James McDowell

[DCinvestor @DCinvestor]

look, i'm probably WAY more optimistic about the promise of AI than most people reading this

but i HIGHLY DOUBT we'll get to that optimistic future by burying our heads in the sand and just "hoping for the best"

the cynics absolutely have a point that we have fucked up major transitions as a society (like a shift to free trade in the US and the significant job dislocations and drug problems which came with it- while enriching multinational corporations immensely), and it truly feels like our government is more dysfunctional and more captured than it is has ever been

what's different about this boom is you have major corporations driving it and controlling every aspect of it (really, only a few of them), and it's not immediately obvious how "the little guy" will benefit from any of it. our fate is literally in their hands and what features they decide to develop and when

simultaneously, you've also already had the "information age" with the PC and the Internet, which has consolidated EVEN MORE power into the hands of these corporations than one might think, and basically killed huge swathes of local businesses. pair this with the "endgame" of capitalism where private equity has arisen made it economically viable to buy up basically any remaining kind of income-producing small business to saddle it with debt and then flip or IPO. this means communities are relatively capital poor. oh, there is capital there, but it's not owned by the people who live there. THAT IS THE PROBLEM

the end result is the world FEELS and PRACTICALLY IS MORE CENTRALIZED than it is has ever been

it's worth noting that out of the second industrial revolution, and the insane boosts in productivity we created as a civilization, labor had to FIGHT (in some cases physically) in order to more evenly distribute the benefits to the working class. this meant the introduction of a 40-ish hour work week and the elimination of child labor. the capitalists and "the system" at large didn't just do those things out of the goodness of their hearts. public education improved, and people could earn more than a living wage and provide for their families

i'd rather avoid violence in this next transition if we can, but it's going to require policymakers to wake up to the changes happening and be proactive, and it's going to require capital owners to understand that capitalism as it has existed cannot continue if there is not still a healthy working class

we have to find a way to more evenly distribute the benefits of this revolution and the discussions need to start happening NOW

something has to give. the sooner we have these conversations as a society, the better off we will be

[Andrew Kang @Rewkang]

https://t.co/YU33t4yLWN

[James McDowell @MacAttack2025]

@elonmusk Unnecessary lethal force. Why did he fire 3 shots? These agents are not trained properly and this one might have had PTSD. Regardless of political affiliation, is this the America we want?

[James McDowell @MacAttack2025]

@AnthonyIrwinLA Rich Paul is right. This team isn’t winning anything. So many holes in terms of defense, athleticism, and bench scoring.

[James McDowell @MacAttack2025]

100% agree. I’ve been here 26 years and the vibe changes about every 5 years but we are positioned for massive change. You’ve got to deal with the heat and may not like the state level politics. I’ve thought about living in other areas of the country but don’t think any will be better off (at least economically) for the average person than this area.

[Wholesome Side of 𝕏 @itsme_urstruly]

How do you work from 8 to 5, have only weekends free, and not feel like you're wasting your life?

[David Shapiro (L/0) @DaveShapi]

Because they are smart.

Because they know that employment is extractive.

Because they know that the company will discard them.

Because they know that owners of capital don't really care for workers.

But most of all

Because the American Dream is dead.

[Mark Manson @Markmanson]

Burn out doesn’t come from having too much to do—it comes from not doing the things that actually matter to you. ㅤ

The weight you carry isn’t the work itself, but the meaninglessness of it.

[Wisdom Stoics @WisdomStoics]

9.

[Wealth Squad Chris @Chrissssjohnson]

Bitcoin 101

This is worth your attention for 3 minutes

[James McDowell @MacAttack2025]

@TeamYouTube Yup, already did that a couple times and no dice. Thanks for the quick response but seems like others are having this issue. I’m on iOS.

[James McDowell @MacAttack2025]

@TeamYouTube @thsisaburnerduh Same problem on mine and uninstalling and reinstalling doesn’t do anything.

[Naval @naval]

Peace is not when nothing bothersome happens, peace is when nothing bothers you.

[Compounding Quality @QCompounding]

Quote of the day by Warren Buffett

[James McDowell @MacAttack2025]

@elonmusk What about Russia? I usually agree with you but this is a bit absurd. Zelensky is a war time president and siding with the invading country under the disguise of “fair elections” from a communist country with faux elections doesn’t seem well thought out.

[Raoul Pal @RaoulGMI]

The biggest story in the history of the evolution of humanity is unfolding in front of our eyes and we have just seen a coupe d'etat in the US by tech accelerationists, and everyone is still midcurving it...

The Economic Singularity will arrive before The Singularity. Strap in.

[Sundar Pichai @sundarpichai]

Introducing Willow, our new state-of-the-art quantum computing chip with a breakthrough that can reduce errors exponentially as we scale up using more qubits, cracking a 30-year challenge in the field. In benchmark tests, Willow solved a standard computation in <5 mins that would take a leading supercomputer over 10^25 years, far beyond the age of the universe(!).

[James McDowell @MacAttack2025]

@Teslaconomics Is “Not America” an option?

[Ganesh Sonawane @ganeshsonawane]

Brutal take on VCs by Mohnish Pabrai 😂