Hey, folks. Anand here. This week we are experimenting with a morning briefing format at The Ink. Three things: a Big Thought to find signal in the noise, a Small Step you can take for your community, and a Deep Breath to keep well.
Let us know what you think.
BIG THOUGHT
Sand Hill Road > Wall Street > Main Street
After blowing up the transatlantic alliance on Friday, President Trump turned to an issue closer to his heart: money. On Sunday he announced a U.S. strategic cryptocurrency reserve, a repository of virtual money. Think of it as being like Fort Knox except that it’s not a fort, not filled with gold, and very, very grifty.
Technically, Trump didn’t even launch it: he just named the cryptocurrencies that would be included once it did launch, and investors jumped on those coins, sending the prices through the roof. That’s why cryptocurrency is dangerous as a reserve. Something volatile enough to react to a rumor isn’t a safe way to store value. It’s like keeping your money in IOUs from Kanye.
But it does make sense for Trump, who has vowed to make the U.S. the world’s crypto capital — and whose promises inspired the industry to spend $131 million getting him elected. You might remember he launched a cryptocurrency of his own on the eve of the inauguration. He has stopped the Securities and Exchange Commission from moving against crypto firms (and is reportedly throwing SEC staff out of their offices).
Even as crypto bros danced (in their way), Trump’s tariffs on Mexico and Canada went into effect today, and yesterday stocks on Wall Street plunged. That split screen — shadowy global pseudo-currencies with vague ties to nonprofit foundations in Switzerland benefiting while economic mainstays like General Motors sputtered — captures something fundamental and new in the second Trump administration:
We used to talk about Wall Street counting more than Main Street in American life. But today Wall Street has been displaced — by a little place called Sand Hill Road.
That is the where the Silicon Valley venture capitalists hang out and the real fortunes are made. Where the people who want to reinvent the concept of the state itself made theirs. The people who shape policy now — including the ones dismantling the state.
Trump’s crypto policy czar is Valley guy David O. Sacks, a member — along with fellow South African billionaires Musk and Peter Thiel — of the “PayPal Mafia” shaping tech policy in the new administration. It’s been clear for a while that Trump isn’t looking out for Main Street, but what’s more remarkable is that he isn’t looking out for Wall Street, either, with his erratic and trade-clamping moves. He’s looking out for his new friends out in the Valley, often by way of Apartheid-era South Africa.
Deeper dives:
SMALL STEP
How to defend government
Yesterday Ruth Ben-Ghiat told us that Musk’s decimation of U.S. government institutions creates an opportunity: ready-made talking points for your neighbors, relatives, and friends. They are dismantling things that real people care about, and that meaning needs to be made in everyday conversations out in our communities.
But how?
Vanessa Morgan over at Written Wanderings has put together some resources to get you started persuading folks more effectively:
Braver Angels – A nonprofit teaching Americans to have difficult political conversations
Resources for Talking to Conservatives – Facts & strategies for approaching these discussions
A Guide to Talking to Trump Supporters (The Guardian)
I’ve sent this information to my family members, so they understand how the president and Republican majority are negatively impacting millions of middle and lower-class Americans financially, while giving the largest cuts to the richest.
And, ICYMI:
DEEP BREATH
Fight fascists. Gather
“Being together is part of surviving this for the long term,” Ruth Ben-Ghiat told us. And on that, wise words from an expert on gathering whom I also happen to live with — Priya Parker:
The act of hosting is the act of shaping reality and showing others that it’s possible to do the same.
It’s important to gather in good times. It’s even more crucial to gather in bad. Gatherings remind us that even in despair, we’re not alone. That what feels too big might get broken into the next viable, visible step. That we don’t need all of the answers to do something. Often, just simply putting words around a shared, urgent question can open the world.
More on that at Priya’s excellent newsletter.
And for Ruth’s take:
And a programming note: We’re going Live!
We hope you can join us today, Tuesday, March 4, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, when we’ll be speaking with California Congressman Ro Khanna, and on Thursday, March 6, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, when we’re back with messaging guru Anat Shenker-Osorio. We hope to see you there!
To join and watch, download the Substack app (click on the button below) and turn on notifications — you’ll get an alert that we’re live and you can watch from your iOS or Android mobile device. And if you haven’t already, subscribe to The Ink to access full videos of past conversations and to join the chat during our live events.
Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty
This post was originally published on The.Ink.