In Brazil, you grow up with systemic corruption. Unfortunate, but true.
From how general processes take place, to how credit cards are swiped, all the way to the specific way Brazilians sign contracts, the devil is always in the details.
After moving to America, I realized that the US is as corrupt as other countries; the difference is that the “system of corruption” happens to be better organized.
As an immigrant, I thought it was fascinating once I learned about USCIS premium processing.
Here is how USCIS describes it on its website:
“Premium processing provides expedited processing for Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. Specifically, we guarantee processing within 15 calendar days to those who choose to use this service, or we will refund the premium processing service fee and will continue with expedited processing.”
Premium processing is organized bribery.
You want it faster, sure. Pay up.
It made me think that the US is as corrupt as other nations; the difference is that corruption in the US is well organized.
From corporate lobbying to gerrymandering, there is always a system.
I believe this is the #1 country to live and raise a family and am long America.
The next superpower will happen in the Metaverse first.
It is a sad realization, as I prefer the real world. Still, it seems like an inevitable trend, especially as all “trusted institutions” are collapsing — I.e., central banks, religion, gender differentiation, polarity, what it means to be healthy, etc.
Unfortunately, we humans have a lot to improve as we live on the earth-plane. Even the current “salvation systems” are subject to the intrinsic issues that permeate the weaknesses of the human spirit.
A good example: a few weeks ago, someone accidentally sold an NFT for 0.75 ETH versus 75 ETH.
Money Stuff, Matt Levine’s fantastic daily newsletter, summarized it extremely well, so I won’t spend time writing about it. You should read it.
The point is that Defi + ETH Gas Fees (for now) seems like an intriguing version of the wild west.
“Whoever is first to a trade gets to do the trade, but there is an auction for who gets to be first”.
Incentives continue to be the same; we're just changing the speed and location of the game.
I love shopping offline and local. That said, traditional retailers that don’t innovate will die pretty fast. Long live $SHOP and $AMZN.
If you are a founder reading this, it’s important to understand that you are our customer, and we live to serve you, not the opposite.
Starting to do intermittent fasting has been one of the most impactful habits of my life. It made me realize that I've always had bad eating habits.
