T.T. 32: My First Thanksgiving Abroad
Brief thoughts from a 27 year old American now living in El Salvador on a Bitcoin Standard
Hola amigos,
Greetings from Berlín, El Salvador… and Happy Thanksgiving!
This post is primarily for my fellow Americans.
Other than the 4th of July… Thanksgiving might be the most quintessentially American of the holidays.
It has the history.
The family. The food.
The flourishing of human spirit… a shared celebration of gratitude.
It’s a cool holiday. I’m a fan!
The elephants in the room…
I won’t dwell too much on the negatives here.
You probably know them… all too well.
Inflation.
Culture War.
Internal family dynamics poisoned by external authoritarian impositions…
The scope of potentially divisive “kitchen table issues” expanded unnaturally… primarily through the endless ocean of “mainstream” divisive propaganda that we all swim through in the background of our day-to-day lives.
These are all the natural consequences — and indicators — of a civilization that has been sick with a Fiat Parasite for MANY years.
The root cause of America’s sickness has remained mostly misdiagnosed — and almost entirely untreated, beyond superficial focus hacking away at symptoms — for the past century.
Really since 1913… but especially since 1971.
Relevant link: https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/
And especially especially since the bailouts in 2009.
And ESPECIALLY especially especially since 2020… for obvious reasons.
Christmas has been poisoned by consumerism.
Halloween has been coopted by both Fiat Food and arguably more demonic vibes.
Valentine’s Day? Yep, that Saint’s holiday has also largely been coopted by consumerism.
Easter as well, in many ways… it certainly isn’t celebrated like it used to be.
Etc…
Even with Thanksgiving, many modern Americans care more about the next days:
Black Friday + Cyber Monday
Sigh…
But even still — in Fiat America, 2023 — we still have this one day.
One day in which everyone agrees, at least nominally, to focus on real values.
Gratitude.
Family. Friendship. Community.
Even the consumerist element — the food — is channeled into a traditional feast that people across the entire country share with their loved ones!
My constructively positive challenge to all fellow Americans:
Thanksgiving shouldn’t be reduced to a single day.
It’s a way of life.
A mindset that used to align perfectly with the essential values that the U.S.A. represents at its best:
Pioneer’s spirit
Collaborative voluntary (free market) community
Farmers and friends and family
Setting aside differences… REAL tolerance
I won’t repeat the elephants in the room here. You know them all too well.
Just keep it in mind.
If you’re experiencing ridiculous political arguments — not to mention the pain of inflation — this Thanksgiving… just remember:
IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY
Thanksgiving will return to its former glory — and its values will be more naturally restored throughout the foundation of human civilization year-round — by fixing society’s incentives.
That starts with Bitcoin.
“Fix the money, fix the world.”
In the meantime…
I’m personally VERY thankful to be living in Bitcoin Country now!
That’s all for this week.
I know it’s been over a month since my previous “Thoreau Thursdays” post… and I have an UNBELIEVABLE amount of cool developments to catch you all up on.
But I’ll leave it there for now.
I’m thankful for all of you lovely readers — see you next week!
:)
JeThoreau@getalby.com
(For optional tips… no pressure)
(DIFFERENT from a “normal” email address, just FYI)
For those who already own their own social identities…
I follow back all fellow early adopters using Nostr:
npub1s3pkx56ynd4yqj7hx7c6j2h9djkfg63p92wqe9v8m67km5368a4qrgzxp3
Peace, amigos.
Adios until next week!
“The global peaceful monetary revolution will not be centralized.”