Narrative-first, evidence-driven

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I’ve been writing a lot about information bubbles lately, how we get algorithmed into different realities, and how I’m trying to build small bridges instead of yelling across the canyon.

But I keep coming back to an uncomfortable thought:

A lot of the canyon isn’t just information. It’s economic.

And I’m thinking about it now because it feels like an emergency. Not brand-new, more like a slow leak that finally hit 5-alarm-fire status.

First: my side of the street

I’ve benefited from the booms.

I fell into IT because I hated the drudgery of accounting. I got in at the right time for dotcom, had enough experience to survive the bust, and then rode the long tech wave all the way into the current AI boom.

I’ve been lucky, not smart.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t work. It means timing did a lot of the lifting.

And I think my luck is part of why it took me so long to really feel how many people are getting passed by, or worse, getting squeezed while being told everything is great.

The belief I’m trying to hold lightly

I’ve believed for a long time that the healthiest version of capitalism is the one where the economy grows from the middle.

Where regular working people have enough breathing room that businesses actually have to compete for their dollars.

Not trickle-down. Not the market will magically sort it out. Just a basic idea:

If most people are doing okay, the whole system is more stable and less angry.

I’m trying to hold that belief lightly, as a compass, not a weapon.

I could be wrong on the details. I’m mostly trying to notice what makes people steadier vs. what makes them desperate.

TL;DR for the scroll-weary

I think a lot of our political rage is downstream of a basic reality:

People don’t feel secure. When life feels rigged, someone will always show up with a story about who to blame.

I’m trying to respond the same way I’m responding to the information-bubble problem:

Less outrage. More steady, practical action.

My plain-language version of how we got here

I’m not an economist. I’m just a guy trying to pay attention.

Here’s my best attempt at the map:

• The economy grew, but a lot of the gains landed with people who already owned things.
• Meanwhile, the basics that decide whether you feel safe, housing, healthcare, childcare, kept getting harder.
• Power concentrated: fewer real choices, more take it or leave it pricing.
• When people are stressed and scared, the internet doesn’t calm them down. It sells them certainty and a target.

So we end up with two things feeding each other:

economic insecurity + information manipulation

That combo makes people easy to scare. Easy to aim. Easy to split.

And once we’re split, we can’t fix the squeeze, which makes the squeeze worse.

It’s a loop.

So what can I do?

I don’t have a grand plan. I’m not trying to be the main character.

I’m trying to stay useful without losing my soul.

Here’s what I’m doing right now:

1) Put more money where regular people earn it

Not perfectly. Just more intentionally. More local. More people get paid businesses.

2) Use my tech luck to help one person at a time

A resume review. A referral. A mock interview. Helping someone get unstuck.

Nothing heroic, just consistent.

3) Back the boring stuff that lowers the monthly squeeze

Where we live, that’s mostly housing.

Less gatekeeping. More places for people to live. Fewer take it or leave it situations.

4) Talk about this without contempt

Because economic fear is real, even when people attach it to bad stories or scapegoats.

If I want to help, I have to start with:

Yeah, it’s hard out there.

Not:

You’re dumb.

A gentle ask

If you’re feeling the same we’re in an emergency vibe, maybe pick one steady thing.

Not a grand gesture. Just something you can repeat.

I’m trying to trade doomscrolling for daily practice:

be humble, be kind, be useful - and stay awake.

Take what helps. Leave the rest.

Related Core Model Posts

• Information Bubbles and Shared Reality
• Core Model

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