Adam Curry is the modern-day Prometheus. His discovery of podcasting and sharing it with the world was as vital of a growth as when Prometheus stole fireplace from the gods to provide to people. Podcasting has rapidly advanced into some of the in style methods to speak precious data, utterly disintermediating the CIA-controlled media equipment. Whereas Bitcoin seeks to separate cash and state, podcasting seeks to separate syndicated information organizations and knowledge.
Giving the world podcasting was not sufficient for Curry as he’s now as soon as once more looking for to wrestle management from the gods by permitting people to have interaction in what he coined the “value-for-value economic system” by permitting podcasters to obtain Lightning funds.
The fiat value-for-value economic system is very large. There are instruments like YouTube tremendous chats, PayPal, Patreon, and extra that enable content material creators to obtain immense quantities of worth from their viewers with out having to rely solely on sponsors.
The Bitcoin value-for-value economic system is far smaller, however in my view as a credentialed journalist, considerably extra vital. The primary value-for-value use of bitcoin was when WikiLeaks was kicked off the fiat cost rails. Exposing warfare criminals is without doubt one of the core tasks of journalists, but is an unapproved exercise by the parasitic ruling class. One among my mottos is journalism dies in compliance, and constructing all the media equipment on prime of techniques that depend on permission to function will utterly kill any means for any actual data to be transmitted.
In current months, by means of the revelations on USAID funding of media, the playbook for a way the media equipment is managed has been laid naked for everybody to see. The techniques for controlling and manipulating data are refined and infrequently aren’t obvious. For a lot of media firms to get any notable funding, they must bend the knee to the ruling class, sacrifice any dignity they’ve, and carry out fellatio on people who most likely had shut ties to Jeffrey Epstein. That is why I left conventional media to kind The Bugle, the world’s premier information company.
There are a lot of myths in regards to the establishment of journalism. Many imagine that journalists are supposed to inform the reality, carry helpful data to people, and expose wrongdoings. Individuals who imagine these myths probably haven’t interacted with many journalists. I might argue that the establishment of journalism is extra about participating in covert propaganda, hidden behind the duvet (delusion) of getting some ethical excessive floor.
The vast majority of journalists are people who’re mercenaries for whoever pays them.
Following the trailblazing efforts of Adam Curry and Julian Assange, The Bugle has operated completely off a value-for-value mannequin, utilizing bitcoin as the principle funding mechanism. The product we’re promoting is our content material. We don’t function as a advertising and marketing company for firms that try and promote merchandise to our shoppers, as a result of which means the content material turns into secondary. To be able to obtain worth out of your shoppers, you first have to supply one thing precious sufficient.
The problem of going completely Bitcoin is that you’re asking your viewers to wade into the realm of unhealthy UX. Lightning has been one of many backbones for monetization for The Bugle as micropayments are nice for customers seeking to ship small funds.
Some could declare that instruments like Fountain, Nostr, BTCPay Server, and different instruments that enable content material shoppers to ship bitcoin to content material creators lack the UX essential to make a distinction. This appears to be the final consensus. “The revolution must have good UX for it to even occur” is, in my view, flawed pondering. The unhealthy UX of those platforms permits them to predominantly be occupied by precise revolutionaries and scares away the faint of coronary heart, who discover utilizing their mind even the slightest an impediment so insurmountable that they find yourself watching Netflix as an alternative.
At The Bugle, we’re not competing with Netflix. We aren’t catering to those that should not have the willingness or capability to suppose. We’re catering to the few, the proud, the revolutionaries. In keeping with our analytics, 90% of our podcast listeners use Fountain. We’re limiting our potential viewers progress by specializing in selling our content material on platforms with poor person expertise, however in doing so, we’re concentrating on those who really matter. The Bugle just isn’t to your boomer father who believes that smoking cigarettes is unhealthy for you, believes within the sanctity of establishments, and has lots of opinions on issues he has achieved zero analysis on. No, we’re catering to those that have achieved the proof-of-work and have an opinion that really issues.
Bitcoin initially had horrible UX and subsequently was solely utilized by revolutionaries. Those that had been mining 1000’s of bitcoin on the CPUs within the very starting could also be(come) a number of the richest people in human historical past. Satoshi didn’t pause the revolution with the intention to first implement good UX. He knew that the NPCs who had been afraid of utilizing command strains would ultimately come however that to ensure that the mission to achieve success, it needed to begin with those that had been keen to wade into the unknown.
Our society lacks private duty. It lacks accountability. It doesn’t worth the person. It preaches altruism and focuses on the “widespread good”. All of this outcomes from calls for for good UX. Consequently, the weakest (gayest) rise to the highest. Every thing relies on a reputation contest decided by the least distinctive amongst us. The concept of getting an actual meritocracy is threatening to those that refuse to truly do any work, or who discover it difficult to arrange mind cells for duties aside from superficial pleasure.
I reject these premises. I imagine that we are able to construct a precious media firm whereas utilizing unhealthy UX. I imagine we are able to have extra impression broadly by looking for to solely goal these with the capability to wade into nuance and transcend brain-dead groupthink. My entire life I’ve hungered for content material that has depth and that means. Sitting on the sidelines hoping that another person steps to the plate just isn’t the mindset of somebody who issues. I can’t spend my time attempting to persuade silly individuals to not be silly. If I did that, it might be as a result of I don’t worth my time and don’t worth myself. As a substitute, I’ll spend my time attempting to encourage the revolutionaries, the doers, the people who find themselves demoralized as a result of they really feel remoted in a sea of mediocrity.
My title is Richard Greaser,
And I’m the John Galt of journalism.
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This piece is an article featured within the newest Print version of Bitcoin Journal, The Lightning Problem. We’re sharing it right here to indicate the concepts explored all through the complete subject.
