WEBVTT - Bitcoin Fixes Clown World w/ Ben Askren 0:00:00.000 --> 0:00:02.240 Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Mark mass Show, 0:00:02.240 --> 0:00:05.120 where we're talking about the decentralized revolution, of course, each 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:07.520 and every week, looking at through the lens of politics, finance, 0:00:07.560 --> 0:00:10.560 and technology, and that technology is of course bitcoin that's 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:12.600 changing the world. You know. I'd like to bring to 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.840 you some education to change the way you think about money, 0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:17.960 some late breaking news you can see the play by play, 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:19.639 and of course some interesting guests. You don't have to 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:21.520 listen to me all the time. And today I am 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:26.079 joined by Ben Askern. He is an Olympian, an MMA champion, 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:29.560 and yeah he's also a bitcoiner. Ben, thanks so much 0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:30.320 for joining me today. 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:32.360 Yeah, yeah, thanks for having me. I feel like a 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:35.040 veteran bitcoinner now because I've been in since twenty seventeen, 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:37.280 and that's you know, in the beginning, it felt like 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:39.480 I was late, which I think everyone thinks they feel 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:41.560 like they're late. But now I feel like a veteran. 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:46.640 Yeah. I had the very first interview I did in studio, 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:49.599 I had Mike Tyson in here and I said, did 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:51.720 you really say, you know, everyone has a plan take 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:53.480 a punched in the face, And he said he did. 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:56.800 And so in regards to that, I mean, you're an 0:00:56.880 --> 0:01:01.080 MMA athlete, olympian even punching the face a bud. Is 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:03.120 that sort of like going through these bear markets that 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:04.600 you've gone through now a couple of times. 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:07.520 Oh yeah, that's great because now, yeah, I'm at the 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:09.680 point where it is kind of like numb. I actually 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:13.679 don't look at the price all that often. I'm not 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:17.720 gonna sell. It's not going to phase me. You know. 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:20.000 I didn't sell the first time around though, either, And 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:22.160 I got in kind of like when everything was going 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:25.280 nuts in twenty seventeen, and I watched it rise to 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:27.200 the top and I probably you know, say three or 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:31.840 four x whatever money I put in, and then obviously crashed, 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:35.160 and I watched it crash, and then the second time around, 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:37.880 I was like, Okay, I think that's gonna happen again. 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:40.039 And I had a plan to sell in the quarter 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:42.360 four of twenty twenty one and then reby at the bottom, 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:45.480 and I just didn't think sixteen nine was gonna be 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:48.160 the top. So I never sold anything. And then you know, 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:51.040 when it started going down, I'm like, well, I guess 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:53.720 I'm just gonna just keep holding, and uh, you know, 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:57.280 now I'm sure next bull market I'm gonna time it right. 0:01:57.320 --> 0:01:59.200 I'm gonna sell a little bit and then'm gonna rebuy 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:00.880 the bottom. Not too much much, just a little bit. 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:05.040 You know, I have the same story now I'm I'm 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:07.280 going to you know, been full disclaimer. I'm the same 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:10.280 I held after the twenty seventeen bull run and into 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:13.520 twenty eighteen. However, I'll admit I did have a little regret. 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:16.519 I was like, dang, look how much I could have 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:19.560 had if I was tolled back. And now it's like 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:21.680 and you know, then it was like will it ever 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:23.760 come back? You know, did I miss my one chance? 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:25.400 And will it? Will it never come back? Sort of 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:30.720 a thing. And then exactly just like you you know, historically, 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:33.120 which is not a lot of history, but the market 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:36.160 kind of peaks at eighteen months past having which put 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:38.600 it in November of you know, twenty twenty one, and 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:40.320 it was like, no, this can't be it. It's got 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:41.959 to be one hundred and twenty one hundred and fifty. 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:44.560 No way, it's at sixty five. So, you know, Michael 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:46.960 Saylor with is like all your all your models are broken, 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:49.920 so to speak. The institutional adoption, No, this can't be it, 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:53.360 And sure enough, November twenty twenty one, like right on 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:53.960 the money, you know. 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:56.919 Yeah, And so I figured this time, you know, because 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:59.679 there's also like, well will the cycle model break or 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:02.400 we'll would be a longer cycle. You know, there was 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:05.280 all those narratives in the last cycle, and now it's like, well, 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:08.399 you know, it's eighteen months past having this time, I'm 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:10.360 going to sell some. I'm not gonna sell that much. 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:12.880 And you know what, if it keeps going up, I'll 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:15.760 probably still be happy anyways, and that goes down, then 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:17.640 I'll be prepared to buy some more. So kind of 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:19.799 either way, I view it as a win. Yeah. 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:22.880 Yeah, And I think you know, one thing, when you 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:25.800 if you go to like the bitcoin conference or I 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:28.480 spoke at bit block Boom a few weeks ago, like 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:31.200 nobody there is talking about the price, Like there's just 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:34.079 no not not really a relevant topic of conversation for 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:36.320 most people. And so it's sort of like this kind 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:38.240 of like weight and see type of a thing. You know, 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:42.080 you being an MMA champion, like you've worked hard for 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:44.240 you know, most of your life to achieve a level 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:45.880 of success. So I'm sure that's kind of giving you 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:49.160 like this long term perspective that probably helps you today 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:51.000 versus like a lot of these like short term like 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:52.880 gamblers that come in. Would you say that might. 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:58.760 Be huh, you know, I kind of obviously, you know, 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:02.760 whether it's wrestling or fighting or anything else. Being an athlete, 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:06.080 you realize I'm going to have to make some sacrifices 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:08.280 to have more what I want later. Right. That's a 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:11.480 kind of mature mindset that sport puts you in, is 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:13.600 I'm going to sacrifice now because I want to get 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:15.840 something later, which is kind of the same thing with this. 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:18.960 But I think also the more the more and more 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:20.680 I read about bitcoin, I told you my goals read 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.000 fifty books this year, and obviously quite a few of 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:27.200 them have been bitcoin books. You just realize what's wrong 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.280 with the Fiat system, and you realize what's wrong with money, 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:32.960 and you realize bitcoin is just a better money than 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:37.160 anything else that they've made before. And I can't guarantee 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:39.120 you it's going to win, but I think it has 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:41.800 the best chance. And so if I just hold on 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:43.599 long enough, I'm probably gonna be doing pretty well. 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:47.800 Yeah, when you were saying that, I love this quote 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:50.880 from Muhammad Ali and he said suffer now and live 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:53.040 and live the rest of my life as a champion. Right, 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:57.640 so sort of that embraced the suck today, right. Yeah, 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:00.839 you know, I think in regards to that, it is 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.440 certainly better. Now, the best product doesn't always win, and 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:05.800 so typically un CD incumbent, you have to be way 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.599 better than just better. And so that's why I like 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:11.080 a better version of Twitter, better version of whatever. That 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:13.880 doesn't really gain traction, but when you're a thousand times better, 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:15.640 it does. And I think that's what bitcoin is, right, 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:18.200 It's a thousand times better, and a lot of people 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.680 don't realize it, but like, you know, what's the utility. 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:23.359 It's like, well, if you need to send money to 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:27.560 somebody in Afghanistan, there's utility, right, if you live in 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:29.800 North Korea, like there's utility in the United States. It's 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:31.279 hard for us to see that. But it is a 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:33.480 thousand times better. It can do things that nothing else 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:35.960 can do. So from that standpoint, I feel like we 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:37.359 just have to be patient. 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:44.119 Yes, I think that's it, And I think especially especially Americans, 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:49.800 they kind of don't see a lot of the use cases, right. 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:51.840 I Mean I talked about I traveled to Asia a 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:53.919 bunch because I fought in one championship, and a big 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:57.000 thing over there is the remittance market. That's the thing 0:05:57.080 --> 0:06:00.200 for most Americans. They don't recognize why it's important on 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:03.120 you know, without Salvador, it's hugely important. And there's a 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:05.400 whole bunch of these things are like, well, we're finally 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:07.960 feeling inflation in America, which I'm sure is not going 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:10.400 to stop anytime soon. And you know, but you go 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:13.080 to some place like Argentina where the money doesn't hold value, 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:16.400 or Turkey, you know, oh wow, well that's another use case. Right. 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:18.480 So there's all these use cases that are out there 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:23.240 that I think a lot of Americans don't really recognize yet. Yeah. Yeah. 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:24.800 When I was speaking of this event a few weeks ago, 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:27.840 as I said in Austin bit block Boom, talking to 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:29.120 a bunch of people, and I kind of I just 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:33.680 kind of had this realization that unfortunately, the saying is 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:36.960 smooth seas never made a skilled sailor, right, success is 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:38.960 a horrible teacher. And so because we don't have that 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:42.000 problem with our money here, most times people are just like, 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:44.600 what do we needed for? And like we almost need this, 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:47.159 I don't I don't want it. Unfortunately, I think this 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:50.279 is where we're going. But we need this adversarial take 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:54.000 of where the government. You know, the more the government's squeeze, 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:57.120 the more they try to censor, the more Bitcoin shines. 0:06:57.480 --> 0:07:00.080 And so unfortunately we need that for bitcoin to re 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:03.560 kind of achieve its potential. I don't want it, but 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:06.560 but I feel it's coming, and so you know, everyone's 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:07.440 going to learn at some point. 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:10.640 Yeah, and those of us who are able to see 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:12.200 it ahead of time are probably gonna be the ones 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:15.480 who benefit the most, and both from being able to 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:17.480 have it and use it when we need it, but 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:20.080 also from the price is inevitably going to go up. 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:26.520 Also, Yeah, how did you first get introduced to it? 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:28.160 It was one of my college dressing bodies. I was 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:31.880 actually a fight one of my colle dressing teammates. He 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:35.640 lived in Australia for a while. I was a geologist 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:37.640 and he would come to my fights when I was 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:40.760 an Asia a bunch And you know, I had voted 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:42.560 for Ron Paul in twenty twelve. I had read end 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:45.880 the FED. I had understood the issue with fiat currency. 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:47.240 I mean, there's a lot of people that get a 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:50.920 bitcoin right because you hear about it, You're like, wait, oh, 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:53.720 it can fix this problem, and it can fix this problem. Right, 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:56.200 And if you don't see, if you don't see any problems, 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:58.760 if you're not aware of them, then you're like, well, 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.000 I already have money. Do I need a different money? 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:02.560 Why do I need that? You know? But when you're 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:05.400 like you've read and the fed or it's like you 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:07.200 see it, you're like, oh wait. So it was like 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:09.560 the first aid told me. I'm like, oh, how do 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:11.000 I get how do I get some of that? 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:11.680 You know? 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:15.000 At that point, I think coinbase had something where you 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:17.800 could only buy like four thousand dollars a week, right, 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:20.200 and that's uh, you know. So I was buying like 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:23.440 four thousand dollars a week for a while, and obviously 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:25.720 I had cointer phase. I bought a bunch of that. 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:29.640 Went to zero, no did I. 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:31.680 So like everyone did, and it was funny how hard 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:33.679 it was, and people talk about and it is a 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:36.880 little bit hard stealing inaccessible, but like back then, I 0:08:36.880 --> 0:08:39.080 think it was like something called ether delta or something 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:41.320 and you had to, you know, buy ethereum and they 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:43.280 had to send a set of theoreum somewhere else and 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:45.000 then you had to send to ether delta and then 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:47.760 you had to make purchase orders. You know, it was 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:49.559 wild how you get stuff back then. 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:53.400 Yeah, yeah, yeah, same, same kind of thing. And I 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:55.320 wasn't really aware of the problem. I became a goldbug 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:57.199 after two thousand and eight. I was on calln the 0:08:57.240 --> 0:08:59.440 FED campaign as well, not on it, but but on 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:01.840 board with it, and so I was already aware of 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:03.880 the problem. I thought gold was a solution, and when 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:05.880 I saw this, I was like, oh, there we go. 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:07.760 And to your point, you know, most people just aren't 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:09.679 aware of the problem, so of course they're not looking 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:12.560 for a solution. If you're just tuning in, you're listening 0:09:12.559 --> 0:09:15.600 to the Mark Moss Show. I'm sitting down with Ben Askern. 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:18.680 He's an MMA champion, he's an Olympian, and he's even 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:21.959 a bitcoiner, and he's a Ron Paul fan. Even we're 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:23.319 running through a whole bunch of stuff. We're going to 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:25.000 take a very very short break. We're going to be 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:26.839 right back with more in a second. You don't want 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:28.079 to miss this. It don't go away. We're going to 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:30.040 be right back, all right, Welcome back. If you're just 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:31.960 tune in, you're listening to the Mark Moss Show, sitting 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:36.000 down with Ben Askern, MMA athlete, a champion Olympian, and 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:39.199 a bitcoiner. Now, before the break been you were saying, 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:44.400 how surprising maybe to me and probably most people, being 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:48.360 a being a meathead wrestler, MMA guy whatever, Like you're 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:51.520 reading Ron Paul back in like you know whatever, twenty 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.080 ten eleven whatever that was like. And you were telling 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:55.960 me before we started recording that you're you have a 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:58.480 goal this year to actually read fifty books. So you're 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:02.120 actually quite a reader. Yes, why fifty books? I mean, 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:03.840 what what have you read in the past? I mean, 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:06.079 have you read twenty five or fifty books a year 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:08.440 in the past? What's that school all about? 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:10.760 Let's see, I think I think I can move this. Hopefully, 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:12.840 I hope I'll mess up the whole podcast. But if 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:14.679 you want to look like my. 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:16.280 Uh oh, here we go. 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:19.200 Oh you can see my library is over there. 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:19.959 Oh yeah, right. 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:24.560 So I've always been I've always been a reader, just 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:26.640 you know, ever since I was a kid. I in 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:30.120 the beginning, I liked reading about athletes, athlete biographies, that 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:32.920 type of stuff, and then you know, you venture down 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:36.079 different rabbit holes. I actually don't even know I could. 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:38.280 You said, Ben, how'd you get into Ron Paul, start 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:40.680 reading his stuff, I would say, I have no idea. 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:44.600 I stumbled upon it one time and and if I think, 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.000 if you're if you're logical, it makes a lot of sense, right, 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:50.320 it resonates with you. And yeah, so I mean went 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:53.199 down that rabbit hole and I voted for Ron Paul 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:57.240 eight or twelve or somewhere in that time period. You 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:59.720 know when, man, he would have been the best president, 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:02.040 or he would have killed it so hard. But obviously, 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:05.920 you know, as we're seeing, like with RFK Junior, the 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:09.440 government machine, the RNC and the DNC, you know they 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:13.640 don't want to let outsider candidates into the real races. 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:16.160 But man, he would have been great. I actually got 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:17.720 that dinner with him at the l like one convention 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:19.720 in twenty nineteen. It was the best. 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:24.840 How do you go from like being a strong Ron 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:27.200 Paul supporter wishing he could have been president he would 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:29.400 have been the best to now you threw out RFK 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:31.760 like is he somebody that you could see yourself voting for? 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:36.199 Absolutely? Yeah. I'm pretty open about my politics. I've voted 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:40.360 for Donald Trump in twenty sixteen, twenty twenty, and I 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:46.280 think for me that outsider. It just kind of that's 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:48.560 That's what I'm feeling, is like we need someone else 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:51.240 who's outside the system, and Trump was, you know, people 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:54.079 don't like him, but he was absolutely outside the system. 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:57.439 RFK he makes so much sense. I mean, I listened 0:11:57.440 --> 0:11:59.960 to him at Bitcoin Miami and just his speech was 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:03.320 so good and you could tell he fully understand bitcoin. 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:04.880 And we talked about some of the other issues, but 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:06.640 we didn't talk about the freedom component, and that was 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:10.319 the one he really focused on and he really understands that. 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:14.679 To you, Vivic is another guy, which he was not 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:18.760 as compelling as RFK. To me, he was good. He's 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:21.080 actually really good on Twitter, really makes some good points, 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:23.600 but in person he wasn't quite as good as RFK. 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:27.480 So yes, I could see myself voting for RFK. I 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:29.400 don't think they're gonna learn it be the candidate. I 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:30.600 just don't think that's gonna happen. 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:34.440 Well, I asked only because I've never I've never voted 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:36.480 Democrat in my life, but now all of a sudden, 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:38.360 I'm like, I could probably vote for r FK too, 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:40.080 just because to your point, he makes sense and he's 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:42.040 like pro freedom, Like that's what we want and it 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:44.360 sort of it sort of highlights this battle of we 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:47.440 the people versus the government. Right, yes, Like it's not 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:49.440 left or right, man, I just want someone that's gonna 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:52.800 like be for smaller government, Like that's such a bad thing, right. 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:57.320 Vivic's great too. I've had him on the show. He's 0:12:57.360 --> 0:12:58.240 so well spoken. 0:12:58.280 --> 0:12:58.439 Man. 0:12:58.480 --> 0:12:59.480 That guy is so sharp. 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:00.760 Man, he really sharp. 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:01.200 You know. 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:03.800 I'll tell you this is like almost like he was 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:06.840 speaking as friends and no one's listening to this. Is 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:10.200 that I just I got too much of politician y vibes. 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:14.080 When I listened to Vivid at Bitcoin Miami, it felt like, hey, 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:16.079 he's got a list of eight checkpoints he wants to 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:18.600 hit and it's boom boom boom, boom boom, And it 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:21.200 kind of lacked the depth that RFK had, you know, 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:23.640 And so when you had to compare the two, when 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:26.720 you listen to both, it was just like, as a bitcoiner, 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:28.560 RFK was so much more compelling to me. 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:32.280 I agree, he does come off too polished, where it's 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:35.440 almost like slimy salesperson. Not that I'm saying that, but 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:38.960 what I'd say is that Vivic does all that on 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:42.040 his own, like from memory whereas like RFK had someone 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:44.800 write a speech for him, Like so like that's like 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:47.719 that's a big difference, so keep that in mind. But yeah, 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:49.760 Vivid is like his whole thing was like I want 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:51.760 to challenge everybody. No one shows up with any notes, 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:54.920 no teleprompters, Let's just go just us Like that's kind 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:59.000 of his deal. Yeah, but well anyway, it's it's interesting. 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:01.839 I want to ask you about something else. Well, actually, 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:03.400 before I do, let's just jump back to the books 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:06.240 for a minute. So fifty books a year. I started 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:08.480 this thing. It was I was watching breed Love's podcast 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:10.480 and you had this young kid on that talk like 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:12.680 five hundred miles an hour, and he was talking about 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:16.280 like reading and listening at the same time. Wo. And 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:19.840 so I've started to download audible books and buy them, 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:21.880 and then I put my headphones. 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:22.400 In the same book. 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:26.160 You read and listen at the same time, and I 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:29.880 can turn the speed up to like three x and 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:32.840 then because you're reading and at the same time, like 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:35.480 you're getting like total comprehension. 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:39.240 And wait, you you can read at three x speed. 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:43.880 On auible if you listen and read at the same time. Wow, 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:46.240 So Audible You're listening at three x and then you're 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:50.320 reading and like it. If you're just listening, it's too 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:52.760 fast and you can't really comprehend enough. But if you 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:56.840 can read and listen together, dude, it's pretty amazing. You 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:58.720 can take a ten hour book and turn it into 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:02.320 like a movie. It's got two and a half movie. Now, Wow, 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:05.080 I've never tried that. I do listen to. 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:07.840 It was fifty books between listening and reading, and I 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:10.800 think it's gonna be twenty thirty splitter somewhere in there. 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:15.280 I did thirty books in twenty twenty twenty one, maybe 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:18.960 twenty twenty at some point back then. Yeah, I don't know. 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:20.400 It's felt like I kind of had a lot of 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:22.440 books on my shelf come January one, and I'm like, 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:24.360 I'll do something. I think it's gonna be kind of challenging. 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:26.960 And so here's what I do. And I love throwing 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:29.320 in the earbuds and you know, working out or I 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:31.400 have ten acres, so I get the chainsaw and burn 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:33.040 stuff a lot, and that's a lot of fun for me. 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:35.680 So you know, throw the earbuds in, listen to a book, 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:36.960 and go chain saw some stuff. 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:39.520 Where's ten acres? What state. 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:40.720 Use, I'm in Wisconsin. 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:44.360 Okay, I'm in California. But we bought a little some 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:47.640 acres out in Texas and man, it's winter. With the freezers, 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:49.720 we had all these trees that came down. Oh man, 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:50.600 there was so much work. 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:54.240 That's another topic, but it's so much fun. I don't 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:56.160 know about your life, but I'll tell you about my life. 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.240 My life is I kind of do a lot of 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:01.680 things where it affects other people, right, and so I 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:04.920 have a responsibility. And so it's like any decision I 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:06.840 make is going to get second guests or sometimes have 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:09.240 questions or I don't have to explain something, and we 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:11.240 just go outside of your chainsaw and just start chopping 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:13.480 stuff up and no one gives a damn. It's so much. 0:16:13.360 --> 0:16:17.080 Fun, meaning as opposed to be a quan in front 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:18.480 of like public scrutiny on everything. 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:21.720 Yeah, public scrutiny or even like you know, with your business, 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:24.880 it's like, well you do you know, I run wrestling academies, 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:26.840 and so you know, you make a decision, it's going 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:28.840 to affect a bunch of people. And then obviously some 0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:30.600 of the people aren't gonna like the decision you make, 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:32.600 right and then you don't have to explain, well, here 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:35.280 is why I made the decision. And you know, I'm 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:37.280 sorry you don't don't like it, but that's what it's 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:39.840 going to be. And you know, when you go outside 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:41.080 of your chainsaw, it's like you used to get to 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:43.320 go hack some stuff down and burn it and no 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:44.160 one's going to complain. 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:47.920 Yeah, yeah, I get it. Sometimes it's just like that 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:50.200 manual kind of work that you can just kind of go, 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.760 kind of get in that zone is somewhat somewhat kind 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:58.400 of therapeutic. I guess in a sense, what are what 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:00.640 are a couple of big what? Maybe what's a book 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:02.600 or two that you would recommend that you've read this year? 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:06.800 Oh oh, now I can get my list out. Let's see. 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:09.040 I have read quite a few bitcoin books this year. 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:13.679 Let's see books right now I'm really struggling with and 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:16.879 I wrote I bought The Road to Surf Surf on 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:20.440 by Fa High. That's like a red but it's hard, man, 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:26.080 it's a hard read. It's not easy. Just that the older, 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:29.720 older form of writing, I feel like it's like really 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:31.920 dense and that one. 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.040 You can't do at three X speed for sure. That's 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:36.200 like you have to reread the paragraphs a couple of times, 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:40.280 yea to even catch on what's going on Chapter six specifically, 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:41.760 I've gone through that one a couple of times because 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:44.720 he talks about laws and how you need that you 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:46.800 need to have laws that are easy for everyone to 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:50.119 understand and they're written and just reading their stone so 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:53.000 then everybody can plan their life based off of those 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:55.960 laws as opposed to being arbitrarily applied. It was amazing. 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:57.960 If you're just tuning in, you're listening to the Mark 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:01.000 Mash Show. I'm sitting down with Ben ask MMA champion 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:03.920