Preempting the Next Narrative
Crypto Is Not Left v. Right Issue; It's a Boomers v. Millennials One
I used to teach adult ESL classes in the continuing education department of LaGuardia Community College in Queens, NYC. While teaching a class predominantly composed of Latinas there in the summer of 2017, the #metoo movement was front and center in the media. The students wanted to discuss it in class, so I opened the floor to them. I (sadly) expected plenty of woeful stories of abuse, including everything from how they’d been cat called to maybe much worse. And I braced myself to potentially be tarred and feathered simply for being a man. What I witnessed, though, was quite different from what I’d expected.
One of the first women who spoke up was a bit older than her classmates; she was maybe in her mid-to-late 50s. She said something to the effect of
“These women probably got what was coming to them because of the way that they dressed.”
Some of the other elder members of the class “Mmmhmmm”’d and nodded in agreement. Another woman around the same age chimed in and said something to the effect of
“You think cat calling is bad here? Go to the Dominican Republic (her home country) and you’ll see how bad it can really be.”
I watched as expressions of anger began to form on the faces of the younger women in the class. In the maybe 15 seconds of calm that followed before the storm, I took a moment to reconnect with the Sweet Baby Jesus, because I wasn’t quite sure what would come next. I quietly said to myself:
“Hi, Sweet Baby Jesus. It’s me, Frank. Remember, you made me like 34 years ago? I know, I know. I haven’t been in touch. I’m sorry, baby. I still love ya. We can talk more about that later, though. I need a favor real quick; it’s quite urgent, actually. I’ve got this situation, and it’s about to get real messy. I’ve got some heated ladies here and they’re about to get rowdy. Now, as a gringo, I can’t really pretend to understand the struggle of Latin American people, but I have read The Motorcycle Diaries and The Open Veins of Latin America, and I even lived in Venezuela for a while. So, I guess the question I’m getting to is ‘Haven’t these people - especially the women - been through enough?’ Do we really need to add this impending intraracial violence I’m about to witness into the mix? Nah, right? Alright, well, I hope you can hear me…”
as I slowly began to inch backwards before crouching into a cowered position in the corner of the classroom.
The 18-to-35-year-old women in the class roared back with the types of arguments I’d expected to hear:
“Women have the right to wear whatever they want!”
and
“How dare you take part in blaming the victims!”
It took a while for things to cool down that day, but I can thankfully say that no one was physically harmed in the making of that class. But let me get to the point I’m trying to make here…
While I expected all of the women in that room to be sympathetic to the #metoo cause, they weren’t, and the rift turned out to be based on age, not gender. A similar sort of rift exists in crypto. The MSM would like to have you believe that “crypto is just a right-wing tool used to avoid paying taxes” or that it’s “Libertarian fantasy money” or something along those lines. As usual, the MSM’s take on this topic should be classified as the equivalent a flaming piece of land on Staten Island - hot trash. The real divide in crypto is related to age, not political affiliation.
The Economist recently published a piece on how much white supremacists - those traditionally on the far, far right - love cryptocurrency. Also, a favorite of this newsletter, Barnum and Bailey economist Paul Krugman, recently wrote a piece for The New York Times entitled “The Strange Alliance of Crypto and MAGA Believers”. You’ll likely see more and more of this as the dollar continues to lose value and as crypto continues to gain prominence. Boomers and their legacy media are gonna boom harder than ever as they lose control. And while they do it, I’ll be here to counter their narrative.
So, let me introduce you to some of the pro-crypto politicians on the left who the MSM often fails to reference.
First, we have Richie Torres, the 25-year-old openly gay, Afro-Latino progressive Congressman who represents the South Bronx. Sound like Hitler youth come of age to you? Yeah, me neither. He wrote an op-ed on the pros and potential of crypto for the New York Daily News yesterday. I recommend that you read it.
And then we have the 36-year-old Aarika Rhodes, a not so much blonde-haired, blue-eyed conservative, but more half-Black, half-Asian progressive who is primarying the 267-year-old Brad Sherman, an old, anti-crypto white man whose campaign is funded by big, traditional banks. He’s a corrupt, older-than-dirt northern California “liberal” of the same ilk as our girl, Nance.
Then we have the slightly older (45-year-old) Ro Khanna, who isn’t so much a MAGA maniac, but more a mild-mannered Indian-American Democrat who serves in Congress. Ro and I both have feelings about The New York Times’ shortcomings in regard to its “analysis” (more just purveyance of government propaganda) of Bitcoin’s energy usage.
(For some broader perspective on how The New York Times’ has historically crafted failed narratives, I recommend reading The Gray Lady Winked: How The New York Times’s Misreporting, Distortions and Fabrications Radically Alter History).
When it comes to MSM reporting on Democrats and crypto, you’ll likely continue to hear about Elizabeth Warren and her silliness. (She’s really so silly.) Here she is, acting in bad faith, making up hypothetical scenarios about Russian oligarchs and crypto.
Elizabeth Warren, please go home… forever. You’re an embarrassment to the Democratic Party, and we’re tired of hearing about all of your “plans”. You’re not going to fix anything. You’ve never fixed anything. You’re not in control. Stop giving people false hope. And cut the desperate power grabs. Goodbye.
Let’s pray to my dude, the Sweet Baby Jesus, that a better Democrat (or Independent) primaries her in 2024.
Elizabeth Warren along with Brad Sherman and Paul Krugman will all hopefully soon be relics of the Democratic party. They’re gross. It’s time to make room for more Democrats like Richie Torres, Aarika Rhodes, and Ro Khanna (and not just because of their stances on crypto). And while we’re clearing house, consider cancelling your subscription to The Economist and/or The New York Times and supporting independent journalists like Bari Weiss or Matt Taibbi via Substack. Liberal MSM has become so comedic that Tucker Carlson and his stupid perma-confused face is now drawing more younger Democratic viewers than the likes of Rachel Maddow.
Great work, legacy Dems. You’re the worst.
Best,
Frank
Twitter: @frankcorva
