How a "Crypto Bro" Freed Me From A Declining Political Landscape

Regarding the Politics Tag

Real quick before I get into all of this, I don’t expect the “Politics” tag to be something that’ll be used often (if at all) after this article. I don’t want to be a contributor to the current hell that is our political landscape. All of that being said, this article is one that I have been wanting to write for a while and I humbly ask that you remove your red/blue stained glasses and keep an open mind for this one.

The Grifters

Prior to 2023, I had been in the Republican/Conservative camp and being a member of said camp I listened to a few different podcasts among the likes of Ben Shapiro, Tim Pool, Crowder types, etc. (really wish I hadn’t wasted the time - the ones on the opposite side of the aisle are no better either). They all relegated their arguments to “the Democrats are doing insert evil thing here” and built media empires off of angry people with their swindle (I fell for it). I got to a point in 2023 where I was just tired of being angry and upset all the time for “problems” that weren’t my problems. I had also wasted a lot of time going to deep down the “conspiracy” rabbit hole (one I will caution you from going down as well). COVID had done a number on me (Reflecting on the COVID-19 Pandemic).

The Crypto Bro

One day I was casually scrolling YouTube and came across a video from Alex Becker. I had followed Alex for his Cryptocurrency content (yes I am aware of the irony that this came from a Crypto guy) as well as some of his older content. Watch “Andrew Tate’s “Matrix” Is Garbage” below.

The video hit me like a freight train honestly. The line “Haven’t you noticed that Ben Shapiro is making 100 million dollars a year making you mad?” really hit home for me. Since watching this video the first time, I have cut the majority of all political podcasts and/or news from my life and I have been a lot happier for it. The majority of my focus since then has been on myself, my wife, and trying to build the “boat where other crazy people’s waves don’t effect me”.

Where I Sit Now

I won’t divulge all of my positions here but at a high level I have been more libertarian with some left and right leanings on certain policies. I strongly believe we need to prepare a future where AI is in anything and everything (it’s practically already there) and start building the infrastructure for that reality (nuclear plants, true energy independence, that type of thing). Across the board, I also tend to believe that the government should be out of your business as much as possible. “I leave you alone, you leave me alone and we have mutual respect for each other in shared spaces” could be the bulk of my political stature haha.

I do NOT trust our government regardless of if the “blue” or “red” team has control (since 2020 it’s been downhill anyway). I try to do my own diligence and read legislation that goes through Congress or throw it in ChatGPT to get a better understanding of Pro’s and Con’s of said legislation. I wish more people would do this and see the fine print that goes into a lot of these bills.

The only political podcasts I have kept around are The Tim Dillon Show and The Joe Rogan Experience mainly due to Tim Dillon’s hilarious delivery of said political hellscape and the variety of Joe Rogan’s guests.

I have also taken the time to go into X and mute words and people that show up on the timeline. It’s simply not worth the mental bandwidth any more to engage with that crap.

The majority of my bandwidth is going to getting better at AI/ML, Software Engineering and getting NOISIA-level good at music. That’s it. I don’t care if the Barbie movie was too woke or not woke enough or whatever.

Don’t Make Politics Your Life

My final plea to you is to NOT make politics your life. Yes, I understand that the world might suck and hasn’t been the same since “insert random year here” or since “so and so” was in office. I implore you to drop the “doomer” mindset, take that energy and invest it somewhere else. All the capital you're pouring into being mad at Trump, or the Democrats, or AOC, or whoever the villain of the week is — point it at something that builds you up instead.

Get physically healthy. Pick up a hobby you've been putting off. Learn the skill, start the side project, start the business. The goal is to build a life that barely moves when the President changes or when Congress does or doesn't do something. It's hard, but it's doable — I'm doing it, so I know you can too.