrificar as protecções necessárias.

O minarquismo propõe uma alternativa tanto às estruturas governamentais maiores quanto às doutrinas libertárias, como o anarcocapitalismo, ao defender a menor interferência possível do estado, mantendo ao mesmo tempo suas funções fundamentais. Ao compararmos a minarquia com outras ideologias, torna-se claro que esta filosofia se distingue na sua abordagem à responsabilidade individual, à economia de mercado livre e à tributação mínima — todos estes aspectos têm como objectivo ampliar as liberdades pessoais sem uma presença excessiva do governo.

Com uma compreensão clara dos princípios fundamentais da minarquia, exploramos como as sociedades podem transitar para essa ideologia.

Princípios do Minarquismo

O minarquismo é uma filosofia política que defende um estado mínimo, priorizando os direitos individuais, como a vida, a liberdade e a propriedade. O papel do governo é limitado a funções essenciais, como defesa nacional, aplicação da lei e manutenção da justiça, permitindo que os indivíduos façam suas próprias escolhas e exerçam maior responsabilidade e autonomia pessoal.

O minarquismo está enraizado na crença de que a liberdade individual é a chave para o florescimento humano. Ao minimizar a intervenção do governo, os minarquistas argumentam que as pessoas têm mais controle sobre suas vidas e podem perseguir seus objectivos sem regulamentações ou impostos desnecessários. Esta filosofia enfatiza a importância da tomada de decisões individuais e os potenciais efeitos negativos, como ineficiências, restrições à liberdade e consequências indesejadas, quando o governo intervém.

Diferenças Fundamentais com a Social-Democracia

O minarquismo difere significativamente da social-democracia, que enfatiza a intervenção do governo na economia e nos serviços sociais. Num sistema minarquista, as instituições privadas, as organizações comunitárias e a cooperação voluntária desempenham um papel crucial no atendimento às necessidades sociais, reduzindo a dependência da intervenção estatal. Em contraste, as social-democracias dependem fortemente da regulamentação e provisão de serviços pelo governo.

O Apelo da Minarquia

O minarquismo atrai aqueles que valorizam a liberdade pessoal e são cépticos quanto ao poder do governo. Seus defensores argumentam que um governo menor reduz o risco de corrupção, ineficiência e excesso de autoridade, ao mesmo tempo que promove uma sociedade mais dinâmica e próspera. Ao limitar o papel do estado às suas funções mais essenciais, a minarquia busca criar um sistema em que os indivíduos sejam livres para buscar a sua própria felicidade e sucesso sem o controle excessivo do governo.

Compreender a minarquia exige uma mudança de pensamento sobre o papel do governo. Em vez de ver o estado como provedor e protector em todos os aspectos da vida, o minarquismo vê o governo como uma instituição necessária, mas limitada, focada unicamente na protecção dos direitos individuais. Ao comparar a minarquia com a social-democracia, podemos ver as diferenças distintas na forma como esses sistemas abordam a governação, a gestão económica e os serviços sociais. Essa compreensão fundamental ajudará a explorar em mais detalhe os benefícios e desafios potenciais da minarquia.

As Implicações Económicas do Minarquismo

O minarquismo, que defende um estado mínimo, provoca mudanças significativas na forma como a economia de um país funciona. Este capítulo explora como uma nação pode transitar para um sistema minarquista, examinando os efeitos nos seus mercados internos, relações comerciais e sistemas financeiros. Ao reduzir a intervenção do governo, o minarquismo promove um ambiente onde as empresas são livres para operar com mínimas restrições, incentivando a concorrência e a inovação. Também discutiremos os potenciais desafios de transitar de uma economia mais regulamentada para uma minarquista e como a escolha do consumidor e a concorrência podem manter práticas justas e estabilidade económica, mesmo com menor supervisão governamental.

A Abordagem Minarquista aos Mercados Nacionais

Num sistema minarquista, o governo de um país foca-se na proteção dos direitos individuais e na garantia de que os contratos são respeitados, ao mesmo tempo que se afasta da intervenção directa na economia. Isso significa que as empresas no país operam com menos regulamentações, permitindo-lhes maior liberdade para inovar e competir. Diferentemente dos ambientes fortemente regulamentados, onde as regras governamentais podem, por vezes, sufocar a concorrência e proteger os actores estabelecidos, uma abordagem de mercado livre incentiva a entrada de novos participantes e o florescimento de ideias.

Para um país em transição para a minarquia, isso pode envolver a redução gradual das regulamentações e a transferência de responsabilidades do estado para o sector privado. À medida que as empresas ganham mais autonomia, os monopólios são menos propensos a formar-se porque a concorrência e a escolha do consumidor naturalmente mantêm o poder sob controle. Se uma empresa dentro do país não agir de forma responsável — seja em relação aos clientes, ao meio ambiente ou aos seus funcionários — outras empresas que ofereçam alternativas melhores provavelmente a superarão, promovendo um mercado mais dinâmico e ético.

Os acordos comerciais com outros países, num quadro minarquista, focar-se-iam na simplicidade e na justiça. Uma nação que adopta a minarquia negociaria acordos que priorizam benefícios mútuos sem a intervenção pesada do governo, levando a relações comerciais internacionais mais abertas e dinâmicas. No entanto, o foco principal continua a ser a forma como o país individual gere o seu próprio cenário económico.

Redefinindo os Sistemas Financeiros Nacionais

O minarquismo também reformularia o sistema financeiro de um país. O papel tradicional dos bancos centrais, que controlam a oferta monetária e as taxas de juros, poderia ser reduzido ou reformado, permitindo que as instituições bancárias privadas assumam um papel maior. Nesse ambiente, os mercados financeiros dentro do país seriam mais autorregulados, guiados pelos princípios da oferta e da procura, em vez de políticas governamentais.

Para um país que adopta a minarquia, isso poderia significar afastar-se das políticas monetárias conduzidas pelo governo e permitir que as forças do mercado determinem a estabilidade cambial e as práticas financeiras. Embora isso possa levar a mais flutuações no valor da moeda, também abre caminho para soluções financeiras inovadoras, como o uso de moedas digitais descentralizadas.

O investimento dentro do país e além das suas fronteiras provavelmente aumentaria, à medida que menos restrições e menores barreiras à entrada incentivassem o fluxo de capital de forma mais livre. Isso cria uma economia mais interconectada, onde empresas e investidores podem aproveitar oportunidades, tanto a nível doméstico quanto internacional.

Desafios e Oportunidades na Transição para a Minarquia

Para um país em transição para a minarquia, uma das principais oportunidades é que a concorrência, impulsionada pela escolha do consumidor, torna-se o regulador principal do mercado. Num mercado verdadeiramente livre, as empresas devem manter um bom comportamento — seja ambiental, social ou economicamente — ou correm o risco de serem superadas por outras que o façam. Esta estrutura de incentivos naturais pode ser mais eficaz do que a regulamentação governamental na promoção de um comportamento empresarial responsável, já que as empresas que priorizam a sustentabilidade e a justiça tendem a ser recompensadas pelos consumidores.

A estabilidade económica num país minarquista baseia-se nos princípios da responsabilidade pessoal e da cooperação voluntária. Em tempos de crise, soluções privadas, como sociedades de ajuda mútua ou seguros privados, podem substituir as redes de segurança governamentais. Essa abordagem descentralizada pode ser mais adaptável e responsiva, oferecendo soluções adaptadas às necessidades específicas de diferentes regiões dentro do país.

A protecção ambiental é outra área onde as soluções baseadas no mercado podem prosperar. Num sistema minarquista, as empresas podem adoptar práticas sustentáveis para atender à demanda dos consumidores ou ganhar uma vantagem competitiva. Por exemplo, as empresas que reduzem a sua pegada de carbono ou usam materiais ambientalmente amigáveis podem atrair mais clientes e aumentar a sua participação no mercado. Esta abordagem alinha os incentivos empresariais com os objectivos ambientais, criando uma situação vantajosa para ambas as partes, sem a necessidade de mandatos governamentais.

Exemplos do Mundo Real: A Influência do Minarquismo nas Economias Nacionais

Exemplos históricos e modernos fornecem uma visão de como o minarquismo pode influenciar as economias nacionais. Por exemplo, Hong Kong, antes de sua devolução à China em 1997, operava com uma intervenção governamental mínima em muitos sectores, levando a um rápido crescimento económico. Da mesma forma, as políticas de baixos impostos e pró-negócios de Singapura fizeram dela um centro financeiro global. Esses exemplos mostram que um estado mínimo pode fomentar o sucesso económico, mas também destacam a importância de manter o equilíbrio certo entre liberdade e responsabilidade dentro da nação.

Ao comparar o minarquismo com sistemas mais intervencionistas, os benefícios de uma abordagem de mercado livre a nível nacional tornam-se claros. Enquanto as economias fortemente regulamentadas frequentemente enfrentam ineficiências e um crescimento mais lento, o minarquismo promove um ambiente dinâmico e competitivo onde a inovação prospera. No entanto, é essencial reconhecer que essa abordagem exige uma cultura de responsabilidade e participação activa das empresas e consumidores dentro do país.

O minarquismo oferece uma visão de uma economia onde a liberdade, a inovação e a concorrência impulsionam a prosperidade nacional. Ao reduzir o papel do governo, essa abordagem abre caminho para uma economia mais dinâmica e eficiente a nível nacional. Embora existam desafios, particularmente em garantir estabilidade e equidade durante a transição, os incentivos naturais de um mercado livre — guiados pela escolha do consumidor e pela concorrência — podem enfrentar essas preocupações. À medida que os países consideram a transição para um sistema minarquista, compreender o seu impacto potencial nas suas relações económicas internas e internacionais é fundamental para moldar políticas que equilibrem abertura com crescimento responsável.

Um Roteiro para a Minarquia

Em muitas democracias sociais, o governo desempenha um papel significativo na prestação de serviços como saúde, educação e bem-estar social. No entanto, alternativas privadas já existem e muitas vezes competem com esses serviços públicos. O desafio na transição para a minarquia não é apenas introduzir opções privadas, mas reduzir a dominância do estado e a dependência dos serviços públicos. Este capítulo delineia um roteiro prático para gradualmente deslocar o equilíbrio da provisão estatal para a privada, reduzindo a intervenção governamental, os gastos públicos e os impostos de uma forma que permita uma transição suave e sustentada. À medida que o estado se retira de certas áreas, os indivíduos experimentarão uma redução na sua carga tributária, conduzindo a uma maior liberdade financeira e a um equilíbrio mais saudável para a economia.

Incentivar o Crescimento das Alternativas Privadas

Em muitas democracias sociais, alternativas privadas em setores como saúde, educação e seguros coexistem com os serviços prestados pelo estado. No entanto, essas opções privadas muitas vezes têm dificuldades para competir porque os cidadãos são obrigados a pagar impostos que financiam os serviços públicos, fazendo com que as opções fornecidas pelo estado pareçam "gratuitas" ou significativamente mais baratas.

O primeiro passo na transição para a minarquia é nivelar o campo de jogo entre os prestadores públicos e privados. Uma abordagem eficaz é oferecer incentivos fiscais ou créditos às pessoas que optam por serviços privados. Por exemplo, se alguém optar por um seguro de saúde ou educação privada, poderá receber um crédito fiscal que compense o custo desses serviços. Isso não só torna as alternativas privadas mais acessíveis, mas também reduz gradualmente a carga tributária do indivíduo à medida que depende menos dos serviços fornecidos pelo estado.

À medida que mais pessoas migram para serviços privados, a demanda pelos serviços públicos diminuirá, permitindo que o governo reduza os gastos nessas áreas. Essa redução nos gastos pode ser repassada directamente aos contribuintes através de impostos mais baixos, aumentando ainda mais o apelo das alternativas privadas e promovendo um equilíbrio mais saudável entre os sectores público e privado.

Reduzir a Dominância do Estado Através da Privatização Gradual

À medida que as alternativas privadas ganham força, o próximo passo é reduzir a dominância do estado em certos sectores. Isso pode ser alcançado através da privatização gradual de empresas e serviços estatais, garantindo que a transição não interrompa o acesso a serviços essenciais.

Por exemplo, no sector de saúde, o governo poderia começar terceirizando certos serviços para prestadores privados ou permitindo que mais hospitais privados operem ao lado dos públicos. Com o tempo, à medida que o sector privado se mostrar capaz de atender a mais necessidades de saúde, o estado pode reduzir sua participação directa, eventualmente limitando seu papel a fornecer uma rede de segurança para aqueles que não podem pagar por opções privadas.

A privatização deve ser feita de forma transparente e cuidadosa para garantir que os serviços permaneçam acessíveis e que a concorrência impeça a formação de monopólios. À medida que o governo recua e reduz seus gastos, essas economias podem ser traduzidas em impostos mais baixos para indivíduos e empresas, tornando a economia mais dinâmica e dando aos cidadãos mais controle sobre seus recursos financeiros.

Descentralização dos Serviços Públicos

Outro passo importante na transição para a minarquia é descentralizar os serviços públicos. Mesmo com a redução do papel do estado, os governos locais e as comunidades podem assumir mais responsabilidades. A descentralização permite uma tomada de decisão mais localizada, que pode reflectir melhor as necessidades e preferências de diferentes regiões.

Por exemplo, os governos locais poderiam ter mais controle sobre como os serviços públicos são prestados, permitindo que experimentem diferentes modelos, incluindo parcerias com empresas privadas. Isso também poderia envolver a transferência de certos serviços públicos do governo nacional para as autoridades locais, que estão mais bem equipadas para gerenciá-los de forma eficiente e responsiva.

À medida que a descentralização reduz a carga sobre o governo central, as economias realizadas podem ser repassadas aos contribuintes. O controle local muitas vezes requer menos recursos do que a supervisão nacional, e à medida que o custo geral do governo diminui, os cidadãos devem ver uma redução correspondente em suas obrigações fiscais.

Reformas Legais e Fiscais

A transição para um sistema minarquista requer reformas legais e fiscais que apoiem a mudança da provisão pública para a privada de serviços. Uma área crítica é a reforma tributária. À medida que as alternativas privadas assumem mais responsabilidades e o estado reduz sua participação em vários sectores, o sistema tributário deve ser ajustado para reflectir essa mudança.

Créditos fiscais ou deduções para o uso de serviços privados podem reduzir a pressão financeira sobre os indivíduos, incentivando-os a optar por serviços privados em vez dos fornecidos pelo estado. Com o tempo, à medida que o governo reduz os gastos em áreas como saúde, educação e bem-estar social, as taxas de imposto podem ser gradualmente reduzidas. Essa redução de impostos aumentará a renda disponível para indivíduos e famílias, permitindo-lhes fazer escolhas mais independentes e investir nos serviços privados que melhor atendam às suas necessidades.

Além disso, as leis que restringem a concorrência ou favorecem os serviços públicos em detrimento dos privados devem ser gradualmente reformadas ou revogadas. As reformas legais devem se concentrar em criar um campo de jogo nivelado onde os prestadores privados possam competir de forma justa, garantindo que os consumidores tenham mais escolhas e que as empresas sejam motivadas a oferecer melhores serviços.

Ao alinhar a redução de impostos com a diminuição dos gastos públicos, a transição para a minarquia pode levar a um equilíbrio mais saudável para a economia, onde os indivíduos têm mais controle sobre suas finanças e o estado só arrecada o necessário para cumprir suas funções essenciais.

Redução dos Gastos Públicos e Transição para a Auto-suficiência

O passo final na transição para a minarquia é reduzir gradualmente os gastos públicos à medida que os serviços privados se tornam mais estabelecidos e amplamente utilizados. Isso pode ser feito reduzindo gradualmente os programas governamentais que têm alternativas privadas viáveis. Por exemplo, à medida que as opções de saúde e educação privadas se tornam mais acessíveis e acessíveis, o financiamento público para essas áreas pode ser reduzido.

Ao mesmo tempo, promover a auto-suficiência e os sistemas de apoio comunitário pode ajudar a reduzir a dependência dos programas de bem-estar do estado. Incentivar a caridade privada, as sociedades de ajuda mútua e as iniciativas comunitárias locais pode fornecer redes de segurança para os necessitados sem exigir uma intervenção governamental extensiva.

À medida que os gastos públicos diminuem, o governo pode reduzir ainda mais os impostos, permitindo que os cidadãos mantenham mais de sua renda. Isso cria um ciclo virtuoso onde impostos mais baixos e menor intervenção governamental levam ao aumento da actividade do sector privado, maior autonomia individual e uma economia mais equilibrada e eficiente.

O objectivo é criar uma sociedade onde indivíduos e comunidades sejam capacitados a cuidar de suas próprias necessidades, reduzindo o papel do estado às suas funções mais essenciais. Ao gerenciar cuidadosamente a redução dos gastos públicos e alinhá-la com cortes de impostos, a transição pode ser suave e sustentável, garantindo que ninguém fique sem apoio durante o processo.

A transição da democracia social para a minarquia é um processo complexo que requer planeamento cuidadoso e implementação gradual. Ao focar no incentivo às alternativas privadas, reduzir a dominância do estado através da privatização, descentralizar os serviços públicos, implementar reformas legais e fiscais e reduzir gradualmente os gastos públicos e os impostos, um país pode realizar com sucesso a mudança para um estado mínimo. Essa abordagem garante que a transição seja suave e sustentável, permitindo que indivíduos e organizações privadas assumam um papel maior na sociedade enquanto reduzem a dependência da intervenção governamental. Em última análise, este roteiro oferece um caminho para uma maior liberdade pessoal, eficiência económica e um equilíbrio mais saudável entre responsabilidades públicas e oportunidades privadas.

Implementação Prática do Minarquismo em Áreas-Chave

Enquanto o capítulo anterior delineou os passos gerais necessários para a transição para um sistema minarquista, este capítulo foca em como esses princípios podem ser aplicados a áreas específicas de governança e serviços públicos. Ao examinar sectores como a saúde, economia, bem-estar social, educação e defesa, podemos explorar estratégias práticas para reduzir a intervenção do governo, garantindo que as funções essenciais sejam mantidas e até mesmo melhoradas por meio de alternativas privadas e comunitárias. A ênfase estará na criação de uma transição equilibrada que promova a concorrência, melhore a qualidade e maximize a liberdade individual.

Saúde: Transição do Público para o Privado

A saúde é frequentemente uma das áreas mais controversas nas discussões sobre a redução da intervenção governamental. Em muitos países, os sistemas públicos de saúde coexistem com prestadores privados, mas o domínio dos serviços financiados pelo governo pode criar desequilíbrios. Para transitar para um modelo mais minarquista de saúde, é essencial uma redução gradual dos programas governamentais de saúde.

Uma estratégia é introduzir incentivos fiscais para indivíduos que optem por cuidados de saúde ou seguros privados. Isso reduz a dependência do sistema público de saúde, ao mesmo tempo que alivia o fardo financeiro de manter ambos os sistemas. Com o tempo, o governo pode retirar-se progressivamente do envolvimento directo na saúde, focando-se em fornecer uma rede de segurança para aqueles que não podem pagar por cuidados privados.

Incentivar a concorrência no mercado de saúde é outro passo crítico. Ao reduzir as regulamentações que limitam os prestadores privados, o mercado pode tornar-se mais competitivo, reduzindo os custos e melhorando a qualidade do serviço. Além disso, promover a inovação através da desregulamentação permite que os prestadores de saúde desenvolvam novos tratamentos e serviços que melhor atendam às necessidades da população.

Economia: Adoptar Princípios de Laissez-Faire e Reforma Fiscal

Um princípio central do minarquismo é a crença de que a economia funciona melhor quando livre de intervenção governamental excessiva. Na transição para um estado mínimo, é crucial reduzir as regulamentações em todos os sectores. Ao permitir que as forças de mercado ditem as actividades económicas, as empresas podem operar de forma mais eficiente, responder mais rapidamente às demandas dos consumidores e fomentar a inovação.

A reforma fiscal é outro aspecto crítico desta transição. Conforme delineado no capítulo anterior, a redução do gasto público permite uma correspondente redução nos impostos. O objectivo é implementar impostos mais simples e baixos que financiem apenas as funções essenciais do governo, como defesa, policiamento e o sistema judicial. Um sistema tributário mais simples não só reduz o fardo financeiro sobre indivíduos e empresas, mas também elimina a complexidade e ineficiências associadas a um código tributário inflado.

Além disso, proteger os direitos de propriedade é fundamental para uma economia próspera. Garantir uma estrutura legal robusta que defenda a propriedade privada e faça cumprir os contratos criará um ambiente estável para o investimento e o empreendedorismo. Esta base legal é vital para incentivar o crescimento económico numa sociedade minarquista.

Estado Social: Passar de Programas Governamentais para Apoio Voluntário

A assistência social é outra área onde a transição para um estado mínimo exige um planeamento cuidadoso. O objectivo é eliminar gradualmente os programas sociais fornecidos pelo governo e substituí-los por caridade privada, apoio comunitário e auto-suficiência.

Uma abordagem é promover e incentivar a ajuda voluntária através de benefícios fiscais para doações de caridade. Incentivar o crescimento de organizações privadas e instituições de caridade para apoiar os necessitados pode reduzir a dependência da acção social governamental. Isso não só capacita as comunidades a cuidarem de si mesmas, mas também fomenta um senso de solidariedade e responsabilidade compartilhada.

À medida que os programas sociais governamentais são eliminados, a promoção da literacia financeira e da auto-suficiência torna-se essencial. Ao fornecer educação e recursos para ajudar os indivíduos a gerirem as suas finanças e planear o futuro, uma sociedade minarquista pode garantir que os cidadãos estão preparados para prosperar sem o apoio governamental extensivo.

Educação: Expandir a Escolha e Reduzir o Controle Governamental

A educação é uma área crítica onde os princípios do minarquismo podem ser aplicados com grande efeito. Em muitas democracias sociais, os sistemas de educação pública dominam, com escolas privadas e opções de ensino doméstico disponíveis, mas muitas vezes financeiramente inacessíveis para muitas famílias. Para transitar para uma abordagem mais minarquista, o papel do governo na educação deve ser reduzido, enquanto as opções para pais e estudantes são ampliadas.

Uma estratégia eficaz é introduzir vouchers ou créditos fiscais para escolas privadas e ensino doméstico. Isso permite que os pais escolham a melhor opção educacional para os seus filhos, seja uma escola pública, instituição privada ou ensino doméstico, sem serem penalizados financeiramente por optarem por sair do sistema público.

Ao reduzir o controle governamental sobre a educação e permitir mais concorrência, a qualidade da educação provavelmente melhorará à medida que as escolas competem para atrair estudantes. Esse ambiente competitivo promove a inovação nos métodos de ensino, desenvolvimento curricular e resultados gerais dos alunos. Com o tempo, o governo pode reduzir o seu envolvimento, focando-se em garantir que os padrões básicos sejam cumpridos, em vez de gerenciar directamente as escolas.

Defesa e Manutenção da Ordem: Foco em Funções Essenciais

Em uma sociedade minarquista, o papel do governo é limitado às suas funções mais essenciais, sendo a defesa e a manutenção da ordem entre as mais cruciais. No entanto, mesmo dentro dessas áreas, há espaço para reduzir o excesso de intervenção governamental e introduzir alternativas privadas.

Para a defesa nacional, o governo deve manter uma força militar forte e capaz para proteger a soberania da nação. No entanto, isso não impede o uso de contratantes privados para funções não combatentes, como logística, manutenção e serviços de apoio. Ao terceirizar essas funções, o governo pode concentrar os seus recursos nas necessidades essenciais de defesa, enquanto reduz os gastos gerais.

Na aplicação da lei, o governo deve priorizar a manutenção da ordem pública e garantir a justiça através de um sistema legal justo. No entanto, certas funções não essenciais, como serviços de segurança, podem ser terceirizadas para empresas privadas onde for viável. Isso permite que a polícia e o judiciário se concentrem em suas responsabilidades primárias, ao mesmo tempo que encorajam um uso mais eficiente dos recursos.

Desafios e Aproveitamento das Oportunidades do Minarquismo

A transição para um sistema minarquista, como delineado em capítulos anteriores, envolve uma abordagem cuidadosa e sustentada para reduzir a intervenção do governo e os gastos públicos. No entanto, essa jornada não está isenta de desafios. Este capítulo explora os possíveis obstáculos que um país pode enfrentar durante a transição para o minarquismo e como superá-los. Além disso, destaca as oportunidades únicas que surgem com a adopção de um estado mínimo. Ao abordar esses desafios de forma ponderada e aproveitar as oportunidades de forma eficaz, um país pode garantir uma transição bem-sucedida que beneficie os seus cidadãos e a sua economia.

Superando a Resistência Pública e os Equívocos

Um dos principais desafios na transição para o minarquismo é superar a resistência pública e os equívocos sobre o que um estado mínimo implica. Muitas pessoas, especialmente aquelas habituadas à intervenção governamental nas suas vidas, podem recear que a redução do papel do estado as deixe vulneráveis ou sem serviços essenciais.

Para lidar com essas preocupações, é fundamental uma comunicação clara e educação. O governo e os defensores do minarquismo devem articular os benefícios de um estado mínimo, como maior liberdade pessoal, redução de impostos e serviços mais eficientes. Campanhas públicas, debates e fóruns podem ajudar a dissipar mitos e fornecer exemplos concretos de como a transição será gerida para garantir que ninguém seja deixado para trás. Destacar transições bem-sucedidas noutras regiões ou países, ou apontar alternativas privadas que já prosperam, pode ajudar a construir confiança no processo.

Também é importante envolver o público no processo de tomada de decisões, garantindo que as suas vozes sejam ouvidas e que a transição reflicta as necessidades e os desejos da população. Ao promover um sentido de propriedade e participação, o governo pode mitigar a resistência e construir um apoio alargado para a mudança para o minarquismo.

Garantindo uma Transição Suave em Serviços Essenciais

À medida que o governo reduz o seu papel em áreas como saúde, educação e apoio social, garantir que as alternativas privadas estejam prontas para atender à procura é crucial. A transição deve ser gerida cuidadosamente para evitar interrupções nos serviços essenciais.

Uma estratégia é implementar transições graduais, onde os serviços públicos reduzem gradualmente o seu âmbito à medida que os prestadores privados expandem as suas ofertas. Esta abordagem faseada permite ajustes conforme necessário e garante que não surjam lacunas nos serviços. Por exemplo, na área da saúde, os hospitais públicos podem começar a fazer parcerias com entidades privadas para partilhar responsabilidades, com um calendário claro para que o sector privado assuma totalmente o controlo.

Outro ponto importante a considerar é a acessibilidade. Para evitar desigualdade na prestação de serviços, é vital garantir que as alternativas privadas permaneçam acessíveis e que existam mecanismos, como subsídios ou preços escalonados, para apoiar aqueles que não podem pagar pelas opções privadas de imediato. Esta abordagem está alinhada com o objectivo de reduzir os gastos públicos, garantindo que os serviços essenciais permaneçam disponíveis para todos os cidadãos.

Desigualdade Económica

Uma preocupação comum com a redução da intervenção governamental é o potencial aumento da desigualdade económica. Críticos do minarquismo frequentemente argumentam que, sem programas de apoio do estado, a diferença entre ricos e pobres poderia aumentar. Abordar este desafio requer uma combinação de soluções orientadas pelo mercado e sistemas de apoio comunitário.

Uma forma de mitigar a desigualdade é promovendo uma economia vibrante e competitiva, onde as oportunidades de progresso estejam disponíveis para todos. À medida que as regulamentações governamentais diminuem, as barreiras ao empreendedorismo e à criação de negócios são reduzidas, permitindo que mais pessoas participem na economia e gerem riqueza. Além disso, promover a educação e a formação de competências através de iniciativas privadas pode ajudar a garantir que os indivíduos estejam preparados para ter sucesso num mercado mais livre.

Organizações de caridade privadas e grupos comunitários também desempenham um papel crucial no apoio àqueles que, de outra forma, poderiam ficar desamparados. Ao incentivar uma cultura de filantropia e ajuda mútua, uma sociedade minarquista pode fornecer redes de segurança sem depender de programas extensivos de assistência governamental. Incentivos fiscais para doações de caridade podem fortalecer ainda mais este sector, garantindo que a ajuda esteja disponível para aqueles que necessitam.

Estabilidade Económica

Outro desafio na transição para o minarquismo é manter a estabilidade económica, especialmente em tempos de crise. Num sistema onde a intervenção governamental é mínima, mecanismos alternativos devem estar em vigor para prevenir e responder a choques económicos.

Uma abordagem é promover o desenvolvimento de instituições financeiras privadas que possam fornecer suporte durante recessões. Por exemplo, esquemas de seguros privados, fundos de investimento e modelos de cooperativas bancárias podem oferecer segurança financeira sem a necessidade de resgates governamentais. Incentivar práticas financeiras responsáveis e promover um sector privado resiliente são essenciais para manter a estabilidade numa economia minarquista.

O comércio internacional e a cooperação também podem desempenhar um papel estabilizador. Ao entrar em relações comerciais abertas e mutuamente benéficas, um país minarquista pode diversificar a sua economia e reduzir a sua vulnerabilidade a choques domésticos. Além disso, manter uma política monetária flexível e adaptável, possivelmente através de sistemas financeiros descentralizados, pode ajudar a amortecer o impacto das flutuações económicas globais.

Oportunidades para Inovação e Crescimento

Embora os desafios da transição para o minarquismo pareçam significativos, as oportunidades que esta apresenta para inovação e crescimento são igualmente atraentes. Um estado mínimo cria um ambiente onde o empreendedorismo e a criatividade podem prosperar, livres das restrições de regulamentações pesadas e da supervisão burocrática.

À medida que o governo se retira de áreas como regulamentação da indústria e serviços públicos, as empresas privadas são incentivadas a inovar e encontrar formas mais eficientes de atender às necessidades dos consumidores. Isto pode levar a avanços em tecnologia, saúde, educação e outros sectores que melhoram a qualidade de vida e impulsionam o crescimento económico.

Além disso, a redução de impostos e dos gastos governamentais liberta recursos para que indivíduos e empresas invistam em novos empreendimentos. Com mais rendimento disponível e menos burocracia, as pessoas são incentivadas a seguir as suas ideias empreendedoras, levando a uma economia mais dinâmica e competitiva. Isto, por sua vez, cria empregos, aumenta a produtividade e promove uma cultura de auto-suficiência e inovação.

A transição para um sistema minarquista apresenta tanto desafios como oportunidades. Ao abordar as preocupações públicas, garantir uma transição suave nos serviços essenciais, enfrentar a desigualdade económica e manter a estabilidade, um país pode navegar com sucesso o caminho para um estado mínimo. Ao mesmo tempo, ao aproveitar as oportunidades para inovação, crescimento e maior liberdade pessoal, pode-se levar a uma sociedade mais dinâmica e próspera. Ao gerir cuidadosamente estes desafios e aproveitar as oportunidades, um sistema minarquista pode oferecer um futuro mais promissor, onde os indivíduos são livres para prosperar com mínima intervenção governamental.

Estudos de Caso e Exemplos Históricos

Embora nenhum país tenha adoptado plenamente o minarquismo na sua forma mais pura, várias nações implementaram políticas que se alinham de perto com os ideais de governo limitado e liberdade económica. Estes países fornecem estudos de caso valiosos que ilustram tanto os sucessos como os desafios de reduzir a intervenção do Estado. Ao examinar estes exemplos, podemos obter insights sobre como os princípios minarquistas podem ser aplicados na prática e os potenciais resultados dessas políticas.

Hong Kong: Um Modelo de Liberdade Económica

Historicamente, Hong Kong tem sido um exemplo de destaque de governo limitado e liberdade económica. Apesar das recentes mudanças políticas, a sua abordagem de longa data à governação oferece um estudo de caso valioso sobre a eficácia de um estado mínimo. Hong Kong é conhecida pelo seu sistema fiscal simples, com taxas baixas e complexidade mínima. Isto permitiu que empresas e indivíduos mantivessem mais dos seus rendimentos, impulsionando o crescimento económico e o investimento.

O compromisso de Hong Kong com o livre comércio é outro marco da sua abordagem. Com muito poucas barreiras comerciais, a região tornou-se um centro global de comércio, atraindo empresas de todo o mundo. A intervenção governamental nos negócios foi tradicionalmente mínima, permitindo que o sector privado prosperasse sem regulamentações excessivas. Estas políticas colocaram consistentemente Hong Kong no topo dos índices globais de liberdade económica, demonstrando os benefícios de uma abordagem de governo limitado.

No entanto, é importante reconhecer que, mesmo em Hong Kong, o equilíbrio entre liberdade económica e intervenção governamental tem sido sujeito a mudanças, especialmente nos últimos anos. Isto sublinha o desafio contínuo de manter um estado mínimo num ambiente político e económico dinâmico.

Singapura: Combina Eficiência com Governo Limitado

Singapura é frequentemente citada como uma história de sucesso pela sua combinação de liberdade económica e governação eficiente. Classificada em primeiro lugar no Índice de Liberdade Económica de 2023, Singapura cultivou um ambiente favorável aos negócios que atrai investimentos e promove a inovação. O seu sistema regulatório é conhecido por ser eficiente e simplificado, reduzindo os obstáculos burocráticos que frequentemente retardam a actividade económica em outros países.

Uma das estratégias-chave de Singapura tem sido manter taxas de imposto baixas, concebidas para serem competitivas a nível global. Esta abordagem não só incentiva as empresas a estabelecer operações em Singapura, como também permite que os cidadãos mantenham mais do seu rendimento, promovendo a independência financeira.

Embora o governo de Singapura desempenhe um papel mais activo em certos sectores em comparação com um modelo minarquista puro, a ênfase do país na liberdade económica, regulamentação mínima e impostos baixos serve como um exemplo convincente de como um governo limitado pode impulsionar a prosperidade. Este equilíbrio entre envolvimento estatal e liberdade de mercado oferece um modelo que outros países podem aprender, mesmo que busquem um estado mais mínimo.

Suíça: Descentralização e Federalismo

A Suíça é conhecida pela sua estrutura governamental descentralizada, que distribui o poder entre os seus 26 cantões. Esta abordagem federalista limita a autoridade do governo central e capacita os governos locais a tomar decisões que melhor sirvam as suas comunidades. Esta descentralização alinha-se com os princípios minarquistas, garantindo que a governação esteja o mais próxima possível das pessoas, reduzindo o alcance do controlo centralizado.

A Suíça também ocupa uma posição elevada em liberdade económica, graças em parte ao seu ambiente favorável aos negócios e regulamentação limitada. O sistema fiscal competitivo do país e o seu sector financeiro estável fizeram dele um centro global para bancos e investimentos.

A abordagem da Suíça demonstra como um país pode combinar governo limitado com uma governação local forte, proporcionando uma alta qualidade de vida enquanto mantém a liberdade económica. Este equilíbrio entre autonomia local e estabilidade nacional oferece lições valiosas para aqueles que defendem uma transição para o minarquismo.

Nova Zelândia: Desregulamentação e Privatização

A jornada da Nova Zelândia em direcção à redução da intervenção governamental começou com reformas significativas nas décadas de 1980 e 1990. O país abraçou a desregulamentação, removendo muitas das restrições sobre empresas e mercados financeiros. Estas mudanças abriram a economia, fomentando a concorrência e a inovação.

Além da desregulamentação, a Nova Zelândia realizou um esforço de privatização em larga escala, vendendo empresas estatais a investidores privados. Esta mudança reduziu o papel do governo na economia e aumentou a eficiência em sectores anteriormente dominados pela propriedade pública.

Classificada em quinto lugar no Índice de Liberdade Económica de 2023, a Nova Zelândia demonstra os benefícios de reduzir o controlo estatal sobre a economia. Embora o país ainda mantenha alguns serviços sociais, a sua abordagem à desregulamentação e privatização oferece um roteiro para outras nações que procuram implementar gradualmente os princípios minarquistas.

Estónia: Inovação Digital e Liberdade Económica

A Estónia destaca-se como um exemplo moderno de como a tecnologia pode apoiar a transição para um governo mais limitado. A adopção de serviços digitais pelo país reduziu significativamente a burocracia, facilitando a interação dos cidadãos e das empresas com o Estado. As iniciativas de governo electrónico da Estónia simplificam processos como a declaração de impostos, votação e registo de empresas, reduzindo a necessidade de uma grande força de trabalho governamental.

Além das suas inovações digitais, a Estónia implementou um imposto de renda único, que simplifica o sistema fiscal e alinha-se com os ideais minarquistas de justiça e simplicidade. Classificada em sexto lugar no Índice de Liberdade Económica de 2023, a Estónia mostrou como a adopção de tecnologia e políticas de mercado livre podem reduzir a intervenção governamental, mantendo um elevado nível de confiança e eficiência pública.

O exemplo da Estónia destaca o potencial das ferramentas digitais para melhorar a transição para um estado mínimo, tornando o governo mais eficiente e menos intrusivo na vida dos cidadãos.

Movimentos Modernos: A Ascensão de Sistemas Descentralizados e Bitcoin

Para além destes exemplos nacionais, os movimentos modernos em direcção à descentralização oferecem novas possibilidades para reduzir a intervenção do governo. Um dos desenvolvimentos mais notáveis nos últimos anos é a ascensão do Bitcoin. A moeda digital descentralizada desafia os sistemas financeiros tradicionais ao operar sem autoridade central, alinhando-se com os princípios minarquistas de redução do controlo estatal.

O Bitcoin oferece uma alternativa às moedas emitidas pelo governo, permitindo que indivíduos realizem transacções financeiras sem depender de bancos ou outras instituições regulamentadas pelo Estado. Esta inovação não só proporciona mais liberdade financeira, como também reduz a necessidade de supervisão governamental na economia. À medida que o Bitcoin continua a evoluir, pode desempenhar um papel significativo no apoio aos princípios do minarquismo a nível global.

Estes movimentos modernos, juntamente com os estudos de caso de países que adoptaram elementos de governo limitado, ilustram a relevância contínua das ideias minarquistas. Embora nenhum país tenha adoptado completamente o minarquismo, os sucessos e desafios destes exemplos oferecem insights valiosos para aqueles que procuram reduzir a intervenção governamental e promover a liberdade económica.

Conclusão

A jornada em direcção ao minarquismo oferece a promessa de uma sociedade onde a liberdade individual, a responsabilidade pessoal e a eficiência económica ocupam o centro do palco. Ao reduzir a intervenção governamental e focar nas funções essenciais, o minarquismo apresenta um caminho para uma sociedade mais dinâmica e inovadora. A transição, conforme delineado nos capítulos anteriores, exige um planeamento cuidadoso, uma implementação gradual e um compromisso em manter a estabilidade, enquanto se capacita o sector privado e as comunidades a assumirem papéis mais relevantes.

Fundamental para este processo é garantir que as alternativas privadas aos serviços governamentais não sejam apenas disponíveis, mas também competitivas, permitindo que os cidadãos beneficiem de impostos mais baixos e de um mercado mais ágil. Ao abraçar a desregulamentação, a descentralização e a privatização, e ao aproveitar ferramentas modernas, como plataformas digitais e uma moeda descentralizada e global como o Bitcoin, as nações podem reduzir a presença do estado, enquanto melhoram a qualidade dos serviços e das oportunidades para os seus cidadãos.

Os estudos de caso apresentados no capítulo anterior, desde Hong Kong até à Estónia, ilustram tanto os sucessos como os desafios de se mover em direcção a um estado mínimo. Estes exemplos fornecem lições valiosas para qualquer nação que considere tal transição, demonstrando que a liberdade económica e o governo limitado podem coexistir com prosperidade e estabilidade.

Obrigado por ter lido até aqui e por explorar comigo as ideias do minarquismo. Gostaria muito de ouvir as suas opiniões—estas ideias ressoam consigo? O que pensa sobre a possibilidade de uma transição para um estado mínimo? Quer concorde, discorde ou tenha perguntas, os seus comentários são valiosos.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Woosh, woosh, woosh.

The helicopter blades cut through the crisp summer air, and the thundering roar of the engines echoes through the mountain valley. A handful of workers 1,200ft up the mountain stand ready to put in place the massive steel barriers lifted there by the chopper. All day, for a couple of days in a row, these teams of engineers, construction workers, and skilled pilots moved a few dozen huge barriers from the airfield on the other side of the valley to the steep slopes above the main portion of the village.

Watching the helicopter make its hypnotic journey has me thinking about the public finance implications of constructing and maintaining avalanche protections.

Certainly, the literal value at risk is quite extreme: the thousand-odd inhabitants of my little village have plenty of houses and cars and belongings — not to mention their own, invaluable lives — as well as the major businesses in town (hotel, harbor, church, offices) in the way of potential avalanches. Most of us stand to lose a lot if a snowy flood descends from the ominously steep mountain above us.

It makes plenty of financial and economic sense to expend labor, raw materials, and a decent amount of fossil fuels to erect this protection against the elements. Tail-risk insurance against nature.

But avalanche protection, like defense or streetlights, is what economists classify as “public good,” being both non-rivalrous and non-excludable. Once in place, an inhabitant like myself cannot be prevented from benefiting from the service, whether or not I financially contributed to its construction or upkeep.

Thus, says elementary public finance, an otherwise well-functioning market of prices and individual private property fails to provide (enough) of these goods. With an insufficient amount of protection, our village will have too many avalanches damaging too much property. The reason is that a profit-oriented entrepreneur cannot recoup his or her investment since once provided the good is non-excludable and the business can’t charge for the service.

On the other side of that transaction, consumers, who backward-induct that they’d be protected regardless of how much or little they contribute, have a strong incentive to shirk (free ride) — and receive the benefit anyway.

Because the market supposedly fails, the government is justified in saving the day by taxing everyone fairly, and supplying just enough of these goods to maximize a benevolent social planner’s utility function.

The age-old question is, of course, how this social planner knows the relevant quantities. Market exchanges are expressions of marginal value: this much extra protection for that much extra money. The government doesn’t know these quantities. Interventions, writes Guido Hülsmann so eloquently in his book Abundance, Generosity, and the State, “reduce the ability and willingness of private households to make gifts.” He continues: “In a private setting, these problems are moderated by the limits of private property. A private donor will wish to make sure that his donation really achieves its purpose, and he can stop funding any projects that are contrary to purpose.” 

Government involvement removes all that, puts unaccountable bureaucrats in charge, and blankets the financing across a wider taxpaying area. Where I live, tacked onto every citizen’s insurance policy is a percentage tax, destined for a fund to deal with these matters. 

To no surprise among those well-versed in political economy and public administration, it turned out earlier this year that from the tax levied specifically for protective works, some 40 percent goes straight to the Treasury — and not to the fund tasked with flood and avalanche protection. Even under this supposed solution to a market failure, we’re getting less public goods than we get shafted for. Like many other well-intentioned public finance policies, in time they turn into pure money grabs. 

I approve of this spending of money. I’m happy that these workers and the committees and decision-makers opted for spending money on my protection (they could have spent it elsewhere, and my tax contribution would have been a pure redistribution). I like it so much, indeed, that I’d be willing to contribute myself — many multiples of the $10 my insurance company levied on me for my pittance of a policy, and much closer to the $1,000 or so that the per-person expenditure of the fund would have amounted to among the municipalities and villages for which they were erecting avalanche protections in the last decade. (Accounting for the disproportionately at-risk physical assets run by big companies in the village, the average household would likely be on the hook for much less.)

Centralized government financing takes away the ability for people to express their values monetarily. I can’t “overpay” the surcharge, can’t tip the workers or pilots for a job well done. The outsourcing of decisions, financing, and responsibility alienates citizens from the issue. I am annoyed at the $10 taken without my explicit consent but would have been proud and excited to contribute to a locally organized avalanche protection — even if the exact amount would have been much higher. 

Why, just put out a call for citizens to contribute? We have Facebook pages and regular local newspapers and booklets, and the old-fashioned word-of-mouth. In How Economics Can Save the World Erik Anger, of Stockholm University, tells of a local swimming society that funds itself mainly through competitive overbidding on homemade jams and pies, made and organized by the locals. Strong communities and a shared sense of purpose can compensate fully and sufficiently for the supposed underproduction of public goods.

Suppose, then, that there isn’t enough funding for some proposed version of a community project. Then we can either individually tell people to donate more or realize that insufficient funds raised is the populous saying they don’t actually value the additional avalanche protection received over what else they could be spending their funds on. The (e)valuation — willingness to pay — is the very limiting factor in deciding how much of a public good ought to be provided. 

Such accountability drowns in the major political questions of a larger, centralized country, where local governments end up bidding against each other for projects from the central honey pot. 

Another example of the same public finance themes of risk-reward is a prospective tunnel through the mountain. One of the two roads out of the valley squiggles around a steep mountain cliffside, unstable and vulnerable to landslides. The central government recently said a tunnel to cut out the dangerous cliff is a priority. 

Over coffee with a neighbor when I first moved here, I was told that he much approved of a tunnel but didn’t want to pay a toll for passing it. It’s an extra difficulty, he said, and it’d be unfair since the people in the capital are richer than those residing in our little village. But why does that matter? He, and other villagers like him, are the ones benefitting the most from the potential tunnel. 

No matter what the optimal or suboptimal quantities of public goods are, what the existence of a third party far, far away does to local affairs like this is to outsource the cost and the responsibility. 

It’s time we radically shrunk the size of the state, such that responsibility and financing of collective affairs rest squarely with the local people that most benefit from public goods — whether or not they be underproduced compared to some idealized blackboard model.

--₿--

Originally published at the American Institute for Economic Research\ https://www.aier.org/article/public-goods-in-a-free-society/

I grew up thinking adulthood would be boring.

I thought by age 45 you'd hurt too bad to do anything fun. I thought you'd just go to a job somewhere and work all day and come back home for a couple hours, just to go do it again. Growing up, I even thought 25 year olds were old and boring.

Thankfully, all those models are destroyed.

I'm 31 today, and my refusal to be bored has led to an interesting life so far. One that my 18 year old self would mostly approve of. Which is quite the measure of success according to Taleb.

“For I have a single definition of success: you look in the mirror every evening, and wonder if you disappoint the person you were at 18, right before the age when people start getting corrupted by life."

I wonder what's next. What other magic I can pull outta my hat. What kind of luck I can stir up. I have 2 north stars. Fun and Family.

FUN

Turns out the fun part isn't just endless surf trips. It isn't just partying with friends. Fun needs a mission.

Surf trips that go too long get boring. I learned that in 2018 when I did my first extended travel to the Canary Islands and Indonesia.

I was surfing my ass off in Indo. ABSOLUTELY SCORING EVERYDAY. But, I felt empty inside. I started to crave work while sitting on the island. I was excited to get back to work.

Work at that time was the occasional modeling/commercial gig and moving fridges to college dorms in the summer (my survival gig for like 6 years).

In 2017, I graduated with a master's degree in Organizational Psychology. I had all the “credentials” to have a successful “career” but out of fear of being bored/lack of real world experience I never pursued a standard career.

I also found Bitcoin that summer, which greatly altered my worldview/gave me hope for a brighter future.

From age 24 - 28 I lived never knowing where my next pay check would come from. I tried living in LA and Mexico City, but never quite found my tribe or anything worthwhile to work on. I even lived in my truck for a month in LA just to do a "fear setting" exercise I heard Tim Ferriss talk about.

I gave myself my own curriculum during that time. Exploring my interests in health and went further down the Bitcoin rabbit hole with my spare time.

In hindsight, I wouldn't trade this time of “wandering” for anything. This time prepared me for the things I'm working on today.

In the fall of 2021, I drove to Costa Rica with a vision of creating a new life somehow. I'd been there a few times and figured that's where I'd be if I had unlimited resources. I asked myself the question, "What would I be doing if I was a billionaire?". The answer? Working on something important while surfing everyday with cool people.

After bumming around for a bit, I ended up finding my tribe and consistent work for the first time in my life. I helped out with Paul Saladino's social media team, where I learned skills and furthered my knowledge about health.

During this time, I went to a ton of Bitcoin conferences with no agenda, except to meet more of my "tribe". The decision to do this brought incredible returns to my life.

“Never settle. When you refuse to settle for less than the best… the best tends to track you down” - Dr. Jack Kruse

Today I'm working on two important missions. Making an “ethical” social media with Primal and building a “healthier” computer with Daylight computer from which I'm writing this article. These two missions are greater than anything I could fathom building myself and I'm extremely grateful for these opportunities.

Family

I believe strongly that it's impossible to truly understand life until you create it on your own. Might not be true for everybody, but I believe I'm hardwired this way.

I met Laura during the first month of getting a stable income in Costa Rica. It was the first time that I had a mission while talking to a girl.

I was thinking long-term the day I met her and knew that this time would be different. We didn't have much. In fact, when she met me, I just graduated from camping everyday to living in a broken house in the most beautiful location in Santa Teresa. So what there was a skunk living in our sink, we could walk to the beach in 3 minutes! I knew she was a keeper for putting up with that.

Here's a snapshot of a morning in the life of the skunk house - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CcqatvJlbFH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Our relationship has been incredibly rewarding, often challenging, and I can't wait for our future together.

She pushes me to seek more and the responsibility of another person of my life gives it a ton of meaning. And I'm sure this will do a little 100x once we have kids.

Woman are hard wired to seek security and I wonder where I'd be without her push and constant testing. This constant testing is the sign of a great woman.

I'm honestly terrified to have kids, but pursuing a family seems to be the most meaningful pursuit available to man. There's no way you'll ever be bored with kids!

We get married in 50 days. Will this be the best day of our lives? Can't wait. And just found out yesterday that our wedding will be featured in the New York Times.

PV

Writing feels good. It's great to puke out some words on a screen and reflect every now and again. There's always something to learn from someone. See you on NOSTR!

Water damage is a nightmare for homeowners as it can lead to significant property damage and costly repairs. In Utah, where seasonal storms and plumbing issues are common, knowing how to handle insurance claims for water damage is crucial.

This guide will walk you through the steps to ensure your claim is processed smoothly, minimizing stress and maximizing your chances of a successful outcome.

Immediate Steps After Water Damage

Taking immediate action after water damage is crucial. If you wait any longer, problems like mold and structural damage could worsen, costing you more money and potentially causing health risks. Acting quickly helps limit additional damage and sets a strong starting point for fixing things. Here's what you should do right after water damage happens in your home.

1. Turn off water and electricity

The first and most crucial step after discovering water damage is prioritizing the safety of everyone in your household. Quickly locate and shut off the main water supply to prevent more water from entering your home. This step is essential in stopping the damage from spreading and worsening. Additionally, switch off electricity in affected areas to avoid electrocution. Water and electricity are a dangerous combination that can lead to shocks or even fires if not properly managed.

2. Document the damage

Once it's safe, you must thoroughly document the water damage. Take clear and detailed photos and videos of all affected areas in your home. Include close-ups of damaged walls, floors, furniture, and any personal belongings affected.

Ensure you compile a comprehensive package of documentation including: Photographs from multiple angles showing affected areas and close-up details Videos panning across damaged sections to capture depth and ongoing issues like leaks A detailed written description outlining how and when the damage occurred, including the cause and immediate actions taken An inventory list of damaged items with receipts or purchase records to substantiate their value Estimates from reputable contractors detailing repair costs and necessary steps

These visual records serve as crucial evidence when filing an insurance claim. They provide a clear picture of the extent of the damage and help ensure that you receive proper compensation for repairs and replacements. Remember, the more detailed your documentation, the better you can support your claim and expedite the recovery process for your home.

Contact Your Insurance Company

Promptly contacting your insurance company is essential to expedite the claims process. Failure to notify them quickly can delay or even lead to the denial of your claim. To prevent the worst, here's what you need to do.

1. Report the claim

Contacting your insurance company swiftly helps expedite the claims process and ensures you meet policy requirements. Many homeowners may not realize that insurance policies often have specific time limits for filing claims, which can vary depending on the type of damage and policy terms. It's essential to contact your insurance agent as soon as you discover water damage, even if you're unsure about the extent or cause. This initial communication sets the foundation for a smoother claims process and can prevent potential complications or delays in receiving compensation for necessary repairs.

2. Submit evidence and a detailed account of the damage

For your claim to be successful, submit thorough proof and an in-depth account of the water damage. This includes gathering and submitting comprehensive documentation such as photos, videos, and written descriptions.

Insurance companies require specific evidence to validate claims, and without proper documentation, claims can be delayed or denied. By being proactive and thorough in documenting the damage, homeowners can ensure that their claims are processed smoothly and receive the support needed to restore their homes effectively.

Working with Professionals

Attempting to handle the water damage yourself can do more harm than good, leading to incomplete repairs and long-term issues like mold and structural weakness. Instead, you should work with professionals to fix things for you.

Hire a restoration company

If you need water damage restoration in Utah, hire a reliable company to begin cleaning and repairing your home. These professionals have the right skills and tools to handle water damage properly. They can prevent more issues like mold and ensure your home returns to its normal state quickly.

Cooperate with adjusters

When your insurance sends someone to check the damage, it's best to work closely with them. Let them see all the places where there's damage and answer their questions honestly. This helps them understand the situation better and quickly get the help you need to fix things as soon as possible.

Navigating the Claims Process

Without understanding your coverage and staying proactive, you risk delays and potential issues with your claim. Being informed and diligent ensures you secure the compensation needed to restore your home fully.

Fully understand your coverage

It's important to know exactly what your insurance covers and what it doesn't. Policies can differ a lot, and there may be things your insurance doesn't pay for, like certain types of water damage or repairs. By understanding these details, you can avoid unexpected costs and make sure you get the help you need when you need it.

Follow up

After you file a claim, keeping track of what's happening is necessary. Regularly check in with your insurance company to see how your claim progresses. Keep records of all your conversations and any paperwork they send you. This way, you can sort out any delays or issues immediately and make sure your claim moves forward smoothly,

Need Professional Water Damage Restoration in Utah?

Timely action and clear documentation are crucial for a successful insurance claim after water damage. However, it will also be helpful for you to be mindful of the kind of insurance you'll get for your home, keeping in mind what you're entitled to in case of emergencies. By following the steps we've listed, you can navigate the claims process confidently and ensure your home is restored effectively. Lastly, work with a company that can do expert repair and cleanup. Specialists are equipped to handle any water damage level promptly and thoroughly, ensuring your home is restored safely.

Table Of Content

• Who is Michael Lewis?

• What can we expect from Michael Lewis at the Bitcoin conference?

• Other Keynote Speakers

• What to Expect from the Conference

• Conclusion

• FAQ

Bitcoin, the world's largest and most popular cryptocurrency, has taken the financial world by storm in recent years. As the value of Bitcoin continues to soar, more and more people are turning to this digital currency as a way to invest and conduct transactions. In response to this growing interest, the world's leading Bitcoin experts, investors, and enthusiasts will gather in Miami for the 2023 Bitcoin conference. The conference is set to feature a wide range of keynote speakers, panels, and workshops designed to educate and inspire attendees about the future of this revolutionary technology. One of the biggest names to headline the event is none other than Michael Lewis, acclaimed author and journalist.

Who is Michael Lewis?

Michael Lewis is an American author, journalist, and financial commentator. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential writers of our time, with numerous best-selling books to his name. Lewis began his career as a bond salesman for Salomon Brothers, an experience that would later form the basis for his first book, "Liar's Poker". Since then, he has written several other highly regarded books on finance and business, including "The Big Short" and "Flash Boys". His writing is known for its ability to make complex financial concepts accessible to a wide audience.

What can we expect from Michael Lewis at the Bitcoin conference?

Michael Lewis is set to deliver the keynote address at the 2023 Bitcoin conference. While the details of his speech are still being kept under wraps, it is expected that he will offer his unique insights into the world of Bitcoin and its potential impact on the global financial system. As an experienced journalist and financial commentator, Lewis is well-equipped to offer a balanced and nuanced perspective on the opportunities and challenges presented by this new technology.

Other Keynote Speakers

In addition to Michael Lewis, the 2023 Bitcoin conference will feature a wide range of other keynote speakers. These include experts in finance, technology, and economics, as well as Bitcoin enthusiasts and investors. Some of the other big names set to speak at the conference include:

Andreas Antonopoulos, author and Bitcoin advocate

Caitlin Long, founder of Avanti Financial Group

Tim Draper, venture capitalist and Bitcoin investor

Wences Casares, CEO of Xapo

What to Expect from the Conference

The 2023 Bitcoin conference promises to be a must-attend event for anyone interested in the future of finance and technology. In addition to the keynote speeches, the conference will feature a wide range of panels, workshops, and networking events designed to educate and inspire attendees. Topics to be covered include the latest developments in blockchain technology, the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies, and the future of Bitcoin as an investment and payment tool.

Conclusion

The 2023 Bitcoin conference in Miami is set to be one of the most exciting and informative events of the year for anyone interested in the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. With a lineup of world-class speakers, including Michael Lewis, attendees can expect to gain a deeper understanding of the potential of this revolutionary technology and how it may shape the future of finance. Whether you are a seasoned Bitcoin investor or simply curious about this new technology, the conference is sure to offer something for everyone.

FAQ

When and where is the 2023 Bitcoin conference? Bitcoin 2023 is on May 18 - 20, 2023 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, FL.

Who are some of the other keynote speakers at the Bitcoin conference? Other keynote speakers at the 2023 Bitcoin conference include Andreas Antonopoulos, Caitlin Long, Tim Draper, and Wences Casares.

What topics will be covered at the Bitcoin conference? The Bitcoin conference will cover a range of topics, including blockchain technology, regulatory issues, and the future of Bitcoin as an investment and payment tool.

What is Michael Lewis's background in finance and writing? Michael Lewis began his career as a bond salesman for Salomon Brothers and later wrote several acclaimed books on finance and business, including "Liar's Poker", "The Big Short", and "Flash Boys". His writing is known for its ability to make complex financial concepts accessible to a wide audience.

Why is Michael Lewis a significant speaker at the Bitcoin conference? Michael Lewis's experience and expertise in finance and writing make him a valuable addition to the lineup of speakers at the Bitcoin conference. His perspective on the opportunities and challenges presented by Bitcoin will be highly anticipated by attendees.

That's all for today

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.

I had a dream that I was at a cementary where only children were buried. Except the headstones for the graves weren't headstones; they were toilets. It was respectful for the family of the deceased child to use the toilet. The toilets were out in the open so everyone could see the family using the toilet. Imagine a cementary but it's all a bunch of toilets, that's what it was like. During my visit there were plenty of family paying respects and releasing themselves. I'm not sure where the family's feces and pee went after they flushed, but it seems only right that it flushed down to the dead body's casket. I'd hope nobody was paying respects to an infant, because they couldn't release much without overflowing the toilet. Also, the feces wouldn't stink since it's six feet under.

I recall the place being very filthy, there was vomit on the ground in a lot of places, except the vomit was very poorly cleaned up (mostly smeared about).

Dream analysis: Dead kids deserve to be shit on. Respectfully.

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I posted my round by round draft targets yesterday, but have a few more thoughts that didn’t make it into that piece:

I’m warming up to Bijan Robinson with a top-three pick. This interview with Kay Adams (even though it’s just the usual talk) got my attention. Robinson is so relaxed, so even-keeled and yet he’s studying Christian McCaffrey’s every carry like a fanatic. Not that it’s going out on a thin limb as he routinely goes that early, but I had previously been wedded to taking a receiver (now that McCaffrey already has a calf injury.)

I said to Alan Seslowsky that Mike Williams was on my do-not-draft list because he’s so injury prone, but I double-checked and he hasn’t been that bad other than last year. Maybe I had him the year he did a lot early and then fell off steeply despite not missing many games. Maybe he was on the injury report a lot. I don’t know. But he’s actually not a bad value in Round 11 — he’s always been good when healthy, and the Jets are not deep.

I said yesterday I don’t have a strong preference in the first round, and the Robinson note aside, that’s still mostly true. I like all the receivers, and I’m fine with Breece Hall and Jonathan Taylor too. Of course, that doesn’t mean all of them will be fine — at least a couple almost surely will not — only that I can’t tell which ones. As important as it is to know your leans and act on them, it’s equally important to realize when you don’t have one and let ADP and positional need dictate your options.

I took Anthony Richardson in Beat Chris Liss 2, and while I don’t regret it as he really could be the QB1, I think the play in the Primetime will be to wait forever on QB and get some combo of Trevor Lawrence/Kurt Cousins/Justin Herbert/Matthew Stafford/Justin Fields, or even Daniel Jones. There’s just so much depth with upside. You could even take three QBs late.

The “hero” RB build (where you take a star RB in Rounds 1 or 2) and lots of receivers around them, before getting your RB2 candidates later is popular now, and you can see why. There aren’t that many top backs, so getting one is a big edge, and then you still catch up at receiver against all the teams that took a TE or top QB early. I just think this is mostly an on-paper exercise, and by mid-season the best teams usually have 4-5 surviving good players at all positions combined and have to cobble it to together with short-term fill-ins and waiver wire, i.e., build is overrated.

Both my drafts so far were from early (1 and 3), and I wouldn’t mind having one league from the back, getting Jonathan Taylor and say Puka Nacua. It would be cool to get Cooper Kupp in Round 3 too, but lately he’s moved up out of that range.

I stacked C.J. Stroud and Stefon Diggs in BCL1, but didn’t stack anyone in BCL2. Stacking is one of those things that’s great if no one else is doing it, but loses value the more it’s done. If you have Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes, but so do 25 percent of the Mahomes’ owners, is that really better than having Anthony Richardson and a random TE1 (in my case Brock Bowers). Sure there’s no correlation, but only 1 in 12 Richardson teams should be expected to have Bowers (even fewer if the Colts had a good TE as many would have paired them.) So yes, if Mahomes goes off, there’s a better chance he takes Kelce with him, but you still have to beat out 3x more teams with your same set up than I do if Richardson goes off, and Bowers happens to as well. Sure, the correlation makes your scenario more likely, but likely enough to compensate for its commonality?

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 5 mins
• 🍳 Cook time: 10mins
• 🍽️ Servings: 2-

Ingredients

• Shishito
• Butter/ Oil of your choice
• Soy sauce
• Salt
• Sugar (optional)

Directions

1. 1. Wash shishitos, remove stems, and dry.
2. 1. Heat the pan, add butter or oil, and shishitos. Sauté until shishitos are tender and winkled.
3. 1. Add a bit of sugar (optional), and a bit of salts, and finally soy sauce. Do not add too much soy sauce. Try and adjust with more say sauce if needed.

Opinion about Freewallet Multi Crypto Wallet (iphone)

The FRWT wallet is gone from Google Play, but Freewallet, the original scam, is still a major threat. We must continue to report and warn others about this dangerous app.

WalletScrutiny #nostrOpinion

Join the conversation!

In today's episode, I delve into silent payments in Bitcoin, introduced through BIP 352 to enhance privacy. I discuss its benefits, drawbacks, and impact, plus updates on BitVM 2, BTrust, and more.

• Silent Payments Explained
• US "Officials" to Redefine "Money"
• BitVM2 on the Horizen
• Trump Taps Bitcoiner For Transition Team
• Ark Protocol is ALIVE!

Listen on @fountain

--> https://fountain.fm/episode/oi8mInXrys0GD1SRdEyH <--

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/654973

Leela: Fry, there's nothing else here! You only wrote 2 pages of dialougue.
Fry: Well, it took an hour to write; I thought it would take an hour to read.

I like Futurama. It's my all time favourite animated tv show. I think nothing comes close to it. First 5 (?) seasons, and all of the movies are some of the most enjoyable humor I've experienced. Show got canceled multiple time, during the course of airing, and was being revived - with various degrees of success. But it'll always stay with me as some of the best shows I've ever seen.

The latest revival was not something I enjoyed very much - I tried to watch it, and seen maybe half of the season, and just stopped. I lost interest. The animation was the same, the characters were the same, the voice actors are all the same, but somehow the topics discussed, and even the delivery was off. I just didn't enjoy it anymore, so I stopped. Maybe it'll come back to me one day, but until then I just know that it exists. It might be one of those things that gets better with jokes in retrospect - hearing them joke about something that happened a couple of years back, instead of something that is fresh in your mind.

It definitely is not the only thing I leave, due to lack of interest and then come back to later on. I started to learn how to play guitar in my teen years - probably around 17. It was a hard process, that took a long time - for a 17-year old boy half a year spent on learning something is a long time - but I was very happy with the progress. I learned the basic chords, and strumming patterns. Learned how to sing while playing, and stopped at that. Now, many years later, learning music theory and guitar is a very enjoyable experience - the work I did all those years ago is very helpful - my fingers remember stuff, they have a memory of doing these things before, and they make new stuff being picked up faster than it should have been were I to start from scratch.

It's similar to muscle building - I've been reading a lot of anecdotal stories about people mentioning that building muscles for the first time is a hard process, but if you've already done that once (and then maybe lost muscle while being complacent, or due to any other circumstance), the second time around is much easier to do it. I'm not really sure why. I guess it's another form of muscle memory.

I'm in the process of building muscle right now. Well, it's been a while. Last 4 years, a lot of my focus and energy went into building muscle - endurance, strength, and everything around it. It's a hard process. I haven't done much progress if I were to compare myself to a normal person. In 4 years some regular guy, spending as much time as I am on this, would easily surpass my numbers, but for me, it's not as simple as muscle building. I have a long term illness - RA (rheumatoid arthritis). And have had it since I was 16. Medicine that was used to control the disease has destroyed my muscles, and it has taken me a long while to recover, and start working on them again. Almost 15 years.

My muscle memory was non-existent. I forgot what muscles I had, since there wasn't anything there anymore. My body was full of "holes" in places where muscles should have been. My legs, my back, sides of my arms, everything. Now, 4 years in the future, when looking back, I'm proud of the progress. It's nothing special when it comes to numbers, or even general level strength (i still have problems to jump , or dance, or do any agile moves), but my body has significantly less holes in it. I've filled up. I look in a mirror, and there's something on the other end, something more powerful than before. It's probably why I smile when "posing" in front of the mirror. I know I'm not strong, nor powerful, nor "athletic", but compared to 4 years ago, I'm awesome. Let's hope for couple of other good ones.

After finishing a podcast about unpopular ideas regarding Bitcoin and previously writing this reflection on why Stacker News works, I have to admit that I kept thinking about my own response.

And… join me in this reflection.

What does it mean if you don't have Bitcoin to spend?

It means you've been buying Bitcoin, you've stored it securely in a way that makes you feel safe. After that, you go on with your life. Now, you want to buy a coffee—let's assume you want to buy a coffee. Do you have Bitcoin to buy it? While it's true that in our circle, we promote the use of Lightning Network, during my conversations with people who use cryptocurrencies[^1], most aren't inclined to spend their Bitcoin.

[^1]: Most people don't use Lightning Network, at least when I encounter lots of bitcoiners who started recently, didn't know either about it.

What does "inclined" mean in this context?

It's the same as having a wallet or purse from which you take out your cash to pay for what you want. Following this analogy, most Bitcoiners have their satoshis secured in a safe, away from devices.

So, where are the Bitcoins ready to spend?

There's another reflection. The Bitcoins ready to spend are mostly moving in custodial wallets or with additional centralized integrations; put more simply, the reason Wallet of Satoshi, Binance, Coinbase are successful—in my opinion—is because you need some data, and they take care of the nodes, routes, channels... all you need to do is provide some info about yourself, and you're good to go. The same goes for exchanges. In exchange for information, they offer you a myriad of services so you can use your Bitcoins, pay for everything.

So...

That's one main reason why custodial projects get more attention than self-custodial ones. I'm not making judgments about whether this is right or wrong; I'm analyzing the scenarios for why the most... significant developments happen in that realm. If I want to extend this to others, we could also say that mining has been subject to this too. Bitmain and other companies have closed their patents, making the study or documentation of their machines inaccessible[^2]. In that case, yes, there are Bitcoins ready to spend[^3].

[^2]: That's why we find innovative when Nerdminer or BitAxe pulls out their product. [^3]: Kudos to BTCPayServer in this case for make the coolest software to spend my bitcoins.

Honestly, I don't have a conclusion. This morning, I was reflecting on this myself. I've supported various projects with sats and will continue to do so, but in the interest of making Bitcoin a more...usable currency, we must consider that simply holding and not spending, we're not creating a friendly environment for merchants and people interested in commerce to use their Bitcoins, but we must keep pushing forward.

In the end, I’m super bullish on Bitcoin. No doubts at all.

On the other hand, am I seeing a different panorama than you?

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/654755

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 10 min
• 🍳 Cook time: 30 min
• 🍽️ Servings: 2 (depends how hungry the bears are)

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless chicken (thighs or breast)
• 1 can Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup
• half a can of heavy cream
• 6 ounces white rice
• garlic powder
• cayenne pepper
• onion powder
• salt & pepper

Directions

1. Start by getting the rice going.
2. generously season chicken with salt and pepper
3. cook chicken
4. prepare sauce: mix cream of mushroom soup with heavy cream (i use 1/2 of the empty soup can to measure)
5. add generous portions of garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Add in some onion powder and salt and pepper as well. stir all these together on low/medium heat
6. once chicken is cooked, chop it up into tiny pieces. The chicken needs to be chopped up to give the sludge the proper consistency
7. add chicken to sludge (sauce) and stir so everything is well mixed.
8. finally, pour the chicken/sludge over the rice and mix all that together. ENJOY!

https://forex-strategy.com/2024/08/19/fauci-hid-plans-for-9-years-to-create-a-virus-with-a-15-fatality-rate/ Fauci hid plans for 9 years to create a virus with a 15% fatality rate

usa #plandemic #pandemic #monkeypox #fauci #politics

In this tutorial, we'll build a React component using TypeScript that includes sliders for adjusting length, width, height, and volume. You will be able to fix the values of the sliders and automatically recalculate other parameters based on the volume.

Step 1: Create a New Project

First, let's create a new project using Create React App with the TypeScript template.

Open your terminal and run the following command:

bash npx create-react-app volume-slider-app --template typescript

After the installation is complete, navigate to the project directory:

bash cd volume-slider-app

Start the project with the following command:

bash npm start

The project will open in your browser at http://localhost:3000.

Step 2: Basic Slider Component

Let's create a basic component that will contain sliders for length, width, and height.

1. Create a new file src/SliderComponent.tsx.
2. Add the following code:

```tsx import React, { useState } from 'react';

const SliderComponent: React.FC = () => { const [length, setLength] = useState(10); const [width, setWidth] = useState(10); const [height, setHeight] = useState(10);

return (

export default SliderComponent; ```

1. Open the src/App.tsx file and replace its content with the following:

```tsx import React from 'react'; import SliderComponent from './SliderComponent';

const App: React.FC = () => { return (

export default App; ```

Now, when you refresh your browser, you'll see three sliders that allow you to adjust the length, width, and height.

Step 3: Adding Volume Calculation

Next, let's add volume calculation based on the length, width, and height values.

1. Update the code in SliderComponent.tsx:

```tsx const calculateVolume = (length: number, width: number, height: number): number => { return length * width * height; };

const SliderComponent: React.FC = () => { const [length, setLength] = useState(10); const [width, setWidth] = useState(10); const [height, setHeight] = useState(10); const [volume, setVolume] = useState(calculateVolume(length, width, height));

// Update volume when parameters change const updateVolume = () => { setVolume(calculateVolume(length, width, height)); };

return (

Now, the volume will be recalculated whenever any of the parameters (length, width, height) change.

Step 4: Adding Toggle Switches to Fix Values

Next, let's add the ability to fix the values of length, width, height, and volume using toggle switches.

1. Add toggle switches to the sliders in SliderComponent.tsx:

```tsx const SliderComponent: React.FC = () => { const [length, setLength] = useState(10); const [width, setWidth] = useState(10); const [height, setHeight] = useState(10); const [volume, setVolume] = useState(calculateVolume(length, width, height));

const [isLengthFixed, setIsLengthFixed] = useState(false); const [isWidthFixed, setIsWidthFixed] = useState(false); const [isHeightFixed, setIsHeightFixed] = useState(false); const [isVolumeFixed, setIsVolumeFixed] = useState(false);

const updateVolume = () => { if (!isVolumeFixed) { setVolume(calculateVolume(length, width, height)); } };

return (

  <div>
    <label>Width: {width}</label>
    <input
      type="range"
      min="1"
      max="100"
      value={width}
      onChange={(e) => {
        if (!isWidthFixed) {
          setWidth(Number(e.target.value));
          updateVolume();
        }
      }}
      disabled={isWidthFixed}
    />
    <label>
      <input
        type="checkbox"
        checked={isWidthFixed}
        onChange={() => setIsWidthFixed(!isWidthFixed)}
      /> Fix
    </label>
  </div>

  <div>
    <label>Height: {height}</label>
    <input
      type="range"
      min="1"
      max="100"
      value={height}
      onChange={(e) => {
        if (!isHeightFixed) {
          setHeight(Number(e.target.value));
          updateVolume();
        }
      }}
      disabled={isHeightFixed}
    />
    <label>
      <input
        type="checkbox"
        checked={isHeightFixed}
        onChange={() => setIsHeightFixed(!isHeightFixed)}
      /> Fix
    </label>
  </div>

  <div>
    <label>Volume: {volume}</label>
    <input
      type="range"
      min="1"
      max="100000"
      value={volume}
      onChange={(e) => {
        if (!isVolumeFixed) {
          setVolume(Number(e.target.value));
        }
      }}
      disabled={isVolumeFixed}
    />
    <label>
      <input
        type="checkbox"
        checked={isVolumeFixed}
        onChange={() => setIsVolumeFixed(!isVolumeFixed)}
      /> Fix
    </label>
  </div>
</div>

if (isLengthFixed) {
  setHeight(newVolume / (length * width));
} else if (isWidthFixed) {
  setHeight(newVolume / (length * width));
} else if (isHeightFixed) {
  setWidth(newVolume / (length * height));
} else {
  setHeight(newVolume / (length * width));
}

| OLD LOGO | NEW LOGO| |---|---| |||

LifPay is a not well know yet custodial web and mobile app that had since inception focus on deliverring some really interestingg features, as the sale of digital goods, multiple account management and nostr integration to name few.

It recently update its design proposing an interesting switch from the original orange details to some green/purple alternatives.

NEW LANDING PAGE

OLD APP SCREENS

NEW APP SCREENS

TRY LIFPAY! ... and let us know your thoughts! https://lifpay.me/

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/654432

Table Of Content

• What is Fiat Money?

• The Misaligned Incentives of Fiat Money

• The Consequences of a Broken Corporate Model

• Conclusion

• FAQ

The modern corporate model, characterized by hierarchies of managers and shareholders, has been the dominant form of economic organization for centuries. However, recent events have exposed significant flaws in this system. One of the primary drivers of these flaws is the use of fiat money, which creates misaligned incentives throughout the corporate hierarchy. In this article, we will explore how fiat money is fueling these misaligned incentives and the consequences of this broken corporate model.

What is Fiat Money?

Fiat money is a currency that is not backed by any physical commodity, such as gold or silver. Instead, its value is based solely on the trust and faith in the government that issued it. Fiat money is used by governments all over the world as a means of exchange and is the backbone of most modern economies.

The Misaligned Incentives of Fiat Money

Fiat money creates misaligned incentives throughout the corporate hierarchy. At the highest level, corporate executives are incentivized to maximize shareholder value, often at the expense of other stakeholders, such as employees, customers, and the environment. This is because shareholder value is measured in terms of profits and share price, which can be easily manipulated through financial engineering and cost-cutting measures.

Furthermore, the use of fiat money creates a culture of short-termism, as executives are focused on meeting quarterly earnings targets rather than long-term sustainable growth. This short-term focus can lead to decisions that benefit shareholders in the short term but harm the company in the long term.

At the middle management level, managers are incentivized to please their superiors, rather than focus on the needs of their subordinates. This can lead to a lack of focus on employee well-being and development, resulting in high turnover rates and a demotivated workforce.

The Broken Corporate Model

At the lowest level, employees are incentivized to meet performance targets set by their managers, often at the expense of their own well-being and the well-being of their colleagues. This can result in a toxic work environment and a lack of innovation and creativity.

The Consequences of a Broken Corporate Model

The consequences of a broken corporate model are severe. Short-termism and a focus on shareholder value can lead to decisions that harm the environment and society, such as pollution and exploitation of workers. Additionally, a demotivated workforce can lead to a lack of innovation and creativity, which can stifle long-term growth.

Moreover, the misaligned incentives created by fiat money can lead to a lack of trust in corporations and the financial system as a whole. This lack of trust can result in decreased investment in the stock market and a decrease in economic growth.

Conclusion

The use of fiat money creates misaligned incentives throughout the corporate hierarchy, leading to a broken corporate model. Short-termism, a focus on shareholder value, and a lack of focus on employee well-being and development can lead to decisions that harm the environment and society, stifle long-term growth, and decrease trust in corporations and the financial system. To fix this broken model, we need to rethink the use of fiat money and create incentives that align with the long-term well-being of all stakeholders.

FAQ

What is the broken corporate model? The broken corporate model refers to the flaws in the traditional structure of corporations, where the focus on short-term profits can lead to misaligned incentives and negative consequences for stakeholders.

How does fiat money contribute to the broken corporate model? Fiat money, which is money that is not backed by a physical commodity, can lead to a situation where corporations prioritize short-term financial gains over long-term sustainability because there is no tangible anchor to the value of the money.

What are some examples of misaligned incentives in the corporate world? Examples of misaligned incentives in the corporate world include prioritizing quarterly profits over long-term sustainability, excessive executive compensation that is not tied to performance, and cutting corners on environmental or social responsibility to boost profits.

What can be done to address the broken corporate model? To address the broken corporate model, stakeholders can push for more transparency and accountability in corporate decision-making, advocate for a shift towards sustainable and responsible business practices, and explore alternative economic models that prioritize stakeholder well-being over short-term profits.

That's all for today

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.

I was reflecting on Arnold Kling's description of the three main political tribes (Progressives, Conservatives, Libertarians) and how Bitcoin serves each of them. I'm going to give each group a charitable hearing, which means I'm talking about the good faith actors in each of these tribes. I have no illusions about there being bad faith power seeking sociopaths in each group.

Full disclosure: I have not read Kling's book The Three Languages of Politics, so this is only based on listening to him discuss these ideas with Russ Roberts on Econ Talk and perhaps hearing it come up in other conversations.

Libertarians

In Kling's taxonomy, Libertarians frame issues around a liberty vs coercion distinction (can confirm). It's pretty easy to see the appeal of bitcoin to this group (and not just because it's the group I'm in).

The state and other criminals can't take your bitcoin from you without your consent and they can't stop you from transacting with it.

There's another element of bitcoin that appeals to Libertarians greatly. Using Bitcoin directly undermines the coercive state, reducing it's capacity to coerce innocent people.

Progressives

Kling describes Progressives as framing things as oppressor vs oppressed. At first blush this sounds similar to Libertarians, but Progressives don't see violations of property rights as the dividing line. Progressives are concerned about the plight of the "little guy" and not only in cases of outright coercion.

What likely appeals to Progressives is that Bitcoin is open to all. Disenfranchised people, who may be blocked out of formal financial institutions, have just as much access to Bitcoin as everyone else.

That Bitcoin also allows ordinary people to preserve their savings without relying on and enriching corrupt bankers should be quite appealing.

Conservatives

The Conservative framing is civilization vs barbarism, according to Kling. There's a lot to unpack there and I'm not going try to be comprehensive about it. One way to think about this distinction is that a civilization has formal institutional structures for dealing with disputes that are rooted in their societies traditions, rather than resorting to unseemly ad hoc solutions (again, there's a lot to unpack here).

I found conservatives the most difficult to think about. Those of you who are familiar with The Righteous Mind will likely be able to guess why.

Where I think the main appeal is for conservatives is that the state, in general, and fiat, in particular, undermine many of the traditional institutions of society. Bitcoin undermines their ability to undermine the organic institutions of civil society. There's a whole treatise to be written on this topic, but suffice to say conservatives believe that the state undermines and crowds out churches, fraternal societies, charities, the family, and cultural tradition, while the high time preference induced by fiat leads to all manner of antisocial behaviors like drug abuse, casual sex, and gambling.

Wrapping up

Let me know what you think about this. Did I miss something obvious? Did I mischaracterize anything/anyone?

Only hold as much fiat as you're willing to lose.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/653982

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```js import React, { useEffect, useState } from 'react'; import dynamic from 'next/dynamic'; import { Button } from 'primereact/button'; import { Dialog } from 'primereact/dialog'; import { initializeBitcoinConnect } from './BitcoinConnect'; import { LightningAddress } from '@getalby/lightning-tools'; import { useToast } from '@/hooks/useToast'; import { useSession } from 'next-auth/react'; import axios from 'axios';

const Payment = dynamic( () => import('@getalby/bitcoin-connect-react').then((mod) => mod.Payment), { ssr: false } );

const ResourcePaymentButton = ({ lnAddress, amount, onSuccess, onError, resourceId }) => { const [invoice, setInvoice] = useState(null); const [userId, setUserId] = useState(null); const { showToast } = useToast(); const { data: session } = useSession(); const [dialogVisible, setDialogVisible] = useState(false);

useEffect(() => { if (session?.user) { setUserId(session.user.id); } }, [session]);

useEffect(() => { initializeBitcoinConnect(); }, []);

useEffect(() => { const fetchInvoice = async () => { try { const ln = new LightningAddress(lnAddress); await ln.fetch(); const invoice = await ln.requestInvoice({ satoshi: amount }); setInvoice(invoice); } catch (error) { console.error('Error fetching invoice:', error); showToast('error', 'Invoice Error', 'Failed to fetch the invoice.'); if (onError) onError(error); } };

fetchInvoice();

}, [lnAddress, amount, onError, showToast]);

const handlePaymentSuccess = async (response) => { try { const purchaseData = { userId: userId, resourceId: resourceId, amountPaid: parseInt(amount, 10) };

  const result = await axios.post('/api/purchase/resource', purchaseData);

  if (result.status === 200) {
    showToast('success', 'Payment Successful', `Paid ${amount} sats and updated user purchases`);
    if (onSuccess) onSuccess(response);
  } else {
    throw new Error('Failed to update user purchases');
  }
} catch (error) {
  console.error('Error updating user purchases:', error);
  showToast('error', 'Purchase Update Failed', 'Payment was successful, but failed to update user purchases.');
  if (onError) onError(error);
}
setDialogVisible(false);

};

return ( <> ${amount} sats} icon="pi pi-wallet" onClick={() => setDialogVisible(true)} disabled={!invoice} severity='primary' rounded className="text-[#f8f8ff] text-sm" />

setDialogVisible(false)} header="Make Payment" style={{ width: '50vw' }} > {invoice ? ( Pay ${amount} sats} /> ) : (

Loading payment details...

)}

); };

export default ResourcePaymentButton; ```

```js import React, { useEffect, useState, useCallback, useRef } from 'react'; import { useRouter } from 'next/router'; import { useImageProxy } from '@/hooks/useImageProxy'; import { Tag } from 'primereact/tag'; import { Button } from 'primereact/button'; import Image from 'next/image'; import dynamic from 'next/dynamic'; import axios from 'axios'; import { nip04, nip19 } from 'nostr-tools'; import { v4 as uuidv4 } from 'uuid'; import { useSession } from 'next-auth/react'; import { useNDKContext } from "@/context/NDKContext"; import { NDKEvent } from "@nostr-dev-kit/ndk"; import { findKind0Fields } from '@/utils/nostr'; import { useToast } from '@/hooks/useToast'; import 'primeicons/primeicons.css';

const MDDisplay = dynamic(() => import("@uiw/react-markdown-preview"), { ssr: false });

// ... keep the validateEvent function as is ...

export default function DraftCourseDetails({ processedEvent, draftId, lessons }) { // ... keep state declarations and hooks as is ...

const fetchAuthor = useCallback(async (pubkey) => {
    if (!pubkey) return;
    const author = await ndk.getUser({ pubkey });
    const profile = await author.fetchProfile();
    const fields = await findKind0Fields(profile);
    if (fields) setAuthor(fields);
}, [ndk]);

useEffect(() => {
    if (processedEvent) fetchAuthor(processedEvent?.user?.pubkey);
}, [fetchAuthor, processedEvent]);

useEffect(() => {
    if (session) setUser(session.user);
}, [session]);

const handleDelete = async () => {
    try {
        await axios.delete(`/api/courses/drafts/${processedEvent.id}`);
        showToast('success', 'Success', 'Draft Course deleted successfully');
        router.push('/');
    } catch (error) {
        showToast('error', 'Error', 'Failed to delete draft course');
    }
};

const handlePostResource = async (resource) => {
    // ... keep this function as is ...
};

const createCourseEvent = (courseId, title, summary, coverImage, lessons, price) => {
    const event = new NDKEvent(ndk);
    event.kind = 30004;
    event.content = "";
    event.tags = [
        ['d', courseId],
        ['name', title],
        ['picture', coverImage],
        ['image', coverImage],
        ['description', summary],
        ['l', "Education"],
        ['price', price.toString()],
        ...lessons.map((lesson) => ['a', `${lesson.kind}:${lesson.pubkey}:${lesson.d}`]),
    ];
    return event;
};

const handleSubmit = async (e) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    const newCourseId = uuidv4();

    try {
        if (!ndk.signer) await addSigner();

        // Process lessons
        await Promise.all(processedLessons.map(async (lesson) => {
            const unpublished = lesson?.unpublished;
            if (unpublished && Object.keys(unpublished).length > 0) {
                const validationResult = validateEvent(unpublished);
                if (validationResult !== true) {
                    throw new Error(`Invalid event: ${validationResult}`);
                }

                const published = await unpublished.publish();
                const saved = await handlePostResource(unpublished);

                if (published && saved) {
                    await axios.delete(`/api/drafts/${lesson?.d}`);
                }
            }
        }));

        // Create and publish course
        const courseEvent = createCourseEvent(newCourseId, processedEvent.title, processedEvent.summary, processedEvent.image, processedLessons, processedEvent.price);
        const published = await courseEvent.publish();

        if (!published) {
            throw new Error('Failed to publish course');
        }

        // Save course to db
        await axios.post('/api/courses', {
            id: newCourseId,
            resources: {
                connect: processedLessons.map(lesson => ({ id: lesson?.d }))
            },
            noteId: courseEvent.id,
            user: {
                connect: { id: user.id }
            },
            price: processedEvent?.price || 0
        });

        // Update resources with course id
        await Promise.all(processedLessons.map(lesson => 
            axios.put(`/api/resources/${lesson?.d}`, { courseId: newCourseId })
        ));

        // Delete draft
        await axios.delete(`/api/courses/drafts/${processedEvent.id}`);

        showToast('success', 'Success', 'Course created successfully');
        router.push(`/course/${courseEvent.id}`);

    } catch (error) {
        console.error('Error creating course:', error);
        showToast('error', 'Error', error.message || 'Failed to create course. Please try again.');
    }
};

useEffect(() => {
    const buildEvent = async (draft) => {
        // ... keep this function as is ...
    };

    const buildDraftEvent = async (lesson) => {
        const { unsignedEvent } = await buildEvent(lesson);
        return unsignedEvent;
    };

    const processLessons = async () => {
        if (!hasRunEffect.current && lessons.length > 0 && user && author) {
            hasRunEffect.current = true;

            const processedLessons = await Promise.all(lessons.map(async (lesson) => {
                const isDraft = !lesson?.pubkey;
                if (isDraft) {
                    const unsignedEvent = await buildDraftEvent(lesson);
                    return {
                        d: lesson?.id,
                        kind: lesson?.price ? 30402 : 30023,
                        pubkey: unsignedEvent.pubkey,
                        unpublished: unsignedEvent
                    };
                } else {
                    return {
                        d: lesson?.d,
                        kind: lesson?.price ? 30402 : 30023,
                        pubkey: lesson.pubkey
                    };
                }
            }));

            setProcessedLessons(processedLessons);
        }
    };

    processLessons();
}, [lessons, user, author, ndk]);

// ... keep the return statement (JSX) as is ...

} ```

json {"id":"7bcd1b31-7312-4ac7-bd98-26135ae3532c","userId":"cc89e769-1cf7-4c9f-9558-cacc07ec9233","price":0,"noteId":"naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzpr9kpcs4v7y8nndqhm6dtvlurfw9jfwj4k6a33860d7s8d0jm6h2qqjrwcnrvsckyve395mnxvfj956xzceh943xgwfc95ervvfnx4sk2ve4xvexxpvjj4y","courseId":"a02d8514-2f56-4ab9-9f1a-16fba4d07614"}

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Black Holes: The Mysterious Giants of Space

Black holes are among the most fascinating and enigmatic objects in the universe. They are regions of space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape their pull. This extreme gravitational force is a result of an enormous amount of mass being concentrated into a very small area, creating a singularity—a point of infinite density.

Formation of Black Holes:

Black holes typically form when massive stars exhaust their nuclear fuel and undergo gravitational collapse. This collapse causes the core of the star to compress into a singularity, while the outer layers are often expelled into space. There are different types of black holes based on their size and formation process:

1. Stellar-Mass Black Holes: These are formed from the remnants of massive stars that have exploded in supernovae. They typically have a mass between 3 to 10 times that of the Sun.

2. Supermassive Black Holes: Found at the centers of galaxies, including our Milky Way, these black holes have masses ranging from millions to billions of times that of the Sun. Their formation is still a topic of research, but they likely grew by accumulating matter over billions of years.

3. Intermediate-Mass Black Holes: These are black holes with masses between stellar and supermassive, and their existence is still somewhat speculative. They might form through the merging of smaller black holes or the collapse of very large stars.

4. Primordial Black Holes: Hypothetical black holes that could have formed soon after the Big Bang due to density fluctuations in the early universe. These black holes could be much smaller than stellar-mass black holes.

Anatomy of a Black Hole:

• Event Horizon: The "point of no return," beyond which nothing can escape the black hole's gravity. Once something crosses this boundary, it is inevitably pulled toward the singularity.

• Singularity: The core of the black hole, where matter is thought to be infinitely dense, and the laws of physics as we know them break down.

• Accretion Disk: A disk of gas, dust, and other material that orbits the black hole. As this material spirals in, it heats up and emits radiation, often making black holes visible to telescopes.

• Jet: Some black holes eject powerful jets of particles at nearly the speed of light, which can extend for thousands of light-years. These jets are thought to be powered by the black hole's magnetic fields.

The Mystery of Black Holes:

Black holes challenge our understanding of physics, particularly at the singularity, where current theories like general relativity and quantum mechanics do not fully agree. The study of black holes is not only about understanding these exotic objects themselves but also about pushing the boundaries of science.

Observing Black Holes:

Directly observing black holes is impossible since they emit no light. However, their presence can be inferred by observing the effects of their immense gravity on nearby stars and gas. In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope captured the first-ever image of a black hole's event horizon, located in the galaxy M87, marking a milestone in astrophysics.

The Role of Black Holes in the Universe:

Black holes play a crucial role in the evolution of galaxies. Supermassive black holes, in particular, are thought to influence the formation and growth of galaxies by regulating star formation through their powerful jets and winds.

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Having recovered from my 27-hour trip to a remote area of Argentina at the foot of the Andes, I figured I’d bust out my round by round draft targets.

For point of reference (as to my location), here’s a shot of the snow-capped mountains outside my window (it’s winter here in the Southern Hemisphere):

Keep in mind this is all subject to context and I’d absolutely hold my nose and draft someone off this list if it were a player of need, or he fell below ADP. (Also, I’ll probably change my mind on a few of these guys.)

For point of reference, here’s the NFFC ADP for the RotoWire Online Championship over last three days:

Round 1: Obviously, it depends where you pick, but there are only two players I’m avoiding, and one is McCaffrey (of whom I already have a share), but I don’t like the calf injury, however minor they say it is. Sure, if he drops to nine or whatever I would gamble, but he won’t. The other is Marvin Harrison sight unseen. I’d gamble on Gibbs (also has an injury, but he’s much younger than McCaffrey) or Puka Nacua (also with a knee issue) ahead of him.

Bottom line, I’m fine with any of these guys and not really targeting anyone per se. I know that sounds a little odd, but I just don’t have that much of a preference between them.

Round 2: I mentioned Gibbs and Nacua, I’m fine with Harrison if he slips to pick 15 or so, and I like De’Von Achane, Travis Etienne and Jaylen Waddle at the second half of the round. I’m out on Davante Adams (age, team context), Olave (nothing special) and probably Kyren Williams (too small for his role.) I could be talked into Cooper Kupp, though I liked him better when he was going in Round 3.

Round 3: DJ Moore and DeVonta Smith seem just as good as the second round receivers to me, Isiah Pacheco is the best of the remaining running back options by far, and Stefon Diggs is the WR1 in Houston in my opinion. As a Giants fan, I love Malik Nabers, but he’s got a lot more risk than those other three in this round.

Round 4: I’d take Sam LaPorta who is locked into a great role in a good passing offense and could even improve in Year 2. Rashee Rice might go at the 2/3 turn if he weren’t in legal trouble, and there’s a chance nothing comes of it this year. Amari Cooper is rock solid every year, Josh Jacobs has overall RB1 upside despite last year’s abysmal showing. I’d also take Tee Higgins late in the round — he was a 2/3 turn guy the last couple years, and he’s still the same player.

Round 5: I hate this round. I’d take either Trey McBride or Dalton Kincaid (Kincaid first as he could be Josh Allen’s top guy). Otherwise I might reach into round six to take some guys.

Round 6: Jayden Reed was good as a rookie, and Year 2 is when receivers make the leap. I know it’s crowded in Green Bay, but if he’s the real deal, the other guys will settle into lesser roles. Rhamondre Stevenson is a good back on a bad team, but he’ll be the workhorse, and the offense can hardly be worse than last year’s. James Conner and Aaron Jones are old, but they were still good last year. CJ Stroud is my bet to lead the league in passing yards, but I’d probably rather just flat gamble on Anthony Richardson who goes early Round 7.

Round 7: Richardson could easily be QB1, and there’s so much depth at the position, he’s worth the gamble. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a Year 2 WR who could take the leap. Ladd McConkey seems like the obvious go-to slot guy for the Chargers and Javonte Williams should be himself again, two years removed from the ACL tear.

Round 8: Jake Ferguson is Dak Prescott’s de facto No. 2, seems like a bargain here. Brian Thomas is in the right place as the Jaguars lack both depth at WR and also a true No. 1, Kyler Murray has QB1 upside now that he’s two years removed from injury and has Harrison, McBride and even Michael Wilson.

Round 9: Brian Robinson is the early down workhorse, and Austin Ekeler (even if he’s not washed) is probably third-down only. And Robinson will catch some passes too. I like Brock Bowers’ upside even though it’s kind of crowded in Vegas. (I’d take David Njoku this round too.) Devin Singletary should get sufficient work in an impoved offense, and Zack Moss isn’t bad and could be more or less what Joe Mixon was last year if Chase Brown turns out to be just a guy.

Round 10: Who knows with Nick Chubb, but he’s worth a gamble here. I like Blake Corum because Kyren Williams is light for the rigors of the role, and RB1 for Sean McVay is an ideal spot. I’d also settle for Rico Dowdle as he might not be good, but Zeke Elliott is way past his prime.

Round 11: Jaylen Wright doesn’t need much to get a shot — Raheem Mostert is 32, and Achane is undersized. I keep drafting Rashid Shaheed who is the same size as Chris Olave and makes plays down the field whenever they give his a shot.

Round 12+: This is just a late-round sleeper list:

Josh Downs — has a high ankle sprain, but showed enough as a rookie to take a leap.

Michael Wilson — He showed something as a rookie and is locked in as a starter opposite Harrison.

Bucky Irving — Rachaad White is just a guy, so Irving could get a shot if he struggles. ** Tyrone Tracy** — Singletary is a pro, but he’s ordinary, and Tracy can catch as he’s a converted receiver.

Kimani Vidal — Built like a mini tank and with little durable competition ahead of him.

Khalil Herbert — He’s a good running back, even caught 20 passes last year in limited work, and D’Andre Swift probably won’t hold up.

Rashod Bateman — He should be involved if he can ever stay healthy.

Jordan Mason — McCaffrey’s only reasonably reliable backup. Elijah Mitchell is way too injury prone. ** Wan’Dale Robinson** — Probably the No. 2 target on the Giants after Nabers.

Matthew Stafford — He has two receivers going in the second round, and McVay’s offense has 35-TD upside for its QB.

Jonnu Smith — The Dolphins really don’t have a No. 3 WR, and Smith has shown he can make plays in the passing game.

Roman Wilson — Van Jefferson isn’t good, and I’m not sold on George Pickens as a No. 1, either. Wilson could be the slot guy and even lead the team in catches. ** Justin Fields — Russell Wilson is on his last legs, and should Fields get the job, he’d be a top-10 fantasy QB out of the gate. ** Daniel Jones — He was actually good in 2022, won a playoff game and now gets a king-making receiver in Nabers, a healthy Robinson, Year 2 of deep threat Jalin Hyatt and more familiarity with Brian Daboll’s offense. Plus he’ll get plenty of points on the ground.

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```js import { getCourseById, updateCourse, deleteCourse } from "@/db/models/courseModels";

export default async function handler(req, res) { const { slug } = req.query;

if (req.method === 'GET') { try { const course = await getCourseById(slug); if (course) { res.status(200).json(course); } else { res.status(404).json({ error: 'Course not found' }); } } catch (error) { res.status(500).json({ error: error.message }); } } else if (req.method === 'PUT') { try { const course = await updateCourse(slug, req.body); res.status(200).json(course); } catch (error) { res.status(400).json({ error: error.message }); } } else if (req.method === 'DELETE') { try { await deleteCourse(slug); res.status(204).end(); } catch (error) { res.status(500).json({ error: error.message }); } } else { // Handle any other HTTP method res.setHeader('Allow', ['GET', 'PUT', 'DELETE']); res.status(405).end(Method ${req.method} Not Allowed); } } ```

I’ve been reading The Unchanging Word of God by David Jeremiah. This book has chapters from multiple books he wrote previously. I was particularly inspired by some of what I read in his chapter entitled “When You are at Your Wits’ End.” The title of this article was inspired by something he said as well.

What Prayer Says About Our Faith

To start us off, I’m going share the quote that led to this post. It is found on page 145.

A devoted believer will pray for God’s deliverance from problems, but a wiser one will pray for God’s use of them.

I would expand upon this quote and say, “In times of trouble, a foolish believer will try to fix things himself; a generally faithful believer will pray for God to deliver him from hardship; but a wise believer, who knows what an awesome, holy, good God we have, will pray for God to use the problem/hard times for good according to His will.”

Truly understanding who God is (His holiness, goodness, omniscience, omnipotence etc.) and truly understanding our own weakness and lack of understanding enables us to honestly pray “thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” When we think too highly of ourselves and to lowly of God, then we want to fix things ourselves or we just ask for deliverance. Nothing that happens to us is an accident or God being unfair.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

The Good Father

God is like a parent. He wants the best for His children, knows what is best better than His children, and gives His children what is best for their long-term good rather than their short-term happiness.

As a parent, I make my kids eat healthy food rather than the junk food they may want (especially my youngest). As a parent, I tell my kids not to do certain things that I know will cause them harm. Sometimes they don’t understand the why and try to do otherwise. When my kids were very little and just learning to crawl, I found a few spots with 1-3 steps and allowed them to fall off the steps scaring them and maybe even allowing minor pain. I did this so they would learn about the dangers of heights. If they fell off 1-3 steps, the worst thing they could get was a minor bruise and a scare. On the other hand, if they fell off a great height, they could break a bone, become paralyzed, or even die. By allowing them to have a small, short-term pain, they learned an important lesson that would prevent greater harm.

God does the same for us. He seeks our long-term good rather than our short-term comfort. He intentionally puts us through temporary hardship so we can grow in strength, wisdom, and faith to prepare us for eternity. We look at the here and now and wonder why God would allow such awful things to happen to us, but He looks at what will help us grow in faith and likeness to Himself. God is not limited by time, so He does not look at things in the same way we do. He always controls things with an eternal perspective and with complete knowledge of all things throughout eternity. He knows how each and every event or action affects every other. He works out everything according to His very good plan. We just have to reach the point of knowing that everything will work out according to God’s plan and that everything will work out for good. Sometimes God allows us to see the good in this life and other times not till we reach heaven. When we trust Jesus, we don’t have to worry.

Secure in the Storm

On page 150 of Dr. David Jeremiah’s The Unchanging Word of God, he writes:

We are far more secure in the storm with Jesus in our boat than we will ever be on the shore without Him.

Let’s start with this narrative from Luke 8:

Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out. But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?” (Luke 8:22-25)

In this event, The disciples are crossing a lake with Jesus in the boat. They have the creator God with them in the boat when a terrible storm rolls in while they are far from shore. Instead of trusting in their friend and God, they cry out in terror. “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Instead of looking for God’s miracles (of which they had seen many), they instantly assumed they were about to die. Did they really need to worry? Of course not. Did they need to be afraid? Not at all. God was in control. Should they have been looking for another miracle? Absolutely Yes.

How often do we fear a financial calamity, lament an illness, mourn a loss, or otherwise have the wrong attitude about things happening around us or to us? For most (all?) of us, I’d guess the answer is “way too often.” If we know how wise, loving, and powerful our God is, we shouldn’t fear, lament, or mourn. We should just trust Him. We should lay our needs before Him and trust His goodness and power will take care of things. We should be actively looking for how God is going to use these hardships.

God is good all of the time. He isn’t being unfair. He isn’t making a mistake. He isn’t being mean. He is working for our good and the good of others. Nothing can happen outside His will.

I know that living out this belief can be difficult when you are in the storm, but trust me. Hard times with Jesus are always better than easy times without Him. Yes, we really can have joy and happiness even in the worst situation when we trust Jesus and join Him in having an eternal perspective.

Trust Jesus.your

Bible verses are NASB (New American Standard Bible) 1995 edition unless otherwise stated

Find more articles at my Trust Jesus Substack

```js import { getCourseById, updateCourse, deleteCourse } from "@/db/models/courseModels";

export default async function handler(req, res) { const { slug } = req.query;

if (req.method === 'GET') { try { const course = await getCourseById(slug); if (course) { res.status(200).json(course); } else { res.status(404).json({ error: 'Course not found' }); } } catch (error) { res.status(500).json({ error: error.message }); } } else if (req.method === 'PUT') { try { const course = await updateCourse(slug, req.body); res.status(200).json(course); } catch (error) { res.status(400).json({ error: error.message }); } } else if (req.method === 'DELETE') { try { await deleteCourse(slug); res.status(204).end(); } catch (error) { res.status(500).json({ error: error.message }); } } else { // Handle any other HTTP method res.setHeader('Allow', ['GET', 'PUT', 'DELETE']); res.status(405).end(Method ${req.method} Not Allowed); } } ```

```js import { createCourseDraft } from '@/db/models/courseDraftModels';

export default async function handler(req, res) { if (req.method === 'POST') { try { const { userId, title, summary, image, price, topics, resources, drafts } = req.body;

        const courseDraft = await createCourseDraft({
            userId,
            title,
            summary,
            image,
            price,
            topics,
            resources: {
                connect: resources.map(id => ({ id }))
            },
            drafts: {
                connect: drafts.map(id => ({ id }))
            }
        });

        res.status(201).json(courseDraft);
    } catch (error) {
        res.status(500).json({ error: 'Failed to create course draft' });
    }
} else {
    res.setHeader('Allow', ['POST']);
    res.status(405).end(`Method ${req.method} Not Allowed`);
}

} ```

“Bitcoin is the train that is coming. You can either be on the train or on the tracks. —Andreas M. Antonopoulos

Welcome aboard, folks! Please take your seats as we embark on our tour of the UK Bitcoin scene. 🚂

This scenic journey will take us through nine meetups, from Glasgow all the way down to Penzance. Along the way, we’ll stop at six new Bitcoin-accepting merchants, offering everything from fish and chips to music lessons.

Tickets are free as always—just make sure to share the newsletter with your fellow Bitcoiners.

All aboard! Mind the gap, and let’s roll…

Upcoming Bitcoin Meetups

Happening this week...

1. Newcastle upon Tyne Bitcoin Meetup: The next Newcastle meetup is on Tuesday 20th August at The Ware Rooms Bar. 6:30 PM. This month is a Seedsigner special, learn how to build your very own low-cost hardware wallet/signing device. ✍🏼
2. Cyphermunk House: Join the London Cyphermunk House group for a session on 'Sovereign Computing', on Tuesday at 6:30 PM. They have a live demonstration of how to use Start9 Labs software and a discussion about the future of the internet. 👨🏻‍💻
3. Canterbury Bitcoin: Meeting this month at The Parrot, 1-9 Church Lane, Canterbury, CT1 2AG at 7 PM on Tuesday the 20th. An informal meetup to discuss Bitcoin and chat. 🦜
4. Bitcoin Glasgow: Bitcoin Glasgow meet every 3rd Wednesday of the month and this month will be at The Maltman, 59-61 Renfield Street at 6 PM to 8 PM. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
5. Bitcoin Bristol: August's Bitcoin Bristol Social is at Canteen, Hamilton House, Stokes Croft from 6.15pm on Weds 21st. Support local & enjoy a balmy summer evening with some Bristol Bitcoiners. ☀️
6. Shropshire Bitcoin**: On the 21st, the Shropshire crew will meet at the Admiral Benbow in Shrewsbury. You'll find them at 7 PM, all welcome. 🍻
7. Penzance Bitcoin: Will be at The Dolphin Tavern on Quay Street on Thursday 22nd at 8 PM. They'll be meeting in the 'little room' at table 21. Everyone is welcome from beginners to OG's. 🍻
8. Bitcoin Walk - Edinburgh**: Every Saturday they walk around Arthur's Seat in this historic city. Join them at 12 pm to chat about all things Bitcoin and keep fit. 🚶🏻🚶🏻‍♀️🚶‍♂️
9. Real Bedford - Home Game: Peter MacCormack's boys are at home this Saturday, the 24th playing North Leigh. Join them for a 3 pm kickoff. ⚽️

New Businesses Accepting Bitcoin

It’s a huge week for merchant onboarding, with 6 new businesses to report across the country.

• The Mining Shop: The Mining Shop UK began with a passion for Bitcoin and has grown into a community of Bitcoin enthusiasts, IT professionals, and traders. They aim to make mining accessible to all, led by passionate Bitcoiners. A great selection of mining equipment can be purchased with bitcoin. Great work by the Newcastle meetup for spotting this one. ⛏️🖥️
• Nemo Cafe: Nemo Cafe at Hampton railway station serves great coffee, ice creams and a range of refreshing drinks, plus a small selection of edible treats; and they now accept bitcoin and Lightning Network payments! Well done to Rob for onboarding these guys.⚡️☕️🥐🍦
• The Lone Fisherman The Lone Fisherman in Tooting Market serves authentic fresh Caribbean dishes, salt fish fritters, jerk chicken and more. They now accept bitcoin and Lightning Network payments!⚡️🇯🇲
• Gav's Fish & Chips: The UK’s most southwesterly business that accepts bitcoin and Lightning Network payments! Gav’s on the Isles of Scilly for fresh-caught fish, lobster scampi and more! Shout-out to OPD for another business onboarded.🐟
• Lynsey Clarke Music: Looking for piano or singing lesson in Scotland? Thanks to Zaprite, Lynsey Clarke now accepts bitcoin & Lightning Network payments! 🎹🎤
• Blue Fox Homes: Looking for an AirBnB in Worcestershire? Check out Blue Fox Homes in Pershore, a modern, spacious 3 bedroom house that sleeps 5; they now accept bitcoin and Lightning payments with a 10% DISCOUNT!!⚡️

Upcoming Special Events

These events aren’t happening next week, but they’re important to add to your calendar now as tickets are selling fast.

• Bitcoin - The change you've been waiting for: Mark your calendars for August 31 at 10:30 am for "The Change You’ve Been Waiting For" at Glasgow University Union. This seminar, costing £10, focuses on Bitcoin's transformative potential. With Bitcoin impacting individuals and businesses globally, understanding it is crucial. Guest speaker Allen Farrington will share his expertise, making this event perfect for both seasoned investors and the Bitcoin-curious. Don't miss this opportunity to explore how Bitcoin can shape your financial future.
• Bitcoin Whitepaper Party: Celebrate Bitcoin’s 16th birthday on Bitcoin Whitepaper Day at the Dockside Vaults this Halloween. Currently, you can buy two tickets for £25 as an early bird deal, the regular price is £21.40 for a single ticket. Enjoy a performance by Roger9000 and DJ sets from MadMunky, itsTOMEKK, and ZAZAWOWOW. The party kicks off at 19:30. Bitcoin is accepted at the venue, and you can also pay for tickets with Bitcoin here.

Get Involved

• Volunteer Opportunities: Bridge2Bitcoin is actively seeking volunteers who share our passion for merchant adoption. We'd be delighted to connect if you're eager to contribute. Reach out to us on Twitter or through our website.
• Start Your Own Meetup: Interested in launching a Bitcoin meetup? We’re here to support you every step of the way. We’ve assisted numerous UK Bitcoin meetups in getting started. Get in touch via Twitter.
• Telegram users: You might find our Telegram Channel another useful way to keep up-to-date with UK meetups.
• Feedback and Suggestions: We value your input! Share your ideas on how we can enhance this newsletter.

Products I Endorse

Laser Eyes Cards: Bolt Cards with laser eyes. Worldwide shipping. Visit lasereyes.cards/buy-now.

Get out and support the meetups where you can, visit Bitcoin Events UK for more info on each meetup and to find your closest on the interactive map.

Stay tuned for more updates next week!

Simon.

Full story Covid and Monkeypox - What an amazing coincidence in Germany It turns out that the new pandemic (Monkeypox) begins in an absolutely identical way, just like the old one pandemic - the covid.

Full story Covid and Monkeypox - What an amazing coincidence in Germany It turns out that the new pandemic (Monkeypox) begins in an absolutely identical way, just like the old one pandemic - the covid.

germany #covid #monkeypox #pandemic #health #medicine

Full story Covid and Monkeypox - What an amazing coincidence in Germany It turns out that the new pandemic (Monkeypox) begins in an absolutely i... This is a preview of my post. Join my community and get access to this and more of my work.

https://highlighter.com/npub1xcwnu8sx6vs5ae478lzzahpmg46428nkewa46prev4jhz59uzz5qqhm0u6

I do a lot of Sudoku. They’re logic puzzles, using the numbers one through nine in a nine-by-nine grid. The goal is to use all nine numbers once and only once in every nine-field row, column and box. If you find yourself with two sixes in the same row, for example, you’ve blown it.

It’s pure deductive reasoning, no probability, no induction (if it happened this way in nine of the last 10 puzzles, it’s probably the case here!), no guessing. You do not want to fill in a number unless you are absolutely sure it’s the only place it could go. As in bet-your-life-on-it sure. If there’s more than one place for it, you do not guess. It’s like Highlander: “There can only be one!”

I find it relaxing — there is no ambiguity, no argument. You either know for sure and know why you know, or you don’t know.

What a contrast to the information environment the last few years, where there are so many people, wittingly or not, feigning certainty while espousing bullshit. Compromised fact-checkers relying on captured science and medicine, misleading the demoralized and credulous, desperate for a narrative to hold off the tidal wave of fear and doubt. A giant chorus of the obedient protecting themselves from dangerous dissent with their various incantations: “Conspiracy Theory!’ “You Are Not An Epidemiologist!” “Trust the Science!”

But if the 6 can’t be here and here, and the 5 must be there, then there’s nowhere else for the 7 except there. And once we know the 7 is there, the 7 in the bottom left box must be there. That means the 8 is in the lower row, so we can eliminate the eights from the upper and middle rows of that box…

Even when you can’t immediately solve a Sudoku, when the lightning bolt of insight that opens up the whole puzzle hasn’t yet struck, at least you know for sure what you don’t know. No matter how difficult the puzzle, there is such simplicity, order and peace in the realm of pure deductive logic.

. . .

The harder puzzles require you to make assumptions. That is, you might have a box with two possible candidates, and you assume one is correct conditionally and go through the implications of it.

For example, if a box can contain only a 1 or a 3, you might assume it’s a 1, see what happens to the boxes around it, and then alternatively assume it’s a 3, and see the effects of that. If some other box has three candidates, say 3, 4 and 7, and the 1-assumption, makes it a 3, and the 3 makes it a 7, you can be sure it’s not a 4.

Eliminating the 4 doesn’t tell you what the answer is, either for it or the initial box, but it narrows down the possibilities and enables you to play out further conditional scenarios more easily. In other words, by running scenarios for both, “if x is true” and “if x is false” you can find out that “z must be false” even though you still don’t know the truth with respect to x.

It’s important though not to treat your conditional findings as true. In the example above, assuming a 1 in the first box yielded a 3 in the second. If you fill in the 3, though, you just making a 50/50 gamble that might screw up the entire puzzle.

That sounds obvious, but that’s only because my example contains two boxes. Imagine you’re five or six boxes down the cascading chain, making assumptions (and then assumptions within assumptions — like the dreams within dreams of Inception — and you can see how easily you could get it confused.

There is a big difference between “this is the case if x is true”, and “this is case, period.” But sometimes when you’re deep down the assumption rabbit hole, you forget that the entire edifice is based on a conditional. That’s how you wind up with two 6s in the same box and realize the entire 40 minutes you’ve spent wrestling with this puzzle were wasted. You thought you were making breakthroughs, but it turns out you were living a lie the entire time!

. . .

The real world is infinitely more complex than even the hardest Sudoku. It requires us to make conditional assumptions within conditional assumptions all the time. Assuming, the data from this study in the Lancet is correct, assuming that its design is not flawed, assuming it hasn’t been influenced by its funding sources, assuming the subjects in the study don’t differ in some material respect from me (lifestyle, genetics, etc.), you should consider it’s findings.

But if you forget the assumptions involved and simply fill in the box based on the conclusions therein, you run the risk of making a serious error. Many people adopted low-fat, high sugar diets to defeat cholesterol, got on statins, avoided the sun, became vegan for health. It’s pretty obvious where I stand on those practices, but irrespective of whether they’re in fact beneficial, the decision to adopt them is based on many (dubious) assumptions being true.

. . .

The beauty of Sudoku is not only do you know — or find out soon at minimal cost — what you don’t know, but also your assumptions (at least initially) are explicit. You say to yourself, “assume this is a 1, and let’s see what it does, and assume it’s instead a 3, and let’s see what that does.” You are therefore capable of untangling the results of your conditional experiments and drawing sound conclusions from them.

Often when I talk with people about health, civil liberties, medicine or other matters of import, the conversation gets derailed due to conflicting assumptions. Can we examine a question and in so doing untangle the conditional beliefs informing it? Can we agree that what one is saying is only true if one buys into particular premises, and that those premises themselves cannot be taken as a given, but also should be examined?

If you support giving endless weapons to Ukraine no matter the cost, is that because you believe it is an innocent being attacked without provocation by the evil Vladimir Putin? Is that assumption beyond scrutiny? It doesn’t matter where you come out on that question so much as recognizing you are filling in a box based on that assumption, and should that assumption be false, your entire policy prescription is bankrupted.

Let’s say you do believe Putin invaded Ukraine because he is evil and will move onto the rest if Europe next, i.e., he’s basically Hitler. Why do you believe that? Do you have first-hand knowledge of him, or is it something you read in the New York Times? If the latter, then your belief about Putin being true depends on the Times being reliable with respect to geopolitics.

If you follow this sort of reasoning to its logical conclusion, you end up looking for first principles. What can I trust? How can I be sure to fill in the boxes accurately so as not to find out later I was living a lie?

It’s difficult in the real world to find certainty. Even René Descartes, who settled on “I think, therefore I am” didn’t get far*. The best we can do, in my opinion, is via the scientific method, offering a hypothesis that purports to fit the facts, and scrapping it as new facts and better-fitting (more explanatory) hypotheses come along.

The allegory of a perfectly deductive realm like Sudoku then isn’t in completing the puzzle. It’s in not filling in the boxes inappropriately. Forget about believing what’s true, but take great pains to avoid the lie.

*And at best Descartes found an Oscillating Truth, if you think, then you must exist, but you could be deluded, so maybe not, but if you can be deluded then you must exist, but you could be deluded about that, so maybe not, but if you can be deluded about that, then you exist… ad infinitum.

From The Precipice Lectures Archive

DAY 17, IN THIS DIMENSION, OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. I woke up giggling yesterday morning. That's pretty much all I have to say about this one, except here is some background info on the 4th dimension from an earlier episode: How's the Fourth Dimension? _

I am on the web3 apps. The podcast is called “Smell the Inside of Your Nose. Do it Right Now”. _

Here's the Substack podcast. Here is Spotify. RSS here. I think listening is better, that's just me. _ _

Dr. Freebius Lipsmaciladapus: The Absence of Pathology in the 4th Dimension

From The Precipice Lectures Archive 1019 WORDS WRITTEN IN ABOUT 45 MINUTES _

[ Clears throat ] Gentlemen,

To discuss the 4th dimension, we must discuss some of the laws that govern the 3rd-dimensional existence we are currently experiencing.

It is not necessary to understand how electricity works in order to use it. When one walks into a room, one uses a light switch, and the light fills the room. This is functional knowledge. We need not comprehend the details and intricacies of electronics in order to use electronics. In our experience in these three dimensions, there are many activities that are possible. It is possible to do unnecessary and even undesirable things. It is not wise or necessary to do a thing, simply because it is possible. Doing such things, however, does not alter or disrupt the nature of this three-dimensional realm.

The use of devastating weapons, for instance, is utilized by those with devious and avaricious intent and who do not possess the capacity for the creation and exchange of values. This is possible and, in fact, common in our plane of existence in this realm. There is no law of nature or physics in this dimension that prevents this.

These activities are not possible in the 4th dimension, to which some will become a part. There are laws of nature and physics in the fourth dimension that prevent such puerility. Actors will be bound to this dimensional realm that we are experiencing until better thinking and practices happen as a matter of course along their lifetimes.

First, we must describe how the fourth dimension is structured and what material it comprises. Our imaginations are the best example for describing the material; the matter that the fourth dimension comprises.

It does not function in the same way that our imaginations do, but it is comprised of the same matter. That is not to say that the fourth dimension allows you to create ex-nihilo. That is to say one cannot simply create something from nothing in the fourth dimension, as we can in our imaginations.

In this three-dimensional existence, we watch skilled magicians create flowers out of thin air and pull rabbits out of hats. These are illusions. To actually do that is not possible in the fourth dimension. However, existing matter can easily be manipulated physically using only one's hands and bodies. For instance, one might have a bowl of soup but no spoon, only a butter knife. In the 4th dimension, one can shape the knife easily with one's fingers to fashion a spoon for eating the soup.

Suppose there is a large basket on the dinner table, but only two tomatoes are in the basket, and the basket is taking up too much room on the table. One simply takes the basket and, using one's hands, and understanding the lattice of the basket, simply compresses the basket with one's hands. One can reshape the basket so that it fits the two tomatoes. Now there is more room on the table. This sort of thing is common practice in the fourth dimension. These are elementary examples.

You have a small box, but you need a large box for a large item. One simply changes the size of the box for your large item, and so on. One cannot pull things out of thin air, as you can with your imagination, but you can manipulate already existing material physically in a way that is not physically possible in our current realm.

There are certain conceptions about value and function that are simply a part of a person's nature there. The very nature of the fourth dimension is integrated with all the natures associated in it. Therefore, pathology cannot be part of that dimension. Pathological people and such behaviors would be prohibitive to the very matter that existence is comprised of in the fourth dimension, and it is necessary for the fourth dimension to exist. All dimensions must exist. They coincide, and are related.

If pathologies that are possible in the current dimension that we are experiencing in this moment were to breach the fourth dimension, it would be a prohibitive disruption effecting all of existence in all dimensions. The sort of piracy and mendaciousness that can exist in this dimension simply cannot, by nature and the laws of physics, be a part of the fourth dimension. There are no violations of laws in physics, in any dimension.

One might consider the reports of military personnel, where crafts appear above nuclear silos. These may be concerned beings from other dimensions, understanding how such operations could affect them in their dimension. They perhaps feel a need to intervene in this dimension in order to preserve their own.

Why? Some ask. Why is it not possible for such mendacity to exist in the fourth dimension? Is it perfect there? Of course, it is not perfect; it is more advanced, so to speak, but not perfect. There are imperfect events and, of course, imperfect people who make mistakes and take liberties that are possible, though perhaps not wise. To understand the reason, it's an imperative to remember that the material; the very matter of the 4th dimension consists of the same matter that our imaginations are comprised of.

Here is the illustration to use. You may think of the imaginations of individuals as fields of energy, or waves, or particles. It should be easy then to understand how affecting the fields, or waves; or particles of the fourth dimension as a whole, in the behaviors that we have become accustomed to in this dimension, would be disruptive and, in fact, destructive to existence itself.

For this simple reason, those who rule the three-dimensional realm that we experience simply could not be a part of the fourth dimension. Again, only those who would by their matter of course master the practice of value creation and production be a part of that dimension. While there are blunders and varying degrees of judgement there, no pathological behavior is possible, as it is antithetical to the very existence of the matter; the field; the waves; the particles of which the fourth dimension is comprised. These are simply the natural and physical laws of the fourth dimension.

The End

That was a wild dream, and that’s what I got out of it. I was glad I was able to get a story out of it. Here is another link to a different episode where I get into coinciding planes and why other beings can’t always interact with us. It is called Alien Avoidance On Our Coinciding Plane. I hope you might get a paid subscription, or buy me a coffee, or donate some bitcoin.

I wish you the best in these messed up times. My target audience are the people doing the very difficult and risky anti-corporate, anti-war, independent, honest journalism. I want to be a brief respite from the craziness for them. If you know any of them and want to point out my 10-20 minute, daily storytelling podcast, that would be the best. I’m Herschel Sterling, and I’m here to help.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/653477

_

LISTEN HERE (The podcasts are more complete and nuanced, imo)

DAY 13 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Not a lot to say about this one. A skill I have is building. I was a bricklayer and a stonemason, and I know fire tech. What that means is that I can build fireplaces, masonry heaters, flue systems, and chimneys. I think a lot about how the buildings around us affect us. I hate gargoyles. I love angels. I’m Commercial Herschel, and I’m here to help.

Purge the Gargoyles

The People Agreed

614 WORDS WRITTEN IN A HALF HOUR

Mayor Jackson won the election in surprising fashion. No one expected her to win. She had no real money, she didn't have any high-profile support, and the other two candidates were as shocked as she was that she won. Her campaign was simple. “Our City for Us”.

The dominant Party was on the outs with the people. They usually controlled the big cities, and the people finally stopped falling for them. They had lost favor, and there was no politics, or even violence, that would bring the people back to them. The other Party was more of a rural and suburban party, but the idea that they could get this city was like a conquest. They courted Mrs. Jackson, but they could not win her. They offered her money, and all sorts of corporations made all sorts of promises, but he just wanted her city to be for her people.

Her campaign was so unfamiliar. All of these corporations were making all of these promises to her. Her response was, “We'll see.” She didn't present herself as a candidate with all sorts of business and influence as leverage behind her. Instead, she presented herself as someone with the support of the people as the leverage behind her, so she could get the best deal for the people that she could. Her attitude toward the corporations was, “Look, do you see all these people I have behind me? If you want their business, I'm here to be sure you make a really good deal for my people.”

Once she took office, there were so many questions. The media and her critics were all over her, looking for answers to all the tough policy questions. She knew these were pressing concerns, but she wanted to truly ground herself. She had to establish some things in some kind of permanent way.

Her first press conference after the election was the time that she could establish her intent.

“Ma'am, no one expected you to win this election. What was the first thought you had when you saw the results?” One of the media people asked.

“My first thought was that the establishment didn't expect that they would have to cheat on me, so they didn't try very hard.”

Another reporter shouts out the next question. “Mrs. Jackson, what's the first thing you want to do with your new position?”

“Well, the Library really bothers me,” she says.

People are perplexed, it doesn't make sense. What could be the problem with a library?

“You don't like libraries, ma'am?” One of the reporters asks.

“Of course, I like libraries. Who does not like libraries? What I don't understand is why the library has gargoyles all over the roof-line. I want to replace those demonic gargoyles with angels.”

DAY 13 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION

There are a lot of raised eyebrows among the press crew, it's not what they were expecting.

“I'm not going to use the city budget to do this,” the new mayor says. “I'm going to ask people to make donations at the library.”

Within a matter of days, the library had enough donations to replace the gargoyles with angels. There was a contest for some different angel designs. Some weird, wealthy people offered money for the old gargoyles, but the mayor crushed them into dust and dumped them into the nearby lake.

People felt better, something was right about this. It set the new administration on a good path, and the mayor was able to cut a lot of good deals that benefited the people of the city. She won several elections and served for three terms until she retired at an age that would allow her to enjoy her grandchildren.

The End.

I hope you might get a paid subscription, or buy me a coffee, or donate some bitcoin. I wish you the best. I’m Commercial Herschel, and I’m here to help.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/653465

Chef's notes

You will need a blender! 🌱 This breakfast is nutritious, healthy, easy, and quick to make. 🌱 It's gluten free and vegan.

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 10 min.
• 🍳 Cook time: 0
• 🍽️ Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 1 Apple 🍏
• 2 Ripe Peaches 🍑
• 1 Banana 🍌
• 1/2 cup (Wild) Blueberries 🫐 (frozen or fresh)
• 1/2 cup pine nuts (or optional ground almonds)
• 4 tbsp Almond Butter (or optional cashew butter)
• 2 Pitted Dates
• 1 tbsp Vegan Protein Vanilla Powder (optional)

Directions

1. Peach, apple, pine nuts, pitted dates, and vanilla protein powder: Blend until smooth.
2. Peel and slice the banana into rounds.
3. Blueberries (thaw in a water bath if frozen) and just mix and stir with a spoon in a little bowl with almond butter. (no need to blend with a blender)
4. Alternate layers of peach-apple mixture, banana and blueberry-almond butter mix in a glass.
5. Garnish with grapes, pine nuts, cacao nibs, and a drizzle of almond butter
6. Enjoy and tag me, when you try the recipe 💜🙏🏽💚

The huge share of ultra-processed foods, especially in the United States, is due to the fact that the food industry is in the hands of several global corporations. They have literally occupied all the supermarkets with their products. Full story

The huge share of ultra-processed foods, especially in the United States, is due to the fact that the food industry is in the hands of several global corporations. They have literally occupied all the supermarkets with their products. Full story

The huge share of ultra-processed foods, especially in the United States, is due to the fact that the food industry is in the hands of several global... This is a preview of my post. Join my community and get access to this and more of my work.

https://highlighter.com/npub1xcwnu8sx6vs5ae478lzzahpmg46428nkewa46prev4jhz59uzz5qqhm0u6

Let's hear some of your latest Bitcoin purchases, feel free to include links to the shops or merchants you bought from too. If you missed our last thread, here are some of the items stackers recently spent their sats on.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/653241

The challenges associated with physical work and delayed payments, as discussed in the construction and logistics industries articles, might not be as directly applicable to industries with less physical movement. However, the principles of instant settlement and the removal of intermediaries can still bring efficiency and innovation to various sectors. The advantages of instant settlement, such as reduced transaction fees, faster payment processing, and increased transparency, can positively impact industries beyond the physical realm. Whether it's in the realm of digital services, intellectual property, or other sectors that are already dematerialized, the application of instant settlement principles can streamline transactions and enhance overall efficiency.

Navigating The Written Odyssey

Entering the realm of book publishing, especially for a debut author, is a journey filled with challenges. The primary hurdle involves persuading a publishing house to forge a deal, a daunting task for those yet to establish their reputation in the market. The negotiation landscape is complicated by endless uncertainties, making it difficult to strike a mutually beneficial deal. Even if you try to be fair for both sides it is hard. Most people will prioritize themselves and what they get in an uncertain environment - like figuring out how many books will be sold for a first time author. The dynamics intensify when publishing houses provide editors to authors--an arrangement that frequently sparks friction. Authors, protective of their creative work, may resist alterations, but editors, with seasoned expertise, have to navigate the delicate balance between preserving the author's vision and refining the content.

The complexities extend to the business side, with potential pitfalls surrounding signing bonuses. Questions linger: What if the bonus overshoots and the book underperforms? What if the book succeeds, but the bonus proves inadequate, leading the author to seek alternatives for subsequent works? Marketing poses another challenge, raising dilemmas about investments, audiobook adaptations, navigating royalty payments, and banking fees for small markets and international payments.

Just like in the logistics industry here with royalties, we have the same problem of counterparty risk. In addition to stopping the payments to the authors completely, do you trust the publishers that they are giving the correct sales numbers? Translation decisions add another layer, raising queries about language choices, and fair compensation for translators. What about the illustrators? Each party involved creates more and more friction in the system just because everyone is seeking fair compensation. The payment system does not allow them to focus on what they provide in terms of value, but focuses everyone on mitigating the shortcomings of it. Addressing these multifaceted challenges requires not only innovation but also transparent and adaptive contractual frameworks to foster a more equitable and efficient publishing ecosystem.

The challenges for authors extend beyond the realm of creative content, and the intricacies of the publishing and marketing landscape. While the invention of ebooks has somewhat dismantled barriers, enabling easier self-publishing, the journey is not without hurdles. Authors opting for self-publishing must navigate the complexities of setting up accounts and managing distribution before reaching the point of uploading their work. Once published, the dual role of author and marketer emerges, demanding not only literary prowess but also strategic promotional efforts to capture the audience's attention and drive sales. The demanding nature of marketing leaves authors with limited time for their core competency - writing - which hinders the development of subsequent books that they would like to write.

Lighting Up Publishing: From Solo Authors to Collaborative Ventures, Unleashing the Potential of Instant Split Payments

Now that this is the third industry that we are looking into, we know that delayed payments are the problem and that they are tied to time and not actual work - “You have to write the book till this date or else…” “We will gather all payments and royalties will be paid later”. Since we know now that the Lightning Network can fix this let’s dig into the solution and what it may look like.

If you're a first-time author and choose to publish your book on your self-made app, you can instantly receive 100% of the income for each purchase. By utilizing a non-custodial solution like Breez, where no one holds money for others, you avoid the complexities associated with traditional payment methods. This setup eliminates the need for currency exchanges, providing a seamless global payment network directly connected to your app. The benefits go beyond mere currency considerations, freeing buyers from the hassle of exchange rate fees and relieving them of the complexities associated with navigating diverse regulations and processes across various countries. Who knows what regulations you have to deal with to be able to operate with the Iranian Rial just to sell a simple book? With a non-custodial solution on the Lightning Network, you get to avoid all that.

That is a big benefit for one-man shows in the book industry, but let’s take it a step further. In this scenario, where the relationship involves only the author and a publisher, the process becomes streamlined without the need for intricate negotiations, personal data sharing, or complex contracts with various clauses. With the instant settlement, there's no need for advance payments, both the author and publisher receive a percentage from each sale instantly when the purchase is made. The publisher, responsible for uploading and promoting the book on their website, and the author are now aligned in the common goal of selling more books. The only task left is to determine the fair percentage splits between the author and the publisher, fostering a collaborative and efficient partnership. Now the word royalties will have a completely new meaning.

Okay, that is between two entities, but we are not going to stop there. Now that the book is published the book can be translated to other languages. In that case, the complexity does not increase a lot. They just have to determine the percentage share split between the publisher, author, and translator for each sale of the translated version. Upon purchase of the translated book, each payment will be split three ways. Meanwhile, the original language version undergoes a two-way split, with the translator excluded from this split since they didn't contribute to that version. This ensures that the relevant individuals receive sats exclusively for their specific contributions. There might be a need for a separate publisher for the translated language, leading to a split between the author, translator, and second publisher. For the original language, the split occurs between the author and the first publisher. Theoretically, the current system goes through a similar structure for the payments, but I am reminding you here that only the instant split settlement makes that plan match the reality in practice. The moment that any entity starts holding funds for someone else even for a little, then the problems go up exponentially. This is why Breez is committed to preserving the peer-to-peer nature of Bitcoin in lightning payments.

Instant Splits For Narrators, Producers, And All Contributors - A Symphony Of Fair Compensation

We are not done yet with the benefits. Now that we have a path for each language, what will it look like for audiobooks? In that case, you just add one more split based on the agreement between the parties. If you create an audiobook in the original language then the split will be between Author, Publisher, and Audiobook creator. The creation of an audiobook is a project on its own of casting, recording, post-production, and distribution. That has multiple people involved so the split for the audiobook payment in reality may look like this:

Author, Publisher, Producer, Recording engineer, Narrator, Editing/mastering engineer.

In this dynamic model, contributors may wear multiple "hats" within a project, allowing them to assume various roles and, consequently, earn a share for each responsibility they undertake. For instance, an Author might take on the roles of both Producer and Narrator, performing additional work beyond their original scope. In such cases, the Author receives a percentage for each distinct role. However, should the Author choose not to take on these additional roles, someone else can assume those responsibilities and reap the corresponding benefits. This structure ensures alignment, with compensation tied directly to individual contributions at the time of each book sale, eliminating compensation for time or speculation based on future sales.

Unlike the other two industries we explored in construction here and logistics here, the timing of payment in the publishing industry differs. In the preceding sectors, individuals receive compensation instantly upon completing their respective tasks. However, in the realm of authors, payment is not immediate for the act of writing; it occurs when someone is willing to pay the price for the published work. This distinction highlights a fundamental principle: everyone is remunerated when they deliver value to someone else who is willing to pay. Whether delivering a package to the correct address or constructing a house for someone else to inhabit, optimizing the process with the client in mind becomes paramount. Therefore, receiving sats is contingent on providing intrinsic value to others, aligning the industry with similar principles observed in construction and logistics. If you build or deliver something that people do not want, that means you did not provide value.

Instant Influence: From Metrics To Value - A Paradigm Shift In Compensation For Promotions

Now let’s take it even a step further. This will not be the only industry where the influencers can change their business model, but I will use it as an example to explain the change that they will experience in their service. Currently, the influencers get paid for views or mentions depending on whether the medium is audio or video. Their value, as perceived by those paying them, hinges on metrics such as subscriber counts, views, and downloads. But for the person that is paying, is it going to matter if the influencer talks about a book but then it does not result in sales of the book? Or again what happens if someone mentions it but the sales are extraordinary, then the influencer has to receive a more fair compensation. Connecting payments directly to actual value, rather than relying on derivative indicators, ensures influencers receive fair compensation in line with their impact on sales.

Well, the instant settlement fixes that. Authors can now decide on a fixed percentage for influencers per sale, allowing anyone to become an influencer without the need for a massive following. Even a small blog with a modest readership of less than fifty people can result in direct, instant compensation for sales generated. This eliminates barriers to entry for the influencers to have a following and aligns incentives for authors seeking broader promotion. There is a massive friction in the influencer market currently because with poor measuring tools you do not want the money to be wasted on promotion that does not work. This future system is not going to waste a single sat for promotion because it is not paying for a promotion. You are negotiating a commission on every sale which the actual buyer pays - increasing sales is the intent of the authors reaching out to influencers anyway.

Now that we have an influencer promoting a book the UX (user experience) is going to be completely different. Right now to promote anything as an influencer you receive a code that you have to ask for, from the publisher in this case. Then your viewers/listeners have to go to the website and fill in all the information about themselves. Then they have to enter their card information which has to be secured from the website somehow. Then they enter the promo code and receive the ebook that they wanted. On the other side, the publisher has to hope he does not get a chargeback for whatever reason in the next 30 days. The instant settlement UX will be:

• Influencers enter a lightning address where they want to receive their commissions from for every sale.

• Then they display a link or a QR code that will be a lightning invoice for the specific book.

• The buyer enters an email where they want the ebook to be sent.

The instant split payment is sent and everyone including the influencer receives their share of it. This way even influencers might realize that the likes, views and comments are not the most important thing and focus on providing real value for their viewers. This not only streamlines the process but may also alleviate the impact of negative comments and dislikes for influencers. Because their income is not tied to the likes that means it will no longer be the most important thing. They will focus on promoting quality products that sell a lot so they get a piece of those sales and the likes will be secondary.

The transformation in influencer behavior triggered by instant settlement not only disrupts their traditional approaches but sparks competition among publishers and influencers alike. Authors may opt for a model where they focus solely on writing, leveraging influencers to handle promotion without dealing with traditional editors. This introduces a more diverse competitive landscape, where publishing houses will compete with content creators from different industries who passionately recommend authors they love. While these changes benefit readers, authors, and participants, those resistant to competition may be the only ones disliking this evolving landscape. image1

Indeed, envisioning the transformative power of instant payments, there's an opportunity for an innovator to replicate what Amazon did to bookstores. By adopting a model built on advanced technology and leveraging the advantages of instant settlements, this individual can start with books and subsequently explore avenues for expansion. The potential for such a disruptive force lies not only in reshaping the publishing landscape but also in inspiring new possibilities across diverse industries.

Now let’s go and publish that app.

The spread of the Lightning Network may change the incentives behind human interactions, thus also affecting the world of jobs. In the first episode: the construction industry.

When talking about the social implications of Bitcoin, reference is often made to the potential effects of Bitcoin's spread that are not immediately evident: these are second, third, and fourth-degree effects that could change the way people behave in everyday life. Even if the thought might sound hyperbolic, the fact of the matter is that technology has already changed the features of our everyday life, more than once.

Raise your hand if, in the 1980s, you would not have found crazy the idea that one-day people would choose which restaurant to go to based on star ratings and reviews on a digital screen. Who would have thought that one day it would no longer be necessary to pay attention to the route to take by car to reach one's destination and, possibly, learn it by heart, because software would calculate the best route for them based on traffic? How would you have reacted if, back in the 1970s, a friend had told you that in the future he might fall in love with a girl he had never seen who lived on the other side of the world, thanks to text messages processed by software that allows you to meet like-minded people?

Innovation changes social interactions: it always has and will continue to do so, especially if technology is particularly disruptive.

The effects of the large-scale diffusion of the Lightning Network - a technology that allows instant payments from one part of the world to another at almost non-existent costs - can be extremely profound, and can act to change entire sectors. In the first example, in this article, we will discuss how instant settlement could revolutionize the construction industry.

The construction industry is a complex ecosystem involving a myriad of stakeholders, each with its own set of incentives. These often conflicting interests lead to inefficiencies, delays, and increased costs.

The Lightning Network offers a solution to align these disparate interests.

The problems

Misaligned Incentives

In the traditional construction setup, each stakeholder operates with a different set of incentives. More specifically: Buyers aim for high-quality construction within a stipulated time and budget. Planners, including architects, designers, and engineers, are primarily concerned with their designs and less about the actual construction. Construction companies are focused on maximizing profits, realizing the building as quickly as possible and with the lowest possible quality at the agreed price. Supervisors' incentives are tied to bonuses, which may or may not align with the project's overall goals. Construction workers are paid for their time, not the quality or efficiency of their work.

Let's step outside the imagery of the construction site for a moment and think about football. Can you imagine if defenders had a bonus for putting the ball out of bounds? And midfielders had one for the most passes? And strikers for the most goals? Imagine the chaos on the pitch if the different skills of all the players were not employed for only two goals: to score goals and to avoid conceding them. Such a team would hardly be efficient or successful.

The construction industry, with its varied incentives, faces a similar problem, leading to delays, increased costs, and compromised quality.

The underlying issues

Several other issues exacerbate the inefficiencies in the construction industry. Machinery and tools, often owned by the construction company, are not well-maintained by the workers. This leads to faster wear and tear, increasing costs for the company. Small changes in the project requested by the buyer are not usually compensated, adding to the company's costs. Planners are not held accountable for design flaws that manifest during construction, leading to additional costs and delays.

The solution: instant task-based payments

Construction workers

In a hyperbitcoinized world, the Lightning Network's instant settlement feature can be a game-changer.

Workers would be paid for tasks completed rather than time spent. For instance, upon successful construction of a wall or installation of windows, payments could be made instantly. This aligns the workers' incentives with quality and efficiency, as they would aim to complete as many tasks as possible to earn more.

Because workers are paid per task there will be no need for a company to hire workers on a payroll. The company just needs to post the tasks, for example on its app, and anyone can apply for them, do their tasks, and get paid for each execution. The more tasks a worker does, the more bitcoin he earns, the better his skills become, the better his reputation will be in the app. Isn't that what already happens with Uber drivers - except for the Bitcoin part, for now?

Supervisors

This system would also eliminate the need for supervisors to focus on time management, allowing them to concentrate solely on quality assurance. If a task meets the quality standards, the worker gets paid instantly. This would eliminate the need for time-based bonuses or penalties.

Supervisors would be incentivized to focus even more on quality alone by the split payments feature made possible by the Lightning Network. When a specific task is up for grabs, multiple workers can apply for it via a specialized app. The workers then negotiate among themselves to determine the division of payment - be it an even 50/50 split or a more nuanced arrangement like 60/40. This self-organization extends to scenarios involving more than two workers, where payment divisions could be negotiated as 33.3% for each in a three-way split, or perhaps a 40/40/20 arrangement.

The self-organizing mechanism alleviates the supervisory burden. Instead of mediating disputes or assigning tasks, the supervisor's role becomes even more focused on quality control. Once a task is completed to satisfaction, the supervisor approves it in the app, triggering the release of funds. The app itself is programmed to automatically split the payments among the workers based on their pre-negotiated terms, streamlining the entire process and eliminating the need for manual intervention.

Tools ownership

Since workers are compensated for completed tasks rather than time spent, there's a heightened incentive to complete tasks as efficiently as possible. More tasks, more money. The quickest route to efficiency? Utilizing high-quality, well-maintained tools.

When multiple workers vie for the same task, the one equipped with the best tools gains a distinct advantage, capable of completing the task more swiftly and effectively. This system has a ripple effect on tool ownership. Over time, workers might prefer using their own tools over company-provided ones, ensuring better maintenance and ultimately contributing to a more efficient and effective construction process.

In short, the instant payment system would also encourage workers to invest in and maintain their own high-quality tools, further improving efficiency and competition in the construction workers market. This would also reduce the company's costs related to tool maintenance and replacement.

Planners and buyers

Planners would be more involved in the construction process, ensuring that their designs are being followed accurately. They would be paid partially upfront for their blueprints, with the rest being released upon successful completion of tasks. This system would make planners more accountable and invested in the successful execution of their plans.

The task-based payment system also benefits the buyer and the construction company by reducing financial risks. Payments would be made for completed tasks, ensuring that neither party is financially exposed. This would also make the negotiation process smoother, as both parties would know exactly what is included in the price for each task.

Construction companies

While the Lightning Network's instant settlement feature promises to decentralize many aspects of the construction industry, the need for centralized oversight cannot be entirely eliminated. A single entity must be accountable for the holistic execution of the project, meticulously tracking resources required for each construction phase and ensuring the right personnel are deployed at the appropriate times.

Technological advancements have made it possible for specialized apps to manage these complex tasks. Such apps could, in theory, allow the buyer of the finished building to oversee the entire project. However, this assumes that the buyer possesses the requisite expertise in construction management, which is often not the case. As a result, most buyers prefer to employ specialized companies to manage the project until its completion.

This scenario closely mirrors the current state of Lightning Network nodes. While anyone can set up a node, doing so effectively requires a certain level of expertise. Some individuals may choose to manage their own nodes to earn revenue, but the majority are willing to pay fees for expert management, opting for non-custodial apps to simplify the process. Similarly, some buyers may use construction management apps to avoid paying a construction company, but they must then assume full responsibility for the project's outcome.

Now go and build

The next logical step is clear: it's time to build that pay-per-task app and usher in a new era of decentralized construction. By leveraging the capabilities of the Lightning Network and Bitcoin, we can shift the balance of power towards those who are at the heart of every construction project—the workers. These are the individuals who bring blueprints to life, who lay each brick and install each window. By empowering them with instant, task-based payments, we not only align incentives across the board but also elevate the entire industry to new heights of efficiency and quality.

Fits snugly behind the ear, just slap with your hand ... most realistic bloody ear ever! 6 pieces $12.95.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/652908

Fits snugly behind the ear, just slap with your hand ... most realistic bloody ear ever! 6 pieces $12.95.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/652889

From creating connections to taming #LLM-generated chaos, we dive into how embeddings can turn digital noise into meaningful insights. Join Liminal from Project Alexandria and me as we explore the fun side of navigating the wild web of ideas and relational knowledge in Episode 937 of Bitcoin And.

Liminal is sharing 50% of this episode's revenue so use a modern podcasting app to generously BOOST, STREAM, and ZAP Sats.

• Project Alexandria

• nostr's Ecosystem

• Zettlekasten Note Taking

• LLM's Role in Deleting Relational Noise

• The Future

Listen to the interview on @fountain --> https://fountain.fm/episode/vvZkH5FKqYVuyFAP312V <--

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/652671

I wanted to share the crazy odds I managed to get at Nitrobetting, when they rolled out their new site overhaul. I blew pretty much the remainder of my sats on NFL Futures, which they didn't used to offer.

• Raiders to win the AFC West (+900)
• Lions make the Super Bowl (+550)
• Chiefs make the Super Bowl (+375)
• Bills make the Super Bowl (+700)
• 49'ers win the Super Bowl (+10000)

This is the 49'ers year!

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/652649

Cloudflare is controversial among FOSS/decentralization enthusiasts due to its reliance on a centralized third-party. But if you're going to use it, you should at least use it right.

By default, Cloudflare intercepts DNS traffic, but does not protect your webserver at all. This means anyone with your server's direct IP address can still attack it. Attackers might be crawling all IPs, or they might be able to figure out your server's IP if it makes outgoing requests.

When you use Cloudflare, requests should only be coming from Cloudflare's upstream IPs: https://www.cloudflare.com/ips/

Therefore, you should block traffic from all IPs by default, and whitelist only Cloudflare's IPs for the best protection. UFW is a firewall that comes installed by default on most Linux distros, so you only need to configure it.

Default rules

First configure ufw defaults, so that outgoing requests are allowed and incoming requests are denied by default.

sh ufw default deny incoming ufw default allow outgoing

Allow ssh

Next enable ssh so you can still shell in from anywhere.

sh ufw allow ssh

For extra security, you should also edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config and set PasswordAuthentication no so only login by key is supported.

You can also whitelist certain IPs for SSH, but you can accidentally lock yourself out this way. For most sites I run, I find this is good enough security (as long as something like Heartbleed doesn't happen again).

Enable UFW

Now you're ready to enable UFW. Your SSH connection should stay intact since you allowed ssh, but this will block all incoming web requests. If you're doing this on an existing production webserver, delay this step until the very end.

sh ufw enable

Whitelist Cloudflare IPs

Next we allow traffic from Cloudflare's upstream webservers. This will allow our website to work normally as long as requests go through Cloudflare first, essentially blocking any sort of direct attack on the webserver.

Cloudflare IPs are taken from: https://www.cloudflare.com/ips/

```sh

ipv4

ufw allow from 173.245.48.0/20 to any port 80 ufw allow from 103.21.244.0/22 to any port 80 ufw allow from 103.22.200.0/22 to any port 80 ufw allow from 103.31.4.0/22 to any port 80 ufw allow from 141.101.64.0/18 to any port 80 ufw allow from 108.162.192.0/18 to any port 80 ufw allow from 190.93.240.0/20 to any port 80 ufw allow from 188.114.96.0/20 to any port 80 ufw allow from 197.234.240.0/22 to any port 80 ufw allow from 198.41.128.0/17 to any port 80 ufw allow from 162.158.0.0/15 to any port 80 ufw allow from 172.64.0.0/13 to any port 80 ufw allow from 131.0.72.0/22 to any port 80 ufw allow from 104.16.0.0/13 to any port 80 ufw allow from 104.24.0.0/14 to any port 80 ufw allow from 2400:cb00::/32 to any port 80 ufw allow from 2606:4700::/32 to any port 80 ufw allow from 2803:f800::/32 to any port 80 ufw allow from 2405:b500::/32 to any port 80 ufw allow from 2405:8100::/32 to any port 80 ufw allow from 2a06:98c0::/29 to any port 80 ufw allow from 2c0f:f248::/32 to any port 80

ipv6

ufw allow from 173.245.48.0/20 to any port 443 ufw allow from 103.21.244.0/22 to any port 443 ufw allow from 103.22.200.0/22 to any port 443 ufw allow from 103.31.4.0/22 to any port 443 ufw allow from 141.101.64.0/18 to any port 443 ufw allow from 108.162.192.0/18 to any port 443 ufw allow from 190.93.240.0/20 to any port 443 ufw allow from 188.114.96.0/20 to any port 443 ufw allow from 197.234.240.0/22 to any port 443 ufw allow from 198.41.128.0/17 to any port 443 ufw allow from 162.158.0.0/15 to any port 443 ufw allow from 172.64.0.0/13 to any port 443 ufw allow from 131.0.72.0/22 to any port 443 ufw allow from 104.16.0.0/13 to any port 443 ufw allow from 104.24.0.0/14 to any port 443 ufw allow from 2400:cb00::/32 to any port 443 ufw allow from 2606:4700::/32 to any port 443 ufw allow from 2803:f800::/32 to any port 443 ufw allow from 2405:b500::/32 to any port 443 ufw allow from 2405:8100::/32 to any port 443 ufw allow from 2a06:98c0::/29 to any port 443 ufw allow from 2c0f:f248::/32 to any port 443 ```

That's it!

Now your server is protected from direct IP traffic, and requests must go through Cloudflare.

H1

google

Editado

Teste 01 do Workshop Nostr

| | |:---:| | Weltanschauung Italia, Breviarios contra la posmodernidad: Bosquejo de ideas para una era en disolución, Hipérbola Janus, 2023 |

En el actual orden de cosas, con la vorágine de cambios en los que nos encontramos inmersos, al ritmo y velocidad con que se van sucediendo, con el bombardeo «informativo» indiscriminado, los propios de una sociedad hipertecnológica y consagrada a la virtualidad permanente, a la confusión y el caos que parece reinar por doquier, el hombre está en la obligación (ética, moral y casi existencial) de exigir un punto de equilibrio o un lugar donde asirse y poder digerir el valor y alcance de todos ellos. Breviarios contra la posmodernidad: Bosquejo de ideas para una era en disolución aparece ante nosotros como un apoyo necesario, tanto para adquirir algo de conciencia del mundo en el que vivimos, así como para mantenernos «vivos» en un contexto histórico y unas coyunturas en las que todo parece languidecer y aproximarse hacia un irreversible ocaso.

Ciertamente, el espíritu crítico, y la capacidad para analizar de la manera más objetiva posible la realidad que nos rodea es una tarea complicada y puede llegar a adquirir proporciones titánicas debido a los condicionamientos y prejuicios a los que nos vemos expuestos tanto por el entorno social como por los mass media. Una presión que directa o indirectamente, consciente o inconscientemente, busca una permanente adhesión a una narrativa, a un discurso construido ex profeso por terceros y que es obvio que no busca el beneficio de la sociedad ni de los pueblos, ni mucho menos nos conduce hacia el tan cacareado «progreso» que se nos ha vendido durante décadas y que para nada representa mejora alguna en las condiciones de existencia de nuestros pueblos, sino más bien lo contrario. De modo que el individuo, o más bien la persona, queda desprotegida, a merced del gregarismo de la masa y los mercenarios de la «información», reducidos a meros transmisores y ejecutores de los planes y designios de los poderes fácticos, de las élites, de quienes deciden impunemente el destino de millones de personas. ¿Y cuáles son los recursos y medios con los que cuenta esta persona frente a unas formas de poder cada vez más opresivas, arbitrarias e incluso invasivas en los aspectos más íntimos y particulares de la vida del hombre? Pues bien, el principal recurso, el más elemental, y que parece venir a menos, en continua devaluación, es el razonamiento crítico, la capacidad para establecer un análisis objetivo de la realidad, cultivar el espíritu inconformista, hacerse preguntas, no aceptar acríticamente cualquier imposición, e incluso hacerse fuerte en aquello que revela la experiencia de quienes nos precedieron, y cuyo valor acumulativo ha servido para pertrechar las sociedades del pasado, las de nuestros abuelos, y que no es otra cosa que la Tradición; cúmulo de conocimientos y experiencias que hunden sus raíces en el pasado más remoto, que nos aportaron una cosmovisión, una Weltanschauung que al mismo tiempo que nos da seguridad, es expresión de una forma de ser y estar en el mundo, que nos fortalece en las raíces, para no desviarnos del camino ni zozobrar en los tiempos de cambio e incertidumbre.

Estos son los parámetros en los que podemos enmarcar la obra de Weltanschauung Italia, articulado como un think tank que, haciendo honor a su nombre, se convierte en vector de una cosmovisión del mundo, ofreciendo un cuadro interpretativo de gran valor para el lector que se cuestiona el actual orden de cosas y quiere mantenerse activo, que no quiere claudicar frente al mundo que viene y se está conformando. De alguna forma, Breviarios contra la posmodernidad encierra en sí mismo un principio de rebelión, aunque solo sea a través del pensamiento, pero como los propios autores se encargan de recordarnos, no hay acción que no se nutra de los pensamientos, que no sea diseccionada y previamente diseñada por el acto del pensar, si no quiere ser un hacer frenético y desbocado, algo que, por otro lado, viene siendo habitual en el mundo moderno.

Pero el espíritu crítico y un sistema de representaciones de la realidad que nos proporcione un cuadro claro y nítido del mundo que nos rodea no solo es una necesidad individual, no sólo sirve al propio conocimiento, sino que nos implica a todos y cada uno de nosotros, y de ahí el valor ético-moral que se deriva y le es inherente, en la medida que busca despertar el mismo ánimo en los demás, y es portador de una visión del mundo, de una idea de bien y justicia, o de una concepción del hombre, de una forma de vivir y organizarse en el mundo. Por ese motivo al ejercer una visión crítica y fruto de ella articular una visión del mundo, también adquirimos un compromiso. Lo contrario implicaría una existencia pasiva, reducida a lo puramente instintivo y animal, a los «automatismos de la especie», igualados a cualquier otro ser del mundo animal y negando lo más propio y genuino del ser humano.

Al fin y al cabo, como se demuestra en cada uno de los artículos que componen la obra, lo que está en juego en nuestros días es seguir siendo humanos, afirmarnos como tales en un mundo en el que la técnica, mediante el uso de la tecnología, nos ha hecho pasar de ser sujetos a objetos, totalmente instrumentalizables e intercambiables y al servicio de poderes e intereses espurios, que como en 1984 van mucho más allá de la elaboración de sistemas de control social, que siempre han existido, para poner cerco a la propia condición humana a través de la construcción de una nueva antropología que niega la civilización del Ser de la que nos hablaba Curzio Nitoglia, y desfigura la esencia de lo humano hasta el punto de realizar una obra de inversión de naturaleza satánica. No les basta con poseer el control sobre las personas y sobre los cuerpos, también quieren penetrar en las almas y corromperlas, crear esclavos que amen sus cadenas y que defiendan activamente a sus opresores y verdugos, en la línea del «no tendrás nada y serás feliz» que tan recurrente se ha vuelto en nuestros días. No en vano, en varios de los artículos se nos recuerda los famosos «dos minutos del odio» que en 1984 servía para aglutinar a los esclavos en torno al poder, para moldearlos y fidelizarlos en torno a un enemigo común, totalmente imaginario e irreal.

| | |:---:| | NITOGLIA, Curzio, En el mar de la nada: Metafísica y nihilismo a prueba en la posmodernidad, Hipérbola Janus, 2023 |

Del mismo modo, hemos vivido durante los últimos años, especialmente con la llamada «pandemia», un proceso similar en muchos aspectos a lo que la famosa novela distópica nos venía describiendo. La instrumentalización y manipulación sistemática a través de poderosas herramientas de propaganda, conciencias y mentes reducidas a la mínima expresión, destruídas por el miedo y entregadas a cualquier discurso, por absurdo y grotesco que éste fuera, hundidas en un episodio de psicosis y alucinación colectiva que parecía más el producto de un encantamiento o de un embrujo de magia negra. Un episodio de guerra psicológica lanzada contra los pueblos del llamado Occidente posmoderno, que en realidad fue su principal objetivo, con el fin de conseguir un cambio de paradigma, al tiempo que saltaban por los aires los valores, principios y concepciones ético-morales que se suponía que existían hasta febrero del año 2020. Obviamente, todo ello es una demostración de que la humanidad del Occidente posmoderno estaba ya madura para convertirse en objeto de la aplicación de la Agenda poshumanista del 2030, diseñada por los grandes jerifaltes del poder globalista, auténticos psicópatas liberticidas en un proyecto de deshumanización nunca visto.

La obra se estructura a través de tres partes diferenciadas:

• La primera de ellas nos introduce a los autores, reunidos en torno a Weltanschauung Italia, organizados como un think tank, en una declaración de intenciones que nos da respuesta al motivo del anonimato que impera entre sus miembros, los fundamentos generales que animan su actividad y una serie de ideas generales que nos van a permitir entender el enfoque general de la obra.

• La segunda parte, bajo el título «Más allá del pensamiento único» nos ofrece un abundante compendio de artículos sobre diferentes aspectos de la realidad presente, cuestiones que forman parte del espectro político y social, analizando las paradojas insolubles de nuestro tiempo, manifestadas a través de una democracia liberal cada vez más cínica, hipócrita y desnaturalizada bajo las nuevas formas de gobernanza mundial en gestación, las falsas prédicas de tolerancia, el culto al cientifismo o la permanente erosión de la identidad individual y colectiva a través de procesos de disgregación deliberados y en absoluto fruto del azar.

• Una tercera parte, «Pandemia y nuevo orden post-democrático» nos introduce de lleno en un análisis de la denominada «pandemia del covid-19», cuyas prolongaciones y consecuencias se extienden hasta nuestros días. Los autores se adentran en las entrañas de este proceso análogo y concurrente con la Agenda 2030 y el cambio de paradigma al que venimos asistiendo. Haciendo uso de una lucidez y gran ingenio, Weltanschauung Italia, nos muestra una serie de lugares comunes dentro del fenómeno pandémico, y los desmenuza críticamente haciendo uso de una lógica implacable, poniendo al desnudo las contradicciones, absurdos e iniquidades que han caracterizado a lo que se llega a calificar, con mucha razón, como un «proceso de psicosis colectiva», en la que todos los valores precedentes, las ideas, razonamientos y visiones que imperaban, sufren una inversión dramática que nos recuerdan a aquella afirmación, casi profética, que Chesterton lanzó en su día: «Llegará un día en el que haya que desenvainar la espada para defender que el pasto es verde». Ese día ya ha llegado, y se puede decir, como es habitual en estos casos, que la realidad supera a la ficción. El texto viene enriquecido por citas de autores de gran relevancia para el pensamiento disidente, tales como Friedrich Nietzsche, Ernst Jünger, Julius Evola o J.R. Tolkien, que sirven para introducir ideas y principios considerados como irrenunciables.

| | |:---:| | CHESTERTON, G.K., Antología de ensayos políticos, Hipérbola Janus, 2018 |

Al final, el sentido común y la lógica más elemental es la que sirve de guía en un mundo en penumbra, y como apoyo permanente la Tradición, ese punto de referencia que jamás deberíamos perder de vista, que por siempre debe vivir en nuestro horizonte más inmediato, pertrecharse en sagrados principios y convertirnos en ejemplo a través de nuestras acciones, servir de referente moral y existencial para aquellos que nos rodean, e incluso «convertirlos» en la medida de lo posible en nuevos Despiertos, dispuestos a defender la integridad y la dignidad de lo humano frente a las fuerzas subversivas del mal, frente al posthumanismo tecnocrático que trata de engatusarnos con eufemismos y abstractas promesas de felicidad, que al final solo tienen como conclusión autodestrucción, degradación y esclavitud.

Artículo original: Hipérbola Janus, Presentación de «Breviarios contra la posmodernidad: Bosquejo de ideas para una era en disolución», 6/Jun/2023

| | |:---:| | FRANCISCI, Pietro de, El espíritu de la civilización romana: Ne ignorent semina matrem, Hipérbola Janus, 2023 |

Una vez más nos complace presentar una de nuestras obras, en esta ocasión, como de costumbre, nos encontramos ante un autor inédito en lengua española, y de origen italiano, como es el caso del insigne jurista italiano especializado en derecho romano Pietro de Francisci, y no un especialista más sino uno de los juristas más importantes en susodicha materia. La obra en particular se trata de El espíritu de la civilización romana, editado originalmente en 1939, en una segunda edición en 1952 y finalmente, tras un prolongado lapso de tiempo, en 2019 por la editorial italiana L'arco e la Corte.

Un apunte biográfico

Pietro de Francisci nació en Roma el 18 de diciembre de 1883. Criado en un ambiente católico y huérfano de padre desde edad muy temprana, su familia se trasladó a Milán en 1887. Desde muy joven, y formando parte de un comité antidivorcio, pudo entrar en contacto con el ambiente de la intelectualidad católica italiana de la época. En 1905 obtiene su licenciatura en derecho, y durante su formación tiene acceso a las obras de historiadores del derecho romano como Contardo Ferrini o Pietro Bonfante, que influyen notablemente en su formación y actividad científica, que se inicia en 1906 a través de la exploración de de amplias temáticas relacionadas con la Romanidad, de hecho ese mismo año publica una versión parcial de su tesis en Studi senesi bajo el título Iudicia bonae editti e formulae in factum[^1]. Sus actividades como investigador se centrarán en el derecho público y en la metodología jurídica. De hecho en Presupposti teoretici e il metodo della storia giuridica (1916)[^2] sostiene la ausencia de distinciones entre las ciencias de la naturaleza y las ciencias históricas y subraya que el método, esencial en la ciencia del derecho, está vinculado al conocimiento de los principios de la evolución jurídica. Habla del derecho natural como producto de la sociedad y que el análisis debe centrarse sobre la organización de la sociedad, compuesta de agregados e instituciones sociales a los que les corresponden las instituciones jurídicas.

Después de la Primera Guerra Mundial se puso a disposición del Consejo supremo interaliado de Versalles para completar una serie de estudios preparatorios en la conferencia de paz. De hecho, entre febrero y agosto de 1919 se adhirió a la oficina de prensa de la Delegación italiana en la Conferencia. De modo que sus cargos públicos preceden al advenimiento del fascismo. En los años precedentes al estallido de la guerra, hacia 1912, Pietro de Francisci ha pasado por una serie de universidades (Perugia, Ferrara, Sassari, Macerata y Padua) en un proceso de maduración académico que le llevará finalmente a la Universidad de La Sapienza, en Roma, en 1924. Un año antes, en 1923, de Francisci figura ya como miembro del Partido Nacional Fascista, procediendo en lo ideológico de las filas del nacionalismo italiano, encuentra acomodo en el partido donde recibe cargos internos.

|| |:---:| |Pietro de Francisci (1883-1971)|

En otra de sus obras, Missione del giurista (1927)[^3], sostiene que «la investigación histórica y la misma lógica obligan (...) a considerar el derecho como una formación social» al tiempo que se hace consciente de la necesidad de un ordenamiento uniforme y unitario, y de que la fuerza de todo organismo político depende de la unidad de dirección. Es una postura en plena consonancia con la dirección de los tiempos, con las propuestas ideológicas del fascismo del ventennio. En esta época también se dejan entrever las críticas de nuestro autor al liberalismo y su individualismo agnóstico, y niega cualquier pragmatismo o reducción a una pura cuestión técnica en el ejercicio del derecho y la jurisprudencia, tal como revela en algunas obras posteriores como Le fonti del diritto privato e il processo della loro unificazione in Roma (1928)[^4], donde también delinea el proceso de «estatalización» del derecho en la experiencia romana, o bien en Il centenario del Digesto (530-1930), en el que sostiene que el derecho forma parte de una única realidad histórica y espiritual, totalizadora, en la que converge con la política o la economía. En lo sucesivo, intervendrá en diferentes congresos, como el Congreso jurídico italiano, el 5 de octubre de 1932, donde propugna la idea de construir una nueva dogmática que gire en torno al papel del Estado.

Precedentemente, en 1929, ya ocupó un escaño como diputado del PNF. También participará como Relator en el diseño de legge Stato di previsione della spesa del Ministero dell’educazione nazionale per l’esercizio finanziario entre el 1 de julio de 1930 y el 30 de junio de 1931, donde propugna unos métodos pedagógicos que inciden en la formación humanística de los jóvenes y una liberalización de los planes de estudio. También participará en sucesivas leyes y reformas legales en calidad de Ministro de Gracia y Justicia, cargo que ostentará entre el 20 de julio de 1932 y el 24 de enero de 1935. Su principal cometido desde sus labores ministeriales será la formulación de un nuevo sistema jurídico frente al liberalismo y sus derivas individualistas. El 10 de abril de 1934 presentará al Jefe de Gobierno un esbozo de reforma constitucional en el que tratará de adecuar las estructuras del Estado corporativista a sus funciones, superando la doctrina de la división de poderes, y transformar el Parlamento en una institución consultiva. El proyecto no llegó a tener continuidad.

Su experiencia política como ministro terminará bruscamente y volverá de nuevo al mundo académico, para ocupar su posición en el Rectorado. Desde 1937 preside el instituto nacional de cultura fascista: miembro del Directorio nacional del partido. Vicepresidente de la Cámara de los fascios y de las corporaciones.

|| |:---:| |Inauguración del año académico en la Universidad de La Sapienza el 13 de noviembre de 1931 por el rector Pietro de Francisci.|

En su actividad intelectual comienza a madurar una nueva etapa en la que sus trabajos se inspirarán en las doctrinas desde el evolucionismo y el positivismo jurídico se orienta hacia el análisis de los contenidos espirituales, hacia los elementos constantes y recurrentes que construyen la unidad fundamental del espíritu humano. En Idee per un rinnovamento della scienza del diritto (1939) ya plantea un sistema que veremos reflejado en El espíritu de la civilización romana, obra que corresponde al mismo año, a través del cual se propone liberar las realidades de los sistemas históricos de las determinaciones temporales y de los condicionamientos contingentes para descubrir los aspectos permanentes del espíritu, para rastrear en ellos un significado que pueda asumir un valor general. Aspectos permanentes, que permitieran establecer leyes de evolución jurídica.

En 1940 dimite como presidente del Instituto nacional de cultura fascista, como miembro del Directorio nacional y vicepresidente de la Cámara de los fascios y las corporaciones. A pesar de que Mussolini insiste en que conserve al menos el último de los cargos, de Francisci se ve empujado a alejarse de la política y dedicarse a su actividad docente e investigadora.

Posteriormente, en 1944, su implicación directa en el gobierno fascista italiano le supondrá ser apartado de la docencia por orden del Comisario del gobierno militar aliado, algo que posteriormente, a finales de ese mismo año, confirmaría una Comisión de depuración. Unos años después, a comienzos de 1949, el procedimiento será revocado con sentencia del Consejo de Estado y nuestro autor podrá volver a ocupar su Cátedra de Historia del derecho romano en La Sapienza. El mundo académico de la época recibió con alegría la revocación de los procesos de depuración que apartaban a uno de los más ilustres catedráticos italianos, llegando a escribir una carta firmada al Ministerio de Instrucción Pública para agradecer la reintegración de éste, algo que la Facultad de jurisprudencia de La Sapienza ya había pedido en mayo de 1948.

Pietro de Francisci abandona definitivamente la enseñanza en 1954, y todavía nos legará una última obra, de gran valor y fundamental en el conjunto de sus escritos bajo el título Primordia civitatis (1959). Muere finalmente el 31 de mayo de 1971 en Formia.

Pietro de Francisci vs Jérôme Carcopino: vidas paralelas

Como sucede en muchos casos, la polémica y las filiaciones ideológicas al final terminan por decidir la suerte de innumerables autores y de sus obras, que o bien son condenadas al ostracismo y al olvido más absoluto, privándonos de sus valiosas aportaciones, o bien son directamente demonizados y objeto de imprecaciones de lo más funestas. De hecho tenemos ejemplos muy conocidos, como el de Ezra Pound, cuyo destino también estuvo unido al mismo país que de Francisci, o bien, dentro del mismo ámbito de conocimientos del mundo romano, tenemos el caso de Jêrome Carcopino, uno de los mayores especialistas en la historia de Roma del último siglo de la República, cuya colaboración en tareas de gobierno con el régimen de Vichy durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, también le acompañó a lo largo de toda su vida. A Carcopino, como a de Francisci, ya le precedía una prolongada trayectoria académica, en este caso como profesor de La Sorbona entre 1920 y 1937. Curiosamente el historiador francés también ocupó el cargo de Secretario de Estado para la Educación Nacional y para la Juventud, dentro del terreno educativo como nuestro autor, y entre sus principales aportaciones destacaron especialmente la denominada «Ley Carcopino», que dio cobertura jurídica a la arqueología francesa durante medio siglo, así como la reordenación de la enseñanza escolar bajo los parámetros ideológicos del régimen de Vichy.

| | |:---:| | VV.AA., Pound, Evola y Jünger: Introducción al pensamiento disidente del s. XX, Hipérbola Janus, 2023 |

Las labores de gobierno de este otro insigne romanista, Jérôme Carcopino, también tuvieron sus consecuencias, y éste fue arrestado y encarcelado al final de la guerra en Fresnes, y fue revocado en sus funciones académicas. Posteriormente, hacia 1951, como de Francisci, también fue rehabilitado y elegido miembro de la Academia Francesa en noviembre de 1955.

El espíritu de la civilización romana

Como señalamos al principio de este escrito, El espíritu de la civilización romana no ha conocido más que tres ediciones desde los más de 80 años de su primera publicación, algo que posiblemente pueda tener relación con las polémicas señaladas con anterioridad. Son especialmente interesantes respecto a la obra que nos ocupa una serie de apuntes previos, y en relación a cuestiones metodológicas, que el propio autor nos indica. Al estudiar la historia romana en su conjunto hay que hacerlo desde el análisis y los planteamientos que tengan en cuenta el factor simbólico y tradicional, omnipresente desde los orígenes de Roma, y sus evoluciones ulteriores, así como los condicionamientos externos referentes a la territorialidad o las aportaciones de las poblaciones con las que entran en contacto.

Por este motivo la hermenéutica empleada por de Francisci en el análisis de Roma va mucho más allá de lo puramente fenomenológico, para lanzar una visión de conjunto sobre toda la civilización romana, en la que los diferentes elementos orgánicos y la idea metafísica nos permiten caracterizarla desde su fundación hasta su final. Por dicha razón, El espíritu de la civilización romana no es un simple libro de historia, un manual más de los muchos existentes, que abordan la historia romana atendiendo a hechos y cronologías, sino que se refleja una voluntad de ofrecer un análisis morfológico, podríamos decir que incluso de inspiración spengleriana, en el que se busca trascender la visión de una historia lineal y progresiva, huyendo de todo academicismo, teniendo muy en cuenta las categorías de «Civilización» y «Cultura». De hecho, si en el caso del célebre historiador alemán, la historia de Roma precedente al advenimiento del Imperio aparece como un cúmulo de revoluciones y guerras civiles, que comienza con la II Guerra Púnica y los hermanos Graco en el siglo II a.C. para desembocar finalmente en el Imperio de Augusto, en una descripción perfecta de la descomposición del sistema parlamentario y de magistraturas que desemboca en formas de «Cesarismo». Todo este proceso es perfectamente descrito por Pietro de Francisci, en paralelo a la defensa de una tradición y unos orígenes, que se refleja también en el mantenimiento en los comienzos de la exclusividad del elemento romano originario, tanto en el acceso a los cargos políticos, religiosos o militares, y que generará el conflicto entre patricios y plebeyos, como en tiempos del Imperio, con la distinción, dentro de un orden jerárquico preciso y bien delimitado, del sustrato romano-itálico y su sucesiva pérdida de poder en detrimento de las provincias imperiales.

Tampoco podemos obviar la inspiración evoliana que emana de la perspectiva metafísica que de Francisci pone en práctica y de la que deriva un evidente sentido metahistórico. De ahí cierto sentido de predestinación que aparece ligado al concurso de la voluntad divina en la historia de Roma, que viene a reforzar con su aprobación, merced a los ritos oficiados por augures y arúspices, todas las acciones de calado que Roma emprendió en la forja de su Imperio. El elemento divino participa de los hechos humanos, les da sanción y los introduce en la dimensión de lo sagrado. La cita que nos apunta Julius Evola en sus escritos, perteneciente a Plutarco en su Vida de Rómulo (I, 8) dice así: «Roma no habría podido elevarse a su condición de potencia si no hubiese tenido de alguna manera un origen divino,

tal de ofrecer a los ojos de los hombres, algo grande e inexplicable», que se suma a otras referencias más o menos literarias que inciden en esta idea de predestinación, de contar «con el favor de los dioses», y que se revela muy pronto en la historia de Roma, desde el estado de simples campesinos y pastores entre las colinas de Roma, asediados por los diferentes pueblos que habitaban la región (Latinos, Sabinos, Samnitas etc), un pueblo cerrado, sin apenas contactos con otros pueblos, en un contexto plagado de auténticos mitos fundacionales y leyendas que alimentan el misterio de la misma romanidad.

| | |:---:| | FRANCISCI, Pietro de, Spirito della civiltà romana: Ne ignorent semina matrem, L'Arco e la Corte, 2020 |

Roma y su legado, junto a Grecia, continúan siendo la piedra angular de la civilización europea, especialmente en su vertiente occidental, parte integrante de las raíces e identidad continentales. Y aquí debemos hablar del valor de la Tradición como tal, que a lo largo de las páginas que componen la presente obra es algo fundamental, y que vemos reflejado en la voluntad de permanencia de los elementos originarios del pueblo romano, y posteriormente romano-itálico, y la preponderancia del ius sanguis para ocupar los principales cargos políticos y militares del Estado romano, un principio ligado al estatus de ciudadano, que llegó a ser un privilegio hasta la Constitución de Caracalla (212 d.C.), en una voluntad de mantener vivas las raíces y el elemento originario del pueblo romano. Pero en contraste con este elemento, y por las propias razones naturales de la evolución del Imperio, éste tuvo que mostrarse integrador y absorber las influencias que venían de otras latitudes del orbe romano, tales como los cultos mistéricos, que vinieron a sustituir la religión romana, más externa y ligada a la concepción del estado, y con posterioridad el propio Cristianismo, que también se vio impregnado por elementos romanos, y que como veremos en los primeros siglos medievales, se convirtió en vector en la conservación y transmisión de la Tradición clásica.

No obstante, como toda creación humana, el Imperio y la hegemonía de Roma cumplieron un ciclo vital, y a su proceso de formación y apogeo le sucedió aquel característico de decadencia y caída final. Las causas de la caída todavía siguen siendo objeto de debates, con sus teorías e interpretaciones, dentro del ámbito académico de los historiadores, aunque nuestro autor hace especial hincapié en la crisis demográfica, la misma que diezmó a lo largo de los siglos a las más antiguas familias de la aristocracia senatorial romana y castigó a las poblaciones romano-itálicas, a lo que habría que unir las guerras que pesaban sobre esta porción privilegiada del Imperio, la decadencia moral y de las costumbres y la corrupción de las instituciones, junto con la pérdida del sentido de jerarquía y organicidad que integró a contingentes de población provinciales cada vez mayores en las estructuras y la dirección del Imperio, y obviamente por el establecimiento de un modelo cosmopolita en el que las legiones romanas dependían cada vez más del elemento bárbaro, en una creciente militarización del poder político romano.

A estos elementos podemos unir otros muy evidentes, y ampliamente documentados desde la historiografía como las invasiones bárbaras, que de la mano de la citada corrupción de las instituciones, hicieron cada vez más difíciles el control de las fronteras, del limes, la propagación de enfermedades infecciosas por la falta de higiene, el colapso de las estructuras económicas, con el hundimiento de la agricultura y los intercambios comerciales y, en definitiva, por la pérdida de la cohesión social originaria, la que se había constituido como fuerza motriz de los destinos de Roma desde los comienzos.

Los paralelismos de la decadencia y ocaso del Imperio Romano con la que vive el Imperio estadounidense-occidental-posmoderno son inevitables. La misma crisis demográfica que vivieron los romanos de la Antigüedad Tardía, la vemos hoy, aunque por motivos mucho más planificados, en la envejecida Europa actual, en la que cómo en los tiempos crepusculares de la romanidad, también se ve asaltada por los bárbaros, con sus decadentes democracias liberales plutocráticas, sus oscuras Agendas globales y el mismo fermento en plena putrefacción que corrompe las costumbres, tradiciones y hasta el buen gusto. Junto con destrucciones irrecuperables en el ámbito de lo espiritual y los legados ancestrales, que en el caso romano trascendieron a sus creadores y se proyectaron sobre el Medievo y más allá gracias al papel de las órdenes monásticas, en el nuestro nadie recordará en los tiempos venideros al Occidente posmoderno, oscuro y decadente, incapaz de ninguna creación que perdure en el tiempo y privado de todo ethos heroico se perderá en el sumidero de la historia sin que nadie lo invoque sino como una época de oprobio, cobardía y destrucción de la condición humana.

[^1]: De Francisci, Pietro. Iudicia bonae dei editti e formulae in factum, Fratelli Bocca, Turín, 1907

[^2]: De Francisci, Pietro. I presupposti teoretici e il metodo della storia giuridica. Tip. Degli Olmi, di C. Tessitori, 1916.

[^3]: Fragmento de Atti della Società italiana per il progresso delle scienze, XVI Riunione, Perugia. 30 oct.-5 nov. 1927, Pavia 1928

[^4]: En Nuovi Studi di diritto, economia e politica, I [1927-1928], pp. 161-169

Artículo original: Hipérbola Janus, Presentación de «El espíritu de la civilización romana» de Pietro de Francisci, 15/Jul/2023

|| |:-:| |Fotocomposición: Cristóbal Colón y el descubrimiento de América|

Si bien es cierto que antes del año 1000 se dieron expediciones por parte de navegantes escandinavos que alcanzaron los territorios de Norteamérica, este descubrimiento no llegó a concretarse de forma efectiva sobre el territorio, ni con la fundación de asentamientos, ni con un contacto prolongado con los moradores de aquellas tierras que generase una dialéctica del nosotros y ellos, y en consecuencia sin que el conocimiento de estas nuevas tierras se tradujera en un impacto en cualquier sentido y a cualquier nivel para la Europa de aquel momento. También contamos con el caso del navegante chino Zhang He, que ya se había granjeado una fama notable por haber navegado los mares del índico y el sudeste asiático, y que en 1422 se supone que alcanzó América cruzando el Pacífico, pero sin generar asentamientos ni intercambios culturales ni fructificar ninguna relación de intercambio. Por este motivo es a España a quien le corresponde el honor del descubrimiento a través de la figura, todavía algo misteriosa y con algunas nebulosas en lo que a cuestiones biográficas se refiere, de Cristóbal Colón. Y aunque al «Gran Almirante del Mar Océano» le corresponde únicamente el descubrimiento del inmenso continente de Ultramar, que no es poca cosa, bien es cierto que la obra de exploración, evangelización, desarrollo urbano, material y de civilización se prolongará durante varios siglos y cambiará el mundo de forma decisiva y para siempre.

No podemos obviar que el proceso que se inicia con el descubrimiento de América, que transforma radicalmente las perspectivas del europeo de aquella época en adelante, constituyen una etapa dentro de la globalización, con intercambios materiales, humanos y espirituales a una escala que jamás se había visto nunca con anterioridad. En lo particular, en lo que se refiere a la cultura y al etnos hispánico representa la apertura de nuestra particular cosmovisión a nuevos territorios, gentes y realidades, y la construcción de un imperio sólido que se mantuvo en pie durante más de tres siglos, en lo que será la mayor obra de evangelización de la historia, bajo un corpus jurídico monumental como fueron las Leyes de Indias, que regulaban la vida de los habitantes de Ultramar, de la América Española, donde sus ciudadanos gozaban del mismo estatus que los habitantes peninsulares. En definitiva, y sin querer entrar en profundidad en este tema, estaríamos ante la mayor obra de civilización acometida jamás en la historia humana, tanto por su extensión como por su duración. Hoy día no entenderíamos América sin la decisiva contribución española, incluida también la Norteamérica anglosajona.

Pero no perdamos de vista el objeto de nuestro escrito, Cristóbal Colón, respecto al cual ya hemos señalado unos orígenes de lo más oscuros, los cuales se han formulado a través de las más variopintas teorías, desde unos hipotéticos orígenes judíos, gallegos, valencianos, catalanes e incluso polacos. Las especulaciones sobre los verdaderos orígenes del misterioso navegante han sido numerosas y no han terminado de aclarar nada de una forma clara y significativa, y mucho menos cuando las teorías han desembocado en rocambolescos resultados que nos abstenemos de comentar. Lo cierto es que los orígenes de Colón son oscuros y misteriosos porque así lo quiso el susodicho y su propio hijo, Hernando, en la biografía que escribió de su progenitor bajo el título Historia del almirante, y donde sabemos que omitió información sobre los orígenes del padre con la voluntad de ensalzar su figura. Según los datos oficiales y aceptados por los historiadores Cristóbal Colón nació alrededor de 1451 en la próspera república de Génova, en el seno de una humilde familia de tejedores de paños. Poco se sabe de su infancia salvo que su padre terminó en la cárcel por deudas y que optó desde una edad muy temprana por hacer carrera en la navegación, aprovechando el auge que en aquellos momentos había alcanzado la marina genovesa, con una serie de contribuciones técnicas y un desarrollo del comercio marítimo que auguraba una vida de riquezas y aventuras al joven por todo el Mediterráneo, e incluso un enfrentamiento con el corsario francés Casanove-Coullon en las costas portuguesas que pudo costarle la vida tras naufragar. Durante este periodo el joven Colón fue acumulando conocimientos de navegación y cosmografía.

A mediados de los años 70 del siglo XV el genovés llega a Portugal, lugar que marcaría profundamente su vida personal. En aquellos momentos Portugal era el país más activo en la exploración y búsqueda de nuevas vías marítimas más allá de los mares europeos tradicionales para alcanzar las anheladas rutas de las especias, ayudado, claro está, por su ubicación geográfica claramente inclinada sobre el Océano Atlántico. De hecho, desde los tiempos de Enrique el Navegante en adelante circunnavegaron África y fundaron numerosas factorías en sus costas. Esta etapa, que se prolonga, más o menos, hasta 1485 será decisiva en la vida del navegante genovés porque le permitirá impregnarse de las experiencias portuguesas y adquirir unos mayores conocimientos en la navegación, se habla incluso de su participación en empresas de navegación en África o en el Norte de Europa. También vivirá durante dos años en una pequeña isla en medio del Atlántico, en Porto Santo, con su esposa portuguesa, Felipa Moniz Perestrelo, de la que enviudó alrededor de 1482. Su oficio como vendedor de libros durante su estancia en Portugal también le permitió acceder a numerosas fuentes de información que serían fundamentales en la configuración final de su plan, un plan tan ambicioso como arriesgado que consistía en adentrarse en las aguas del «Mar Tenebroso». Está claro que partía de la idea de una tierra esférica, con la idea de que navegando hacia Poniente alcanzaría Levante, sin la navegación de cabotaje practicada por los portugueses bordeando las costas africanas y por encima de las posibilidades técnicas que las naves de la época proporcionaban. Pero está claro que el plan del genovés no obedecía a la improvisación, y que tanto obras clásicas (Ptolomeo, Séneca etc) como aquellas fuentes más modernas (son conocidos sus contactos con el sabio florentino Toscanelli) fueron de una importancia capital.

Una vez trazado el plan el viaje solamente necesitaba de patrocinadores, y por ese motivo Cristóbal Colón presentó primero su plan al rey Juan II de Portugal, quien tras nombrar una comisión de matemáticos y cosmógrafos acabó por rechazarlo al considerarlo inviable, eso además de las exigencias desproporcionadas que su autor reclamará a la corona portuguesa, entre las que se incluían ser nombrado gobernador y virrey de las tierras que se descubrieran además de los derechos sobre el diezmo de sus riquezas y otras exigencias económicas y de poder, que fueron las mismas que propondría a los Reyes Católicos.

|| |:-:| |Los Reyes Católicos|

Cuando Colón llega a Castilla sobre la primavera de 1485 se encuentra en pleno apogeo expansivo de Las Españas, en un momento en el que solamente quedaba una pieza para completar el puzzle de la Reconquista: el reino nazarí de Granada. La monarquía hispánica representada por Isabel de Castilla y Fernando de Aragón estaba asentándose en esos momentos. Colón llega en plenas operaciones militares y debe hacerse con un buen número de apoyos antes de acceder a la Corte y presentar formalmente su plan. De todos es conocida su vinculación inmediata con el monasterio de La Rábida, donde encuentra sus primeros apoyos en Fray Antonio de Marchena, que le ayudará enviando una carta de recomendación a la Corte a través de la única persona que conoce, Fray Hernando de Talavera, muy cercano a la reina Isabel y de la cual era confesor. También entra en contacto con otro hombre de la Corte, Alfonso de Quintanilla, responsable de la Hacienda del reino. Finalmente Cristóbal Colón protagoniza su primer encuentro con los Reyes Católicos en ese mismo año, en la ciudad de Córdoba tras recorrer 250 kilómetros a pie en diez días. Después de los primeros tanteos haría nuevos contactos, como el cardenal Mendoza y Fray Diego de Deza, el preceptor del príncipe, o Juan Cabrera, camarero del rey, y Luis de Santángel, un influyente escribano del entorno real. Pese a contar con firmes partidarios de su proyecto, Colón no terminó de ser recibido por los Reyes Católicos hasta más de un año después de esos contactos. Mientras tanto, con sus recursos económicos cada vez más mermados, es recibido por la corte itinerante en Alcalá de Henares, concretamente un 20 de enero de 1486. La reina Isabel quedó hondamente impresionada por el plan, mientras que Fernando se mostró más escéptico. En cuanto al Consejo Real, integrado en su mayoría por juristas y hombres poco entendidos en cuestiones de ciencia, rechazaron el plan colombino. Finalmente, los Reyes Católicos terminaron nombrando una comisión de expertos para estudiar el plan que fue organizada por Fray Talavera. El trabajo de esta comisión se prolongará en sus trabajos hasta comienzos de 1487, mientras que los reyes se encontraban centrados en las campañas de conquista de Granada. La decisión final de la comisión reunida en Salamanca fue el rechazo al plan de Colón. Durante 5 años el navegante y visionario genovés tuvo que esperar a que finalmente se aceptase su plan por parte de los reyes, tras las Capitulaciones de Santa Fé que tuvieron lugar al finalizar la conquista de Granada. Desde la Hacienda Real se le siguieron procurando regularmente pequeñas cantidades de dinero para que el navegante siguiera vinculado a la corte. Durante este lustro (1487-1492) la incertidumbre, desesperanza y estrecheces económicas marcarán la vida y el carácter tenaz y decidido de nuestro protagonista. Pero no todo sería penuria y desazón durante este periodo, dado que conocería a su segunda mujer, Beatriz Enriquez de Arana, que le daría su segundo hijo, Hernando. Durante este periodo Cristóbal Colón, junto a su hermano Bartolomé, vuelven a tantear al rey de Portugal, a Juan II, e intentan ponerse en contacto con los monarcas de Inglaterra y Francia sin éxito. Paralelamente, y en sucesivos encuentros, el Duque de Medinaceli o Fray Pérez median para tratar de convencer a la reina Isabel de la puesta en marcha del proyecto, pero todo depende de la victoria sobre Boabdil y la rendición final de Granada.

Finalmente, uno de los apoyos de Colón en la corte, Luis de Santángel, terminó por persuadir a los Reyes Católicos de la viabilidad del plan colombino, a pesar de sus exageradas exigencias de poder, riquezas y ascenso social, ante las que también terminaron cediendo. La primera en ser convencida fue la reina Isabel, y posteriormente el reticente rey Fernando, pese a que mantenía su escepticismo. La reina estaba convencida de la necesidad de una gran obra de evangelización, deseo que se concretaría sobre suelo americano entre los pueblos indígenas que lo habitaban, como demuestra la Real Provisión de 1500, evitando que éstos fueran esclavizados o sometidos a maltrato. Las Capitulaciones de Santa Fé recogieron los detalles del acuerdo entre los monarcas y el navegante extranjero, que a partir de ese momento vinculaba su empresa personal a la monarquía hispánica, con toda la enorme significación histórica que tenía este acontecimiento, que consagra su figura a la eternidad y asegura el futuro de sus vástagos y descendientes con grandes ventajas económicas y privilegios.

A partir de entonces se iniciaba el gran viaje a través del océano, y con este se desafiaban las leyendas y mitos que durante generaciones habían convertido a aquellas aguas ignotas en un lugar extraño y terrible poblado por monstruos marinos devoradores de hombres. Y lo que más sorprende es el convencimiento del propio Colón en que hallaría nuevas tierras al final de su viaje que le procurarán las riquezas, los privilegios y el poder que tanto anhelaba. En este sentido también se ha especulado con la posibilidad de que pudiera contar con algunos conocimientos o informaciones privilegiadas que mantuvo en secreto hasta el final.

En los preparativos del viaje cobraron protagonismo los hermanos Pinzón, experimentados marineros onubenses a los que se les prometió el Almirantazgo a cambio de sus servicios, y otros tantos marineros de origen andaluz, cántabro y vasco, todos ellos movidos por el afán de riquezas en una empresa peligrosa que, a priori, no garantizaba el éxito. A finales de julio de 1492 la flota de las tres carabelas ya estaba lista, el día 2 de agosto la expedición fue bendecida durante la Fiesta de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles y se pidió la protección de la Virgen.

El 3 de agosto se iniciaba el viaje, que tendría como primera escala las Islas Canarias, que se conquistaron finalmente en 1498, donde se tuvo que someter a reparación a La Pinta. Desde el Puerto de la Gomera se daría el gran salto, el cual tendría lugar el 6 de septiembre, para adentrarse en la inmensidad del océano, sabiendo que durante muchos días no avistarían tierra. Las semanas que se sucedieron hasta alcanzar los territorios del Nuevo Mundo fueron problemáticas y estuvieron salpicadas de incidentes, como el botín en el que se amenazó con tirar por la borda al propio Colón, y que gracias a su carisma y liderazgo entre los marineros consiguió abortar Martín Alonso Pinzón. Finalmente, el 12 de octubre de 1492 se producía el histórico y anhelado momento en el que la expedición llegaba a una pequeña isla del archipiélago de las Bahamas que Colón bautizó como San Salvador. En total se cubrieron 6.600 kilómetros y durante los tres siguientes meses nuestro protagonista recorrió las islas caribeñas con la esperanza de encontrar las Cipango y Catay del Extremo Oriente. A partir de ese momento se construye el primer asentamiento en América, concretamente en la isla de La Española (República Dominicana y Haití) donde se dejó a 39 hombres en el «Fuerte Navidad» para zarpar rumbo a España en enero de 1493 y alcanzar el puerto de Palos de Moguer, desde donde salió meses atrás, en marzo del mismo año, no sin peligros de naufragio y de ser capturados por los portugueses en las Islas Azores. El navegante genovés llevaba consigo a seis indios, y regresaba para contar su hazaña y confirmar el éxito de su empresa ante los Reyes Católicos en la Corte de Barcelona. Obviamente, a partir de ese momento se ejecutaron todos los títulos y mercedes que se pactaron en las Capitulaciones de Santa Fe.

Cristóbal Colón emprendió cuatro viajes sucesivos hacia los nuevos territorios sobre los que la corona española había tomado posesión, y que se vieron legitimados por la Santa Sede a través de cinco bulas sucesivas. No vamos a continuar narrando los detalles de estos viajes por la enorme concurrencia de hechos reseñables que encierran, pero sí nos centraremos en algunos aspectos polémicos de la figura de Colón como gobernador de los nuevos territorios conquistados. Al llegar durante su segundo viaje a la isla de La Española, donde dejó un destacamento en el citado «Fuerte Navidad», lo halló destruido y con los cadáveres de algunas de las víctimas. Pronto tuvo que enfrentarse a la realidad de la existencia de tribus caníbales, los Caribes, que esclavizaban a las mujeres de otras tribus y devoraban a los hombres. Una realidad que también encontraron conquistadores como Hernán Cortés o Francisco de Pizarro en la América continental. Colón fue un pésimo político y su labor como gobernador en las primeras posesiones españolas en América fue nefasta, generando malestar entre sus hombres, los nuevos colonos, y los propios indígenas, a los que veía como objeto de ganancia y es cierto que cometió algunos abusos sobre ellos considerándolos como mercancía, cuando la voluntad de la Corona hispánica era bien diferente y estaba llamada a proteger y evangelizar a todos estos pueblos. De modo que su labor de dirección y organización política en La Española no dejó de desprestigiar al experimentado marino ante los Reyes. A esto hay que añadir las dificultades de adaptación de los nuevos colonos venidos de España, tanto ante el clima tropical como a la alimentación, la belicosidad de algunas tribus locales que Colón fue incapaz de pacificar, las promesas de riquezas y beneficios incumplidas y el férreo control y la mano de hierro que este quería imponer en la gobernanza de estos territorios. De hecho, el propio Colón en persona se embarcó hacia España un 11 de junio de 1496 con la intención de limpiar su honra y su nombre ante este desprestigio del cual los Reyes fueron debidamente informados. Después dos años en España, tras los cuales consiguió que los reyes refrendaran su apoyo en abril de 1497 el ya Gran Almirante del Mar Océano, vio confirmados sus privilegios e hizo autocrítica de su propia labor en las Indias. No obstante, ni en su tercer viaje a América Colón pudo solucionar los problemas que arrastraba en su mandato y su relación con los indios, así como la incomprensión de la tarea evangelizadora a la que tanta importancia concedía la reina Isabel. A este descontento generalizado de los colonos y a las propias rebeliones de los indios sucedieron las represiones, con ejecuciones decretadas por el propio Colón, como fue aquella del capitán Múgica, mostrándose cruel y duro. Las noticias de las tensiones y represiones generadas por Colón llegaron a los Reyes Católicos, que finalmente decidieron destituir a Colón por Francisco de Bobadilla, que tomaría posesión efectiva de su cargo a finales de agosto de 1500. A todo esto hay que añadir que Cristóbal Colón había otorgado puestos de mando a sus dos hermanos, Diego y Bartolomé, generando un mayor malestar por los recelos que despertaba entre la colonia española el ser gobernados por extranjeros.

Estos hechos empañaron gravemente los últimos años de vida del genovés, que tras el informe redactado por Bobadilla sobre las acciones de Colón en La Española como gobernador tuvo que pedir clemencia para que la acción de la justicia no cayese sobre él. En el mencionado informe se insinuaban las intenciones de Colón de sustraer la isla del dominio regio, e incluso percibió la amenaza de ser acusado de alta traición. Finalmente llegó la redención, y los Reyes Católicos trataron de separar la función de navegante y marinero de la de gobernador y virrey, perdonando a Colón a condición de que no volviera nunca a La Española y se centrase en su antigua labor de navegante.

Pese a todo, en mayo de 1502 iniciaría su cuarto y último viaje a América en una expedición de exploración, acompañado por su hijo Hernando, en la que vive varias situaciones límite: el gobernador de La Española le impide desembarcar en la isla y otras situaciones, como la exploración de las Indias orientales, bordeando territorios continentales desde Honduras hacia el Sur, durante la cual sufre los efectos de varias tormentas tropicales que dejan sus carabelas maltrechas, al tiempo que Colón cae enfermo y se ve obligado a refugiarse en las costas de Jamaica tras encallar en sus costas. Trataron de pedir ayuda al gobernador de La Española, que se desentendió durante meses, hasta marzo de 1504, cuando se decidió a enviar dos naos con víveres. Mientras tanto, la amenaza de botín y ciertos problemas de convivencia con las tribus indígenas amenazaron la situación de la tripulación de Colón. Desde julio de 1503 el Almirante genovés comenzó a sentirse gravemente enfermo, y tras ser rescatado y recibido por el gobernador de La Española, esta vez cordialmente, emprendió su último tornaviaje hacia España, donde moriría, concretamente en Medina del Campo, un 19 de mayo de 1506.

Cabe destacar que Colón moría pobre, sin conseguir que fuesen reconocidos los enormes privilegios que exigió aunque su hijo Diego, gracias a la intermediación del rey Fernando, terminaría fundiendo su linaje con el de la Alta Nobleza a través del matrimonio con María de Toledo, sobrina del Duque de Alba.

A modo de epílogo merece la pena referirse a los recientes episodios de «colonbofobia», si se nos permite la expresión, que ha llevado al derribo de estatuas de Colón en algunos puntos de la geografía estadounidense y que parecen agitar los viejos fantasmas de la leyenda negra antiespañola, claramente refutados por la historiografía de las últimas décadas pero que sigue siendo un arma propagandística y arrojadiza contra España y su obra en América. Un falso «revisionismo», hipócrita y de sesgo interesado, que pretende alimentar una imagen injusta y descontextualizada de la empresa americana desde unas lides ideológicas que se encuentran ubicadas en la izquierda globalista, y que tanto en fuera de España como en su interior pretenden alimentar un relato falso para dañar los frutos de aquel proyecto universal que España construyó en el devenir de los siglos a través de la Hispanidad.

Artículo original: Cristóbal Colón, el hombre y el descubridor, Hipérbola Janus, 12/Oct/2021

|| |:-:| |ERKES, Eduard, Creencias religiosas en la China antigua, Hipérbola Janus, 2022|

Acerca del autor

Nos adentramos en el ámbito de las creencias, la espiritualidad, la historia y la antropología del Extremo Oriente, y más concretamente de China, de la mano del que es considerado como uno de los sinólogos más importantes del pasado siglo. Nos referimos al alemán Eduard Erkes a través de su obra titulada Creencias religiosas en la China antigua. Licenciado en 1913 con August Conrady, con la disertación titulada Das Zurückrufen der Seele (chao hun) des Sung Yüh, Erkes consiguió la libre docencia en la Universidad de Lipsia en 1917 con el trabajo Das Weltbild des Huainan-tse. Fue nombrado conservador de la sección para Asia y Europa en el museo etnológico de Lipsia, y en 1928 profesor extraordinario, siempre en la Universidad de Lipsia.

|| |:-:| |Eduard Erkes|

Erkes, fue miembro del SPD (Partido Socialdemócrata de Alemania) desde 1919, con el advenimiento del nacionalsocialismo fue apartado de todos sus cargos y responsabilidades. En mayo de 1945 Erkes fue reintegrado en su cátedra universitaria, para después ser nombrado, en 1947, ordinario de sinología y director del seminario del Asia Oriental (desde 1951, Instituto para Asia Oriental).

Otras obras de Erkes son: Gestaltwandel der Götter in China (1947); Hoshang-kung’s Commentary on Lao-tse (1950); Neue Beiträge zur Geschichte des Choukönigs Yu (1954).

Una introducción a la China clásica

China nos sigue pareciendo un lugar extraño, lejano y exótico, una civilización milenaria que encierra secretos de incalculable valor tanto para el arqueólogo como para el historiador de la cultura, y más concretamente en el ámbito de las creencias y la manifestación del espíritu religioso. Ante nosotros tenemos un pasado que podemos remontar en sus formas embrionarias de civilización al quinto y sexto milenio antes de la era cristiana, y podemos secuenciar perfectamente la sucesión de culturas prehistóricas que sirven de tamiz y base para el ulterior desarrollo bajo las formas más clásicas y reconocibles del mundo chino. Del mismo modo, la misma combinación de multitud de etnias en este mismo proceso genera una compleja síntesis que nos ofrece una cultura con influencias muy variadas, muy alejada de esa visión monolítica que quizás nosotros, como europeos profanos en la materia, hemos considerado habitualmente.

Nuestro conocimiento acerca del mundo de las creencias y la religiosidad china nos viene fundamentalmente a través de dos vías: por un lado la arqueología y por otro los textos tradicionales. Conviene apuntar que el material arqueológico por sí solo no puede ofrecernos explicaciones globales ni el material necesario para conocer el sistema de creencias religiosas en su totalidad. La mitología, la teología y la propia estructura de los ritos contribuyen a conformar una respuesta mucho más completa, que con el solo aporte de los materiales arqueológicos resultaría insuficiente. Los textos tradicionales más abundantes nos dan noticia sobre el periodo de la denominada antigüedad clásica, que se corresponde con el periodo que va desde el traslado de la capital de la dinastía Chou a Lo-yang (770 a.C) hasta el final de la dinastía Han (207 a.C - 220 d.C); el periodo que comprende aquel de las dinastías Shang/Yin (desde la mitad del II milenio hasta el 1100 a.C aproximadamente) y el de los Chou occidentales (1100 - 771 a.C). Más allá del hecho de que los textos literarios que se remontan a este periodo son raros o no existen, los más antiguos textos chinos son todos muy difíciles de datar. Los más célebres, aunque no siempre los más importantes, son los clásicos confucianos, y en particular el Shu Ching (Clásico de historia), el Shih Ching (Clásico de poesía), y el I Ching (Libro de los cambios, un manual de adivinación y de filosofía), los rituales titulados Chou-li, Li-chi y I-li, y finalmente el Tso-chuan, un rico comentario de una pobre crónica, y el Ch'un-ch'iu, atribuido a Confucio. A menudo, sin embargo, estas obras son comprensibles sólo gracias a las glosas que las acompañan y que se deben a autores literarios de la dinastía Han o de épocas más recientes.

En el caso del Chou-li (Rituales de Chou) y el Li-chi (Libro de los Ritos) conforman dos de los trece clásicos del canon confuciano que fueron descubiertos por Liu Hsiang en los archivos imperiales chinos, que tal y como constata el orientalista Filippo Ronconi, fueron objeto de cuestionamiento por los Eruditos de la corte por temor a que la doctrina propugnada por éstos fuese puesta en duda, por lo que forzaron su expulsión de la Corte. Ambas fuentes son fundamentales en el presente ensayo de Eduard Erkes, y le ayudan a delinear la religión china en sus puntos fundamentales, concretamente en cinco puntos o capítulos dedicados respectivamente al sacerdocio chamánico, a los espíritus, a las divinidades antropomorfas, a las costumbres funerarias y a las divinidades de la naturaleza. Todo este cuadro conceptual, que abarca ámbitos que van desde la mitología, la antropología o las creencias más básicas, trata de reconstruir un horizonte existencial en el que además de confluir las grandes doctrinas esotéricas, sapienciales y, en definitiva, tradicionales de la China clásica, como son el Confucianismo, Taoísmo y Budismo, sino también de un elemento central dentro de la Historia de las religiones, como es el fenómeno del Chamanismo, y de hecho el gran etnólogo e historiador de las religiones rumano Mircea Eliade se sirvió de los estudios realizados por Eduard Erkes para articular y desarrollar sus propias obras sobre el tema en relación a China.

A este respecto, el propio Erkes nos apunta una premisa de inicio que hay que tener en cuenta el análisis de las creencias religiosas chinas en relación al chamanismo:

Para el análisis de la antigua religión china, hay que remitirse a la noción a la que, en el estado actual de nuestros conocimientos, parecen estar vinculadas las primeras experiencias humanas de lo sagrado y que, por tanto, hay que situar también en el inicio de la evolución de las distintas religiones: la noción de fuerza mágica, o maná. Según una concepción que tiene carácter de universalidad, que, sin embargo, en formas residuales se traiciona y subsiste también en todas las fases superiores de la evolución, esta fuerza actúa en los seres humanos, en los animales, en los seres inanimados y en todas las cosas, estando, sin embargo, especialmente presente en el representante de la religión primitiva, en el chamán, a quien habilita en sus funciones. Para este concepto, la antigua religión china tenía dos expresiones diferentes, ling y te.

Evola y Erkes

La edición italiana, la que nuestro traductor, Gustavo Mateu Fombuena, ha tomado como referencia para la preparación de nuestra propia versión en español, fue traducida en 1958 por Julius Evola para el IsMeo (Associazione Internazionale di Studi sul Mediterraneo e l'Oriente), todo ello a pesar de las discrepancias que Evola mantuvo con respecto al método racionalista y positivista empleado por los historiadores de la religión, y que entraba en conflicto directo con las tesis del autor tradicionalista, y entre ellos, pese a traducir su obra, también se encontraba el propio Eduard Erkes, con el cual discrepaba en torno a la idea evolucionista que describe el punto de partida de la evolución antrópica china a partir de un Sinanthropus primitivo al que Erkes le atribuye un estado humano, tras el reciente abandono del estado animal, y en posesión de algunas ideas religiosas.

Son ideas que ya aparecen en el preámbulo de la obra, y que nos remiten a una concepción naturalista, que es la que sostiene el sinólogo alemán. Desde la perspectiva evoliana, Erkes también termina asumiendo una serie de patrones comunes a la ciencia antropológica y la etnología oficiales, aunque lejos de hablar de formas de superstición asociadas a las fuerzas de la naturaleza, sino que habla de «factores sociales», llegando finalmente —nos señala Julius Evola— a una imagen de sincretismo derivada de la unión del culto a los antepasados con la religión naturalista. En cualquier caso, estos elementos que chocan con la visión tradicional no invalidan en absoluto el valor que la obra pueda tener a nivel de contenido, con las valiosas informaciones en torno a las fases más antiguas de la espiritualidad extremo-oriental.

Detalles sobre nuestra edición

La preparación de esta obra nos ha supuesto una serie de desafíos a los que nos hemos tenido que enfrentar para hacerla más atractiva y aprovechable de cara al lector que no esté familiarizado con el mundo chino.

Pese a que la obra en sí es un excelente compendio de los aspectos fundamentales que vertebran la religión y las creencias de la China clásica, para que el disfrute de todo aquello que nuestro autor nos expone sea mayor nos hemos visto en la necesidad de crear un glosario y aportar una serie de comentarios que aclarasen y complementaran algunas cuestiones.

Cuando se publicó la obra, a finales de los años 1950, la incorporación de ideogramas chinos en un texto de carácter divulgativo no académico era una misión prácticamente imposible, y a sabiendas de esto, cuando el autor quiere hacer referencia a cómo algunas cuestiones mitológico-religiosas se ven reflejadas en los ideogramas, no le queda más remedio que recurrir a la descripción.

En nuestra edición, sin embargo, gracias a la tecnología actual, hemos sido capaces de recuperar la mayoría de ideogramas a los que Erkes hace referencia y de incorporarlos en el texto para dejar más claro aquello a lo que se refiere.

En nuestro glosario también hemos añadido la transcripción fonética en el sistema Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (la transcripción oficial de la República Popular de China en la actualidad), que facilitará que el lector interesado pueda indagar más buscando por internet los términos en los que esté interesado, ya que el sistema de transcripción que Erkes utiliza, el Wade-Giles, pese a que permite que el lector no acostumbrado al chino se haga una idea más clara de la pronunciación de las palabras que con el pinyin, ha caído en desuso y es difícil manejarse con él en la red de redes.

El libro ya se encuentra disponible en Amazon tanto en versión de tapa dura como de tapa blanda. Esperamos que sea de vuestro agrado.

Artículo original: Creencias religiosas en la China antigua, de Eduard Erkes, Hipérbola Janus, 17/Ago/2022

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| | |:---:| | VULLIAUD, Paul, El pensamiento esotérico de Leonardo da Vinci, Hipérola Janus, 2024 |

Quizás no haya personaje más icónico del Renacimiento que Leonardo da Vinci, el misterio que le rodea como paradigma de humanista renacentista ha cautivado a decenas de generaciones desde la consumación de su obra hasta nuestros días. No es extraño entrar en una librería y encontrarse con un buen número de títulos que abordan su figura, tanto en el arte como en la historia y, especialmente, en la literatura, en la novela histórica, con multitud de trabajos en los que el aura de misterio y grandiosidad envuelven por completo a nuestro protagonista. En El pensamiento esotérico de Leonardo da Vinci asistimos no solamente a una nueva perspectiva de la obra de Leonardo (pese a ser un libro publicado originalmente en 1910), en la que se arroja luz sobre aspectos a priori no tan espectaculares ni vistosos ampliamente tratados en otras obras, sino que también asistimos a una desmitificación necesaria del personaje, a despojar al genio para descubrir al artista en ciertas tendencias mucho más sutiles que nos remiten a las corrientes esotéricas que experimentaron un auge inusitado durante el siglo XVI, como veremos a continuación. Paul Vulliaud, nuestro autor, es, sin lugar a dudas, un hombre de su época, con afinidades por el arte, con notables escritos sobre lingüística y el estudio de los textos sagrados del Cristianismo y el judaísmo, que nos transmite una imagen de Leonardo en la que no es tan protagonista el genio, el «adelantado a su tiempo», como el artista que se sirve del misterio y los códigos simbólicos para revelar grandes verdades espirituales de una manera sutil y coherente, de acuerdo con una serie de conocimientos muchas veces olvidados, opacados por esa visión cientifista, circunscrita más a los bocetos e ingenios de los que habló en sus escritos nuestro autor florentino, más allá de su obra artística, injustamente olvidada en detrimento del «Leonardo científico».

Advertimos a nuestros lectores que el uso del concepto «esotérico/esoterismo» que vamos a hacer a continuación, no se corresponde con el uso más ortodoxo que podríamos encontrar en las obras de René Guénon, Julius Evola o Frithof Schuon.

El autor

Paul Vulliaud, nacido como Alexandre Paul Alcide Vulliaud el 5 de febrero de 1875 en Lyon, falleció el 3 de noviembre de 1950 en Épinay-sur-Seine (Seine), y sus principales ocupaciones fueron las de escritor, traductor y pintor. Católico, apasionado tanto por la cultura helénica como por la hebrea, fue autor de traducciones y comentarios de la Biblia hebrea, del Zohar, así como de obras de Dante, Shakespeare y Salomón ibn Gabirol.

Tras estudiar en el Lycée Ampère y luego en la Escuela de Bellas Artes de Lyon, se trasladó a París donde trabajó durante un tiempo en la librería de Émile Nourry. Más tarde, ocupó un puesto como archivero en el periódico Journal des Débats hasta 1939.

En 1907 fundó la revista Les entretiens idéalistes en la que participaron Henri Clouard, Vaillant-Couturier, Joseph Serre y Léon Bloy.

En 1923, Paul Vulliaud publicó La Kabbale Juive, donde argumenta a favor de la antigüedad del Zohar y la Cábala, diferenciando la cábala judía de la cábala cristiana. Según él, «Las razones de investigación relacionadas con el esoterismo judío son numerosas. La ciencia de las religiones, la arqueología israelita, la historia de la filosofía, el origen del cristianismo y el estudio de las sectas religiosas contemporáneas están interesadas en ello».

En 1936, publica La Clé Traditionnelle des Evangiles, donde traza la polémica secular entre helenistas, hebraístas y arameístas sobre el idioma del Nuevo Testamento. Aboga por la redacción semítica, sin decidir entre el hebreo y el arameo. No es hasta 1952, en La Fin du Monde, después de los descubrimientos de los Manuscritos de Qumrán, que desarrolla la tesis de que el hebreo sería el idioma original del Nuevo Testamento.

Su obra fue considerada esotérica o marginal, apenas citada por Gershom Scholem o Charles Mopsik. François Secret considera a Paul Vulliaud como «su iniciador» y publica dos textos inéditos en la década de 1980.

Fue retomada por Bernard Dubourg, quien se basa en los trabajos de Vulliaud para afirmar a su vez que el hebreo era el idioma original del Nuevo Testamento, fundamentando su tesis en un cierto uso de la Cábala judía. Los trabajos de Dubourg no han tenido una recepción mejor en el mundo científico.

La biblioteca de Vulliaud, cedida por su viuda a la Alianza Israelita Universal, contiene correspondencia con el abad Henri Bremond.

El esoterismo en la Francia del siglo XIX-XX

La cuestión del esoterismo cristiano en la Francia del siglo XIX, que es donde podríamos enmarcar la línea seguida por Paul Vulliaud, y que constituye el telón de fondo de las interpretaciones del autor en El pensamiento esotérico de Leonardo da Vinci, comprende un espectro amplio de movimientos, figuras y corrientes. En este contexto vemos entrelazarse multitud de doctrinas que hacen converger la teología cristiana con lo oculto y el esoterismo.

A lo largo del siglo XIX vemos cómo una serie de pensadores y autores se prestan a la reinterpretación de las Sagradas Escrituras y las profecías, buscando revelaciones ocultas y significados más profundos. Lo vemos en figuras tan prominentes del pensamiento contrarrevolucionario decimonónico como Joseph de Maistre hasta autores especializados en las corrientes mágicas y ocultas como Eliphas Lévi o el hermetismo de Giuliano Kremmerz, hasta llegar a Léon Bloy o Pierre-Michel Vintras, todos ellos contribuyendo desde sus visiones y enfoques particulares en su conformación.

Esta época estuvo marcada por la presencia de profetas, visionarios y ocultistas que intentaron decodificar los signos de los tiempos y especularon sobre eventos cósmicos vinculados a la renovación del mundo. De ahí surgieron intensos debates sobre la parusía y la interpretación de profecías bíblicas que llegaron a formularse tanto en el interior de los círculos esotéricos como en otros ámbitos intelectuales más convencionales.

De modo que en el esoterismo cristiano de la Francia de los siglos XIX y comienzos del XX vemos confluir filosofía, teología y misticismo, que sirvieron para articular interpretaciones novedosas y en ocasiones controvertidas sobre la fe, el conocimiento oculto y el destino final de la humanidad.

Podemos ubicar este fenómeno, que hemos descrito en sus líneas generales, en el propio movimiento romántico de la primera mitad del siglo XIX, en el retorno a los valores cristianos tradicionales que representan una reacción frente al impacto de la Revolución Francesa de 1789, que implica la emancipación de la pujante burguesía al amparo de los corrosivos valores individualistas, materialistas y claramente anti-espirituales que tratan de mercantilizar el mundo y someterlo a la sociedad del dinero. Este intento de retornar a los valores cristianos vivió su impulso a través de dos vías: por un lado la exégesis teológica y la revalorización de los valores cristianos y, por otro lado, la integración dentro de las corrientes científicas de antiguas ciencias y saberes como la cábala y la astrología, al tiempo que el desarrollo material y la ciencia positivista incorporaba otros nuevos como el magnetismo o la hipnosis etc. en un claro intento de conciliar fe y razón. No debemos olvidar que nos encontramos en un contexto histórico muy diferente a aquel prerrevolucionario, en el que los valores burgueses y liberales construyen otro modelo de sociedad, en el que las certezas tradicionales y muchos elementos orgánicos quedan totalmente destruidos.

El desarrollo de las citadas corrientes esotéricas y de lo oculto apareció como una especie de «tercera vía», pese a nutrirse tanto de la metodología científica como de la teología cristiana, generando desconfianza y recelo a partes iguales tanto en los círculos científicos como en la Iglesia católica. Pero no solamente era una cuestión de método, sino que entre los primeros autores que comienzan a reinterpretar la doctrina cristiana en función de los propios tiempos, como Joseph de Maistre o Ballanche, se consigue integrar el plan divino en una perspectiva histórica, y con ella una desacralización de la historia. Las profecías anunciaban el advenimiento del reino del Espíritu en tiempos modernos, concebidos como «tiempos de fin de ciclo», en los cuales la Revolución de 1789 no era sino parte de una catarsis necesaria. Los teósofos también reinterpretaron los antiguos textos sagrados y los contextualizaron en una perspectiva milenarista de renovación, de una «palingenesia», término que aparece de forma recurrente en nuestra obra de Paul Vulliaud. Un tiempo de transición, como decíamos, que inevitablemente remueve los cimientos de la civilización anterior, del Antiguo Régimen, con la crisis de valores que supone, y que afecta al terreno de las creencias, en el que tampoco debemos ignorar el descubrimiento de los textos orientales, los Upanishads o el Avesta, el interés por Egipto y sus tradiciones relacionadas con el inframundo, con la inestimable acción divulgadora del mago Eliphas Lévi, alimentaron las especulaciones y favorecieron un sincretismo de símbolos y creencias que desembocó en la idea de una gran revelación divina primordial.

En esta época, y especialmente en la Francia que vive las consecuencias de 1789, se da una notable difusión de los textos platónicos y pitagóricos a través de numerosas traducciones y textos interpretativos en clave esotérica que también ayudan a la difusión de ciertas supersticiones que alcanzan incluso a los primeros socialistas masónicos, como los seguidores de las doctrinas de Saint-Simon, o hace emerger el secreto de antiguas doctrinas cuya transmisión y difusión eran propuestas como alternativas frente al poder dominante, o vías de realización espiritual vedadas en el transcurso de los siglos, como podría ocurrir con las enseñanzas pitagóricas o el desarrollo de la masonería, que también adquiere un importante desarrollo en ciertas tendencias mesiánicas intrínsecas que hablan de transformar el mundo merced al uso de elementos trascendentes y metafísicos, como nos muestra Jacques Etienne Marconis de Nègre, fundador de la denominada masonería «egipcia».

La teorización de las ciencias ocultas en las décadas de 1830-1840, de la mano de Ferdinand Denis, un administrador erudito de la Biblioteca de Sainte-Geneviève, sienta las bases de una corriente que adquirirá un gran desarrollo a lo largo del siglo, como veremos a través de la obra de Allan Kardec, por ejemplo, en la vía del espiritismo. Hay una revalorización de la alquimia, especialmente desde los medios de la ciencia positivista, que impregna estas corrientes, y en los que se ve el uso de un lenguaje codificado que en realidad era parte de una doctrina que encerraba los conocimientos de grandes descubrimientos científicos (según los autores de la época) para los que el pueblo de los siglos precedentes no estaba preparado. Consideraciones impregnadas de prejuicios positivistas, como una vía ascendente hacia el conocimiento.

Paul Vulliaud sigue imbuido en este tipo de corrientes, aunque él parte de los fundamentos del esoterismo cristiano y de los textos sagrados como vía de transmisión y preservación de las grandes verdades reveladas. Participa a principios del siglo XX en la publicación de la revista Les entretiens idéalistes, e incluso se mueve en los ambientes del tradicionalismo católico y en medios esotéricos en los que también participa René Guénon.

Las nuevas exégesis de los textos sagrados que nos ofrece el «esoterismo» decimonónico es el fruto de la crítica histórica y de la expansión del ámbito de las ciencias. El siglo XIX asiste al desarrollo de nuevas disciplinas de estudio en las que convergen los desarrollos de la ciencia y el espíritu religioso generando una tendencia a integrar antiguas ciencias como la astrología médica, la numerología o las especulaciones cabalísticas, a las que se les trata de otorgar el mismo estatus de cientificidad. Al entrar en contacto con el ámbito de la teología, el esoterismo sirve de base a diferentes corrientes como las de Huysmans o Claudel, adquiriendo formas cristianas, puramente espiritualistas, orientalistas o incluso abiertamente anticlericales. Se articulan grupos esotéricos que funcionan con sus propias reglas y profundizan en los diferentes enfoques planteados, que desarrollan a través de los cauces que les ofrecen las ciencias ocultas. Todos estos procesos, conviene repetirlo una vez más, responden a la secularización a marchas forzadas en el que se ve inmersa la Europa de la época. Muchas de estas sociedades secretas fusionarán principios masónicos con otros pseudoespirituales y de la incipiente ciencia, y serán percibidos como una amenaza por la Iglesia Católica.

De hecho, autores como el abate Constant, convertido en el mago Eliphas Lévi, hablan de un Cristianismo «tergiversado», frente al cual existe un verdadero cristianismo popular a reivindicar. Al mismo tiempo, Madame Blavatsky desde la Sociedad Teosófica también opera una serie de rupturas con la Iglesia desde la proclamación de la primacía espiritual del Oriente. La Orden Martinista de Papus mantiene una línea similar aunque la revista L'Iniation que sirve como portal de sus doctrinas mantiene un frágil equilibrio entre el dogmatismo católico y el esoterismo oriental. Joséphin Péladan, admirado en un principio por Paul Vulliaud y posteriormente rechazado por éste como enemigo y adversario, pretenderá erigirse como el líder de un rosacrucismo católico. La reacción contra todas estas tendencias, claramente alineadas frente a la ortodoxia católica, vendrá de la mano de autores como Grillot de Givry, nuestro autor, Paul Vulliaud, Charbonneau-Lassay y René Guénon hasta su partida a El Cairo en 1930. Éstos últimos buscaron una legitimidad tradicional y rastrearon supervivencias esotéricas en la tradición cristiana.

Este es el contexto que, sintéticamente planteado, debemos tener en cuenta a la hora de adentrarnos en la lectura de El pensamiento esotérico de Leonardo da Vinci, que como el lector puede percibir a través de nuestro relato, trasciende ampliamente la figura de Leonardo, para situarnos en en un contexto histórico, cultural e intelectual muy particular. Obviamente, la figura del genio renacentista ejercía una atracción considerable sobre los esoteristas, ocultistas y tradicionalistas cristianos de la época, y de hecho el método que utiliza Paul Vulliaud para escudriñar todos aquellos elementos que forman parte del universo simbólico del arte leonardesco beben de esas fuentes interpretativas. La conexión con la antigüedad es fundamental, lo fue en el propio Renacimiento, en la época de Leonardo, como también lo fue durante el siglo XIX entre autores simbolistas y parnasianos, como entre esotéricos y ocultistas, y la aplicación de la ley tradicional de correspondencias, de un método analógico nos conduce de forma ineludible hacia la idea de primordialidad que ya hemos mencionado, la idea de una matriz primordial y originaria que sirve como vector único de las posteriores tradiciones particulares que se han desarrollado en diferentes ciclos históricos.

Artículo original: Hipérbola Janus, Presentación de «El pensamiento esotérico de Leonardo», de Paul Vulliaud, 6/Feb/24

| | |:---:| | NITOGLIA, Curzio, En el mar de la nada: Metafísica y nihilismo a prueba en la posmodernidad, Hipérbola Janus, 2023 |

Acerca del autor

Es la primera vez que se publica una obra en español de Don Curzio Nitoglia, al menos que nosotros tengamos conocimiento, de ahí la importante novedad que supone para el público de habla hispana En el mar de la nada: Metafísica y nihilismo a prueba en la posmodernidad. Para los menos avezados en en la escena e itinerario de autores críticos con la modernidad y el Concilio Vaticano II dentro del contexto eclesiástico, dentro del tradicionalismo católico, Don Curzio Nitoglia representa una de las voces más autorizadas, con mayor sentido crítico y lucidez de los últimos tiempos; ensayista, historiador y teólogo así como autor de obras que abarcan temas variados, que van desde la filosofía tomista a la ética en el ámbito de la política. Nacido en Roma en 1957, fue uno de los discípulos más destacados del gran autor católico Augusto del Noce. Con una formación religiosa y eclesiástica iniciada en el seminario de Econe (Suiza) y ordenado finalmente sacerdote en 1984 por Monseñor Lefebvre, ha colaborado con numerosas revistas dentro de la vertiente del pensamiento antimodernista, como Effedieffe o Radio SPADA, y mantiene unas buenas relaciones con otros prelados ajenos a la Iglesia vaticana como Monseñor Williamson.

Un personaje polémico

Dados los posicionamientos del Padre Nitoglia, las evidentes incompatibilidades que su discurso presenta tanto con la actual doctrina postconciliar de la Iglesia como con el relato oficial que los mass media nos presentan en connivencia con el poder, en multitud de ocasiones hemos visto su nombre asociado a una serie de etiquetas dentro de la prensa y los medios italianos. Estas etiquetas nos dan una imagen que viene marcada por un evidente sesgo ideológico y que en ningún caso entran en debate con los temas y materias que se abordan en la obra de nuestro autor. No han faltado calificativos que reducen su nombre, de manera interesada y con grandes dosis de manipulación, a un mero agregado de «doctrinas fascistas y hitlerianas» incompatibles con el pensamiento del mundo presente. La asociación permanente con los íconos del mal absoluto, por aquella falacia retórica que nos es bien conocida, tratan de desactivar automáticamente cualquier debate que pueda articularse en torno a sus planteamientos, y reducen al autor a una especie de fanático dominado por lo irracional incapaz de aceptar los tiempos de «progreso» y «bondades» que nos trae el «evangelio posmoderno». Nada más alejado de la realidad como veremos a continuación.

Geopolítica y mundo árabe

Son particularmente interesantes sus visiones en el terreno de la geopolítica, por ejemplo respecto a los posicionamientos en relación al mundo árabe, con el cual reconoce la práctica imposibilidad de que se de una situación de entendimiento entre la Europa cristiana y el mundo islámico, aunque siempre dentro del terreno religioso puramente teológico, pero sin embargo sí cree posible un «diálogo de civilizaciones» sobre un ámbito más contingente, en el terreno de la política, y en particular con cierta vertiente del nacionalismo árabe, del baazismo, que se ha orientado más hacia la tolerancia y el entendimiento con las minorías cristianas, sin la aplicación de la sharia. Este tipo de regímenes nacionalistas son los que podemos asociar a Nasser o Mubarak en Egipto, Gadafi en Libia, Sadam Husein en Irak o bien la Siria de al-Ásad, todos ellos regímenes nacionalistas, de corte social, y aunque islámicos, dentro de una línea más laica. La única vía de entendimiento con el mundo islámico en el terreno teológico-filosófico ---destaca nuestro autor--- sería a través de la filosofía de Avicena, cuya visión del aristotelismo entroncaría directamente con la visión tomista, pero que, desafortunadamente, terminó en una vía muerta por la imposición de la visión teológica de Al-Ghazali, con la interpretación literal del Corán al margen de cualquier forma de especulación filosófica en torno al hecho revelado.

En el terreno político, no obstante las relaciones entre la Europa cristiana y el mundo árabe islámico se han visto truncadas por un enemigo común, que Nitoglia ve claramente representado en Estados Unidos, Israel y sus organizaziones pantalla como la OTAN. En el caso estadounidense ha malogrado cualquier recuperación de Europa en el mundo, cualquier aspiración geopolítica en el concierto internacional, y lo ha hecho sistemáticamente desde la Primera y la Segunda Guerra mundial, tratando de destruir las bases de la cultura europea, de raíz greco-romana y cristiana, pasando por la patrística y la escolástica tomista, cuyo legado pretenden destruir mediante el modelo de una Europa americanizada, como aquella de posguerra, decadente y debilitada, cada vez más descristianizada.

Los conflictos de oriente medio

Respecto al Próximo y Medio Oriente las consecuencias de las acciones conjuntas de Estados Unidos e Israel las vemos reflejadas en las acciones destructivas del llamado «fundamentalismo islámico», representado por Al Qaeda y el ISIS, formas de fundamentalismo ideológico que no representan al Islam verdadero, donde no existe principio religioso ni teológico alguno, sino que se reduce a una ideología política sustentada en una serie de mercenarios terroristas que actúan financiados y armados por el binomio USA-Israel, generando desde 1990 hasta nuestros días un escenario de inestabilidad y caos en sus territorios. Además de promover una oleada migratoria contra Europa con la que pretenden promover el mismo caos, y que, como nos advierte Nitoglia, ya vimos prefigurado en el mayo del 68 y todo el movimiento contracultural, que se haya investido por la misma sustancia trotskista que hay presente en los llamados «fundamentalismos islámicos» anteriormente citados, en ambos casos se promueve una revolución mundial permanente, una llamada inequívoca al caos y la destrucción total. Además las acciones del americanismo estadounidense sobre Europa y el Medio y Próximo Oriente hacen imposibles unas relaciones normalizadas entre Europa y el Mundo Árabe en el terreno de las relaciones económicas, por ejemplo, con la intención de aislar y mantener en dependencia y sojuzgada a Europa. Rusia aparece dentro del tablero geopolítico como la salvaguarda de los valores cristianos europeos y un contrapeso a la acción corrosiva del imperio estadounidense.

Crítico con el Concilio Vaticano II

Sus posiciones sobre la Iglesia moderna, aquella que surgió del Concilio Vaticano II, son interesantes y haremos una breve síntesis de las mismas. Curzio Nitoglia nos habla de una conjura perpetrada desde dentro de la Iglesia con el objetivo de destruirla. El Concilio Vaticano II se presentó como una oportunidad para los adversarios de la Iglesia, para adentrarse en las mismas entrañas de la Iglesia y poder apoderarse de sus altas jerarquías para convertirla en una suerte de sociedad filantrópica. Se trata de unos intentos de infiltración que podemos remontar al siglo XVII con el Jansenismo hasta llegar a la crisis denominada modernista de mediados del siglo XX y neo o postmodernista de la segunda mitad del mismo siglo. Esta situación ya fue advertida por el papa Pío X en la encíclica Pascendi (1907) y por el papa Pío XII en la encíclica Humani generis (1950), advirtiendo la infiltración interna del modernismo y otras corrientes heréticas en el seno de la Iglesia con una voluntad inequívoca de transformarla desde dentro. La culminación de este proceso de conjura contra la Iglesia vendría dado por el Concilio Vaticano II, de la mano de Juan XXIII, completado por Juan Pablo II y especialmente por el papa Ratzinger, para consolidar la aceptación del Concilio a la luz de la Iglesia. Durante la celebración del concilio la «quinta columna» de agentes dirigidos por B’nai B’rith[^1], por el comunismo y los poderes ocultos, y tales agentes se encontraban entre los cardenales, arzobispos y obispos que formaron el ala progresista dentro del Concilio.

Ante estas pinceladas que proponemos dentro del discurso del Padre Curzio Nitoglia, en el que se denuncia a los poderes fácticos, a las élites en la sombra, a Estados Unidos, a Israel, a la masonería y otros elementos que se presentan hoy como parte de un frente subversivo amplio, es normal que la polémica y cierto escándalo acompañe la obra del autor, siempre que no hay un sometimiento servil y obediente al relato oficial ocurre, y más en estos tiempos, en los que una dictadura tecnocrática global trata de imponerse por todos los medios.

Santo Tomás como antídoto contra el nihilismo posmoderno

Como nos muestra en El mar de la nada, la posmodernidad no viene a ser sino una prolongación de la agonía de lo propiamente moderno, un agregado dramático que nos precipita todavía más sobre este abismo de desequilibrios que han alterado de manera decisiva la sólida superficie donde descansaba una concepción antropológica sustentada en la Tradición, y que ahora vemos cada vez más enfrentada a la metafísica del Ser, cuya doctrina encuentra su perfección y realización completa en la doctrina de Santo Tomás de Aquino. La realidad de estos procesos nihilistas en los que el hombre moderno lleva inmerso desembocan en la nada absoluta y lo hacen desde la consideración de éste como fin en sí mismo, como realización absoluta en el plano de lo exclusivamente material e ignorando las realizaciones del espíritu.

Y es que para nuestro autor el nihilismo es un proceso que se desencadena una vez que tiene lugar el advenimiento de la modernidad, y con ésta se declara una guerra abierta a la Civilización del Ser y lo hace a través de ese nihilismo que se erige como su punta de lanza. En este contexto, la metafísica clásica tomista se convierte en el objetivo a destruir por parte tanto de este nihilismo desbocado como de otras corrientes de pensamiento anejas a la modernidad, como sería el caso del pensamiento idealista.

El hombre moderno a la deriva

En realidad, y lejos de lo que muchos autores piensan, lo posmoderno no supone la superación de la modernidad sino su conclusión nihilista. No se va más allá de la modernidad sino que va más allá de ella, como un barco sin rumbo que termina en medio de un océano sin tierra alrededor, en un «mar de la nada donde todo se hunde». Por ese motivo la posmodernidad representa un retroceso o la disolución suicida de la propia modernidad. Para el hombre que vive en estos tiempos el Ser ya no aparece como ese centro perenne e inmutable, sino que éste huye, se encuentra ausente, y entonces su horizonte de existencia se ve reducido al mínimo, a su vida horizontal y puramente material y dejándose llevar por todos aquellos procesos de disolución que están en marcha a su alrededor, que le llevan a dejarse llevar, a olvidar sus propias raíces, su identidad, a tolerar, a lo que se ha denominado por algunos autores como la cultura de la cancelación, en una deriva autodestructiva que implica la aniquilación como último paso.

Esta desembocadura de lo posmoderno en la nada, no solo es la prueba más tangible del fracaso de la modernidad y de sus pretendidas aspiraciones, sino que nos presenta la situación desde la perspectiva de un callejón sin salida, sin ofrecernos un antídoto y una vía de salida. Muy al contrario lo agrava todo con sus corrientes ideológicas y sus visiones intelectuales que resultan incontrastables con la realidad del Ser, y que tienden a desarrollarse, tal y como explica nuestro autor en la obra, en el marco del idealismo (error por exceso) o bien del nihilismo (error por defecto) en una falta de equilibrio y desde la total desmesura autodestructiva.

En el fondo la posmodernidad, como epifenómeno de la modernidad, no deja de agravar aquellos efectos que a su matriz originaria (moderna) ya le fueron característicos. En la posmodernidad la enfermedad ya ha derivado en una esclerosis y un agarrotamiento de los músculos, al igual que ocurre en las últimas etapas de la senectud, que han derivado en un gusto por la tolerancia y la indiferencia de quien ya es incapaz de defenderse, de acometer con vigor e ímpetu juvenil la defensa del núcleo más preciado de su orden de civilización. Es el nihilismo en su máximo esplendor, que alcanza una simbiosis total con el propio significado de lo posmoderno, en el lento tránsito hacia la extinción. De modo que no es más que la representación del fin de la modernidad que ha hecho de Dios un producto del hombre y del hombre un «Dios», para finalmente matar a la divinidad y suplantarla por el Superhombre nietzscheano o con la humanidad marxista dentro de esa misma tendencia disolutiva que nuestro autor italiano destaca en su obra.

El idealismo como origen del nihilismo

La clave de todo este proceso, según Nitoglia, podemos hallarlo en la sustitución de la doctrina del Ser (Santo Tomás) por el pensamiento (Descartes y el idealismo) en una obra de suplantación que tendría su origen en la revolución intelectual y científica que arranca con Descartes en el siglo XVII, y que termina inevitablemente sobre los cauces del nihilismo debido a que carece una base sólida, en contraste con las realidades espirituales del hombre, con la metafísica del Ser, y termina precipitándose en la nada. La Idea, un constructo artificial, sin contraste con la realidad, sin límites ni atendiendo a realidades trascendentes e inmutables, toma el lugar del Ser.

Nihilismo viene del latín nihil, es decir, «nada». La nada es el no-ser, y es algo que no existe representa la total ausencia de toda realidad. De hecho así lo explica el propio Santo Tomás de Aquino: «la nada y la ausencia total de ser son la misma cosa». La nada representa la ausencia total de cualquier realidad, mientras que el no ser relativo o la potencia es la privación de una forma o de un acto particular. El Angélico distingue entre la nada absoluta de la nada relativa desde una precisa descripción del mundo, de las realidades objetivas y externas al yo. El hombre representa una realidad limitada e imperfecta, una creación ex-nihilo de Dios, que es el único Ser (el Ser en su esencia más puro) capaz de crear de la nada. Y es de esta nada absoluta de la que se nutre la filosofía nihilista.

No obstante, el pensamiento nihilista no es una creación exclusivamente moderna, sino que conoce un itinerario que hunde sus orígenes en la Antigüedad, por ejemplo entre los presocráticos, ya encontramos su rastro en la filosofía de Parménides desde sus posicionamientos panteístas. Doctrinas, que como en el caso de Platón, que no contemplan en ese concepto de la nada entendida en la acepción anteriormente apuntada, como una privación relativa o absoluta del ser, sin considerar el Ser como la perfección de todas las perfecciones, como expresión última de lo real, terminan alimentando, como nos apunta Nitoglia, el nihilismo, que es la expresión de máxima depravación de la filosofía teórica y moral.

De ahí la importancia y centralidad del pensamiento tomista, por esa idea tan clara y nítidamente trazada en su obra que nos expresa la dicotomía entre el ser como perfección última que confiere a todos los entes su consistencia, realidad y actualidad, frente a la nada absoluta, que no es más que el no-ser. Y no puede haber mejor antídoto frente al creciente nihilismo que la puesta en práctica de la filosofía tomista en cuanto metafísica del ser como acto puro.

Creación ex nihilo

Precisamente, la aniquilación a la que se refiere el nihilismo es el término correlativamente opuesto al de la creación ex nihilo. La aniquilación implica reducir algo a un completo y absoluto no-ser, en una regresión a la nada. Dentro de la teología tomista solo Dios es capaz de crear ex nihilo (de la nada) porque es omnipotente, del mismo modo que solo Dios puede aniquilar algo en sentido estricto hasta reducirlo a la nada. De tal modo que cuando se produce la aniquilación desde el nihilismo éste no goza de la sabiduría y potencia absoluta de Dios. Además encierra una lógica del todo negativa respecto a la divinidad en una voluntad destructiva que nada tiene que ver con el sentido positivo de creación asociado a la voluntad divina, quien pudiendo aniquilar a los entes no lo hace, ni siquiera a los malvados o dañinos. De este modo es inaceptable que la filosofía pueda tomar en consideración la doctrina nihilista, la cual propugna la nada absoluta como punto de llegada de la aniquilación. Es por eso que los nihilistas quieren ocupar el lugar de Dios en el sentido negativo de aniquilación, no de creación, para representar una divinidad en un sentido invertido para destruir toda la obra divina. Por esa razón sus acciones se ven guiadas por la anarquía y con una ausencia total de sabiduría.

De este modo se articulan dos posiciones: aquella propiamente metafísica, que representa la metafísica del Ser frente a una contra-metafísica falsa sustentada en el no-ser, en la nada. La única alternativa para derrotar a la contra-metafísica que, según Nitoglia, adquiere las formas de la filosofía moderna, especialmente a través de las corrientes idealistas, esencialmente nihilista, es mediante el redescubrimiento o el estudio de la metafísica tomista para ponerla en práctica a nivel individual y en el contexto de la sociedad. Además el peligro que representa el nihilismo en el siglo XX a través de estas filosofías es que trata de dar realidad negativa a esta nada, en la privación del bien y de la realidad del ser, a través del maniqueísmo, que nuestro autor define como la antesala del nihilismo moral. De manera que la naturaleza de este nihilismo filosófico es el odio contra el Ser por participación (la criatura) y especialmente el Ser por esencia (Dios) en un intento de eliminar el concepto de la creación desde la nada, otorgando a la nada una cierta realidad y reduciendo, en consecuencia, la realidad a la nada.

Conclusión

Finalmente, y a modo de conclusión, para Curzio Nitoglia las consecuencias esenciales del nihilismo en la posmodernidad, sus frutos más evidentes, son el vacío y la nada. Privar al hombre de su razón, que es lo que lo diferencia y eleva respecto a los animales, y con ello también el libre albedrío y la moral objetiva y un fin o propósito que coincida con el Bien, y destruimos la realidad que estos elementos constituyen, el hombre termina hundido en la desesperación. En el catálogo de infatuaciones nihilistas de la filosofía moderna, Nitoglia incluye a Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Heidegger o bien Popper, como representantes de estas corrientes del pensamiento moderno que niegan la metafísica del Ser y consagran a la nada en unas posturas que nosotros, como Hipérbola Janus, no terminamos de compartir. No obstante, se trata de posicionamientos puramente personales, que no desmerecen un ápice el contenido de la obra, en la que la filosofía tomista, convenientemente actualizada y entregada al análisis del mundo posmoderno nos ofrece enfoques muy interesantes de necesaria, sino obligada, lectura y reflexión.

El magnífico prólogo que nos sirve de introducción a la obra corresponde a Carlos Andrés Gómez Rodas, Doctor en Filosofía por la Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, actualmente docente investigador en la Facultad de derecho de la Universidad Santo Tomás de Medellín y especialista en el pensamiento y obra del filósofo colombiano Nicolás Gómez Dávila, con infinidad de publicaciones en revistas académicas especializadas, además de honrarnos con sus colaboraciones en Mos Maiorum desde la fundación de la revista.

[^1]: B’nai B’rith: Organización internacional judía con sede en EE.UU. Más detalles en el artículo de Claudio Mutti La geopolítica de las sectas, publicado en Mos Maiorum IV (Primavera, 2022), pp. 83-90

Artículo original: Hipérbola Janus, «En el mar de la nada: Metafísica y nihilismo a prueba en la posmodernidad» de Curzio Nitoglia, 16/May/2023

Desde @HiperbolaJanus siempre hemos mostrado una gran preocupación y sensibilidad hacia los problemas y retos que atraviesa el mundo del presente. A través de multitud de escritos en nuestro blog y de publicaciones hemos tratado de aportar nuestra particular cosmovisión a nuestros lectores, invitando en todo momento a un análisis crítico y combativo de aquellos discursos y relatos que han nacido en connivencia con el poder.

| | |:-:| |Una de las muchas imágenes de manifestantes que han cubierto calles y plazas de toda España durante los últimos días.|

Somos perfectamente conscientes de los tiempos en los que vivimos, de la actual deriva de los acontecimientos a nivel global, que se han visto acelerados a partir de marzo de 2020 con la Plandemia y sus devastadoras consecuencias. Desde entonces nos hallamos en pleno cambio de paradigma, «las reglas del juego han cambiado», y a los que mueven los hilos[^1] ya no les interesa mantener ese pretendido barniz de legalidad que hacía creer a muchos (hoy más descreídos que nunca) que «el sistema funciona» y que «las instituciones protegen nuestros derechos», cuando esto, por otro lado, nunca ha sido cierto. Ahora la Agenda 2030 busca acelerar procesos de descomposición que afectan a la unidad de las naciones, a su soberanía y generar un caos que solamente preludia destrucción y finalmente la sumisión a una monstruosa superestructura de poder global sustentada sobre unos poderes tecnocráticos y transnacionales cuya ideología es el poshumanismo.

El mal ya no se esconde

El ciudadano de a pie percibe claramente que la vida independiente y la preservación de unos hipotéticos derechos (si es que en algún momento existieron) se ven mermados día a día, así como su poder adquisitivo en el terreno material, con una hiperinflación disparada y, parece, que totalmente planificada para generar pobreza, lo que desde el poder en la sombra se cree que supondrá una vía rápida hacia la sumisión del pueblo. La destrucción de la infraestructura económica, las arbitrariedades del poder político, la liquidación de ordenamientos jurídicos y legales que antes nos decían que gozaban de una autoridad y fortaleza incontestable, están cayendo, se derrumban sin la existencia de ningún contrapoder que pueda hacerles frente. Las democracias liberales se revelan como lo que son, espantajos del poder global, una mentira y una ilusión mantenida bajo las urnas, favoreciendo la creación de oligarquías partitocráticas al servicio de poderes espurios, conectados con esa tenebrosa telaraña de poder global que nos ha impuesto unas nuevas directrices a partir de las cuales no solamente buscan destruir las naciones, sino a la propia condición humana, algo en lo que desde Hipérbola Janus nunca nos cansaremos de insistir.

Es desde estos parámetros que hay que analizar la actual situación que vive España, al amparo de una constitución que es el germen de todas las arbitrariedades e injusticias que sufre nuestra Patria, más dividida y polarizada que nunca entre la ficción que supone la antítesis izquierda vs derecha, cuando ambas facciones son un subproducto del Régimen actual, que no obedecen al pretendido mandato de sus votantes y que nunca han buscado el bien común ni el beneficio de nuestra Nación.

|| |:-:| |Es importante reconocer al enemigo para adoptar una estrategia válida para poder combatirlo.|

En este sentido valoramos positivamente que el Pueblo Español se eche a las calles, que muestre su rechazo y disconformidad hacia el actual orden de cosas, que lo haga activamente y desearíamos que estas acciones tuvieran continuidad en el tiempo y llevaran a una toma de conciencia sobre los verdaderos enemigos y sus potenciales peligros de destrucción y disgregación con los que nos amenazan: hablamos, como no puede ser de otra manera, del Régimen constitucional de 1978, del sistema de partidos, de los sindicatos, del rey y en general, de todos los entes parasitarios y desintegradores que destruyen la unidad de la Patria, nuestro sentido de comunidad orgánica y Nación política forjada en los albores de la Edad Media, ya en tiempos de los Concilios de Toledo bajo el poder visigodo, y continuados en lo sucesivo con el proyecto metahistórico de la Reconquista y el Imperio universal católico cimentado sobre la acción de los Reyes Católicos, símbolo perenne de Las Españas y del sentido profundo del ethos hispánico que trasciende siglos y generaciones enteras.

«España no es una constitución»

Como dice esa proclama que cada vez se escucha más en las calles, «España no es una constitución», y es más, nosotros afirmamos que ésta última representa su antítesis, su agonía y aniquilación. Es el momento de apelar al espíritu del 2 de mayo de 1808, al pueblo español en armas contra sus clases gobernantes corruptas y afrancesadas, que defendían el liberalismo que traían los invasores franceses aún a costa del sometimiento y la destrucción de la España de la época. La misma situación de traición y ruptura entre el pueblo y sus gobernantes vivimos hoy, también fueron los Borbones los que entonces traicionaron al pueblo (abdicaciones de Bayona), en situaciones que son perfectamente equiparables, el pueblo fue el único que estableció un frente de resistencia y defensa de la Patria frente a la inoperancia del ejército regular español. El espíritu de aquellos años debe reverberar en el pueblo español de nuestros días, debemos encomendarnos a éste y defender a la España real, frente a las manipulaciones espurias de los poderes ocultos transnacionales y sus adláteres. El Bien, la Verdad y la Justicia deben imperar frente al Mal absoluto, el caos y la destrucción que anuncian y promueven los apóstoles de Agendas y teorías poshumanistas.

De tal modo, animamos a todos los españoles a que estas protestas no se detengan y que cristalicen en acciones concretas que refuercen la unidad de los españoles y la sociedad civil más allá de los partidos del sistema y cualquier intento de apropiación por parte de sus oscuros tentáculos que pretenden llevar a vía muerta y neutralizar todo intento de disidencia y rebelión que pueda aflorar de manera espontánea e independiente entre los miembros de la Comunidad Nacional. Para ello deberán despojarse de toda corrección política y de los pseudoargumentos que pretenden denostar a quienes nos oponemos al sometimiento, a la esclavitud y a la destrucción de nuestra Patria invocando una legalidad que siempre ha sido arbitraria, autodestructiva y liberticida, que con el paso de las décadas no ha hecho sino empequeñecer a España, envilecerla, cuartearla y prostituirla en un mercadeo vergonzoso y humillante para alimentar una casta (a izquierda y derecha) que siendo peones de poderes transnacionales y enemigos de España, han alimentado su perfidia y cobardía de manera continuada, hasta considerarse intocables frente a un pueblo políticamente desactivado (entiéndase «políticamente» en su sentido etimológico, de polis, de participar activamente en la comunidad y el «bien común»).

Conclusión y recomendaciones

|| |:-:| |No condenes a los que hacen lo que tú no te atreves a hacer. No te sometas al juicio de tus enemigos. No seas idiota.|

Por último, desde nuestra humilde posición, nos gustaría contribuir con unas pequeñas recomendaciones:

• No aceptes el juicio de tus enemigos: no permitas que sean ellos los que te digan qué es válido y qué no lo es, puesto que quienes buscan tu destrucción no buscan la justicia.

• Como corolario del punto anterior, no condenes a los «exacerbados». La violencia no es deseable y no la promovemos, pero condenarla es un error derivado del condicionamiento psicológico autodestructivo a la que todos nos hemos visto sometidos. Hay que luchar contra las actitudes complacientes.

• Sé íntegro, mantente fuerte en tus principios e ideales, defiende el legado de los que te precedieron, reivindica la justicia y la verdad frente a toda suerte de propaganda e iniquidades. El espíritu por encima de la materia. La acción por encima de las componendas y la indiferencia.

• Ayúdate de la tecnología y de tu red de contactos para preservar tu libertad y tu soberanía económica. Estudia Bitcoin. Haz amigos.

|| |:-:| |«Estudia Bitcoin» proyectado sobre la sede del BCE el pasado 30 de marzo de 2023.|

Torres más altas han caído. Viva España.

[^1]: No nos gusta utilizar la palabra «élite» para referirnos a los que están en la cúspide de la pirámide de poder y socio-económica porque es habitual de que se trate de gente mediocre y de vendidos a otros intereses superiores. La palabra «élite» debería reservarse para los que son, efectivamente, los mejores en algún campo.

Artículo original: Hipérbola Janus, ¡España no es una constitución, idiota!, 16/Nov/2023

In modern life, mobile phones and wireless networks are almost everywhere. Although these technologies provide us with convenience, sometimes we also want to better manage and control our wireless signals.

Have you ever felt disturbed by the ringing and chatting of mobile phones in some places, such as libraries and conference rooms? At this time, mobile phone signal jammers are particularly important. In simple terms, GSM jammer can block mobile phone signals in a specific area, so that people can't answer calls, send text messages or surf the Internet and focus on the current environment.

Next, let's take a look at camera blocker. As we all know, WiFi signals are vital in our daily lives, but sometimes too many WiFi signals can cause network congestion or interference. This is when WiFi jammers can play its role. Secondly, WiFi jammers can help protect network security. By interfering with certain network signals, it can reduce the possibility of hackers stealing information, thereby protecting your sensitive data.

Wireless signal detectors are equally important in home and business environments. It can monitor and detect wireless signals around, whether it is WiFi or other types of wireless signals. Wireless signal detector can help identify potential security risks. Many times, hackers will take advantage of unnoticed wireless signals to attack. Through the detector, you can detect abnormal signals in time and take measures to improve your network security.

In general, whether it is to improve concentration, ensure information security, or optimize network speed and detect signal security, jammers create a more comfortable and safe wireless environment for us. Of course, when using these devices, we must also follow relevant laws and regulations to ensure legality and compliance.

https://thetheblocker723.blogkit.dev/cracking-interference

Week 12-08 a suitable protocol

The knots come to a head, some of you have gray hair, you get older.

Tkinter is better than ws://, more secure, but has limitations, unless you know how to use figma and do some magic. The project of Nabismo.

Maybe Nostr doesn't work for me.

Aspirin moment Nip-17, works with nip-44 and nip-59. Someone said they made the groups encrypted with nip-17. I tried and succeeded, now you can DM me, don't do it. I had sent the link to a conversation of nip-87 closed groups. There's JeffG doing something with MLS. Then there's keychat.io which uses signal Nostr Bitcoin ecash and that's it... But in dart. It's a bit like the Matrix analogue for Nostr.

Final controversy not all nips are mandatory.

Build the foundation. You can't think about selling the house

Yakihonne has a countdown. What can a desktop app be. Community Lists, Nip-29

A birthday on Nostr, no that's not possible, they're all cypherpunks. 🎉🎉 (Except me)

There is a different attitude from Nostr when updates are released compared to Bluesky, everyone there is still enthusiastic, on Nostr ah ok but this is missing oh but this is missing or but support this other one, or but * zap, wait a minute, keep calm 🙇‍♂️, I'm the first to do this. (The revolt of the developers)

Deletetion: Client that have relay paired can do delete, more intelligently, Perhaps you can think of a delete.nrelay subdomain as a filter. This id is deleted. Be careful what you don't want to do. Maybe a session with a psychologist is better, because then you find yourself doing what you said you didn't want to do.

Does it make sense to follow someone on Bluesky? In my opinion no, or better yet yes. There are several algorithms on Bluesky, which do their job well. In the end it's just a matter of arranging them better on the screen. Yes you can have lists to save someone, but then you read everything, so lists with algorithm seems like a next feature. this way they can keep the following small, almost minimal, because there are algorithms that work for the user. People will start writing for SEO algorithm and AI and other things, which tech gurus really like and so on. The fact that it is almost exclusively an app will greatly facilitate this trend, there will be almost no need for moderation, and you can get it all in just a few apps. (Great)

Oh yegorpetrov has abandoned. Pegorpetrov said that he is coming back 😌 It might be an invention but I'm a little heartened by it.

Bankify, a new wallet of super testnet, only for crush testers.

You can't stream on zap stream without reach, maybe it's better audio space. Contact someone maybe an influencer or Nostr elite or whatever. Open Source Justice Foundation streaming

Designer, I wanted to propose comment on wikifreedia nielliesmons article and follow #nostrdesign, but too many answers for today. NVK note is ~~mainstream~~

I think I'm not suited to Nostr.

Nostr-ava bike file geo tag sharing. (NIP-113) Sebastix doesn't respond, I must have done something bad to him, or maybe I'm stressing him too much. Finally he replied 🤙. In the end maybe, I have too much hype about this proposal and it's something I don't know maybe, but maybe if they were already doing something with geo tags it's better to say so.

Another birthday, less cypher more punk 😌

Usdt on Nostr, there must be some error. (freeform app)

USDT on tron ​​is like Money. (Bitcoiner not really)

Privacy issue, deletion motion, or deletion request, go go.

Nip29 hype, i don't have hype at all. I'm tired of words, I record a podcast on Nostr. Let's see if I can do it, at least think it. (It's more of a workflow thing than actually something I would do)

1. Create an npub (easy)
2. Record the audio episode (I think I can do it). Terrible audio
3. Loading on a Nostrhosting, if less than 10 MB it should go smoothly.
4. Publish the video or audio of the episode on some Nostr client, perhaps using blastr relay 😞.
5. Do the nostree link, by putting the episode, and also the npub.pro and put the URL on café-society. 6) Publish all these links on the Main profile, saying that, made a podcast about Nostr in Nostr of nostr. 😂

I thought a client could have poll, form, spreadsheet, collaboration document. It's the kind of otherstuff we want to see. Something that goes beyond a normal feed.

Emoj on bluesky, Eventually also zap 🥜 link emoj Blue

Eventually there will be a developer revolt And they will only do a social network in their downtime, they will call it Nostr.

There is a storm, Nostr does not work in 4g with two bars. Or now 4G is gone too.

Yakihonne Smart widgets, something to try on the weekend.

Ok

Wow

Testing

Some content

Somebody, somewhere, at some point decided they would destroy the competition by creating a barrier to entry. They made the barrier high so they could feel safe. It is logical to put a fence around your property, and perfectly fine to do so. The problem is when you put a regulatory fence over something that means you are not allowing anyone else to have a property like this. Just to make the distinction clearer a fence around your house is creating a cost for other people to get in the yard. A license to be able to have a fence is creating a cost for anyone to protect their yard. The harder to attain and costlier the license is the more people can’t afford it. The more people who can’t afford it the bigger the divide between rich and poor. You can't have a fence because you can't have a license leaving your yard unprotected. The poor people are left unprotected and they get robbed easily, the rich are hard to get so they keep what they have. The more licenses/regulatory compliance someone has to comply with the more the costs for them are increased and the cycle of dividing is entrenched.

When constructing something physical, regulatory oversight is sensible to ensure structural integrity, particularly when people no longer build things for themselves. However, when it comes to more abstract concepts like licenses and credentials, possessing them doesn't guarantee success, and lacking them doesn't preclude doing excellent work. The whole point of the series is that the work should speak for itself and the people who did it should build their reputation based on their work history not on theory.

Let’s dive into a sector full of licenses for abstract things that keep people out and cornered the market. The betting industry.

The incentive structure in this scenario is problematic. Individuals with substantial financial resources that were gained illegally may seek friendly relationships with those responsible for issuing licenses. Obtaining a betting license now can serve as a means to launder money acquired unlawfully. Beyond mere laundering, they have a direct incentive to continue their illegal activities and a way to legitimize the funds. So they steal from the people who work and it gets even worse. Their scaling solution is to open the money laundering to other illegal actors.

A few parts of the economy are primed for these types of activities: the lottery, casinos, and sports betting.

Let’s start with the current lottery system and the “potential” exploits. Well, one person does something illegal and has stolen $1,000,000. Now he has a problem with how to legitimize the funds so he can spend it on things he wants. He goes to the owner of a lottery and says I will give you $200,000 if you give me an $800,000 winning ticket. Now 80% of the funds become legal. The person with the illegal funds buys $200,000 worth of tickets from which 1 of them is set up to win $800,000. Now all the funds have become legal. So the lottery company has a $200,000 income and $800,000 payout, seemingly paying out the winner with legitimate funds, but in reality, using the criminal's own money - correction, other people's stolen money. That is good for hiding taxes and the state is not getting anything, or is it?

The state gets its cut for every winning ticket by taxing all winners. Because of this income, they are incentivized to have more winners. This whole “hypothetical” system then is limited by how much money has to be laundered. More illegal money, more income for each side - the state, the illegal player, the lottery company. While they get the big winning tickets the public is left with the small prizes and they are robbed continuously for the next lottery "prizes". This tripod system demonstrates how one simple thing can be a continuous erosion of society. The lottery company does nothing to earn their money but they are incentivizing the illegal actors to continue doing illegal things. The State allowing licenses keeps competition out. The illegal actor closes the circle of his business.

The lottery should be something that is played without anyone having an advantage over anyone else. Including the company, there shouldn’t be a barrier for people creating all sorts of lottery games. The same model of behavior incentives is applicable for all the casinos. There is the same principle - some type of algorithm determines whether you win or not. But you can always approach the casino owner and apply the same logic to the casino. A player with illegal funds has to launder a million dollars again. In the first few hands, he wins a million dollars and keeps playing until incurs losses amounting to $200,000 and then stops. This way the casino loses $800,000 on its balance sheet but in reality, the illegal funds are distributed to the casino and the illegal actor.

In the sports betting industry, the barrier to entry is often determined by licenses, and companies typically act as custodians of the funds when users place bets. Additionally, these companies are responsible for providing betting odds, a task that incurs substantial costs when done accurately. Assessing various factors such as team performance, player injuries, and changes in management helps determine the odds. However, it's crucial to note that the odds provided by betting companies are designed to favor the company rather than the individuals placing bets. This inherent bias in odds contributes to the company's profit margin in the betting business.

Exploring a free and ethical approach to lottery apps and innovative payout structures

The whole lottery system should be verifiable! The point of it is not to have yet another system where the poor are preyed upon. That is why the lottery app should be open-sourced. The bigger reason for the apps to be FOSS - I am reluctant to say how this particular app should be created because, on the one side, there are going to be regulatory people who want you to ask for approval, and on the other side there are betting companies that a percentage of them are involved in criminal activities. If you create an app that makes them obsolete you will find yourself being attacked legally, illegally, and anything in between. That is why the only option that I see for a small guy to not be a target is to create this app as a FOSS (free and open source software). This will create a problem for those entities because there is no target. It will have no barriers for others to create apps competing with the existing incentives. There was a big debate in my head about whether I should publish this article about this particular topic because of the ethically sticky situation. Also, I do not think that people should play with money and bet on stupid things. The main reason that I am doing this is that there should not be an incentive to do illegal activities but there should be a cost for it. Since the current system is incentivizing it, people should create the cost for them by making a free alternative (no licenses, or permissions from anyone) and with no risk for the players (non-custodial). Also, the cases that we will look at below as a payment structure are simply cool and unique that we have yet to experience anywhere. This will push even us at Breez to create and facilitate them if the need is there. Now let’s take a look at the potential solution and what I envision it could look like.

An algorithm can be designed where individuals purchase a virtual ticket, and once 100 participants acquire tickets, the entire pool is distributed among three randomly selected winners. The distribution comprises 50% for the first prize, 30% for the second, and 20% for the third. The concept of a physical ticket is eliminated; instead, participants contribute equal amounts of satoshis to a smart contract, which activates upon reaching the 100th participant. The executed contracts allocate 50% to the first-place winner, 30% to the second, and 20% to the third. No entity holds funds for others, and participants await the completion of the 100 spots to determine the three winners. You can do the lottery for more or fewer people. For different amounts of sats. With a different payout structure.

I envision a lottery game modeled after the hashing race in Bitcoin mining. Participants are required to guess a number between 1 and 1,000,000 by locking in 10 satoshis for each guess. If the guessed number is incorrect, that specific guess is eliminated from the potential answers, and the satoshis from all guesses contribute to the Jackpot for the correct number. The participant who correctly guesses the number receives the accumulated satoshis. The payout amount depends on the position of the correct guess, for example, if it occurs on the 10th try, the prize is 100 sats, and if on the 100,000th try, the prize is a million sats. Upon completion of the payout, the game resets, and participants can engage in the next round.

Revolutionizing one-on-one Betting with trustless payouts

When I am with a friend, we can choose to place a bet on something--our favorite sports team, who can spit the furthest, or whether the sun will rise tomorrow. We are perfectly able to do so with cash, and we do not need a license from anyone to place those bets or determine the odds for us. There is only one problem that we have to handle when the results are in - the person who is losing the bet has to pay the winner. Because of this risk, you need a trusted third party that is unbiased to execute the payment when the results are known. Now you need a mitigation for the third-party risk--that they won't run away with the money. So you make a fourth party involved to determine who can have a license to be a trusted third party, and we are back to the current fiat operational model.

With instant settlement and smart contracts, we destroy all those problems. * You do not need a license for trust because no one is holding money for anyone else. * You do not need a trusted third party because you have a smart contract responsible for the execution of the payment when the results are known * You do not need a third party to determine the odds because they are decided by the people and put in the smart contract * You do not need to trust the person to pay when you win because he signed the execution of the payment when both of you placed the bet.

This structure for one-on-one betting is already implemented with a few games in the lightning space. One is from our friends at THNDR games and another is the Chain Duel. I like the infrastructure for the payment of the THNDR games because I am a sucker for non-custodial lightning. Custody for a second, a minute or a year is still custody.

What would a sports betting app look like that has a non-custodial instant settlement? There are a few easy settings to establish. First, there needs to be a deadline for placing bets before the sports event starts. Second, a timeframe must be set for the payout. In one-on-one betting, the payout structure is straightforward. Each side can wager any amount against the other, and if there is a disparity in the amounts, the odds are not 1:1. When the result is determined, the winning party has their funds unlocked without being sent, while the losing party has their contract executed, transferring the payment to the winner. THNDR is already implementing a similar concept called "clinch" which we are glad we had some input on, but I want to take it a few steps further.

Exploring novel concepts in wagering -> community-to-community

What if there's a group of people on one side of the bet and another group on the opposing side? What does the payout look like, and how are the odds determined? Let's delve into a straightforward graph to better illustrate this example.

The graphs in the picture are the reference for the explanations below

The individuals on the left consist of only two people, but they wager a larger amount. On the right, there are four people, but their bets are smaller. If the left side wins, the two individuals will share the $1,000 bet placed by the opposing group. Since they bet equal amounts, each person will receive $500, reflecting a 50% stake for each. Conversely, if the right side wins, the stakes differ. Individuals 1 and 2 have a 25% stake, person 3 has a 40% stake, and person 4 has a 10% stake. Consequently, their respective payouts would be $500, $500, $800, and $200. That was a surprise even for me - there is a proof of stake system that I would be for. I realized that the staking is just not used in the proper context and that is why I have a problem with it. Proof of stake is deployed for bets and bets only. There is no such thing called staking your energy - that is called working. Now this system is not the shitcoin model - stake something and I guarantee you something more. Staking something means that going in you know (or you should know) that your stake could be lost. If someone is asking you to stake money and promising you more money you should ask yourself who is the loser that will pay the winner. If I am the winner, who is the loser? If we are all winners that means we all lost to inflation and the winner is the inflator. Stake = Bet.

The true stake system introduces a novel dimension to betting. While the primary goal is to win, participants might consider adding more funds to their community bet to avoid dilution. For instance, if I initially bet $10 alone, I would have a 100% payout potential. However, if someone else places a $10,000 bet on my side, my potential payout percentage drops to less than 0.1%. In such a scenario, I face two choices: increase my bet on my community's side for a better payout or place a bet on the opposing side, capitalizing on the changed odds for a potentially significant payout if I am wrong. This concept sheds light on the genuine meaning of hedging. You are hedging things that you BET on! Whether you call it an investment strategy or not you should now recognize that everything in the fiat system is using these terms but hiding the fact that it is gambling. For example, if you are a true investor you should do everything you can to make your investment work and realize that goal. Betting against yourself = hedge.

The community-to-community betting brings about more significant implications than current betting models. In this setup, the victorious community directly benefits, and if the bet is placed on a sports event, the winning team supports the winning community. The funds from the losing team's community are directly paid to the winning community and not to a betting company. This eliminates the intermediary role of any betting company. The people also are forced to do their research and assess which is a good bet and which is not - not that the majority do it. If they did it was going to be clear to all of us by now that all sh*tcoins are the fiat scam on a blockchain.

When there are three or more possible outcomes for a bet, multiple people or communities can bet on those outcomes, and all losing communities pay the winning community. In this scenario, individual participants receive payouts based on their respective stakes. For instance, in a bet involving predicting an exact score where no one bets on the correct score, there is no winner, and consequently, no actual losers. In such cases, participants simply have their sats unlocked without any winnings or losses.

We invest our energy in goals - make sure it is your goals and not someone else's. With money, we do 3 things only - earning, spending, or gambling!

People want to pay you money so you achieve their goals and stake your money so you can lose it to them. Be very aware of where you invest your energy and how you are using your bitcoin. I would like to repeat my statement from above one more time. The forces that are involved with these gambling companies are very powerful and I do not want to inspire someone and put a target on their back. I am doing this because of the utility of the payments and because this can be an open-sourced project that just competes with them. Satoshi set a standard for how to solve a monopoly - with FOSS. This will completely reshape the coordination between humans again with instant settlement payment. I do not like that I am promoting betting behavior because it is addictive and dangerous but I hope this puts a light on why all fiat behavior is gambling. The only proof of stake that matters is what is your stake in Bitcoin from the 21 million coins. Having a stake there is betting on humanity for the better.

Now be careful with this bet to make that app!

.

OOOO

Table Of Content

• Introducing Bitgeneration

• The Bitgeneration Curriculum

• Impact on Italian High Schools

• Conclusion

• FAQ

Cryptocurrency education is becoming increasingly important in today's world, as more and more people are turning to digital currencies as a form of investment or payment. In Italy, Bitgeneration is leading the way in providing innovative education about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to high school students. In this article, we will explore the Bitgeneration program and its impact on Italian high schools.

Introducing Bitgeneration

Bitgeneration is a program that aims to teach high school students about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The program was founded in 2018 by two Italian entrepreneurs, Giacomo Zucco and Federico Tenga. The goal of the program is to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of how digital currencies work, their potential uses and risks, and their impact on the global economy.

The Bitgeneration Curriculum

The Bitgeneration curriculum consists of a series of interactive lessons that are designed to engage students and make learning about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies fun and accessible. The lessons cover a range of topics, including the history of money, the principles of cryptography, the basics of blockchain technology, and the social and economic implications of digital currencies.

In addition to the classroom lessons, Bitgeneration also provides students with hands-on experience with cryptocurrencies through a series of interactive workshops. These workshops teach students how to use digital wallets, how to send and receive Bitcoin, and how to invest in cryptocurrencies.

Impact on Italian High Schools

Since its launch, the Bitgeneration program has had a significant impact on Italian high schools. The program has been embraced by both students and teachers, who have praised its innovative approach to education and its relevance to the modern world.

According to Giacomo Zucco, one of the co-founders of Bitgeneration, the program has already reached over 20,000 students across Italy. Zucco believes that cryptocurrency education is becoming increasingly important, as digital currencies continue to grow in popularity and influence.

In addition to providing students with a solid understanding of cryptocurrencies, Bitgeneration also aims to promote critical thinking and creativity among students. By encouraging students to explore the potential uses and risks of digital currencies, Bitgeneration is helping to create a new generation of thinkers and innovators who are prepared to navigate the complex world of digital finance.

Conclusion

The Bitgeneration program is a pioneering effort in the field of cryptocurrency education. By providing high school students with a comprehensive understanding of Bitcoin and other digital currencies, Bitgeneration is helping to prepare the next generation for the challenges and opportunities of the digital age. As the global economy continues to shift towards digital currencies, programs like Bitgeneration are becoming increasingly important in ensuring that students are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the world of tomorrow.

FAQ

What is the goal of Bitgeneration? The goal of Bitgeneration is to provide high school students with a comprehensive understanding of how digital currencies work, their potential uses and risks, and their impact on the global economy.

Why is cryptocurrency education becoming increasingly important? Cryptocurrency education is becoming increasingly important as more people turn to digital currencies as a form of investment or payment. Programs like Bitgeneration are helping to prepare the next generation for the challenges and opportunities of the digital age.

Who founded Bitgeneration? Bitgeneration was founded in 2018 by two Italian entrepreneurs, Giacomo Zucco and Federico Tenga.

What types of interactive workshops does Bitgeneration provide?

Bitgeneration provides students with hands-on experience with cryptocurrencies through interactive workshops that teach them how to use digital wallets, how to send and receive Bitcoin, and how to invest in cryptocurrencies.

That's all for today

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.

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originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/459392

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originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/459391

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La belleza quizás no es un atributo inherente a las cosas, sino una cualidad que emerge de la interacción entre el observador y lo observado. Al cambiar nuestra forma de mirar e interpretar, cambiamos nuestra forma de sentir y, en última instancia, nuestro estado de ánimo y por ende nuestra forma de vivir.

La belleza que percibimos en un paisaje, en una pieza musical o incluso en una situación desafiante, es un tejido entre lo que observamos y cómo lo sentimos. Es como un espejo que refleja el mundo exterior y como nosotros lo interpretamos en nuestro mundo interior.

Imagina un paisaje con campo de flores silvestres. Para algunos, puede ser simplemente un montón de plantas y flores, un lugar sin mayor interés. Pero para otros, esos mismos colores y formas moldeados por el sol al caer la tarde, pueden evocar recuerdos felices de su niñez, despertar emociones profundas por recorrer, en tiempos pasados de noviazgo y en su memoria con su pareja a su lado o simplemente inspirar pensamientos creativos en un pintor. La diferencia radica en la mirada interna, en la lente a través del cual observamos la realidad. Las cosas son como son y nosotros las vemos según como somos.

Un mismo mar puede ser visto como una inmensidad apacible y apetecible al baño o como un abismo amenazante con solo estar dentro a tres metros de la arena por una persona que no sabe nadar. Todo depende de "las gafas" con las que lo miremos e interpretamos. Lo mismo ocurre con la melodía de una canción: puede ser una fuente de alegría o una expresión de melancolía o incluso producir rechazo por traer malos recuerdos. La clave está en la actitud con la que nos acercamos a cada momento y experiencia.

Nuestra percepción y nuestro yo particular, moldeado por nuestras vivencias y emociones, colorea cada instante con los colores del arco iris o reduciéndolo a ocres o grises. Un amanecer puede ser un símbolo de esperanza y agradecimiento por un nuevo día, el recordatorio de que espera un día duro de trabajo o un recordatorio de la fugacidad del tiempo y lo efímeros que somos en la vida y en el universo. La belleza, la verdad y la realidad, en este sentido y con los ejemplos que he mencionado es una construcción muy subjetiva, como la felicidad es una interpretación muy personal de la realidad.

Esta dualidad no nos debería limitar; al contrario, nos invita a explorar las múltiples facetas que cada experiencia puede tener para nosotros o incluso para otras personas y con esto saber y entender que la verdad, en muchos casos no siempre es única. Pero también podemos elegir ver el vaso medio lleno o medio vacío y enfocarnos en lo positivo o en lo negativo. Y esta elección, a su vez si influye en nuestra propia realidad emocional y en la de los que nos rodean.

Cultivar una mirada positiva nos permite descubrir belleza de la vida incluso en los lugares y situaciones más inesperadas. Desdramatizar situaciones y positivar la vida en general es mejor. Nos abre las puertas a nuevas posibilidades y nos conecta con una sensación en general de bienestar, aceptación y equilibrio mental.

Sabiendo y siendo consciente de la dualidad, sin duda, al mirar el mundo con curiosidad, asombro y desde el punto de vista del observador positivo, transformamos nuestra experiencia de vida, enriquecemos nuestro viaje y nos mantendrá más en un estado de mayor tranquilidad y paz mental.

• Updated the references documentation here and here
• Improved relay responses and added backwards compability for the used CommandResult class
• Added RelayResponses according to the logic described in NIP-01 using this PR#59 from kriptonix as a base.
  • OK response
  • ERROR response
  • CLOSE response
  • EVENT response
  • EOSE response
  • NOTICE response
• Partly integrated NIP-42 with an AUTH relay response
• Added the documentation page 'relay responses' on nostr-php.dev
• The screenshot is quite funny describing Nostr having PHP vibes comparing it with the ATProtocol from Bluesky [source].

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originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/459390

Opinion about BitWallet - Buy & Sell Bitcoin (android)

On trustpilot, 20% of reviews are complaining about KYC only after trying to withdraw, with some claims of outright disappearing money.

WalletScrutiny #nostrOpinion

Join the conversation!

H1 Tag

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El hombre y el contexto

El pensamiento tradicionalista español cuenta con una amplia trayectoria en la que concurren personajes, situaciones e ideas gestadas en el transcurso de dos siglos, en los que debemos distinguir el conflicto dinástico y el papel del legitimismo de la propia doctrina, que es algo que se construirá en el tiempo, con la contribución de figuras como el protagonista de este escrito, Don Juan Vázquez de Mella, así como por la confluencia de fuerzas de diferente signo que tiene lugar a lo largo del siglo XIX y la consolidación del Estado liberal, que lo hará siempre en lucha abierta contra las peculiaridades y el carácter genuino del pueblo español. Vázquez de Mella, nuestro autor, quizás represente la consolidación y madurez doctrinal del movimiento tradicionalista español, uno de sus primeros y más brillantes sistematizadores. No se destacó por una obra extensa ni especialmente difundida más allá de sus discursos, de sus artículos en periódicos y sus escritos dispersos, los cuales fue capaz de dotar de una especial significación y dignidad fruto de su enorme carisma y especial clarividencia para dar una forma definida y meridianamente clara a las ideas y doctrinas que nutrieron el tradicionalismo español madurado al calor de las armas, de las tres guerras que el carlismo libró contra el liberalismo español.

|| |:-:| |Juan Vázquez de Mella|

Nuestro autor, de origen asturiano, y nacido en Cangas de Onís un 8 de junio de 1861, ha mantenido vivo su prestigio y el valor de sus aportaciones teórico-doctrinales, ampliamente reconocidos por sus sucesores, por Rafael Gambra Ciudad (1920-2004) y Francisco Elías de Tejada y Espinola (1918-1978), así como de otros autores como Álvaro D'Ors (1915-2004) y otros muchos, que han reivindicado su figura en el tiempo y se han nutrido de sus fecundas enseñanzas. Se ha destacado la rectitud de su pensamiento, su inquebrantable voluntad y su impagable contribución en la creación de un marco teórico y conceptual para dar un sentido y una forma a las ideas del tradicionalismo español. Hijo de un militar de origen gallego, muerto prematuramente, quedó huérfano de padre durante su niñez, por lo cual pasó al cuidado de unos parientes de origen modesto. Estudió en la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, donde mostró tempranamente su temperamento y habilidades oratorias, que explotó convenientemente a través de diarios como La Restauración o El pensamiento galaico, donde también mostró sus filiaciones militantes con el catolicismo tradicional. Sus habilidades y la brillantez de sus escritos pronto llegaron a Madrid, a las más altas instancias del Carlismo, lo que le permitió dar continuidad a sus actividades desde un medio más amplio, a través de El correo español.

En su militancia política llegó a las más altas cotas de su trayectoria con la elección en 1893 como representante de las Cortes por el distrito de Estella, Navarra, que ya con sus primeros discursos obtuvo un notable éxito, incluso entre los propios liberales, hasta 1900, fecha en la que se vio obligado a marcharse a Portugal, acusado de participar en una conspiración para derrocar el régimen de la Restauración. No regresó a España hasta 1905, manteniendo su estatus como diputado hasta 1919. De todos modos, no queremos dar más protagonismo a la biografía en detrimento de la doctrina, que es lo que nos interesa en este artículo, de ahí que obviemos otros datos biográficos trascendentes, polémicas con otras facciones del carlismo o sus posturas respecto a la dictadura del general Miguel Primo de Rivera, que nos harían desviar la atención del propósito principal que acabamos de enunciar.

La gran paradoja del Carlismo fue que a pesar de su derrota en la Tercera Guerra Carlista (1872-1876), y pese a la posterior escisión integrista en 1888, el partido carlista continuó manteniendo una fuerza y preponderancia significativa en la sociedad española del régimen de la Restauración durante el último cuarto de siglo. El Carlismo se vio inmerso en un buen número de paradojas, de situaciones encontradas, especialmente en relación al Desastre del 98 y la pérdida de los últimos territorios ultramarinos. Mientras que la gran esperanza del tradicionalismo español estaba depositada en el desmoronamiento y caída final de la restauración alfonsina, por otro lado este mismo régimen trataba de defender, al menos en teoría, los últimos restos del imperio español y, de algún modo, a la España católica frente a una nación protestante, como era la anglosajona estadounidense. Al mismo tiempo, durante esta época el tradicionalismo español se enfrentó a los grandes retos que presentaba una sociedad en cambio, con transformaciones políticas y sociales de gran calado como la emergencia del sufragio universal o el nacimiento de los separatismos periféricos (propiciados por la burguesía liberal), las cuales requerían de nuevas estrategias y reestructuraciones internas capaces de enfrentar la envergadura de todos estos cambios. Fue en este contexto donde se significó la figura de Juan Vázquez de Mella, quien merced a la obra de sistematización a la que ya hemos hecho alusión, y de sus concurridas conferencias, dio lugar a la denominada Acta Loredán, redactada por el tradicionalista asturiano y publicado en El correo español. Este escrito tenía como ejes fundamentales la defensa de la nación política española fundamentada en la monarquía, el catolicismo y el régimen foral. Al mismo tiempo, también recogía la reivindicación de un programa corporativista y gremial al abrigo de la doctrina social de la Iglesia defendido en la encíclica Rerum Novarum (1891), y es lo que se conoce como el «sociedalismo», cuyos antecedentes encontramos ya en autores como Donoso Cortés o Antonio Aparisi Guijarro. Son precisamente los atributos de esta doctrina, que contribuyó a la revitalización del pensamiento carlista, los que nos disponemos a desarrollar a continuación.

La figura del tradicionalista asturiano, de Don Juan Vázquez de Mella, aparece como necesaria ante una serie sucesiva de destrucciones que el régimen liberal ha producido sobre los fundamentos tradicionales de España, pero su papel no fue, como ya venimos apuntando, el de un gran intelectual erudito, y de hecho, como apunta Rafael Gambra, las mayores debilidades de su pensamiento se encuentran en los principios filosóficos, y destacando, en cambio, su papel de «revulsivo espiritual» podemos ubicarlo mejor en el ámbito de lo político y lo espiritual. Para ello debió tomar en cuenta las fuentes de sus predecesores, entre los cuales podemos ubicar perfectamente al ya mencionado Donoso Cortés y Jaime Balmes, así como también a otro contemporáneo suyo, Menéndez Pelayo. De los dos primeros tomó su capacidad de síntesis y la sencillez expositiva, mientras que de Menéndez Pelayo tomó, al menos en parte, el sentido de la crítica histórica en aras de la restauración de una Tradición nacional. Pero más allá de los sistemas de pensamiento y elementos retóricos, vemos a Vázquez de Mella profundamente interesado por la vida política de los pueblos medievales de Las Españas, lo cual fue, en definitiva, el marco de referencia para una síntesis política de conjunto más allá de los posicionamientos teóricos, como algo que puede ser llevado a la práctica en sus aspectos concretos y que es perfectamente viable. Todo un sistema edificado sobre el pensamiento tomista y una una profunda religiosidad, En este contexto, y más allá de las ideas formuladas por realistas y carlistas en la primera mitad del siglo XIX, Mella teoriza junto a la concepción del espíritu medieval, la idea de la coexistencia de dos soberanías, una política y otra social, una teoría de la soberanía tradicional inspirada por un principio dinámico y que se cimenta en las propias experiencias humanas en el devenir de la historia.

|| |:-:| |NITOGLIA, Curzio; En el mar de la nada: Metafísica y nihilismo a prueba en la posmodernidad, Hipérbola Janus, 2023|

El concepto de lo social

Lo social para Mella no tiene absolutamente nada que ver con las denominadas «políticas sociales», tan comunes en el lenguaje político de las democracias liberales, en las que se contempla lo social como un elemento externo a la propia estructura política, donde prevalece el individualismo a todos los niveles, y la sociedad aparece como un mero agregado de individuos. Muy al contrario, lo social, en el tradicionalismo de nuestro autor, implica la afirmación de un principio intrínseco tanto al modelo social como al tipo humano, así como a la naturaleza de las cosas en las que la persona desarrolla su existencia en común con los demás. Nos referimos a las instituciones, a los elementos jurídicos y otros órganos gestados en el tiempo por la experiencia histórica, que regulan la vida común.

En el ámbito de la sociedad cristiana medieval, en plena Reconquista, cuando todavía no existía un Estado unitario como tal, cada municipio tenía sus propias leyes y sus normas, adaptadas a su modelo de vida y costumbres, Las comunidades se concebían como agrupaciones de familias con un sistema de propiedad comunal y privado en las que el patrimonio y el estatus de cada uno de sus miembros venía garantizado por el ejercicio activo de una serie de derechos en defensa de las libertades concretas, cuya fuente última era el derecho natural. Los señores feudales y los reyes se limitaban a reclamar tributos para la guerra, pero sin interferir en la defensa de estas libertades concretas ni vulnerar el sistema que las sustentaba.

Eran gobiernos autárquicos, muy estables e inspirados por un principio democrático, el cual nada tenía que ver con las democracias liberales plutocráticas de la actualidad, cuya idea del derecho y la justicia está pervertida por el formalismo jurídico vacío e inane de sus constituciones, abstractas y plenamente funcionales a las oligarquías, al servicio de intereses espurios. En este caso, el hombre alcanzaba una plena dignidad y desarrollo en el contexto de una comunidad donde prevalecía el vínculo comunitario, al amparo de un modelo tradicional, de normas consuetudinarias y concretas que permitían la defensa efectiva del propio derecho. Ni siquiera con el advenimiento de los Estados modernos, y la centralización de algunos elementos de poder, como la Hacienda o el Ejército, se vieron alterados significativamente estos elementos, que representaban a los denominados «cuerpos intermedios» de la sociedad, y que adquirieron su propia expresión particular bajo el nombre de «Fueros», los que los propios reyes juraron respetar a lo largo de toda la Edad Moderna y hasta el advenimiento del régimen borbónico.

La antropología tradicional vincula al hombre a un medio social, a una familia, a una estirpe o a un pueblo, que reproducen esa misma estructura familiar, aunque a mayor escala. En nuestro caso particular lo vemos a través de la convivencia de pequeños grupos humanos, de ahí la importancia de los municipios o de los concejos en un marco de vida comunitaria fuertemente institucionalizada. Al mismo tiempo este modelo y estructura también se replicaba en otros ámbitos, como en la vida económica y profesional, impregnando todas las esferas de la vida del hombre. Instituciones naturales, amparadas en el derecho natural, y orientadas a la protección y garantía de prosperidad de los hombres, y esto por encima de cualquier interés particular y mercantil de negocio. Para Mella, la ruptura con este mundo, y en general con las experiencias del pasado, es la que nos lleva, merced a la acción del liberalismo, a los tiempos actuales, y lo hace recorriendo un itinerario que todos conocemos, y que tienen su punto de partida en la Ilustración y la posterior Revolución Francesa, la irrupción del elemento racional y abstracto y la destrucción de la religión, considerada como fruto de la superstición. La destrucción del orden feudal, que todavía pervivía como marco de convivencia en el mundo rural, como una suerte de prolongación de ese espíritu medieval, hizo desaparecer de un plumazo ese entorno de relaciones concretas y personales para sustituirlas por lo «público» entendido como la centralización estatal uniforme, ignorando las realidades particulares subyacentes en el cuerpo social, los denominados «cuerpos intermedios», que fueron despojados de su autonomía, corporaciones y patrimonios. De modo que la destrucción de estas «sociedades intermedias» que mediaban entre el Estado y la sociedad desenraizó y destruyó la propia sociedad, al mismo tiempo que los fundamentos cristianos del derecho natural sobre la cual se hallaba asentada, para hacer prevalecer esos principios racionales y abstractos traídos por la revolución.

Al mismo tiempo, y anejo a este desarraigo, del individuo se encuentra sometido a poderes arbitrarios del propio Estado liberal, sin un conglomerado institucional propio que lo proteja de estos atropellos, sumido en el individualismo ajeno a toda institución y destino colectivo, se limita al voto cada cuatro años de los partidos al servicio de oligarquías e intereses espurios, contrarios al Bien común. En este sentido, y advirtiendo las posibles acusaciones de «absolutismo» que en ocasiones se han lanzado contra el tradicionalismo, hay que señalar que Mella las rechaza por completo, dado que viola la idea de contrapoderes frente a la autoridad del rey que éste formula, ya que el absolutismo creía en la existencia de un poder ilimitado y tiránico del rey, transmitido por Dios y ajeno a la participación de la sociedad y sus estamentos. Como bien señaló Julius Evola, el absolutismo es un fenómeno antitradicional, vinculado a la descomposición y desacralización de las estructuras tradicionales. De hecho, el absolutismo, como los regímenes liberales de hoy, dejan al individuo totalmente desprotegido, sin un asidero sobre el que apoyarse en la defensa de sus libertades concretas. El propio Mella, como bien saben todos los que se adentren en su obra, fue partidario de contrarrestar el creciente poder del aparato estatal, tal y como hemos visto y seguiremos viendo en lo sucesivo, a lo largo del presente artículo.

|| |:-:| |EVOLA, Julis; Metapolítica, Tradición y Modernidad: Antología de artículos evolianos, Hipérbola Janus, 2020|

En nuestro caso particular, la desaparición de la organización gremial y corporativa tuvo unas consecuencias especialmente nefastas, y en especial después de las dos desamortizaciones liberales (Mendizabal y Madoz) al despojar a los grupos sociales populares de su natural organización sociohistórica. Asimismo, desvincularon la propiedad en las relaciones comunitarias y su uso patrimonial para vincularla al uso privado y anónimo, para fines puramente especulativos, los que caracterizan al liberal-capitalismo. De ahí nace la figura del asalariado, del contratado como mera mercancía, en un proceso de alienación del trabajo característico en el desarrollo del capitalismo burgués. De aquí parte lo que algunos tradicionalistas, como Gambra, denominan el «problema social», frente al cual, y al margen de las recetas ideológicas de la modernidad, Mella reivindica la restauración de los antiguos vínculos corporativos y orgánicos de inspiración medieval.

La idea de soberanía social

Todos los procesos disolutivos que conducen a la Modernidad liberal tienen su punto de inicio con el Renacimiento, con la afirmación del individualismo y la ruptura definitiva del ecumene cristiano medieval, algo que aparece indefectiblemente unido a la Reforma luterana, así como la «valorización» del mundo clásico, con la reemergencia de teorías de tipo hedonista, como las de Epicuro, por ejemplo, generando una disolución de los vínculos con el medio concreto. Esto supone la aparición de un nuevo tipo, que es el hombre abstracto que escapa cada vez más al entorno inmediato y vital, esto al tiempo que el poder del Estado se robustece y se vuelve omnipotente. Es por ese motivo que en lo sucesivo se ha impuesto en nuestras sociedades la falta de concreción, tanto en lo teórico como en lo político, lo cual ha propiciado el triunfo del contrato social roussoniano y la justificación del orden social en virtud de componendas voluntarias y totalmente artificiales. Estas construcciones político-ideológicas son las que contribuyen a la construcción de la sociedad liberal, asentada sobre patrones puramente racionales, individualistas y mercantilistas.

De hecho, la mayor preocupación de Mella es la destrucción de las instituciones locales y ese vínculo afectivo del hombre con su realidad inmediata, algo que impregnaba su relación con el trabajo, con su obra, con su impronta vocacional y devota, imprimiéndole, como en el caso del artesano, un sello propio y particular a su trabajo.

Y en este sentido, Mella afirma que la sociedad moderna ha perdido su sentido institucional como base estable de la sociabilidad. A través del elemento jurídico y la participación en las instituciones es el medio a partir del cual la comunidad se cohesiona y construye sus vínculos y su particular autonomía, que le hace tener una vida propia e interna, y con la institución nos podemos referir desde una asociación profesional, a la universidad o una cofradía etc. El individualismo ha representado el factor disolutivo y corrosivo que ha destruido este vínculo social fundado en múltiples solidaridades que han enfrentado y polarizado al cuerpo social, con el enfrentamiento entre «clases sociales» y la negación de las jerarquías naturales.

Ante todo lo relatado, y como consecuencia de las destrucciones provocadas por la revolución, Mella plantea su teoría de la soberanía social. Esta teoría consiste básicamente en encuadrar de nuevo a la sociedad en sus raíces naturales, concebida en todos sus órdenes como portadora de un dinamismo propio en una suerte de organización geométrica en la que conviven objetivos y finalidades variadas y concretas con su propia legitimidad y autonomía. Estas finalidades, amparadas en el derecho natural, son junto al poder del propio Estado las únicas formas de limitación del poder. La particularidad de esta idea de soberanía social está en el hecho de que la formación de la jerarquía social tiene una dirección ascendente, que tiene como punto de partida a las personas colectivas y concretas, pasando por una serie de instituciones, hasta llegar al Estado central, de forma escalonada y plenamente conscientes de sus funciones. Así lo expresa Mella en su propio lenguaje: «la jerar­quía de personas colectivas, de poderes organizados, de clases, que suben desde la familia hasta la sobera­nía que llamo política concretada en el Estado, que deben auxiliar, pero también contener». Es lo que Mella concibe como el sociedalismo, que supone la reintegración de la sociedad en la vida concreta de los hombres, con el desarrollo de una vida política común y estable en el marco de instituciones naturales que potencien las relaciones humanas y sociales, estimulando la sociabilidad. Y hablamos, desde la perspectiva de la integración de distintas sociedades, fuertemente institucionalizadas con funciones y finalidades concretas, más allá del sentido democrático y pactista que pueda entenderse en términos modernos o de cualquier asociación u organización relacionada con el «problema social».

¿Qué es la Tradición?

De este modo quedan formuladas las dos soberanías, la política y la social, que coexisten en un mismo espacio limitándose y apoyándose recíprocamente en lo que es uno de los fundamentos del sociedalismo de Mella. No obstante, esta doble soberanía no explica todavía la concreción política de cada pueblo y el vínculo superior que lo lleva a federarse con las diferentes sociedades y a mantenerse unido en una historia y espíritu comunes. Los vínculos que las mantienen unidas en el tiempo tienen que ver con un orden histórico concreto, con un vínculo espiritual que las entrelaza interiormente de una generación a otra, y en última instancia de ese orden tradicional que lo engloba todo, y que al mismo tiempo se asienta en la monarquía y la religión católica. La lealtad a Dios y a un solo rey en torno a los cuales se aglutina la fe, viene a coronar todas estas estructuras y lazos forjados en el fermento de la historia.

No se trata de la Tradición en términos de un «ultraconservadurismo», que ya sabemos que el prefijo «ultra» (lo que sea) es muy recurrente en nuestros días, con la idea de un medio social y político petrificado e invariable, sino que es el producto de un proceso de maduración y evolución histórica, de carácter dinámico y nutrido de experiencias humanas. Nada que ver con las monstruosas ideologías progresistas y modernas, nacidas de lo abstracto e impulsadas por un desbocado «ir hacia delante», desarraigado y que tiende siempre hacia la deshumanización y la destrucción de toda creación humana natural forjada en el devenir de los siglos. Este mismo dinamismo, planteado por Mella, en torno al concepto e idea de Tradición tiene continuidad y adquiere fuerza en sus sucesores y depositarios. Y al fin y al cabo, Mella no hace más que partir de la propia etimología del término, que viene del latín tradere, entregar, de la generación que entrega los frutos de su experiencia a la siguiente, perfeccionándola, haciéndola más estable y segura.

Podríamos seguir extrayendo más conclusiones del pensamiento tradicional de Vázquez de Mella, pero probablemente excedería, y por mucho, el modesto propósito de este escrito, de modo que nos quedaremos aquí, no sin advertir a nuestros lectores de la posibilidad de que en un futuro volvamos a retomar nuevamente el tema.

Antes de acabar queremos llamar la atención sobre una polémica acontecida hace unos años en torno a una Plaza en Madrid que llevaba el nombre de nuestro autor y que se cambio para dedicársela a un sujeto cuyos méritos eran, por decirlo suavemente, más que discutibles, concretamente a Pedro Zerolo, miembro del PSOE y activista al servicio del lobby homosexualista. Durante aquella época, en 2019, muchos miembros de la izquierda globalista trataron de identificar a Vázquez de Mella como un «pensador franquista», cuando en realidad ni cronológica ni ideológicamente tuvo nunca nada que ver con el franquismo. Recordemos que murió en 1928, y la impronta de su pensamiento ha tenido como continuadores a sus propios correligionarios dentro del ámbito tradicional, aunque en su tiempo llegó a ser muy respetado también por sus adversarios, los liberales. Aunque la retirada del nombre de una calle pueda resultar algo banal, o carente de una importancia excesiva, también contribuye, a su modo, a una forma de damnatio memoriae que condena al olvido y al ostracismo a grandes autores de la Tradición, portadores de un Patriotismo sano y capaz de entender las peculiaridades y el Dasein profundo de España, que si bien no nació invertebrada, como pretendían los Orteguianos, su esencia y naturaleza es mucho más compleja que cualquiera de las grandes naciones de Europa.

Artículo original: Hipérbola Janus, Juan Vázquez de Mella y el tradicionalismo español, 16/Ago/2024

Nostr events are transferred between clients and relays over WebSocket, but that requires servers to be online. A universal file format is needed to store events for backup and transfer between people and systems.

JSONL is a simple format that stores one JSON object per line. This is ideal for Nostr events, and is already compatible with a bunch of existing tools including nak, strfry, and Ditto. It is memory-effecient because only one line needs to be processed at a time, and it is universally compatible because it's just Nostr events.

Storing Events

JSONL files should end in a .jsonl file extension. Each line should have a complete, valid Nostr event.

```sh

Example storing jsonl events with nak

nak req wss://ditto.pub/relay > events.jsonl ```

Importing Events

You can cat a JSONL file to stdin of various programs.

```sh

Example importing jsonl events with nak

cat events.jsonl | nak event wss://ditto.pub/relay ```

Filtering Events

Use the jq command to filter down an JSONL file.

```sh

Get only kind 0 events

jq -c 'select(.kind == 0)' events.jsonl ```

You can filter before importing:

```sh

Get only kind 3 events then import them with nak

jq -c 'select(.kind == 3)' events.jsonl | nak event wss://ditto.pub/relay ```

Or filter while exporting:

```sh

Get all events and then post-filter them

nak req wss://ditto.pub/relay | jq -c 'select(.kind == 3)' > events.jsonl ```

Of course you can chain many shell commands together to do all sorts of useful things!

Sharing Events

JSONL events can be shared on cloud services, compressed, emailed, transferred with rsync, or any other method. Another powerful method is to host the file on an HTTP server, allowing users to curl it and pipe it directly into other programs.

Suggestions to Relay and Client Developers

Relay and client developers should allow users to export/import events from their software in JSONL format.

For relays, since the public interface is often restricted, relay software should add direct import/export of jsonl. That way relay operators would be able to shell in and run a command to get events in jsonl, and to import from jsonl. Ideally these commands would use stdin and stdout so they can be piped to other commands for filtering or direct transfer.

Clients should also offer an import/export screen inside the app in jsonl format. I would suggest a separate export of all "your" data, and another one for all cached data.

Usage With Existing Tools

Here are examples of how to use JSONL events with some existing tools.

nak

Change the relay to your desired relay. Try nak help req to see all the available filtering options.

```sh

Export

nak req wss://ditto.pub/relay > events.jsonl

Import

cat events.jsonl | nak event wss://ditto.pub/relay ```

strfry

See strfry's README for more information. --since and --until flags are supported during export.

```sh

Export

./strfry export > events.jsonl

Import

cat events.jsonl | ./strfry import ```

Ditto

```sh

Export

deno task db:export > events.jsonl

Import

cat events.jsonl | deno task db:import ```