Five Things: Broligarchy, Eraser, Davos, UFC, Handwriting
It's Sunday, again.
Hello and welcome back to Five Things!
This was not a good week. Trump is back in office and so is his signature style of demanding outraging things, signing absurd Executive Orders, claiming that he is outsmarting everyone, while at the same time the courts try to block his idiotic moves. Meanwhile in Germany the conservatives are flirting with the far right party to vote on a piece of legislation that would reestablish border controls to pushback illegal immigration, which will immediately be blocked by European courts. But this flirt is going too far and the leader of the conservatives is breaking his word that he won’t collaborate with the far right party. Why would he do something like that just four weeks before the federal election? Because he hopes to come across as strong on immigration and he hopes that many voters will be xenophobic enough to vote for him instead of the far right party. So he is moving the political discourse further to the right, hoping that the voters would vote for the copy rather than the original. Oh, and of course his proposed measures won’t solve the problem that sometimes people have mental issues and kill people. All these measures do is creating a hostile climate for immigrants in Germany.
Well, let’s focus on five articles for this Sunday now.
Enjoy.
Trump’s Inauguration Revealed Who He Really Serves: The Billionaires and the Crypto Bros
I still remember being at a conference in Silicon Valley when Trump first got elected. There was this energy, that distinct defiance of everything Trump stands for, that made me hopeful that Silicon Valley will try to mitigate the effects of a Trump presidency. Well, not anymore. Now the Broligarchy is in full force and they all hail their leader. It’s disgusting.
Don’t Let Autocrats Erase the Internet
Preserving documents is so important to better understand what happened during an autocratic regime. In Germany we have a huge trove of documents from both the Nazi times and the East German communist regime. I still have to file a request to see what’s on file in the Stasi archives, as I know that the East Germans oberserved my mother’s communication in the office and a good friend of the family was later disguised as an East German informant. When all the information is digital, it can be erased much quicker than millions of pieces of paper.
At the Summit
I’ve heard a few stories from people I work with about what Davos is like during the World Economic Forum and it sure sounds special. Would you want to go and mingle with heads of states and global CEO?
Empire of Blood: How Dana White’s UFC Conquered America
I remember when the wrestler Jesse Venture was elected as Governor of Minnesota 25 years ago and how I was appalled that this could happen. Now Dana White is using his influence on Trump and sits on the board of Meta and this is a 1000 times worse.
Signature Moves: Are We Losing the Ability to Write by Hand?
Whenever I have to write a handwritten note I notice that my handwriting is degrading, and it was never good to begin with. And while I know of all the benefits of handwriting, I’m so happy I can type.
That’s it. Have a great Sunday! If you missed last Sunday’s edition of Five Things, have a look here:
— Nico