I often think about this as I feel that a major shift began in 2020 with the announcement of the pandemic and everything that then took place in many countries around the world.
The world has continued to change at quite a pace since then and I believe we are going through some kind of transition. ā€œMay you live in interesting timesā€. This is an expression I often hear, said to be from England and a translation of a Chinese curse? Iā€™ve no idea if this is true, perhaps @cryotosensei can shed some light?
So how have I changed? Thinking back now a lot has changed in my own life and in my community. I have different work now, different friends, a 2 year old son, a completely different relationship with my family and a different perspective on life. And there are coffee shops on every corner!
One big one for me was getting perspective on the nature of left vs right politics. I was always left leaning but considered myself liberal, believed in freedom and believed that the state shouldnā€™t be trusted. However I naively assumed that most other people were the same and yet when we were challenged with the fear around covid and what governments were suddenly doing, a massive split occurred which completely fractured society. And it was particularly evident to me looking at the political left.
Many of my family and friends were suddenly authoritarians and believed totally and without question what they were being told by the state and corporate media. And I couldnā€™t get through to them, no matter what I tried. Some went as far as demonising others and snitching on their neighbours to the local authorities. It was a scary time.
I then found Bitcoin for the second time in January 2022 which pushed me to go down all the relevant rabbit holes and has since positively changed my life for the better not just financially but also intellectually and psychologically. Riding the bear market, hodling during the crashes in the summer of 2022 and then later understanding the gambling aspects of every other crypto currency out there and why Bitcoin is different.
But iā€™m really interested to learn how you guys feel the pandemic era changed you?
My grandmother revealed herself to be black-pilled against vaccine pressuring. It's really cool.
I think that, while I let myself continue to be skeptical and demanding of what I see and hear, a quote I read recently stuck out to me:
A man full of warm, speculative benevolence may wish his society otherwise constituted than he finds it; but a good patriot, and a true politician, always considers how he shall make the most of the existing materials...There is something else than the mere alternative of absolute destruction, or unreformed existence.
-Edmund Burke
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Mostly, it allowed me to shed a lot of fake friends and family members. If you are going to sell out when the pressure is at a modest level, I surely don't want you around when it is higher.
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Yep absolutely we saw the true colours of people and society during that period.
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43 sats \ 1 reply \ @wingalt 15 Jun
The pandemic confirmed that when it comes to the state it is 1% truth and 99% fabrication, on every topic. Many people woke up to that reality, they did it to us on Covid and want to do it again on everything else, sooner or later it will backfire and it won't be pretty
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Nicely and succinctly put. šŸ‘
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64 sats \ 3 replies \ @dgy 15 Jun
Home office is the norm now. No more daily commuting.
With that also eating habits improved a lot (low carb/carnivore).
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Same here, home office only with less stress, started eating healthy and lost weight. Never got the shot or flu. I also realized that workplace is not your friend and one should change it often (don't force it, just use better opportunities when they arrive). Organized myself better to have real work/life relationship (laptop goes off at 5 PM). All in all it turns out to be for the better since I have more time for fishing and hunting :-)
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I like the idea of more outside time in the wild. I think thatā€™s a positive change.
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Yep Iā€™ve also changed my eating a fair bit. And started purifying our water also.
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55 sats \ 1 reply \ @OT 15 Jun
I went: From vegetarian to meat eater From left leaning to freedom maximalist From shitcoiner to bitcoiner From musician to father
Probably a few more, but it was certainly a turning point in my life.
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I can relate to all of that.
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I think the theory of this interesting saying being originated from Chinese has been debunked! Such a pity haha.
Due to the pandemic, teachers had to accelerate their learning on how to create online lessons on our nationā€™s online learning system as well as conduct classes through Zoom. If it werenā€™t for the pandemic, I doubt we would be expected to pick up these new tricks so fast.
I still have to go to school every day. (Obviously.) My wife, on the other hand, can work from home two days per week these days.
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Thereā€™s a novel by Terry Pratchett called ā€˜Interesting Timesā€™ which from what I remember perpetuates the myth that the saying came from China. However I suspected that it was artistic license and possibly not true as you say.
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The truckers changed me in Canada. The fact that they had their bank accounts closed, and many lost their job - all because they didn't take the jab was ridiculous.
I personally almost lost my job and I am in the U.S. I think this goes to show that the government will always try to overreach, and it made me go much deeper down the bitcoin rabbit hole.
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Well it got me off the sidelines, but 911 should have done that too. I hope those agencies and individuals are held accountable. I now have absolute 0 trust in main stream media or any governmental agencies. Any corporation who implemented JAB mandates has lost my business. This is why I ditched Windows for Linux. I also lost my respect for professional athletes who stood by silently watching freedom being walked on. Need more be said.
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Everyone around me, joked about how they weren't taking an untested "vaccine".
Then Biden got elected and everyone got angry about how others weren't taking the untested "vaccine".
I tried pointing this out to people and was told "Just take it!"
At the same time I was trying to tell people about bitcoin and received responses like "But what if "they" turn the internet off forever".......
I used to have faith in public institutions and outsourced some of my judgement to those whom I thought might hold more information. Now I verify more, trust less, and have embarked on an ethical mission to separate money and state.
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Yeah the level of hypocrisy around the ā€˜vaccineā€™ was amazing.
For example the progressive activists who would talk about the importance of bodily autonomy with regards to abortion but when asked if that same principle applied to the shot, they were like ā€œnah thatā€™s differentā€.
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I barely need to add anything, because you and I had such similar experiences.
I will just add that the biggest change to me was the complete dissolution of trust that I used to have in "experts". That label is not nearly sufficient anymore. I need to see PoW, before I'm going to trust someone.
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Absolutely i think that was probably a wake up moment for many of us realising that so called experts can be ideologues, indoctrinated, corrupt or just plain wrong. I realised that i needed to verify things for myself, even scientific subjects. Yes to see the proof of work.
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It made me a divergent. Initially, I was left alone without friends and there was noone around me who could believe on my thoughts and me going against the state. I could hardly save my family from that kill vaccine.
But now, all of my family and some of my friends are back and they hold the same views as do I. I've successfully created a little zone of divergents against the State. I'm all in Bitcoin and I now aim to make it bigger and bigger.
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Iā€™m really glad to hear about your family and friends. Unfortunately my family appear to have fallen under some kind of spell - my parents took covid vaccines recently despite the overwhelming evidence of harms and my persistent warnings.
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Before the plandemic: I was quite apolitical, just focusing on work and personal activities. I was like 2% inflation? Why not. I remember having seen people getting banned on YouTube, but yet... YouTube has many nice workshops on it. Never mind. Bitcoin? For speculation.
After the plandemic: I am against even things like unemployment benefits. Indeed if giving free money to people is bad, then how come unemployment benefit is not questionable as well? Politicians? Almost all the same. Google? A tool for propaganda. Bitcoin? To escape the free money for all system.
So quite a 180 degrees change. Fortunately in Japan there was no lockdown, no stay at home order, no nothing. Everyone were in parks, kids were enjoying outside games, etc. And after that it became psychological warfare to punish people since people was not worried enough.
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I feel people that believe in bitcoin are able to question things. Question the media, question politics, and question the perspective of things. This makes them more rounded as a person. The pandemic really showed me how much people can be sheep. I tried explaining to my wife that the vaccine probably wasnt healthy or effective, but she still got it. I didnt stop her from getting it because she thought it was important for her health. It just goes to show how stubborn some people are.
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Well, I got fatter.
Lol. Also, I became a bitcoiner in 2020. Started working remote full time. I noticed people being much kinder. I trust police less. And there are a lot more homeless and break-ins in my city. Iā€™m slowly learning who I am. And I have hope for the future.
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Absolutely Iā€™m optimistic too. Out of the craziness will come better things in many parts of the world.
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It was all a test, and everyone I knew failed
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My whole lifestyle and mindset changed. For the better.
Sold my business. Moved out of the city. Spend more time with my wife and kids. Live closer to my parents now so I can help them and they can see the kids more. Spend more time in nature and quiet. Walk most places and when I do drive somewhere there isn't usually much traffic.
In terms of politics, I always had a healthy distrust for government but the pandemic really sealed the deal for me.
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Yep on your last point I realised that things were worse than i had previously thought. For example the extent to which politicians are willing to lie.
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WFH full time and Iā€™m much more willing to go out in super casual clothes than I was pre covid
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Almost all the closes' pockets include facemasks. On the other hand I found a job during pandemic and since than my life has changed drastically
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BTC Trust the future, not the present
stackers have outlawed this. turn on wild west mode in your /settings to see outlawed content.