All I wanted was to use magit today, but Spacemacs, which I have used for years, wouldn’t allow me. I could not figure out what the problem was—it likely had something to with dependencies that were out of sync. Failing to resolve the issue, I decided to reinstall emacs and configure it from scratch (with some great LLM help). The fruits of this tinkering is in the init.el file below. It is only about 160 lines long, but covers the vast majority of my requirements surprisingly well. This is a brief log of how this config file came about. ...

Perhaps I should begin building a list of all the lies we are taught in school. That a plant-based diet is healthy for you is presented to you so adamantly and incessantly, you begin treating the claim as self-evident to the point that questioning it becomes a nonstarter. Despite being proclaimed from the highest pulpits by doctors, nutritionists, and public health experts, it lacks both empirical and logical backing. The truth is pretty much the opposite. ...

Background I have been using the note-taking software, Obsidian, for a little more than a year, and it has been a major quality of life upgrade for me. Prior to this, I used Evernote for several years, thanks to the recommendation of Tim Ferriss. Initially, I was a happy customer, but over the years, the subscription costs mounted and the quality of the app degraded. I tested Joplin and Notion but they proved inadequate for my needs. Finally, I landed on Obsidian, finding it through the videos of No Boilerplate. My usage pattern has settled down enough over the past year for me to be able to discuss it. ...

In a free banking system, various banks issue their own banknotes which are redeemable for the gold that they hold. The banks set their policies independently and compete with other banks in the free market. This is distinct from the central banking system we experience today, where a central bank dictates key requirements the chartered banks must obey, and these banks issue a single fiat currency. One important decision a bank needs to make in a free banking system is how much reserves it shall hold on to at any moment to meet the withdrawal demands of the depositors. If the reserves are less than 100% of the deposits, the bank engages in fractional reserve banking. (Setting aside the question of morality of such a system, free banks with fractional reserves have emerged in the free market and operated for a long time in the past.) ...

Free market interactions led to the emergence of gold as money. Gold was divisible, durable, recognizable, and most importantly, difficult to inflate. Thus, it maintained its purchasing power better than other commodities that were easier to produce. However, gold suffered from certain drawbacks. While it was divisible, dividing it physically was practical only to a certain point. Also, carrying it in large quantities was costly and cumbersome. Furthermore, verifying the authenticity of gold coins and bars was time-consuming. ...

Private individuals and businesses must either sell something of value to acquire money or expend time and resources to mine it directly (think of gold mining in the case of a gold standard). Governments, in contrast, do not obtain payment for goods or services they produce; they generate revenues through the seizure of assets. In the past, they might have sent their agents to seize grains, cattle, coins, etc. from people. But in a monetary economy, they simply seize monetary assets, which is a lot easier to do. ...