The Ethics

So something which is super interesting and important to me is ethics. And honestly it is something that is so elusive because there is no codified hard set rules of ethics which applied to everybody, for eternity.

Also, I think is super interesting because I actually tired in ethics with certain moralistic imperative; I sent you when it comes down to it… Your personal ethics your ethos of things dictates almost everything.

I’m almost starting to think instead… Rather than thinking about goals, veteran instead to think about ethics and ethos and your imperatives and philosophies behind things.

The ethics of Bitcoin & money

Is bitcoin actually the most virtuous money?

So what is super interesting to me is that from a philosophical perspective, if you invoke the Austrian economics, like Karl Menger and the like .,, Property, what is property?

Property is something that you own, that belongs to you, which legally that nobody could seize against your own will.

So for example, I can own a watch, a camera, a car whatever… Legally nobody could just come up to me and steal it from me without any sort of negative repercussion.

Taxes?

Cindy’s mom and my brother-in-law Gabe both said it; when your own property, like real estate or whatever… Assuming there is a tax rate which is above 0%, that means that you don’t really “own “the property… You just borrowing it or renting it from the government.

Because this issue is with taxes, in theory, that is money that you’ll never see touch or witness, and it is essentially like you’re bleeding capital.

So for example, I was shocked, doing the math on even a $1.6 million home, I had a very low interest rate, you’re still bleeding around $1800 a month … close to $2000 a month, essentially money that is just going into thin air and vapor?

Even if you’re a savvy investor like myself, my personal thought is I would prefer to take that $2000 a month and just buy bitcoin instead, which is gonna go to $13 million or $22 million a bitcoin. 

Homes

OK so currently… This is my thought:

Single family home or nothing.

I think the fragile position to be in is only a condo because the price of him might slightly go up, but… It might not even be able to keep in pace or up to pace with inflation. What that means is let us say you buy a condo for $1 million, and you sell it a deck for $1.2 million, you might’ve thought that you realized a $200,000 gain but you did not, because of inflation, you might’ve actually lost money?

Another thing… Even owning a single-family home, property whatever, once again if you factor in property taxes and stuff, you’re not really making money.

So I heard that is to own a single-family home is kind of more of like a trophy acid like bragging rights for owning a Ferrari or Lamborghini whatever.

I suppose the nuance in difference is you could actually live in the thing, the single-family home. And you could brag to all your millennial friends that you own a single-family home.

I think where the calculus gets a little bit confusing is assuming that you’re married you have a wife and kids or more kids on the way etc. So then the home becomes a symbolic thing. But for me still… My hard school of thought is that a home is not an investment, it is just somewhere where you live.

And essentially, once again, just do the math, assuming that bitcoin is currently around $65,000 of bitcoin and is going up to 13 million, there is at least a 200X potential gain in front of you.

So let us say that your down payment is $300,000 or whatever, that is $60M. So the question is… Are you willing to sacrifice $60 million for the potential upside of buying a certain house you like? For you and your family?

Decisions

I think your life, the wise thing to think about, is that decisions, nothing is ever forever, nor should anything before ever, and even from a Zen and Taoist principal, nothing ever remains the same even if you want it to.

Also, your ethics change. Your ethical framework as a two-year-old versus 12-year-old versus high schooler versus college student versus 36 year old man with a kid is going to be different. Your ethics and morality as a degenerate single person is going to be different than your ethics and your morality once you have a kid. Or several.

Or your ethics before getting married and after getting married.

Where philosophers fail

It really really big problem is a lot of these philosophers try to create some sort of ultimate at the cold framework which can never be changed or modified. They strive in vain for 30 years, seeking some sort of ultimate truth of everything, which could last 1000 years or whatever. If you think about it then, this is what religion is. The religion of Mohammad, Saint Paul, the religion of Judea – these religions have lasted for thousands of years. So I guess the founders did a good job.

Endowments for private schools like Harvard or Yale; their endowments last forever. So it looks like they’re doing something right.


The ethics of smoking

So for this conversation I’m just going to talk about secondhand smoke.

So some critical issues here; the ethics.

First, I think smoking cigarettes in a public space which is not your house, in which your secondhand could fuck up the lungs of other people, especially for people like myself with sensitive lungs, is unethical.

First, legally it might be allowed, but ethically, it is not.

The first rule is first do no harm onto others. If you are on a sidewalk, and you have a certain walking path every single morning, and there’s always somebody smoking on that path, and they don’t know it, but there’s secondhand smoke goes down half a block, And it attacks your lungs, they are doing harm on you, whether you know it or not.

So it is unethical.

Ident suppose, what can and what should you do about it?

For example I met a dude named Scott, who is always smoking this one spot in Culver City, wearing his red vest, he claims he works there but he looks homeless and dirty? Not sure I talked with him, and he seemed kind of normal, but slightly a little weird? Anyways, I asked him nicely to not smoke there on the main street because it gets into my lungs whatever, but then he told me to not walk on the sidewalk. Or to walk on the other side?

Or he told me to keep walking?

First, I think the major issue here is repeated exposure. Maybe if I was in Venice Beach or whatever, in which I’ll never see the person again this is different, but because I see him almost every single day or every other day, this is very annoying and upsetting to me.

So obviously the first idea is to have a conversation with him. He had the audacity to tell me “If you don’t like it keep walking”. 

So some several issues here.

First, once again, no I will not keep walking. Because the issue is the regularity and the continued exposure. Once again if you’re in Santa Monica, and you see a homeless guy smoking a cigarette, or looking like he is cracked out, often in that situation the best strategy is don’t engage with crazy drugged out homeless people.

However, if the person looks like an irrational human being, mentally there, then isn’t having an intelligent conversation with somebody worth it?

Second I guess the big thing is I always saw it and I pointed out to him, that there’s literally a sign there that says no smoking. Like the big cigarette icon with the big red circle and the strike through it. I pointed out to him and he said that “oh, I never saw that.”

I also suppose there’s a difference, if the person is homeless or a squatter versus they actually work there?

Legality?

Then at this point, let’s assume that is private property, but the property owner put a do not smoke sign out. Then according to the rules of the private property, you can and should enforce it. Is that what you do is you talk to Security, or you called the property manager etc. And you report them.

But let us say that it is a more of a grey zone; like they are smoking a cigarette kind of close to a restaurant which is actually illegal in Los Angeles and most of California I believe. In this case, what do you do, call the cops on the person?

Or… Let us say that you approach somebody and you try to talk to them rationally, and then they threaten you with some sort of physical violence, or they do physically assault you? Then I suppose what you could do is bust out your iPhone camera, Start recording them, and then you could get them arrested?

I suppose the only thing you don’t want to get done to you is to get stabbed or shot with a gun, you don’t want to die.

I mean I suppose for myself, I could take a hit or an injury, I just don’t want to die.

So maybe, just be careful if you think they might have a gun?


Not being a pushover

So I think the problem with most people nowadays, especially people my age the millennial generation I was born in 1988, we are a very non-confrontational generation. And honestly most people are.

The first thing is don’t let nobody push you around, don’t be a pushover. If there’s something you don’t like you had to speak up, and it is a good idea to make a fuss out of it even bit may seem trivial.

So for me, the only thing I really hit on the planet is cigarette smoke, secondhand smoke. Especially having a father who was a heavy smoker, I hate the smell of secondhand cigarette more than the devil.

And also, a big issue here is that I have a kid now, and me and Seneca often walk down that street and we smelled the secondhand smoke. So once again, you’re not just standing up for yourself but for your kid.

I think the tricky thing with ethics is we should not invoke children because if you’re talking about kids you’re just kind of blaming them. Or you’re putting them in the crossfire. You should never make your kid apologize for nothing, it is your role as the guardian, The father to essentially have a spine and not be a pussy.

What is a hero?

I Also suppose the issue at hand is  things that upset you, versus things that could actually damage your harm others, whether it be your family, your kid, your kids etc.?

I think the first practical thought is not to be a social justice warrior for all of society, this is too fake. First just protect your wife and your kid, the most difficult thing.

Then after that your clan, your best friends, your squad.

Treat others you would like to be treated?

The golden rule, treating other people that way you would like to be treated, not perfect but still kind of a good rule.