This drawing was done on paper with colored pencils and markers. The original is cool, but I find the digitally enhanced versions below to be more interesting.
Today my household was bustling with the activities of roommates. With other stuff going on, I was minimally social. My day consisted of lots of work and the beginnings of a cluster headache that never fully materialized, thanks in part to my high flow oxygen rig. I got all my work done but have another busy day tomorrow. Though I may fantasize about frolicking in the forest during large blocks of unstructured time, the truth is I'm just as happy to be working so much right now. I both need the money and love what I do.
It's common knowledge that we store trauma in our bodies. But we also store other kinds of information. Feelings like joy or longing. Memories of repetitive tasks. Dance moves. Having not gone out dancing since covid, I feel like my moves are probably rusty. But I'm sure my body remembers the actual moves from countless clubs, festivals, and warehouse parties over the years.
There's growing evidence that information about financial status is stored in the body. Specifically, people experience greater physical pain in response to financial insecurity. So money is plugged directly into our biology. This poignant fact connects the dots between widening inequality and the painkiller epidemic, yet it tends to be ignored by policymakers and commentators.
The legacy economy has long been manufacturing poverty, which has created much pain. I wonder how crypto fits into this equation. In my own life, exposure to the crypto world and the opportunities contained therein has increased my financial security. While valuing scarcity, this world promises abundance and often delivers. Crypto can't solve poverty. But it can provide access to financial services that have been traditionally denied to poor people.
A Universal Basic Income (UBI) paid for by a five percent wealth tax could solve poverty in the US. Imagine how much pain could be avoided by meeting everyone's subsistence needs. Then consider the things people might be capable of if given the freedom to spend their time outside of wage slavery. I think a UBI would create an epic innovation boom. It'd be costly, but worth it.