If there was any piece of advice I could give to anyone trying to make it in just about any industry ever, it's to develop a "T-shaped skillset" made of plenty of general knowledge built up as a curious individual over a lifetime, plus just one or two things you care most about.

Does anyone here know of good ways to find people to follow here on Nostr that are into and post about similar topics? I've got friends who are freedom-minded, but their entire personality is not "I'm into Bitcoin", and I'm wondering how they might get more into Nostr.

Just closed my Venmo account. It's messed up they can just change the rules on people retroactively. I wonder if this will open any eyes. What's worse is that Venmo lets the buyer select whether this is a business tx. So, you have to trust anyone paying you to not mark the income as reportable. Anyway, if anyone here doesn't yet know how to be free of financial surveillance, you know who to talk to.

CBS News

New tax rule on apps like Venmo, PayPal could spell confusion for small businesses

Starting next year, a new IRS rule will require anyone who earned over $600 on payment apps in 2023 to file a 1099-K form.

I've noticed that people see some things they think are really messed up, and so they won't take the time to learn about them, because they think nothing they can do can change that. Only once I realized I *could* do something, did I really start learning.

It's because of patent law that healthcare is so expensive. Drug companies and medical equipment manufacturers use the state as a cudgel to strengthen their monopoly, exploit the vulnerable, and extract wealth. Then people are convinced to make excuses for billion dollar corporations, oh no, they won't innovate, there won't be new drugs, how will they recoup costs? And I'm here like, we can't just separate R&D from manufacture? Trade associations are a thing. The industry could pool resources to maximize value. It's not like demand for new drugs is going away. Anyway. That's the kind of thing that runs though my head when I see drug advertisements. It's silly, this whole system is super silly. I feel like I'm taking supersillium.