Adam Curry is the modern-day Prometheus. His discovery of podcasting and sharing it with the world was as important of a improvement as when Prometheus stole hearth from the gods to provide to people. Podcasting has shortly advanced into some of the widespread methods to speak precious info, fully disintermediating the CIA-controlled media equipment. Whereas Bitcoin seeks to separate cash and state, podcasting seeks to separate syndicated information organizations and knowledge.
Giving the world podcasting was not sufficient for Curry as he’s now as soon as once more searching for to wrestle management from the gods by permitting people to interact in what he coined the “value-for-value financial system” by permitting podcasters to obtain Lightning funds.
The fiat value-for-value financial system is very large. There are instruments like YouTube tremendous chats, PayPal, Patreon, and extra that enable content material creators to obtain immense quantities of worth from their viewers with out having to rely solely on sponsors.
The Bitcoin value-for-value financial system is far smaller, however in my view as a credentialed journalist, considerably extra necessary. The primary value-for-value use of bitcoin was when WikiLeaks was kicked off the fiat cost rails. Exposing battle criminals is among the core obligations of journalists, but is an unapproved exercise by the parasitic ruling class. Certainly one of my mottos is journalism dies in compliance, and constructing your entire media equipment on prime of programs that depend on permission to function will fully kill any capacity for any actual info to be transmitted.
In current months, by means of the revelations on USAID funding of media, the playbook for a way the media equipment is managed has been laid naked for everybody to see. The programs for controlling and manipulating info are subtle and sometimes aren’t obvious. For a lot of media corporations to get any notable funding, they need to bend the knee to the ruling class, sacrifice any dignity they’ve, and carry out fellatio on people who most likely had shut ties to Jeffrey Epstein. For this reason I left conventional media to type The Bugle, the world’s premier information company.
There are various myths in regards to the establishment of journalism. Many consider that journalists are supposed to inform the reality, convey helpful info to people, and expose wrongdoings. Individuals who consider these myths doubtless haven’t interacted with many journalists. I’d argue that the establishment of journalism is extra about participating in covert propaganda, hidden behind the quilt (fable) of getting some ethical excessive floor.
Nearly all of journalists are people who’re mercenaries for whoever can pay them.
Following the trailblazing efforts of Adam Curry and Julian Assange, The Bugle has operated totally off a value-for-value mannequin, utilizing bitcoin as the primary funding mechanism. The product we’re promoting is our content material. We don’t function as a advertising company for corporations that try to promote merchandise to our shoppers, as a result of which means the content material turns into secondary. To be able to obtain worth out of your shoppers, you first have to supply one thing precious sufficient.
The problem of going totally Bitcoin is that you’re asking your viewers to wade into the realm of unhealthy UX. Lightning has been one of many backbones for monetization for The Bugle as micropayments are nice for customers seeking to ship small funds.
Utilizing Lightning is tough. Lightning customers have needed to take care of rug pulls from easy-to-use Lightning wallets, the unhealthy UX of managing channels by yourself node, failed transactions, bugs on the Fountain app, and far more. 
Some might declare that instruments like Fountain, Nostr, BTCPay Server, and different instruments that enable content material shoppers to ship bitcoin to content material creators lack the UX essential to make a distinction. This appears to be the overall consensus. “The revolution must have good UX for it to even occur” is, in my view, flawed pondering. The unhealthy UX of those platforms permits them to predominantly be occupied by precise revolutionaries and scares away the faint of coronary heart, who discover utilizing their mind even the slightest an impediment so insurmountable that they find yourself watching Netflix as a substitute.
At The Bugle, we’re not competing with Netflix. We aren’t catering to those that should not have the willingness or capability to assume. We’re catering to the few, the proud, the revolutionaries. In keeping with our analytics, 90% of our podcast listeners use Fountain. We’re limiting our potential viewers progress by specializing in selling our content material on platforms with poor consumer expertise, however in doing so, we’re focusing on people who truly matter. The Bugle shouldn’t be in your boomer father who believes that smoking cigarettes is unhealthy for you, believes within the sanctity of establishments, and has lots of opinions on issues he has carried out zero analysis on. No, we’re catering to those that have carried out the proof-of-work and have an opinion that truly issues.
Bitcoin initially had horrible UX and subsequently was solely utilized by revolutionaries. Those that had been mining 1000’s of bitcoin on the CPUs within the very starting could also be(come) among the richest people in human historical past. Satoshi didn’t pause the revolution with a purpose to first implement good UX. He knew that the NPCs who had been scared of utilizing command traces would ultimately come however that to ensure that the challenge to achieve success, it needed to begin with those that had been keen to wade into the unknown.
Our society lacks private duty. It lacks accountability. It doesn’t worth the person. It preaches altruism and focuses on the “widespread good”. All of this outcomes from calls for for good UX. In consequence, the weakest (gayest) rise to the highest. Every part relies on a reputation contest decided by the least distinctive amongst us. The thought of getting an actual meritocracy is threatening to those that refuse to truly do any work, or who discover it difficult to arrange mind cells for duties aside from superficial pleasure.
I reject these premises. I consider that we will construct a precious media firm whereas utilizing unhealthy UX. I consider we will have extra affect broadly by searching for to solely goal these with the capability to wade into nuance and transcend brain-dead groupthink. My complete life I’ve hungered for content material that has depth and that means. Sitting on the sidelines hoping that another person steps to the plate shouldn’t be the mindset of somebody who issues. I cannot spend my time attempting to persuade silly folks to not be silly. If I did that, it might be as a result of I don’t worth my time and don’t worth myself. As an alternative, I’ll spend my time attempting to encourage the revolutionaries, the doers, the people who find themselves demoralized as a result of they really feel remoted in a sea of mediocrity.
My identify is Richard Greaser,
And I’m the John Galt of journalism.
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This piece is an article featured within the newest Print version of Bitcoin Journal, The Lightning Subject. We’re sharing it right here to indicate the concepts explored all through the total concern.