Born Out of Crisis
We are living in a time of constant crisis. Despite popular belief, what is born from this current crisis is entirely up to you.
There’s a war going on outside no man is safe from,
you can run but you can’t hide forever,
from these streets that we done took,
you walking with your head down scared to look,
you shook, cause ain’t no such thing as halfway crooks
The immortal words of Prodigy (RIP). These are some of the best bars ever spit over a hip-hop track. My opinion of course. The lyrics are from Mobb Deep’s 1995 hip-hop classic “Survival of the Fittest.” I was introduced to this masterpiece in the early 2000’s when I started getting into hip-hop as an impressionable high-school kid from a safe suburban neighborhood. How could I possibly identify with this kind of music genre? It’s the ethos underneath all the nonsense. Specifically the ethos from the grittier mid-90’s golden era of hip-hop that pre-dated the shinny-suit movement.
The messaging in much of this music is very anti-establishment, distrustful of media, and distrustful of government. It’s right up our alley here at Heretic Speculator. Read the lyrics at the beginning of Survival of the Fittest again. Whether we like it or not, we are all making choices. Nobody is safe from this war. What war? The amalgamation of the corporate elite/global government apparatus - this is the Davos syndicate that I’m describing and that group has been going for the jugular over the last 3 years.
We can be scared, put out our heads down, go along to get along, and hope that our tech masters will reward our obedience with the privilege of peer to peer commerce, censorship-free communications, and the pursuit of happiness - or - we can stop asking for all of these things. Hope is not a strategy. That was an early lesson I had to learn the hard way when the market walloped me in my mid-20’s. But it applies to everything. Especially this.
Take Your Life Back
Nobody gives it to you. You have to take it.
Frank Costello, The Departed
It’s really difficult to remove yourself from the big tech vise grip. Trust me, I know. I swore off big tech in January 2021 - I deleted all of my accounts with Linkedn, Google GOOG 0.00%↑ , Amazon AMZN 0.00%↑ , Twitter, Yahoo, and Instagram META 0.00%↑ . Facebook was already gone long before that. Since then, I’ve also deleted PayPal and Teespring - two companies that I had utilized for revenue generation. Not exactly convenient decisions for someone destined for a go it alone strategy by the end of the year.
However, 23 months later I have Google again (necessary evil for now) and I have Twitter again. Why? Twitter is actually in play from a philosophical perspective. I think it’s worth fighting to get it back to what it used to be. Google? Still absolutely no trust for this company but I use it as safely as I possibly can. The email address is a burner account that I don’t communicate with. My account exists for the cloud storage so I can share content here and with my BlockChain Reaction subscribers. That is literally it. There is nothing personally sensitive on that cloud drive.
None of these apps are on my phone. Not Twitter. I have zero apps from Google and only use Brave Browser and Brave Search. But Apple AAPL 0.00%↑ … friggin Apple. This has been the one that has been so difficult to rid myself of even in the ebb and flow of my big tech deletion journey. It’s the only one that I have to interact with every single day. Here on December 3rd 2022, I’m still an iOS user. That too will be coming to an end soon. Apple’s 30% rake attempt on NFT sales is the last straw for me. But it’s not just about NFTs. There are others who are openly questioning Apple’s control over everything. But the truth is it’s only control Apple has if you choose to give it to Apple. I’m not going to anymore.
In retrospect, it was inevitable.
Here’s a fun fact; I’ve been exclusively using the Brave Browser on my iPhone for about two years. Despite that usage, I have not been able to collect Basic Attention Token (BAT-USD) rewards from that usage. Why? Because Apple says so. God forbid somebody use an Apple device for some sort of transaction without Apple getting a piece of the action. As if the Apple device itself is the reason the transaction will occur and not simply a chosen tool among various other options. Apple’s position on NFTs, and essentially all in-app purchases for that matter, is a bit like LG or Samsung wanting a slice from every pizza you put in your oven.
Uhm, sir, I already paid you to be able to do this. How about f*** off? Yeah? Cool.
Eternal Happiness Born From Crisis
Never let a good crisis go to waste.
I think that simple quote pretty much explains the totality of the last 3 years. The author of The Great Reset would seem to agree. The World Economic Forum’s Great Reset proposal was launched in June of 2020. The world didn’t shut down until March of that year. How is it that Klaus Schwab was able to put together such a dramatic global economic manifesto so quickly? It’s because the end game has been planned for years. The thing was already written. Own nothing and be happy? Yeah that’s actually from 2016.
When the Klaus brigade isn’t penetrating cabinets, it’s busy telling us completely transparently what the end game has always been. You want to know something though? You can say no. They know this. They expect it. The 2016 own nothing yet sTiLl hApPY forecast is written from the perspective of one of the tech prisoners. All her basic needs are easily and freely provided by the wonderful robots that do all the work. Still, her heart bleeds for the rest of us a little bit:
My biggest concern is all the people who do not live in our city. Those we lost on the way. Those who decided that it became too much, all this technology. Those who felt obsolete and useless when robots and AI took over big parts of our jobs. Those who got upset with the political system and turned against it. They live different kind of lives outside of the city. Some have formed little self-supplying communities. Others just stayed in the empty and abandoned houses in small 19th century villages.
Jab mandates as a prerequisite for employment. Shot passports to get into stores and restaurants. These are the kinds of the things that usher in the tech prison far faster. And they just tried to do all of this. The WEF, the puppets they’ve helped elect and/or place in positions of power, they’re not done. They didn’t come this far to just take one shot at the goal and call it a day. Nah. There are more shots coming. We need to think like the enemy. Throughout history, big changes are born out of crisis. And wouldn’t you know it, we have another one brewing.
Tech Wreck
So China, amirite?
Before we get into how what is happening in China right now relates to Apple, let’s acknowledge the utter hypocrisy of world leaders like Justin Trudeau condemning the treatment of the Chinese citizens by the CCP when this clown ordered a state of emergency and waged financial war on his own citizens who were mad about much of the same stuff in Canada. Save those crocodile tears, Justin. We all saw who you really are.
Ever heard of Foxconn? It’s a major supplier for Apple based in Zhengzhou, China - it has a factory with over a quarter of a million workers. Those workers have had it with China’s “Zero-COVID” policy, among other things:
The Zhengzhou factory was convulsed in late November by violent protests. In videos posted online, workers upset about wages and Covid-19 restrictions could be seen throwing items and shouting “Stand up for your rights!”
Bloomberg is reporting this could result in a 6 million iPhone shortfall this year alone. Right in time for the holiday season. What a shame. Apple is apparently aggressively trying to find other supply chain sources throughout Asia - sources that don’t include Taiwan, which is also very telling. Love this outlet or hate it, this Fox News reporter gave it a fun go trying to get an ounce of humanity out of Apple CEO Tim Cook yesterday:
My how far the tech giant has fallen. It wasn’t that long ago Tim Cook was unwilling to give the FBI the password to the San Bernadino shooter’s iPhone. I suppose views on privacy and government overreach change after you go to Davos and are made to understand. Now we’re unable to say mean things about the CCP because we still need to be friends with China for the time being. Gotta get that sweet, cheap Chinese labor and consumer market access.
It’s time to throw the tea in the harbor again. It’s time to wreck big tech. But it’s time for the people to take advantage of a crisis for once. I don’t want your iPhone, your walled garden ecosystem, or your nonsense mafia extortion-style App Store policies, Apple. And I reject the planned tech slavery from your Davos syndicate influencers as well.
You can reject it too. There is time. But there is no half-assing this. To properly rage against the machine is to do it all the way and unapologetically. Apple can screw. So can Meta, Google, and even Twitter if Elon turns out to be a trojan horse. I reject their digital power. Remember, the WEF knows many of us will never agree to the terms. Be brave, not shook.
Ain’t no such thing as halfway crooks.
Technology can be more of a Burden than a Blessing when Big Brother is watching.