Svetsky's Bushido, Chivalry, & Susan B. Anthony \ stacker news ~BooksAndArticles

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Svetsky's Bushido, Chivalry, & Susan B. Anthony

1507 sats \ 10 comments \ @siggy47 23 Jan BooksAndArticles

Svetsky's Book

I am currently reading Alex Svetsky's The Bushido Of Bitcoin, and for the most part I am enjoying it. I know nothing about Samurai culture, so the book is inspiring me to learn more.

Svetsky reveals early on that he has issues with the general libertarian political bent of most bitcoiners. That interested me too, because although my personal politics can be described as libertarian, I don't think it helps bitcoin adoption for it to be inextricably linked to any political philosophy.

Recently I read a passage from the book which stopped me dead. For context, it is a discussion of the difference between the Bushido customs of ancient Japan and the medieval European knight's concept of chivalry. Svetsky is troubled by the image of the knight in shining armor holding a rose for his beloved, believing it has helped lead to the modern "simp."

He then goes on to say this:

You could also make the case that, over time, it was this pathological distortion that opened the door for women's suffrage - quite possibly the greatest political mistake the West ever made.

So, Svetsky doesn't believe women should have the right to vote. As a libertarian, a husband, and a father to my daughter, I acknowledge my own biases here. I had a visceral reaction that made me almost stop reading. I didn't, but it does make me wonder. I really despise the distortions and denial of biological facts that our current culture has created. However, that's a long way from wanting to deny women the same rights as men. Maybe I make certain assumptions regarding my fellow stackers' beliefs and opinions that might be inaccurate?

My Question

Do many bitcoiners agree with Svetsky that women should not have the right to vote?

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58 sats \ 0 replies \ @elvismercury 23 Jan

I like that he said the quiet part out loud. Makes it easy for bystanders to know how seriously to take him. Not that it was ever that hard.

56 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scoresby 23 Jan

No.

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bitcoiner1 23 Jan

No, not agree with it.

He has some strong and fuck Up ideas... I'm not a big fan of his work.

67 sats \ 0 replies \ @denlillaapan 23 Jan

dude has weird feelings about it. #845455

I had a similar reaction to you reading that. (and these days I often use the phrase to maximally annoy my very rah-rah feminist gf!). I think I agree w/ Svetski about 15%. (Svetski; awkward typo mr BooksAndArticles)

...my lazybones cop-out is that nobody should have voting rights.

Is there a more foundational story there? Constitutional different bw men/women? Social roles better reflect our biological nature etc? I'm amenable to that take.

There's plenty to be annoyed at in Bushido. What I appreciate about him laying out that case is for us to investigate whether he's right.

This, from my BM Print review:

46 sats \ 0 replies \ @SimpleStacker 23 Jan

Honestly, I'm seeing a lot of lazy analysis about gender from both the left and the right, and it's getting pretty annoying. Why can't people chill and stop making such sweeping analyses about entire groups of people all the time. Why can't we acknowledge:

Biological realities and sex-based differences in personality and physicality are real.
Within the biological sexes there is an enormous diversity of personality and physical traits.

Watching the feminist left and the MRA right go at each other is like watching a slow motion train wreck.

41 sats \ 2 replies \ @john_doe 23 Jan

I think the right answer is nuanced. Quick answer: yes for women's right to vote.

Long answer: Considering political decisions, sometimes I wonder: what would happen to a country where a woman would be president and, during her acute PMS (premenstrual syndrome) side effects, should decide or not to push the button to launch a nuclear bomb, like in the movie Dr Strangelove. Are women choices in politics always rational and stripped from emotions, particularly before the periods? I think this is why in confucianism for example, women should be excluded from politics. In old Japanese movies, sometimes we see the feudal master ruined because of poor choices of his wife during war time.

In my view, given society is composed of women and men, I think both should have a right to make choices which impact everyone. So I am in favor of women in politics, but I think raising biological factors to argue women can make bad decisions is a fair point. In my view though men can make better decisions when helped by women (and inversely)

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 OP 23 Jan

I remember an episode of the old TV show Northern Exposure, where a woman bush pilot was talking to a woman in the Air Force. The woman in the Air Force argued that women should not be fighter pilots using the PMS angle.

82 sats \ 0 replies \ @john_doe 23 Jan

I think this is a fair point as well. Depending on women, PMS can have more or less impact. Some women can have suicidal feelings (I let you imagine what could happen in an airplane of the Air Force), can cry, can be angry. Others as far as I know can be relatively psychologically normal. However with hormonal control (e.g.: birth control pill), I have heard psychological side effects can be reduced to zero. I am not a doctor so please take this last statement with a grain of salt.

However birth control pills can/may have bad health impacts, so would it be worth it in order to work in the army or have political control? I am not sure (in my case I am against, but I think women should choose also for this). But in the end, men can also make bad decisions. I am always criticized for having no emotions at all, or for not caring at all, so in this respect women can bring balance. Being married in my case forces me to think more about others. Female and male apes together strong, hahaha.

41 sats \ 0 replies \ @galt 23 Jan

One can argue that women's voting right has led to a more socialist political landscape but in the end it doesn't matter, whoever you vote for you'll get John McCain

41 sats \ 0 replies \ @BlokchainB 23 Jan

@Svetski care to comment?

Yeah I read this too in his book. Some blame women suffrage for ushering the Marxist hell scape we find ourselves in now. Using women to push political wedge issues while major political problems never get real solutions. But I still think state of the world is man’s failure. Blaming women’s right to vote for the downfall of the modern man is misguided.