Since my poem was not selected for the inauguration, I'll post it here:
My sister, my wife, we've had a good life
But America beckons to end its great strife
Heaven can wait as I rise to the cause
To strengthen our union with great ointments and gauze
Er, appointments and laws.
With Bernie behind me and troops all in front,
Is this still America or an active manhunt?
Still, I am honored to follow these honorable names
Lincoln, Carter and Gaga and her Hunger Games
Speaking of hunger, disease and despair,
It is time for a leader with wonderful hair
Not orange, not Tweeting, not licking his wounds
But killing off Covid with vaccines and prunes
We'll use science and data, whenever we can
As long as it's prudent and doesn't offend
There'll be justice and peace and green fuels galore
Nobody leaves 'til we pleasure Al Gore!
We'll print fresh new dollars and double your wage
But you'll pay $80 for parsley and sage
We'll cover for your healthcare, college and homes
Only art history majors will die in cartons, alone
I promise a future where we reach the moon
And have tiny computers than can fit in your room
Ice boxes to keep moose fresh for days,
Even freedom to kiss for mixed couples and gays
This brave new world will be powered by steam
Of great rails and locomotives, I have a dream
We'll open spice trade with our friends to the East
Even General Tso assured me there'll be peace.
By embracing the righteousness of a singular worldview & morality, the tech industry, Hollywood & corporate media expedite their own demise & possibly America's.
It incentivizes competing platforms, indie artists & dissenters to chase forbidden fruit, taboo ideas & badboys.
The new "badboys" will be badder, craftier & less civil than their predecessors.
Pariahs & outcasts aren't bound by corporate bosses, fat paychecks & pristine reputations that once moderated them.
The force needed to contain them will not be democratic.
One solution is diffusion
-reducing federal power (see below)
-breaking everything (companies, communities) into smaller, viable units
-declawing mass social media
-migration from cities/population diffusion
In a way, it's your last surprise party. Surprise! No prolonged suffering. No diapers. No grandkids forgetting your birthday. No watching your friends go.
There will be investigations, Wikipedia pages, Alex Jones conspiracy theories. Talk about legacy! You will be remembered.
I've worked with countless CEOs, senior execs & professionals across industries like finance, tech, consumer goods. I've hired, employed & promoted dozens from every background.
This is the relationship between discrimination & power I've observed.
1/8
Undoubtedly racism, sexism & other biases still exist. I've heard some crazy stories from female & black colleagues. However, their incidence is fading. I'm profoundly optimistic about our trajectory for one simple reason: SURVIVAL.
2/8
We talk about tolerance. In business, one thing that's rarely tolerated (for long) is failure.
EVERYONE wants to do a good job, get promoted, get a raise, look good in front of peers & bosses.
THAT impulse is the single most powerful anti-racist tool we have.
3/8
MAGIC MONEY FOREVER (thread)
This is really important and everyone should understand how economists are directing the US economy effectively towards MMT (eg unlimited money printing).
Even perverted Keynesianism once feared inflation. Print too many dollars, prices go up, interest rates skyrocket, debt servicing becomes impossible & we default. This has not happened for many reasons. The biggest is debt & $'s are our #1 export.
It's easy to get caught up in our own dogmas & biases. It's also unfashionable to admit mistakes, not knowing something, evolving on an issue, or dismissing someone you shouldn't have.
Here, I'll try to track my mistakes, changed opinions & lessons.
I didn't know much about Malcolm X, nor did I try to learn. I knew of his 'by any means necessary' mantra but defaulted MLK's vaunted alternative. Having watched hours of his speeches, I realize how much truth there is in Malcolm & his ideas. #IWasWrong
Despite going to Yeshiva, I thought atheism, scientism & skepticism were more evolved than faith. As I watch them devolve into soulless, unforgiving dogmas, I now value faith as a vessel for meaning, values & compassion. Albeit from a distance. #IWasWrong
The Apple strategy with its new M1 computer chips is analogous to iPhone vs Android.
iPhone's integration of hardware + software + app store has a cohesion that dozens of 3rd party hardware manufacturers can't have with multiple Android versions & loosely-regulated app store.
Google has tried to reign this in by mandating manufacturer standards to get Google Apps, but it leaves much to hardware makers, who are also desperate to differentiate.
The M1 chip w/integrated RAM/GPU/APU performs better, lets Apple retain premium pricing, but unlikely to shift share.
-market is mature
-*most* software runs well on 6 yo PCs
-new ones are cheap
The 1 exception: if Apple goes HARD after gaming market, where performance matters.